HEATHER GRAVES
ACTING DIRECTOR, WRITING ACROSS THE
CURRICULUM
ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR, CENTRE FOR
TEACHING AND LEARNING
Integrating Linguistic and
Writing Skills in ContentBased Courses
Campus St. Jean
University of Alberta
ESSENTIAL COMMUNICATION AND LITERACY SKILLS
✔ Reading
✔ Speaking
✔ Writing
For more information about all of the
concepts presented in this workshop,
please see:
John Bean, Engaging Ideas, 2nd Ed.
San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass, 2011.
Reading
Where they need to get:
Where Students May Be:
• ‘Surface’ readers
• Read to memorize facts
& information
• Uses ‘episodic’ memory
(tied to specific joke,
gesture, episode or
mnemonic to aid recall)
• ‘Powerful’, ‘depth’ readers
• Read to understand
meaning, to draw
inferences and follow
arguments
• Uses ‘semantic’ memory
(connects current
information to what
thinker already knows)
BARRIERS TO READING FOR MEANING
• School culture tends to reward
reading for facts & information
(memorization)
• Reading for meaning is slower,
takes more time and effort
• Teachers often lecture on
texts, resulting in them
‘reading’ FOR students
• Students may have limited
strategies/purposes for reading
• They may not have thought of
looking for argument structure
• They don’t recognize that
academic reading = engaging
in a conversation with writer
• Lack cultural literacy to ‘get’
references/allusions
• Assimilating unfamiliar ideas is
difficult
• Students may not understand
the vocabulary/syntax of
academic writing
Points for Discussion
What is your response to Bean’s characterization
of these types of reading
Does it resonate with your experience as a reader?
To what extent does his explanation match up with
your experience of your students as readers?
HOW TO HELP STUDENTS BECOME BETTER READERS:
Develop course design, pedagogy, activities, and
assignments that reward reading for meaning
What to Stop Doing:
What to Start Doing:
• Using quizzes to test
content knowledge of
reading
• Reviewing/lecturing
on readings to ‘help’
students
• Test students on texts
NOT covered during
class
• Design activities that help
them learn to read
beyond the surface
ACTIONS TO TAKE
• Acknowledge difficulty: Help Students see why texts
are difficult
• Share: Demonstrate your own reading process and/or
Demonstrate how to annotate a text while reading
• Facilitate: Make dictionary available in class;
encourage students to use one outside class
• Motivate: Pique student curiosity about the text they
are going to read
• Practice: Assign ‘what it says’/ ‘what it does’ exercises
‘What it says’ & ‘What it does’ Exercise
Making Says/Does Statements to Promote Reading for Meaning
For Monday’s class we will discuss psychologist Steven Pinker’s argument in
support of Lawrence Summers’ controversial speech about why so few women
hold tenured positions in math, physics, and engineering at top universities. As
models, I have made says/does statements for the first two paragraphs. As
preparation for class, . . .
Para Says
Does
1
Since the 1970s the
proportion of women in many
scientific fields has increased
significantly, and it would be
morally wrong and hurtful to
science to turn back the clock
Introduces the subject of gender
difference and presents author’s
assurance that he respects and
values women scientists.
2
Although Summers was not
trying to turn back the clock,
many prominent scientists and
engineers protested
vehemently against his
speech
Makes transition to Summers’ case
and lists examples of negative
reaction against Summers.
YOU DO THE REST.
IDEAS FOR ASSIGNMENTS THAT REQUIRE
INTERACTION WITH THE TEXT
• Marginal notes
• Reading logs
• Exploratory
writing
• Summary writing
• Summary/response
(double-entry)
notebooks
• Graphic organizers
• Writing Translations
Points for Discussion
Which of these ideas have you used before?
How well did you think they worked?
Which suggestions are new ideas that you think
would be useful?
Do you have ideas for adding to Bean’s list of
suggestions?
SPEAKING
Ways to enable students to interact in
large and small class settings:
• Goal-directed use of small groups
• Activities aimed at giving students
supervised practice at disciplinary
thinking with instructor as coach
GOAL-DIRECTED SMALL GROUP
ACTIVITIES
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Teacher presents a disciplinary problem requiring critical
thinking (results in claim with argument NOT a ‘right answer’)
Students work together in small groups to reach consensus
on a ‘best solution’ to the problem
In a plenary session, group recorders present their group’s
solutions and arguments
During reports, instructor coaches students’ performance by
pointing out strengths & weaknesses in arguments, showing
how alternative claims emerging from groups may parallel
on-going disciplinary debates, and otherwise offering
constructive critique.
At the end, instructor may explain how this problem would be
approached by experts
MAKING SMALL GROUPS WORK
• Best size: 5 or 6 students (for classroom
consensus groups); 2 or 3 for collaborative
writing groups
• Random or divided by you?
• Teach groups to work together:
o Explain why you think group work is valuable
o What benefits they will get from group activity
o How they can best learn to work together
Ideas for designing productive small group tasks
Thesis Proposing Strategy
Example
Give students disciplinary problem
framed as open-ended question to which
students must propose & justify a ‘best
solution’ answer. Best solution should be
summarized in a one-sentence ‘thesis
statement.’
‘We have examined four alternative
approaches to the design of a digital
data-recording device for Company X’s
portable heart defibrillator. Which solution
should be chosen and why?’
The Question-Generating Strategy
Instruct students in kinds of questions
asked in your discipline; break them into
groups & have them brainstorm possible
questions related to topics you provide.
