Vantage Learning Community - Because Writing Matters

Feb '10 4

Teaching Research Papers using MY Access!

By qualtic
Posted in Because Writing Matters
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Research papers allow students to examine a subject in detail as they investigate different facts and perspectives about their topic. Whether they choose the topic on their own or you assign it, the sense of discovery is exciting and limitless. What sometimes becomes challenging, though, is incorporating all those new ideas and interesting quotes into an essay of their own.

Rather than seeing the research paper as a simple “cut and paste” exercise, students and teachers using MA can work through the writing process from research to editing, so the focus is on the student’s understanding and presentation of their research via a well developed essay. Consider these tips for teaching a research paper using MY Access!

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Jan '10 22

A Customized MY Access! Lesson on Daniel Keyes’ Flowers for Algernon.

Tailoring a Narrative IntelliMetric™ Prompt: A Customized MY Access! ® Lesson on Daniel Keyes’ Flowers for Algernon.

Contributed by: Stephanie Dixon. Stephanie Dixon is a former eighth grade English teacher, a user of MY Access!®, and a TOSA (teacher on special assignment) support provider for teachers using MY Access!® within her district. She used the following lesson with her students and was extremely pleased with their deep, insightful, and polished responses. She hopes that this lesson will connect with your students in the same way that it did with hers.

Target Grade Level: Middle School

Time: 2-3 class periods

Keys Concepts: Narrative writing, Writing Process, Point of View, Character Analysis, Prompt Customization

“Flowers for Algernon,” by Daniel Keyes, is a novella that is commonly taught in middle school English classrooms across the country. The story is creatively written as a series of journal entries composed by the main character, Charlie Gordon, who undergoes experimental surgery in an attempt to increase his extremely low IQ. As the story progresses and Charlie’s intelligence grows, he begins to accomplish tasks that were impossible for him to complete prior to his surgery. Perhaps for the first time in his life, Charlie experiences moments where he feels proud of himself.

Making MY Access!® Work Specifically for You: While MY Access!® has a literary prompt, “Human Engineering in ‘Flowers for Algernon,’” that is specifically aligned to the story, you can also assess your students’ understanding of Charlie’s emotional transformation by tailoring the narrative prompt, “Feeling Proud.” This process of adapting a narrative prompt to align with a literary text is an effective way to help students make the reading/writing connection and demonstrate their knowledge of a character.**

**However, Intellimetric prompts cannot be completely rewritten and still be effectively scored. Rather, if you are interested in refining or revising the text of an Intellimetric prompt to fit your instructional plan, we recommend that you consult with our Scoring Experts first. They can be reached by email at: ScoringCenter@vantage.com

Customizing the Prompt:

Step 1: Select the middle school narrative IntelliMetric, “Feeling Proud.” The prompt reads as follows:

Describe what happened and explain why you felt a sense of pride. Remember to make sure the reader has enough details about your experience so he or she can picture it in his or her mind.

Step 2: Using the Assignment Wizard, select your resources and assignment preferences in steps 2-5.

Step 3: Insert or type in the following revised text in step 6 “Special Instructions”

From time to time, we do things that make us proud of ourselves. Sometimes we are the only ones who even know what we have done, but we recognize that performing a good deed is often its own reward. Think about the many moments in “Flowers for Algernon” in which Charlie feels proud. For this story, put yourself in Charlie’s shoes. From Charlie’s point of view, write a story in which you describe one of Charlie’s proud moments and explain why he feels a sense of pride. Remember to make sure to provide enough details about the experience, so the reader can picture it in his or her mind.

Step 4: Print and distribute the revised assignment. NOTE: Although students will see the original text “Feeling Proud,” remind students that they will be writing to the revised text displayed in “special instructions” located on the dropdown menu under the PROMPT button (on the student writing screen).

Prewriting: It is essential that your students engage in a prewriting activity in order to gather their thoughts before responding to this customized prompt. Following this blog are two graphic organizers. These graphic organizers are exclusively designed to assist your students in preparing to write to the “Feeling Proud” prompt. Both organizers ask the students to recall three moments Charlie feels proud of himself. Though the prompt asks students to write about only one of these moments, it is helpful for them to prewrite on more than one proud moment, in case they hit a dead end in the beginning stages of writing and decide to change topics. The two organizers also direct students to bring each proud moment to life through the use of sensory detail. By processing these details before beginning their first drafts, students are able to begin their essays with strong senses of what they would like to communicate and what information they will use to do so.

Composing: Once students have finished their prewriting, they are ready to go online and begin drafting their stories! Remember, when students are drafting online or offline, it is important for teachers to circulate throughout the lab or classroom, providing positive instructional feedback and suggestions to their students. If you have limited access to the computer lab, have your students write their first draft by hand. Then, when the computer lab is available, they can quickly type in their stories, receive immediate instructional feedback, and begin to increase their writing proficiency!

