Shooting for the StAArs:
Launching Persuasive and Expository Writing
Dr. L. Lennie Irvin
San Antonio College | Co-Director San Antonio Writing Project
lirvin@alamo.edu | lirvin.net
Starter
• Write down some key subjects/topics you teach in your
classroom.
A topic could be a work of literature, an area of content in another subject, concepts, or it
could be a skill or strategy you are teaching. For example, I teach Hamlet, Gilgamesh,
punctuation, essay form, how to integrate quotations effectively, documentation… .
• Pick one of these topic you teach and think about QUESTIONS
related to this topic—aspects that are problematic or
ambiguous or interesting. List a few questions.
• The problem of dropping quotes into a text. Really, the whole issue of setting up a quote
so it flows into a sentence.
• Is Hamlet crazy? What is the theme of honesty really all about? Why does Hamlet treat
Ophelia so badly?
Principles to Teach By
Principles to Teach Writing By
• #1: Effective instruction begins with the
design of the writing task. The task sets
clear goals that are “standards in action.”
Principles to Teach Writing By
• #2: The strategies and skills of writing are
best taught in the context of expressing a
whole utterance, rather than in isolated
particles (drills, worksheets, grammar in
isolation).
Principles to Teach Writing By
• #3: Students find meaning and motivation
as they engage in genuine communication
with real audiences for authentic
purposes. (#2 & #3 from --James Moffett,
Teaching the Universe of Discourse)
Principles to Teach Writing By
• #4: Students’ performance and learning as
they engage in writing tasks involves more
than just the assignment: they also depend
on the interactive components of the
reading-writing process as well as clear
explanations of writing goals and criteria.
Having students write
compositions ONLY in 26 lines
will not prepare them for
college
(…you can tell your Principal I said that!)
The Three Features of Effective
Writing Assignments
• Interactive Components
Interactive components situate writing as a process of inquiry and
discovery, promote productive talk about the writer’s emerging
ideas, and encourage multiple drafts and global revision.
• A Meaning-Construction Task
A “meaning-construction” task asks students to bring their own
thinking to bear on subjects that matter to both the writer and the
intended audience. [It] typically presents students with a disciplinary
problem.
• Clear Explanation of Writing Expectations
Effective assignments clearly present the instructor’s expectations
for a successful performance. Ideally the assignment prompt also
explains the purpose of the assignment in terms of the course’s
learning goals and presents the instructor’s grading criteria, often in
the form of a rubric.
Approach #1:
Kernel Sentences as Seeds for Writing
• structures to help writers define and develop their thinking
• a strong, simple frame to sustain an idea so writers can see it
as a whole and see how the parts fit
• prompt students to make moves in their writing they might
not otherwise make
• text structures foster and track movements of the mind
Kernel Sentences and Text Structures
• from Ponsot and Dean
• Once I was _____; Now I am ______.
• That ______ is the way it was, and it made this difference.
• They say _____, but my experience tells me ______.
• from Bernabei
• Some people think -> And other people think -> but I think ->
What that tells me.
• What I used to think -> but this happened -> so now I think.
• Some people think -> Other people think -> I think -> So now…
Template Tasks from The Literacy Design
Collaborative
• Template tasks are flexible shells that are open to content
from any discipline. When filled with teacher-defined content,
they are called “teaching tasks” and fit within an entire
Assignment Module which fosters all three components of
effective writing assignments.
Literacy Design Collaborative
http://www.literacydesigncollaborative.org
Example of a Template Task:
• [Insert question] After reading ______ (literature or
informational texts), write _______ (essay or substitute) that
addresses the question and support your position with
evidence from the text(s). L2 Be sure to acknowledge
competing views. L3 Give examples from past or current
events or issues to illustrate and clarify your position.
Examples of three “Teaching Tasks” built
from the above template task
• ELA teaching task: Would you recommend A Wrinkle in Time to a
middle school reader? After reading this science fiction novel, write
a review that addresses the question and support your position with
evidence from the text.
• Social studies teaching task: How did the political views of the
signers of the Constitution impact the American political system?
After reading Founding Brothers: The Revolutionary Generation,
write a report that addresses the question and support your position
with evidence from the text.
