Writing to Learn: The New Georgia Writing Assessment

Elaine Roberts, Ph.D.

Helping Students Understand Purposes for Writing to Learn

Helps students: think about important issues, synthesize material,

develop opinions, and learn critical thinking skills

make connections between what they are learning to what they know and have experienced

develop a sense of learning through writing and valuing/sharing their thoughts

balance the structure of expository writing and the craft of their own writing

Helps teachers: assess students’ thinking, clarify information, and

plan instruction

Connections

Text to Text Text to Self

Text to the world Text to Others

Writing Sample 3rd GraderConnections to Book: Freckle Juice by Judy

Blume

Andrew Marcus feels about his teacher that he might some times feel in barest because when he was not paing utintion when they called his reading group.

My connetion is that I’m oppisit because I don’t want freckles. My other connection is I used to pass notes. How did Andrew feel when he fell out of his chair and every one laughed at him? He probley felt weak and sad because no one stop laughing at him.

Grade 3 Portfolio Writing Assessment

First assessment on March 19-30, 2007 Includes analytic scoring guide aligned to GPS

Four types of writing assessed: Writing in Response to Literature (Text to text, text

to writer, or text to outside world-making connections, asking questions, and writing using the text as a model)

Narrative Writing (Relating a Personal Experience and Creating an Imaginative Story)

Informational Writing (Reports info on a topic based on research from a variety of sources)

Persuasive Writing (Clear position/opinion with examples, anecdotes and/or details)

Grade 3 Portfolio Analytic Scoring System (Domains and Components)

Domain Response to Lit Persuasive Writing

Narrative Writing

Informational Writing

Ideas Focus, supporting details, clear understand of text

Focus, clear position, supp details

Focus, supp details, chara develop

Focus, supp details, research

resources

Organization

Org pattern, sequence of ideas, transitions

Org pattern, sequence of ideas, transitions

Org pattern, sequence of ideas, transitions

Org pattern, sequence of ideas, transitions

Style Descriptive language, audience. awareness, word choice

Descriptive Language,

audience

aware word choice

Descriptive Lang. Word choice, aud. awareness

Descriptive Lang, audience aware

Word choice

Conventions

Sentence fluency, usage, mechanics spell, handwriting

Sent fluency usage, mechanics spell,

handwriting

Sent fluency, usage, mechanics spell, handwriting

Sent fluency usage, mechanics spell,handwrit

Emergent Literacy Pre-K-2

Sulzby’s Stages of Early Emergent Writing:

Drawing as writing Scribble writing Letter-like units Non-phonetic letter strings Copying from environmental print Invented spelling Conventional spelling

Sulzby Stages of Early Emergent Reading K-2

Attending to pictures, not forming stories

Attending to pictures, forming oral stories

Attending to pictures, forming written stories

Attending to print

ELA 4R4 The student reads aloud, accurately familiar material in a variety of genres of the quality and complexity illustrated in the sample reading list, in a way that makes meaning clear to listeners.

The student: uses letter-sound knowledge to decode written English and uses a range of cueing systems (e.g. phonics and context clues) to determine pronunciation and meaning

Uses self-correction when subsequent reading indicates an earlier miscue (self-monitoring and self-correcting strategies)

Reads with rhythm, flow, and meter that sounds like everyday speech (prosody)

ELA4W2 The student demonstrates competence in a variety of genre’s The student produces informational writing (e.g.

report, procedures, correspondence)That:a. Engages the reader by establishing a context,

creating a speaker’s voice, and otherwise developing reader interest.

b. Frames a central question about an issue or situation.

c. Creates an organizing structure appropriate to a specific purpose, audience, and context.

d. Includes appropriate facts and details.e. Excludes extraneous details and inappropriate

information.f. Uses a range of appropriate strategies, such as

providing facts and details, describing or analyzing the subject, and narrating a relevant anecdote.

g. Draws from more than one source of information such as speakers, books, newspapers, and online materials.

h. Provides a sense of closure to the writing.

Compare/Contrast

Cause—leads to—Effect CCC—leads to—E C—leads to--EEEParagraph:Introduce cause or effectDescribe event combined with other events

that begin to cause the effectBuild explanation of reason for significance

of cause/effect. Closure (Combs, 2003)

Matrix to Connect GPS to Content Area

Read/Write Text: Organizational Structures & Patterns

Read Write: Text/Graphic

Features

Word Study Strategies

ComprehensionStrategies

__Compare/Contrast

__Topic

sentences

__Chronological

order

Artifacts: GPS Self-Monitoring Progress

Start Finish Genre Title Strategies Need to work on

2/7 2/20 Fiction/Adventure

Thunder Mountain

QAR questioningstrategy

Need to use the QAR strategy in Scienceclass

QAR Strategy

Reading Quest Websitehttp://www.readingquest.orgfor comprehension strategies

Right There

Think and Search

Author and Me

On My Own

Grade 5 Analytic Writing Assessment

First assessment, March 7 & 8, 2007 Students will be given either and

informational, persuasive, or narrative writing topic as defined by the GPS

Topics will be released after each test administration and will become part of the practice topic bank

Inquiry Projects for Writing to Learn: Observations and Interviews

Observe, study, and write about observations/interview.

Example: Students observe a teacher mini-lesson with a think aloud about poetry writing in response to expository texts, then students study poems and compile a list of features of the text, vocabulary, and author’s style. Finally, students write a poetry responses to an expository text and discuss the features, vocabulary, and writing style of the poem and connect it to meaning.