Publishing: When students have completed their final drafts, encourage them to print a published version of their work by clicking on the “Publish” icon in their student portfolio. This feature allows their work to be printed in a variety of visually pleasing themes, including Western, Rose, and Ocean Blue. These printed pieces make wonderful wall décor for Back to School or Open House and give students a small taste of what it feels like to be a published writer.

Culminating Activity: Have your students research the author, Daniel Keyes. Students can easily find safe and authoritative resources in iSEEK In their research, students will discover that Keyes’ book was labeled as a banned book for many years. This is a perfect opportunity to transition into a debate on whether or not books should be banned, using iSEEK to research both sides of the argument, and the MY Access! middle school persuasive prompt, “Banning Books” as a writing component.

Graphic organizers:

Filming the Moment Charlie Feels Proud:

http://www.myaccess.com/myaccess/help_resources/FilmIdea_Charlie_draft2_15.pdf

Sensory Details: Describing when Charlie Feels Proud

http://www.myaccess.com/myaccess/help_resources/When_Charlie_Feels_Proud2_12draft.pdf

Share your thoughts on this topic below.

Jan '10 22

How Vantage Learning Can Support ELL Instruction

By qualtic
Posted in Uncategorized, Because Writing Matters, Lesson Plans
No Comments

According to Short and Echevarria, “Teachers can use the regular core curriculum and modify their teaching to make the content understandable for ELLs” (2004). And the NCTE (National Council of Teachers of English) has provided guidelines for teachers to help non native speakers develop their knowledge and use of English using specific strategies.

These can be supported by Vantage Learning solutions. Review the strategies and add your own suggestions in the comment section below:

Strategies for teaching ELL according to the NCTE	How Vantage Learning supports ELL instruction
Provide a nurturing environment for writing	Revision goals and modeling help demystify what proficient writing is by explicitly stating advice with examples.Instruction will include supplementary materials such as offline instructional tools such as The Writer’s Guide, and graphic organizers to help students develop ideas gradually. Practice status is available for prompts so grades will not be recorded and students are free to practice writing. Scores can be turned off for any prompt so students can practice writing.
Introduce cooperative, collaborative writing activities which promote discussion and promote peer interaction to support learning	Prepared peer review comments are available to guide students in focus, positive peer review.Teacher comments are automated and can be general or embedded into a specific place in the essay.
Provide frequent meaningful opportunities for students to generate their own texts; Design writing assignments for a variety of audiences, purposes, and genres,	Teachers have access to over 1100 prompts and can create their own prompts. · There are five writing genres to choose from. · Purposes include: telling a story, summarizing or convincing. · Audiences include: parents, principals and friends MY Access! prompts are aligned to state and textbook standards.
Scaffold the writing instruction;	My Tutor’s immediate diagnostic feedback is scaffolded so students can review goals for revision that apply to their proficiency status for each submission. My Editor identifies errors most commonly made and provides instructional feedback on Spelling and Grammar in their native language. Spanish language My Tutor feedback is available so students can review feedback about their writing in their native language. Data for ELL learners can be collected and crunched through extensive reporting features so teachers can target instruction.
Provide models of well-organized papers for the class. Teachers should consider glossing sample papers with comments that point to the specific aspects of the paper that make it well written;	For each Intellimetric prompt, writing models for each score point are available. Each essay is accompanied by comprehensive commentary that addresses the five traits of writing. Instructional Units and lesson plans provide step by step instructions to teach teachers show students how to evaluate writing.
Offer comments on the strength of the paper, in order to indicate areas where the student is meeting expectations;	Embedded comments and My Tutor feedback encourage students as they point to areas of improvement.
Teachers should consider beginning feedback with global comments (content and ideas, organization, thesis) and then move on to more local concerns (or mechanical errors) when student writers are more confident with the content of their draft;	Teachers can select the traits to “turn on” in the Assignment Wizard to focus instruction. For early drafts, turning off or hiding My Tutor feedback for Language Use and Mechanics is encouraged. Teachers may also turn off My Editor.
Give more than one suggestion for change — so that students still maintain control of their writing;	My Tutor feedback at each score point contains at least two revision goals Students create revision strategies and reflect on their changes in the Revision Plan A list of comprehensive prepared embedded comments about all traits of writing is available.
Do not assume that every learner understands how to cite sources or what plagiarism is. Students should be provided with strategies for avoiding plagiarism.	Informational and Literary My Tutor feedback details the procedure and thought process behind citing texts. Instructional handouts such as MLA and APA Style Guides and graphic organizers explain how students can help students build their own ideas and attribute the ideas of others.

Resources

NCTE Position Paper on the Role of English Teachers in Educating English Language Learners (ELLs) Prepared by the NCTE ELL Task Force Approved by the NCTE Executive Committee April 2006.

