What is our learning goal?
FOCUS: ON WRITING QUALITY THROUGH EXPLORATION OF AUTHOR’S CRAFT
-Elements of Style R2.4-Point of View W2.5
Reading like Writers: What we noticed and learned from the author
Learning Goals
Classroom Snapshot
CO-CONSTRUCTED ANCHOR CHARTS in relation to criteria and supporting our goals
Co-constructed chart of criteria
Thoughts to Consider: Understanding critical thinking skill in the 21st
century. Helping students to connect and apply
information helps construct concept formation more than memorization of disconnected facts.
Reading a content-area text at a lower reading level may help to build background knowledge and subject-specific vocabulary before moving onto more complex texts.
Pictures and/or artefacts support all students. A textbook is not the content, the curriculum is.
Focusing on the Criteria-Building Strategies
Building vocabulary in relation to the big ideas in texts
Students words as examples of powerful phrasing
Lifting Lines for Effective Feedback
Look for evidence in student work and highlight it.
Teacher highlights powerful phrasing that enhances meaning:
Their friendship shines like a light.- Elizabeth
Clover and Annie are catalysts of change.- Mohamad
Their friendship closed the gap.- Jacob
The line, But… should I have done something? Your use of ellipse periods conveys the uncertainty felt by the character. –Compelling view
The line, My heart is pounding faster than a cheetah racing for its prey. Your simile creates an image in the mind of the read and conveys the drama, bringing the reader right into the moment. - Vivid writing intensifies experience
We want to hear your voice (your thoughts, feelings, emotions, observations) so let's take your line: It is scary to be here in the alley and let's show and not tell …My heart is pounding. I hear the glass and cans clatter as I kick them with my feet. Is there someone lurking in the dark shadows? – Compelling voice; Powerful phrasing and rich vocabulary enhance meaning.
We want to use rich vocabulary and phrasing and be dramatic. Let's look at this line. It is the best day ever. Let’s make it more dramatic…. This is the day I have become a catalyst of change in my community – Purposeful ending, powerful phrasing
Examples of effective feedback