They refine their list into 2 or 3 best
questions & explain why they are good.
‘Carefully observe this [poem, graph,
statistical table, painting, advertisement].
What aspects of it puzzle you or intrigue
you? As a group, pose three good
questions that emerge from your
observation of the item.’
The Group Paper Strategy
Teams of students work together to write
one paper.
‘Argue, using empirical evidence, for or
against one of the following statements:
a. Capitalism provides fertile ground for
the cultivation of virtue . . .’
Points for Discussion
What are some of the advantages of having
students work in groups?
What are some of the disadvantages?
How can you integrate writing into the work of
groups?
IDEAS FOR INCORPORATING WRITING
• How can you incorporate writing into
moderate to large content-based
classes when its unrealistic to assign
long or multiple formal writing
assignment(s)?
• How might you use writing to help
students develop or improve their
critical thinking skills?
CONSIDER ASSIGNING INFORMAL &
EXPLORATORY WRITING ACTIVITIES
• ‘Thinking-on-paper’ writing used to
discover, develop & clarify our own ideas
• Writing process drives thought
• Writing process produces clarity of thought
WHY IS EXPLORATORY WRITING VALUABLE?
• ‘Thinking piece’ assignments present students with
higher order critical thinking problems
• Prompts students to approach course reading
differently
• Creates higher levels of class preparation and
richer discussions
• Can be fast & enjoyable to read
• Helps you get to know your students
• Aids in assessing learning problems quickly
OBJECTIONS TO EXPLORATORY WRITING
• Reading these informal
pieces can consume too
much of an instructor’s
time
• Students may regard it
as ‘busy work’ (unless its
relationship to the
course is made clear)
•
•
•
•
CONSIDERATIONS FOR INTEGRATING
EXPLORATORY WRITING INTO YOUR CLASS
What name should you use for this type of
writing? (informal, low-stakes, exploratory,
thinking piece, etc.)
When and how often should you collect this
writing? (not at all; in batches periodically;
individually as written; check on blogs/threaded
discussions)
Who reads this writing? (you, classmates, the
writer)
How should you mark them? (pass/fail; ✔, ✔+,
✔-; 5-point scale)
IDEAS FOR INCORPORATING EXPLORATORY WRITING INTO
COURSES
In-class writing
• Five minutes at start to probe a subject
• During class to refocus a lagging discussion or
cool off a heated one
• During class to ask questions, express confusion
• Five minutes at end to sum up lecture or
discussion
‘Minute paper’ (variations)
1) What is the most significant thing you learned today?,
2) What question is uppermost in your mind at the
conclusion of today’s session?, or
3) What is the muddiest point in the material I have just
covered?
Out-of-Class Journals, Blogs, Discussion
Form Postings
• Open-ended tasks (they write on whatever interests them X
pages or times a week)
• Semi-structured tasks (you give guidance to help them figure
out what to say)
• Guided tasks (you post subject-specific questions for students
to answer as homework)
• Double-entry notebooks (one side students summarize, interact
with course material & comment on it; other side they reflect on
their comments)
• Exam-prep journal (distribute list of exam questions early in
course from which midterm & final will be drawn; students
devote section of journal to answering each question)
CREATIVITY EXERCISES
• Writing dialogues (as students to write imaginary
‘meeting of the minds’ dialogue between people with
opposing viewpoints
• Bio-poems (formulaic structure to create poem that
expresses what writer sees as significant about an
individual’s life)
• Metaphor games-extended analogies (look at X from
the perspective of Y; make the familiar strange and the
strange familiar) (e.g., Writing a lab report is like
_________; ‘Napoleon is to the French Revolution as
_________ is to ______.’)
SAMPLE BIO-POEM
Line a: First name
Line 2: 4 traits that describe
character
Line 3: Relative of (brother of, sister
of …)
Line 4: Love of (list 3 things or
people)
Line 5: Who feels (three items)
Line 6: Who needs (three items)
Line 7: Who fears (three items)
Line 8: Who gives (three items)
Line 9: Who would like to (three
items)
Line 10 Resident of
Line 11: Last name.
Inquisitor,
Cynical, bold, all knowing, and fearless.
Friend of no one, peer of few.
Lover of self, wisdom, and unconquerable
knowledge.
Who feels neither pity, nor compassion nor
the love of God.
Who needs no man, save for himself.
Who fears the kiss that warms his heart.
And the coming tide which will not retreat.
Who radiates cold shafts of broken glass
And who fits all mankind with collar and
chain.
Who would like to see the deceivers burn
And Christ to be humbled before him.
Resident of ages past,
“The Grand Inquisitor”
INVENTION TASKS FOR FORMAL ASSIGNMENTS
• Tasks for scaffolding a major assignment
(exploratory tasks all serve as scaffolding
for a major paper)
• Rapid first drafts (have students write
first drafts for five or six essays but select
only one or two for revision into finished
products)
Shaped Exercises to Practice
Thesis-Governed Writing
•
Practice Essay Exams (distribute essay exam
question that is due in class next day)
•
Thesis Statement Writing (write a one-sentence
summary of an essay’s argument)
Evaluating Exploratory Writing
Do not use criteria similar to formal
assignments
Do mark based on students’ time on task
(quantity of writing) or students’
engagement/complexity of thinking (quality
of thought content) or both
o Check system
o 5-point numeric scale
Points for Discussion
Which of these suggestions have you tried
before?
How did they work?
Which suggestions strike you as particularly,
useful, appropriate (or inappropriate) to try in your
classes?