Short, D and Eschevarria, J. “Teacher Skills to Support English Language Learners.” Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development. Found at

Oct '09 16

Using MY Access! to Support Special Education Instruction

By qualtic
Posted in Because Writing Matters, Lesson Plans
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Teachers and administrators who work in special education can find an assistant in MY Access!, the award-winning literacy solution from Vantage Learning that addresses issues particular to special education instruction. According to Hall, Strongman, & Meyer (2003), differentiated instruction allows all students to access the same classroom (curriculum) by providing entry points, learning tasks, and outcomes that are tailored to students’ needs. Read the rest of this entry »

Oct '09 6

Supplementing Grammar Instruction with MY Editor Modules

By qualtic
Posted in Because Writing Matters, Lesson Plans
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Teachers now have a new effective tool for the challenge of teaching grammar.

MY Access!® has joined the best from its innovative assessment platform, SPMS® (Student Progress Monitoring System) with its award winning instructional and data management resources in MY Access! through the MY Editor Modules to support writing instruction. Read the rest of this entry »

Apr '09 9

Using the Four Square Graphic Organizer with MY Access!

By qualtic
Posted in Because Writing Matters, Lesson Plans, Lesson Plan: Prewriting
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Objectives of the Lesson:

Students will be able to construct a brainstorming web for a given topic.
Students will be able to utilize a four square graphic organizer to plan descriptive techniques in an informative/expository essay.

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Mar '09 16

Writing on Demand: Preparing for SAT, AP and State Writing Assessments

By qualtic
Posted in Because Writing Matters, Lesson Plan: Writing on Demand
1 Comment

Grade levels: Middle-High School
Key Concepts: Writing on Demand, SAT^®, AP^®, state assessments, academic writing, college readiness
Submitted by: Kathryn S. Pabst, Lovejoy High School, Lucas,Texas Kathryn_Pabst@lovejoyisd.net

“Research and experience show that writers need three things: ownership of the form and subject of their writing, feedback from other writers, and time to draft and revise. Yet the harsh and confusing reality of today’s college-entrance and state-mandated examinations—or any test with an essay component—is that students, trained in writing workshops, go on the clock to compose a paper on an assigned topic, in a prescribed form, for which they will receive no feedback. …And their future depends on it.”
Anne Ruggles Gere, University of Michigan
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Jan '09 29

What Makes a Good Story? Tips for Young Authors by Aaron Shepard

By jfallon
Posted in Because Writing Matters, Because Writing Matters... At Home, Author Series: Tips for Young Writers
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This installment in our Author Series comes from Aaron Shepard, the award-winning author of One-Eye! Two-Eyes! Three-Eyes!, The Sea King’s Daughter, The Baker’s Dozen, The Legend of Lightning Larry, and many more children’s books from publishers large and small. His stories have also appeared often in Cricket magazine. Check out his website at http://www.aaronshep.com/ to get loads of free treats and resources for teachers, librarians, storytellers, children’s authors, parents, kids, and more. You’ll also find info on Aaron, his books, and his author visits.

Good writers often break rules—but they know they’re doing it! Here are some good rules to know. Read the rest of this entry »

Jan '09 27

A Writing Process Approach to Using MY Access!: Part I Thinking

By sbinckes
Posted in Because Writing Matters, Lesson Plans, Lesson Plan: Prewriting
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Target Grade Level: All levels
Keys Concepts: Writing Process, prewriting, drafting, revising, editing

When I first began teaching in the 1990s, “Writing Process” or “The Writing Process” was familiar jargon in the language arts classroom. However, it wasn’t until I went through a California Writing Project Summer Invitational that I began to fully understand, internalize and embrace a process approach to teaching writing.

A few years later, when I started working as a teacher consultant in school districts throughout Southern California, the mere mention of “Writing Process” was sure to spark a heated debate. Teachers loved it or hated it. Some saw process writing as the only way to teach; others saw it as a waste of time and a “feel good” approach that didn’t accomplish anything. I quickly assessed that those who had a strong aversion to process writing simply didn’t understand it, and I enjoyed the challenge of showing them what process writing actually is. Read the rest of this entry »

Jan '09 12

Author Series: Interview with Jerry Spinelli

By Rachel Loeper
Posted in Because Writing Matters, Because Writing Matters... At Home, Author Series: Interviews
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When did you decide to become a writer, and what steps did you take from there?

When I got out of graduate school and was for the first time writing on my own with nobody telling me to, not part of an assignment, I was getting no grade. So I was a writer. What I was not was a published writer, and yes, it was discouraging. Some folks tend to think that in situations like that you need a thick skin and you don’t really feel the pain of it. But that’s not really the case. At least, it wasn’t for me. It was very painful. Every time I got a rejection slip, I wanted to put my head in the oven. But you keep plodding along, and you discover that in a couple of days, the sun continues to rise every morning. And you put your manuscript in a new mailing, and you put on the postage, and you send it out to one more place. If you try every place with your first book and that doesn’t work, you write a second book. That’s how it went for the better part of fifteen or twenty years. Read the rest of this entry »

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