Continuum for Assessing Opinion/Argument Writing - The Reading ...

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encounter on high stakes tests. This was a decision we made because we won’t learn much if students simply read the question, ask, ‘huh’ and sit there—as a kindergartner would be apt to do with a prompt that might have been designed for a middle-school high-stakes test. Still, the prompt does require children to know some writing lingo. If they do not understand the terms that are in this prompt, it is true that this means that the writer will not perform particularly well. Please don’t solve this by talking on and on about the assignment. Just give the prompt as it is written, and if the kids do not know how to proceed, that should be revealing. After you teach opinion writing, they’ll have access to academic language related to this kind of writing and will demonstrate their knowledge and skills on the ‘post’ assessment. The Prompt Itself Writers, in fifteen minutes you will have a chance to do some opinion writing. You’ll want to think of an idea or an opinion that you have--one you have strong feelings about-- and to write about that opinion. You have 15 minutes to think about that writing, and get ready to do it. If you want to make notes, with information from books or from people in the room or from anything else, you can do so--you just want to be sure that in 15 minutes, you will be able to write about your opinion in ways that convince others. (Then, after 15 minutes): So writers, now is the time to do an opinion piece of writing. Remember, you’ll tell readers about an idea, an opinion, of yours--one you have strong feelings about. In your writing, write your opinion and convince your readers by telling them why you feel this way. Use everything you know about persuasive writing-- including persuasive letter writing and reviews--to make this your best opinion writing. You have the choice of several kinds of booklets (hold up) or of single-pages of writing paper (hold up.) How Much Time and Support Should be Provided during On-Demand Writing The concept is that you set aside 65 minutes for this. It may be that the first 15 minutes need to be at a somewhat different time than the last 50 minutes, which is okay. Your students may very well not do anything to get ready--that is worth noting. Then, after you read the second part of the prompt, they will spend 50 minutes writing as best they can. What Do You Do While Your Students Write For the students whose work appears to you to represent levels 1-4, you will need to do a very small amount of additional prompting while they write. That is, in order to understand what all children, and especially kindergarten and first grade children, can do, you will want to study ways in which a small amount of coaching alters the performance of these especially novice writers. Because the Common Core calls for ‘guidance and support’ at the very earliest levels (only), we ask you to provide an extremely small amount of very lean coaching to these especially novice writers. Remember, if different teachers provide different amount of support, the assessment will no longer assess writing that students do under like conditions. Therefore we ask teachers of students whose writing falls within levels 1-4 to carefully follow the following guidelines, only, and to K-8 Continuum for Assessing Opinion Writing - TCRWP 2011 Working Document - Do Not Duplicate, Do Not Distribute DRAFT 4
efrain from providing additional help. 1. During the on-demand work, if there are individuals who have still not made an attempt at writing anything after five minutes, prompt each one of these writers once— only once—by crouching alongside the writer and saying, “Think of an opinion or idea that you have strong feelings about. Tell your opinion and tell why you feel this way.” Then say “Go ahead, write and draw it as best you can.” Teachers, note that these prompts do not involve suggesting a topic! 2. If a writers is busily drawing pictures without adding any letters or words, crouch alongside the writer and say, “I see you are making pictures to tell your opinion or idea. Could you also try writing the words that go with the pictures” 3. After the writer reaches a stopping place in the on-demand assessment (not while he or she is still in the midst of work), ask, “If you wanted to make this the best piece you ever wrote, what might you do” and then say, “Would you do that” If possible, observe what the writer does to his/her text in response to your prompt so that you are able to recall later what parts of the text were done without prompting, and what parts were the result of prompting. 4. In classrooms where students are emergent writers or beginning English speakers, after writers have done their work, if you see that their work is not something you will be able to ‘read’ later when the writer is not present, then you will want to record what the writer tells you he or she has written. Ask each writer, “What did you write Can you read it to me” and then record what the writer says on a separate note that can later be attached to the writer’s work. Using this Continuum to Assess Students’ Levels of Proficiency at Opinion Writing Once your students have finished the on-demand assessment, you will want to look over each piece of writing and ask yourself, ‘Which level is this piece mostly like’ Most teachers make this decision mostly holistically, focusing mostly on the benchmark texts, and then check the rating by looking more specifically at whether the piece matches most of the descriptors for writing at that level. No piece (including the benchmark pieces) will be apt to match every single one of the characteristics of a particular level. You may decide to use a system of noting half-steps, assigning some writers a level such as 4.5. Remember, if you ‘round high’ then the chances of producing and showing progress as a result of teaching and learning become less--and both you and the writer will be heartened by evidence that your hard work produces progress. Of course, when you notice that a writer’s work is mostly-at-a-level but if the text doesn’t meet one of two of the criteria of that level. This may be something you want to teach right away! Align Your Teaching with Common Core Standards The levels that we have described in this document align to the Common Core standards- K-8 Continuum for Assessing Opinion Writing - TCRWP 2011 Working Document - Do Not Duplicate, Do Not Distribute DRAFT 5
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