Grade 5: Four Domains and Components

Ideas (main idea, supp details, relevance of detail, depth of dev, awareness of genre)

Organization (focus, sequence of ideas, grouping of ideas within paragraphs, genre-specific strategies, transitions)

Style (word choice, audience awareness, voice, sentence variety, genre-specific strategies-dialogues, suspense)

Conventions (sentence formation, usage, mechanics)

Linked to a common reporting scale to compare scores over time; Scoring rubrics are available online

All grade 5 students will take the test on the same day with one day for make-up

Testing time will be 120 minutes (sessions of 60 minutes each)

Systems have flexibility for time of day to administer each of the sessions

No extra time will be allowed except as specified in an IEP or TPP

Dictionaries will no longer be allowed except for ELL students to use a translation dictionary (paper copy only) if specified in the TPP

Grade 8 Writing Assessment

First operational assessment will be January, 2007

Students will be given either an expository topic or a persuasive topic as defined by the GPS

Topics will be released after each test administrations and become part of the practice topic bank

Grade 8 Four Domains and Components Ideas (controlling idea, supporting ideas, depth of

dev, sense of completeness, relevance of detail, awareness of genre)

Organization (focus, sequence of ideas, grouping of ideas within paragraphs, genre-specific strategies, transitions)

Style (word choice, audience awareness, voice, sentence variety, genre-specific strategies)

Conventions (sentence formation, usage, mechanics)

Students take the test on the same day with one make up dayTesting time is 100 minutes with no extra time except for IEP and TPP

plansELL students will be allowed to use a paper only translation dictionary

if specified in the TPP

“ I never have to watch television because all of their “creative” pieces are rehashes of sitcoms, action shows, and made for TV maudlin melodramas.” (p. 121)

GHSWT First administration will be Fall, 2007 (Sept. 26-27)

Same four domains (Ideas, Organization, Style, and Conventions-same component & descriptors as grade 8)

The new assessment will assess persuasive writing as defined in the GPS (writing prompts will be released after administration for practice topic banks)

Testing time will be 100 minutes (no extra time except for IEP and TPP plans)

ELL student will be allowed to use a translation dictionary in paper format if specified in the TPP

Assessment and instructional guides will be available in summer, 2007 (scoring rubric and sample anchor papers for each score point in each domain at www.doe.k12.ga.us testing)

SCSh6 and Persuasive Writing

Students will communicate scientific investigations and information clearly.

a. Write clear, coherent laboratory reports related to scientific investigations.

b. Write clear, coherent accounts of current scientific issues, including possible alternative interpretations of the data.

c. Use data as evidence to support scientific arguments and claims in written or oral presentations.

d. Participate in group discussions of scientific investigation and current scientific issues.

High School Physics SCSh9

Students will enhance reading in all curriculum areas by: a. Reading in All Curriculum Areas

• Read a minimum of 25 grade-level appropriate books per year from a variety of subject disciplines and participate in discussions related to curricular learning in all areas.

• Read both informational and fictional texts in a variety of genres and modes of discourse.

• Read technical texts related to various subject areas.

b. Discussing books • Discuss messages and themes from books in all subject

areas. • Respond to a variety of texts in multiple modes of

discourse. • Relate messages and themes from one subject area to

messages and themes in another area. • Evaluate the merit of texts in every subject discipline. • Examine author’s purpose in writing. • Recognize the features of disciplinary texts.

High School Physics Continued

c. Building vocabulary knowledge

• Demonstrate an understanding of contextual vocabulary in various subjects.

• Use content vocabulary in WRITING and speaking.

• Explore understanding of new words found in subject area texts

Science SP3

Students will evaluate the forms and transformations of energy.

Analyze, evaluate, and apply the principle of conservation of energy and measure the components of work-energy theorem by:

describing total energy in a closed system. identifying different types of potential energy. calculating kinetic energy given mass and velocity. relating transformations between potential and

kinetic energy. b. Measure and calculate the vector nature of

momentum. c. Compare and contrast elastic and inelastic

collisions. d. Demonstrate the factors required to

produce a change in momentum. e. Analyze the relationship between

temperature, internal energy, and work done in a physical system.

f. Analyze and measure power.

Feedback

Creating time!

Rubrics (Integrated GPS and open ended rubrics for student input)

Peer journals for writing (ELL-double entry journals)

Entry slips

Technique Teacher Student

Share

writing

Share/&

Ask for

Responses

Comment on writing, understand purpose

Clarify

Evaluation vs.

response

Show evaluation

is a product, while response is to the writer

Understand that response is personable & helpful

Model specific praise Show how you tell a writer what you like as a reader

Learn cheerleading is too general to be helpful

Model understanding Restate meaning of the piece

Reflecting back is helpful

Model Questions & suggestions

Create questions-what you don’t understand

Questions help with clarification & writing techniques

Comment review Review peer comments

Get teacher feedback

Assignments

Go beyond knowledge level – “telling assignments”

(Indriasano & Paratore, 2005)

Read-Write Cycle (Miller & Calfee, 2004)

ExtendDraft, revise,

publish

ReflectKWLA

Self-monitor

OrganizeGraphic org, text analysis, think-aloudsVocabulary

Dev

Connect to prior

knowledge during

pre-writingKWLA

Read-Write Cycle

Acquisition, Transformation, Internalization

Future Writing Goals

Think Pair Share

References

Indrisano, R., & Paratore, J. (2005). Learning to write, writing to learn: Theory and research in practice. International Reading Association.

Combs, M. (2003). Readers and writers in the middle grades, 2nd ed. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.

Tompkins, G. (2004). Teaching writing: Balancing process and product, 4th ed. Upper Saddle River: Prentice Hall.