Thinking About Assignments
Low-stakes and scaffolding
Informal or Low-Stakes
Writing
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Is not graded at the level of formal
writing
Is not evaluated for grammar or
mechanics
Does not always require to be read or
responded to by the instructor.
Informal or Low-Stakes
Writing
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Helps students discover what they
know, think and feel in relation to a
topic or a segment of text.
Can be done at home or in class
It’s brief, spontaneous and generally
(but not always) writer-centered.
Informal or Low-Stakes Writing
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Helps students discover, develop and
clarify their own thinking
Encourages them to reflect on course
material
Can be used as a precursor to a longer
assignment
Informal or Low-Stakes
Writing
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Can stimulate and focus class
discussions
Provides insight into student learning
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See Peter Elbow handout (green)
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Informal or Low-Stakes
Writing
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Better class discussion because they’ve
had a chance to collect their thoughts
on paper.
Thoughts-on-paper can also be a
source of feedback for teachers to find
out what needs to be clarified or
reviewed
Examples of low-stakes
assignments
Focused free writes
(Free writing is the technique of writing, usually for a
fixed amount of time, without taking the pen from the
page or repairing mistakes)
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Can be used at the beginning of class to probe a subject
During a class to refocus a lagging discussion or cool off
a heated one or to gauge understanding of a point or
concept
At the end of class to sum up the key point of a lecture
or a confusion.
Examples of low-stakes
assignments
Journals
 open-ended, semi-structured, double-entry,
exam prep, contemporary issues related to your
subject; reading logs.
Creative writing
 imagined interviews with, or letters to, authors
or business people; taking another person's role
or perspective; dialogues to explore opposing
viewpoints.
Examples of low-stakes
assignments
E-writing
 on-line chats on a reading or topic;
discussion board entries; e-mail smallgroup discussions; e-mail to instructor.
Examples of low-stakes
assignments
Think pieces
 Exploratory (thought out and worked
over) but not yet an essay and not
merely free writing.
 Can be about the reading or the issues
they should consider more carefully.
Examples of low-stakes
assignments
Think pieces
 Can make it a simple, matter-of-fact
requirement, but enforced by making
substantial credit depend on doing
them all.
 Instructor can read quickly or carefully.
 Can have students read aloud in pairs
or small groups at the start of class.
Examples of low-stakes
assignments
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Think pieces
Examples
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compare two concepts from the reading
compare a concept from the reading to
some experience from their lives
work out a definition
More benefits of low-stakes
assignments
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When students understand that they are
being asked for two very different kinds of
writing in the course, two things happen:
Their essays get better because of their
extensive practice with low stakes think
pieces
Their low stakes writing gets more thoughtful
when they experience it as practice for the
high stakes essays (and relief from them too).
– Peter Elbow
Scaffolding or sequencing
writing assignments
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Assignments that break reading,
analysis and writing into component
parts and give students practice
developing mastery in each area,
building gradually towards more
complex, comprehensive writing tasks.
Example of scaffolding
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You first ask students to summarize, in
writing, the central argument of a reading
and three pieces of evidence the author used
to support it.
At a second stage, you might ask students to
write a critique of the argument in light of
that evidence and alternative evidence.
At a third stage, you might ask students to
write an essay comparing two readings in
terms of how compellingly the authors made
their cases.
Benefits of scaffolding or
sequencing
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provides a sense of coherence for the course
helps students see progress and purpose in their
work rather than seeing the writing assignments
as separate exercises
encourages complexity through sustained
attention, revision and consideration of multiple
perspectives
mirrors professional work in many professions.
Benefits of scaffolding or
sequencing
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Helps students who are overwhelmed by the
scope of an assignment or the number of
elements they are asked to incorporate.
gives instructors a chance to define
expectations and keep students on the right
track by dividing a major project into multiple
steps and drafts, perhaps including some lowstakes writing activities.
Examples of scaffolding or
sequencing
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Writing process.
