+
Writing Across the
Curriculum
Presented by:
Dr. Shannon Johnson, SBTL
Allison Stringfield, Reading Coach
+
Group Activity
Pick up the Pieces
1.
When given the signal to move , locate three people that have
the same fraction tile.
2.
Once you have located your team members ,you will sit at the
desk with the percentage that matches your fraction tile.
3.
Remove the contents of your envelop.
4.
Assemble the puzzle pieces.
5.
The completed puzzle will reveal the number of times students
should be provided the opportunity to write per day.
+
Pick up the Pieces
+
Basic WAC Definition
•
“Students use written language to develop and communicate
knowledge in every discipline and across disciplines.”
--Art Young
+
What WAC Is Not:

An add-on to the school’s curriculum: it is a way to teach the
curriculum.

Accomplished by assigning a research paper in every class

Designed to add more work for you

Busy work

An effort by Reading Teachers to have others do their work
for them
+ Some Overall Guiding
Assumptions about Writing
1. Writing is a mode of learning.
** Assigning writing is a powerful
mode of teaching.
+
--Writing Assumptions, cont.
2. Learning a discipline also means
learning the particular ways of
writing in that discipline.
+
Writing Assumptions, cont.
3. Informal writing exercises both
complement formal writing
assignments and are valuable in
their own right.
+
Some Informal Uses of Writing
•
Five-minute free writes at the start of class to
focus discussion on the topic.
•
A “one-minute essay” to summarize the most
important points of class or to ask a question to
be addressed at the next class meeting.
•
An answer to someone’s question about a
problem, process, or concept.
•
As an exit ticket from class.
+ Some Uses of Writing Other
than Research Papers

Article Summary/Abstract

Annotated Bibliography

Review of Literature

Writing to explain how an answer was reached (math)

Lab Reports

Program/Exhibit Notes

Lesson Plans

News articles about disciplinary topic

“F.I.T” essays (Fact, Interpretation, Tie-in)
+
Think, pair,
Stand Up and Share
 “A
Science teacher in teaching students the
knowledge that is Science as well as how to
think, communicate, and solve problems
like a scientist is initiating students into
science as a discipline. Sometimes teachers
fear that becoming involved in WAC means
taking time away from Science—becoming
an English teacher for 30 percent of the
time—and they are understandably
reluctant to do so.”
+ What Do You Do with Writing
Once You Get It?
Respond: To
give informal reactions to text.
Assess: To
see how a student’s, or a class’s,
body of work lines up with program or
institutional objectives.
Evaluate: To
compare work with some sort of
marker, benchmark, or standard.
Grade: To
condense all data into one symbol.
Bradley Peters, Northern Illinois U., Council of Writing Program Admin.
+
False Premises About Evaluation
1.
Instructors should write a lot in the margins
and between the lines.
2.
Instructors ought to know and use many
specific grammatical rules and terms if they
want to comment effectively.
3.
The most effective responses to student
writing are instructor-written comments on
the final copy. Joyce MacAllister, “Responding to Student Writing”
4.
Every piece of writing needs to be graded.
+
Tips for Assessing Writing
1. Tie the writing task to specific pedagogical
goals.
2. Give written assignments that include your
criteria for grading to make your
expectations clear.
3. Weight your grading criteria to reflect your
course priorities.
4. Require more than one draft of an assignment.
+
Tips for Assessing Writing
5. Make good student papers available to
illustrate features of strong work.
6. Set ground rules for yourself, and clearly
convey to students what they can and cannot
expect in terms of your response.
7. Develop a response rubric—a list of elements
of the paper that you can check off.
8. Use evaluation options: choice depends on
type, complexity, and purpose of assignment.
Doug Hesse, “Response to Student Writing”
+
WAC Principles
•
Students learn more when they are engaged with the subject.
•
Writing is a unique tool for engaging students in learning.
•
Not every piece of writing needs to be graded or lead to a
final product for learning to occur.
•
You are the best person to teach students how to use writing
in your disciplinary field.
•
Students will regard writing as important for all disciplines,
and not just English/Reading, when they see other teachers
valuing it as a means for learning and its necessity
+
Word SPLASH

Writing
Across Curriculum
Discipline

Daily Reading

Use each key word from the presentation and write at least
five lines that demonstrate your understanding of today’s
topic.
+
Works Cited
•
Bean, John. Engaging Ideas: The Professor’s Guide to Integrting
Writing, Critical Thinking, and Active Learning in the
Classroom. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 1996.
•
Burke, Kenneth. The Philosophy of Literary Form. 3rd ed., U of
California P, 1973. 110-111.
•
Emig, Janet. “Writing as a Mode of Learning.” College
Composition and Communication 28 (May 1977): 122-28.
•
Hesse, Doug. “Response to Student Writing: Thirteen Ways of
Looking at It.”
•
- - -. “Writing beyond Classes: Useful Strategies for Busy
Professors.” Univ. of Denver. April 2007. dhesse@du.edu
•
“Learning Pyramid.” National Training Laboratories. Bethel,
Maine. The Abilene Christian University Adams Center for
Teaching Excellence. 2000. 30 Oct. 2007.
http://www.acu.edu/cte/activelearing/whyuseal2.htm
+
Works Cited
•
MacAllister, Joyce. “Responding to Student Writing.” New
Directions for Teaching and Learning: Teaching Writing
in
All Disciplines, no. 12. San Francisco: Josey-Bass, 1982.
•
McLeod-Porter, Delma. “Guidelines for Assessing Writing in
Writing Enriched Courses: How to Mark Student Papers
and Retain Your Sanity.” PowerPoint Presentation,
McNeese State U., 2007.
•
The National Commission on Writing. The Neglected “R”: The
Need for a Writing Revolution. College Board, 2003.
•
- - -. Writing: A Ticket to Work…or a Ticket Out, A Survey of
Business Leaders. College Board, 2004.
•
- - -. Writing: A Powerful Message from State Government.
College Board, 2005.
+
Works Cited
•
Peters, Bradley. Council of Writing Program Administrators
Listserv. 24 Oct. 2007.
http://www.nabble.com/Assessment-t4685452.html
•
“Rubrics.” St. John’s Univ. 26 Oct. 2007.
http://www.stjohns.edu/academics/provost/assessmen
t/co
reassessment/rubrics.print
•
Young, Art. Teaching Writing Across the Curriculum. 3rd ed.
Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 1999.