Jared Caudill
EDLD 390
TIPOD Form
CONTENT AREA: WRITING
STRATEGY: #
GRADE LEVEL:
STRATEGY NAME:
6-8
DARE,CDO
SOUTH CAROLINA STATE ACADEMIC CONTENT STANDARD:
6-5.4 Create persuasive writings that develop a central idea with supporting evidence and use language
appropriate for the specific audience.
7-5.4 Create persuasive pieces that include a stated position with supporting evidence for a specific
audience.
8-5.4 Create persuasive pieces that support a clearly stated position with concrete evidence.
SOURCE:
Monroe, B., Troia, G. (2006). Teaching writing strategies to middle school students with disabilities.
of Educational Research, 100 (1), 21-33. Retrieved from ERIC database.
Journal
MATERIALS/EQUIPMENT NEEDED:
1.Persuasive Essays (Model) See attached
2.Pencil
3.Scorecards (graph) (Content, Organization, Sentence Fluency, Word Choice, and Conventions) See Attached
4.Paper
5.Essay Prompts
PROCEDURE/STEPS:
1.Discuss ways to start writing as a class by reviewing topic sentences and thesis statements. The class will set
goals for the persuasive essay such as improving persuasive essays by peer revision.
2.Present structures of persuasive essays (DARE). (Develop a position statement, Add supporting arguments,
Report and refute counterarguments, and End with a strong conclusion)
3.Students choose one of the essay prompts about which to write about.
4.The class reviews DARE and examines one of the exemplary essays.
5.The class reviews the goal of the project. The goal is to improve writing by peer-reviews and revision.
6.Students write their essays.
7.Scorecards are introduced for the essays. A student will score another students essay in the class. They will
score from 1-10. 1 meaning it needs a lot more work. 10 meaning its terrific. The teacher will go over how to
score the papers on the scorecards by telling the students what each point means.
8.The teacher will introduce the CDO strategy. Compare, Diagnose, and Operate means to compare papers with
peers, diagnose the weak points in the paper, and operate on the paper to improve the quality.
9.Students will go back and revise their papers one more time using the CDO strategy.
10.Students will choose a different person to re-score their paper.
11.Students will discuss with one another aspects that need improvement in the paper.
12.Students then write their final copies of the essays.
ADAPTATION CONSIDERATIONS:
1. For a student who has a learning disability including dysgraphia or dyslexia, adapt this strategy by simplifying
language of writing prompts by substituting words.
RATIONALE:
This teaching strategy will help students write essays that have a clear, central idea, supporting evidence, and
will be written for an intended audience.
Example Essay
You've Got Internet
During a presidential radio address in 1997, President Clinton stated, "We must prepare our children for
the 21st century-with the full promise of the Information Age at their fingertips." Although the
enormous task of wiring schools to the internet is expensive, students will benefit from the knowledge
they gain by surfing the world from their classrooms. In order to insure a technically literate future for
generations to come, computer and internet accessibility should be provided for all schools.
First, in order to achieve success, help from the state and federal government is a must. In a news
release, Governor Keating proposed using 70 million dollars to help schools link up to high-speed
connections, especially in rural Oklahoma. Because some older schools had to be completely rewired in
order to receive the technology, government programs were able to help them move forward. While
helping schools out in this way, the assistance will hopefully pay off by preparing students for the
technology to come.
Of course there is opposition. One concern from Senator Hollings (D-SC) was that with children
becoming more comfortable with the internet, they might have access to inappropriate material. To
remedy this, the Internet Protection Act and the Safe Schools Internet Act were established.
On the other hand, others feel that there are already too many programs. Senator Don Nickels thinks
that the ideas sound good, but instead of creating new programs, we should focus on fixing what
doesn't work.
One program that did work was giving rhe Federal Communications Commission the ability to give
discounts for schools. This is called E-rate, a discounted telecommunications service for schools and
libraries. For example, with help from E-rate, seventh graders at Whitebead School in Pauls Valley,
Oklahoma, communicated directly with scientists conducting research in Africa. The students were
then able to write papers based on what they learned from the research.
We shouldn't rely only on support from the government; without community support where would the
schools be? Be active in helping your community schools become internet accessible.
Essay Prompts
1. Some fifth graders think they are old enough to decide how late they can stay up at night. What do
YOU think? Explain when you think kids are old enough to set their own bedtimes. Give reasons that
will convince your readers to agree with you.
2. Think of a rule you would like changed. Try to talk an adult into changing that rule.
3. You want to convince your parents to let you buy a very expensive item (TV, computer, ski
vacation, etc.). Write to persuade them to purchase the item for you.
Scorecard of Essays
10
8
6
4
2
0
Content
Organization
Sentence
Fluency
Word
Choice
Conventions