At its simplest, "sequencing an assignment" can mean
establishing an "official" check of the prewriting and
drafting steps in the writing process.
This step guarantees that students will not write the
whole paper in one sitting and also gives students more
time to let their ideas develop.
Can be informal – having students work on their
prewriting or draft for a few minutes at the end of class.
Can be formal – collecting the prewriting and giving a
few suggestions and comments.
Examples of scaffolding or
sequencing
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Establish small groups.
Set up small writing groups of three-five
students from the class. Allow them to meet
for a few minutes in class or have them
arrange a meeting outside of class to
comment constructively on each other's
drafts.
Small writing groups
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Forces them to complete a betterquality rough draft – peer pressure
Read out loud – they catch their own
mistakes
Can stack the groups – have a
combination of good/bad students
Model critiques for them
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See white handout (Anson)
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Small writing groups
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Students are most valuable to each
other not as diagnosticians or advice
givers but as audience – as readers who
can reply with their reactions and
thoughts about the topic. – Peter Elbow
Examples of scaffolding or
sequencing
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Change audiences. In this approach,
students create drafts for different
audiences, moving from personal to public
(e.g., from self-reflection to an audience of
peers to an audience of specialists). Each
change would require different tasks and
more extensive knowledge.
Examples of scaffolding or
sequencing
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“Staging” a long-range project.
In a nearly semester-long English 101
project, a teacher had students choose a
current-events issue and made the following
assignments:
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Clip and summarize newspaper articles for 7-8
weeks
Find two magazine pieces (hard copy or from the
Internet)
Examples of scaffolding or
sequencing
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Make a list of the controversial aspects of the
issue and devise a leading argumentative question
about it.
Respond to the question
Turn the question into the main idea of a paper
that drew evidence from the articles newspaper
and magazine articles.
Along the way, she taught them how to use and
document quotations and set up a Works Cited
list.
See “Scaffolding” handout (blue) for other examples
Creating Effective Assignments
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Research shows the more detailed a
writing assignment is, the better the
student papers are
Make explicit for students the process
or steps necessary to complete the
assignment because many tend to treat
assignments as though they were stepby-step instructions.
Examine your goals for the
assignment
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1. How exactly does this assignment fit with the
objectives of your course?
2. Should this assignment relate only to the
class and the text or should it also relate to the
"real" world?
3. What do you want the students to learn or
experience from this writing assignment?
4. Should this assignment be an individual or a
collaborative effort?
Examine your goals for the
assignment
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5. What do you want students to show you in
this assignment?
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To demonstrate mastery of concepts or texts?
To demonstrate logical and critical thinking?
To develop an original idea?
To learn and demonstrate the procedures,
practices and tools of a field of study?
Additional insights
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Millennial research -- Andrew J.
Chernin, J.D., M.Ed., is a teacher and
counselor/trainer to Net Generation
employees and students.
achernin@managingupsystems.com
In designing assignments
Additional insights
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In scaffolding or breaking down
assignments
In solving real-life problems
Sources
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MIT Online Writing and Communication Center:
http://web.mit.edu/writing/Faculty/createeffective.ht
ml#creating
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How to design and teach a course, Carnegie Mellon:
http://www.cmu.edu/teaching/designteach/teach/inst
ructionalstrategies/writing/designassignments.html
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Writing Intensive Courses and Writing Across the
Curriculum, Ferris University:
http://www.ferris.edu/htmls/academics/wac/sample.h
tm#top
Sources
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Writing Across the Curriculum, Borough of Manhattan
Community College, The City University of New York:
http://socrates.bmcc.cuny.edu/WAC/assignments.htm
l#informal
“Writing for Learning--Not Just for Demonstrating
Learning” – Peter Elbow:
http://www.ntlf.com/html/lib/bib/writing.htm
“High Stakes and Low Stakes in Assigning and
Responding to Writing” – Peter Elbow:
http://www.wsc.mass.edu/facultycenter/lowstakesbenefits.pdf