• Science teaching task: Does genetic testing have the potential to
significantly impact how we treat disease? After reading scientific
sources, write a report that addresses the question and support
your position with evidence from the texts. L2 Be sure to
acknowledge competing views. L3 Give examples from past or
current events or issues to illustrate and clarify your position.
Approach #2:
RAFTS with a TIP
Role
Audience
Format
Topic
Strong Verb
Topic as
Intriguing
Problem
Example RAFTS:
• As a student council representative for the ninth grade (Role),
you have been asked to write a letter (Format) to a group of
eighth graders (Audience) who have recently registered for
their first high school schedules. This particular group of
students has high rates of absenteeism, poor grades, and low
self-esteem. In your letter, advise (Strong verb) students on
how to succeed in high school (Topic).
• ***RAFTS work best when writers are positioned into playing the
role of an “expert”--or person with more knowledge--writing toward
a less expert or knowledgeable audience.
Example RAFTS
• Science Writing Assignment
• You are a meteorologist who has been invited to speak at a
Clark Elementary 4th grade class. Write a 3-minute speech
explaining how heat affects the water cycle. L2 Provide some
examples of how rising temperatures have influenced our
water cycle recently. L3 Present some predictions for how
increasing temperatures might influence the water cycle and
our weather in the future.
• Role: Meteorologist
• Audience – 4th graders
• Format – 3 minute speech
• Topic – the influence of heat on the water cycle
Strong Verb – explain
More Examples
• What are the issues that matter most to voters in 2012?
You are a reporter and contributing writer for our class Election
information website, Decision2012@SAC. You will write a profile of a
voter, describing him or her and the subject or issue that matters
most to him or her. The topic for this paper will be the individual you
choose and the specific issue or thing that matters most to this
person and will influence how he or she votes. Your audience will be
other voters. Our local audience will be the SAC community of
students and faculty. Our direct audience will be our classmates in
English 1301, but as a website our online election information site is
accessible by anyone.
Example RAFT
• Should the City of San Antonio approve a proposed Obesity
Prevention Ordinance? (Imagine) You are a lawyer who will be
presenting an argument before the City of San Antonio’s City
Council regarding a proposed Obesity Prevention City
Ordinance to ban the sale of sugary drinks bigger than 16
ounces and require all restaurants to publish calorie counts on
menu items. From the articles we have read, you are to build
an argumentative essay in support of or in opposition to this
ordinance.
• This essay will be presented to the City Council at their next
meeting where they will be debating the ordinance. Support
your position on this issue with logical arguments and
appropriate evidence from the readings.
Writing Your Own
• Go back to your list of subjects you are teaching and the
questions you have about one subject.
• Design one to three writing prompts that either fit as template
tasks or as RAFT + TIP topics.
(Try, if you can, to create a writing task that uses “persuade”
or “convince” as a “strong verb.”)
• You can even combine the two different approaches. Use a
kernel sentence or LDC template task and “RAFT” it.)
Discussion
• How might you use these kinds of assignments
in your classroom?
Resources for Designing Writing
Assignments
• Bean, John C. Engaging Ideas: The Professor’s Guide to Integrating Writing, Critical
Thinking, and Active Learning in the Classroom. 2nd ed. San Francisco: John Wiley &
Sons, 2011.
• Bernabie, Gretchen. “Text Structures: Alternatives to the Schoolified Essay.” Web.
Bernabie, Gretchen and Dottie Hall. The Story of My Thinking. Portsmouth:
Heinemann, 2012.
• Daretodifferentiate: http://daretodifferentiate.wikispaces.com/Home
• Gardner, Traci. Designing Writing Assignments. Urbana, Ill: National Council of
Teachers of English, 2008. Available at http://wac.colostate.edu/books/gardner/
• The Literacy Design Collaborative: http://www.literacydesigncollaborative.org/
Moffat, James. Teaching the Universe of Discourse. Boynton/Cook, 1983.
NCTE Beliefs About the Teaching of Writing:
http://www.ncte.org/positions/statements/writingbeliefs
• Ponsot, Marie and Rosemary Dean. Beat Not the Poor Desk. Writing: What to teach,
How to teach it and Why.
• Upper Montclair, New Jersey: Boynton/Cook, 1982.
• 501 Writing Prompts
http://www.misd.net/languageart/GrammarInAction/501WritingPrompts.pdf