Out With the Workbook, In
With the Workshop: Passing
and Surpassing the HSAP
Leslie Kaczmarczyk
SWP Summer Institute
June 23rd, 2011
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dby03O
czjps&list=PL2887B9046BB74A9C&t=1s
•http://www.youtube.com/v/Dby03Oczjps&list=PL2887B9046BB74A9C&t=1s
The Immersion/HSAP Connection
“Students who are immersed in reading
and writing for real reasons and real
audiences, on a daily basis, do fine on
any assessment. They are thinkers who
can figure out what any audience needs
to know and how to convey that
information” (264).
--Brenner, Devon, et al. “Thinking Through
Assessment.” Adolescent Literacy:
Turning Promise Into Practice
Group Discussion
What does standardized test
preparation look like in your school
and classroom?
What obstacles do you and your
colleagues face in regards to
preparing students for standardized
tests?
Teacher Responses
How It Looks
Our Obstacles
Essential Questions
• How do I go about decoding or
“translating” the HSAP (or PASS) rubric?
• How do I use the translation of the rubric
in my writing workshop?
• How do I accommodate my lessons for
variations of time and student ability
levels?
On Teaching Students to Read the
Language of Tests:
“Not only must the reader make sense of
the way words are used (on the
test)…be he must note the type of
words used” (136).
--Jim Burke, The English Teacher’s
Companion
The Importance of Studying the
Rubric
• “Students benefit from learning about scoring
systems when their own writing will be
subjected to this kind of evaluation. Having
students study rubrics…and asking students to
use them to evaluate pieces of writing helps
them understand how scoring works at the
same that it gives them new ways to think more
generally about the quality of writing.”
• Gere, Anne Ruggles, et al. Writing on Demand:
Best Practices and Strategies for Success.
Understanding The Extended
Response Rubric
• The extended response writing
prompt is based on one of the four
modes of writing:
– Narrative
– Expository
– Description
– Persuasion
Each student composition is scored
according to the following rubric:
Translating the Test
• “Both curriculum documents and
large-scale writing assessments
tend to use the language of mode
to name what it is students should
be doing with writing. Figuring out
what to gather to support children
in learning about these different
kinds of writing involves an act of
curriculum translation on the part of
the teachers of writing” (85).
• Ray, Katie Wood. Study Driven.
The Translation How-To’s
• Read each of the criteria for scoring
student responses
• Underline, highlight, or write down specific
skills that students are asked to
demonstrate in their writing
• Notice the difference in language between
scores of 4, 3, 2, and 1 for each of the
bulleted criteria.
In your groups
Take a few minutes to “translate” the
provided HSAP rubric.
At your table, you will find four colored
cards. Label each one with the
following words: content, organization,
voice, conventions
Under each heading, pick out the skills
that are being assessed for that
heading.
Think in terms of mini-lessons that you
could teach your students.
Content (Teacher Group Notes)
Organization (Teacher Group
Notes)
Voice (Teacher Group Notes)
Conventions (Teacher Group
Notes)
Designing Mini-Lessons
• After decoding or “translating” the writing
rubric, teachers can then begin working on
mini-lessons for students.
• It is best to start with mentor texts that are
easily accessible to students and then
progress to texts that are more challenging.
• These mini-lessons will result not only in
writing instruction, but also in reading
instruction. For example, when you teach
students how an author goes about adding
specific details, you will also be teaching
them main idea, effective transitioning, and
relevance.
Sample Mini-Lesson
• Read the provided text excerpt.
• As you read, talk in your groups
about where this text could fit in
terms of an HSAP rubric minilesson.
Mini-Lesson Thoughts
Accommodating for Time and
Student Ability Levels
• Look for ways to streamline your teaching so that
the text serves more than one purpose.
• *See the provided lesson on using imagery.
• Know your students! Teach the skills that need
the most development first.
• Choose mentor texts for a variety of reading and
interest levels.
• If using a “noticings” chart, guide your students
in the direction that you want them to notice
things. (Examples provided)
• Give students purposeful choice. For example,
you could provide students with a collection of
writing topics and have them select two to write
about.
• Don’t beat yourself up for having an
OCCASSIONAL prompt day.
What About Those Prompts?
• Katie Wood Ray says, “I do believe that
students should have some experience
going from a prompt they’ve never seen to
a finished piece of writing in a single sitting
before they have to do this on a test. The
only way I know to get experience with this
weird process is just to practice it from
time to time…in between studies, for
example” (186).
In Conclusion
• Katie Wood Ray says, “I’ve actually never seen
a description or a rubric for a writing test that
said students needed to write a formulaic, unreal
kind of writing in order to do well on it, even
though myths abound that this is true” (186).
• If you utilize the writer’s workshop on a regular
basis and in an authentic way, then students
WILL do well on standardized writing tests
because they’ve been immersed in good writing.
Works Cited
Beers, K., Probst, R. E., & Rief, L. (Eds.). (2007).
Adolescent Literacy: Turning Promise Into Practice.
Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.
Burke, J. (2003). The English Teacher's Companion: A
Complete Guide To Classroom, Curriculum, and The
Profession. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.
Gere, A. R., Christenbury, L., & Sassi, K. (2005). Writing On
Demand: Best Practices and Strategies for Success.
Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.
Ray, K. W. (2006). Study Driven: A Framework For
Planning Units of Study In The Writing Workshop.
Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.