Digging into the Writing Standards For Grades 3–6, Facilitator Handbook
Digging into the Writing Standards for Grades 3–6
Professional Development
Facilitator Handbook
— SAMPLER —
Pearson School Achievement Services
Digging into the Writing Standards for Grades 3–6
Facilitator Handbook
Published by Pearson School Achievement Services, a division of Pearson, Inc.
1900 E. Lake Ave., Glenview, IL 60025
© 2011 Pearson, Inc.
All rights reserved.
Printed in the United States of America.
ISBN 115453
Facilitator Agenda
Digging into the Writing Standards for Grades 3–6
Section / Time / Agenda ItemsIntroduction / 10 minutes / Slides 1–3
Introduction and Welcome
Outcomes
Agenda
1: Opinion/Argument Writing / 90 minutes / Slides 4–12
Section 1 Big Questions
The Role of Opinion/Argument
Activity: The Role of Opinion/Argument
Foundations of Argument Writing
Activity: Foundations of Argument Writing
Activity: Examining Student Work
Elements of Argument
Activity: Creating an Argument
Writing for an Authentic Audience and Purpose
Activity: Writing for an Authentic Audience and Purpose
Supporting Argument
Activity: Supporting Argument
Revisit the Section 1 Big Questions
Break / 15 minutes
2: Informational/Explanatory Writing / 90 minutes / Slides 13–20
Section 2 Big Questions
What is informational/explanatory writing?
Informational/Explanatory Writing in Your Classroom
Activity: Informational/Explanatory Writing in Your Classroom
Informational/Explanatory vs. Opinion/Argument Writing
Activity: Informational/Explanatory vs. Opinion/Argument Writing
Key Ideas of Informational/Explanatory Writing
Progression of Informational/Explanatory Writing
Activity: Progression of Informational/Explanatory Writing
Supporting English Language Learners with Mentor Texts
Activity: Supporting English Language Learners with Mentor Texts
Revisit the Section 2 Big Questions
Lunch / 30 minutes
3: Narrative Writing / 90 minutes / Slides 21–30
Section 3 Big Question
The Value of Narrative Writing
Activity: The Value of Narrative Writing
What is narrative writing?
Challenges of Narrative Writing
Activity: Challenges of Narrative Writing
Looking at the Standards
Activity: Looking at the Standards
Narrative Writing Prompt
Activity: Narrative Writing Prompt
Working on Narrative Skills in Grades 3–6
Activity: Narrative Writing Skills: Sequencing
Supporting English Language Learners
Activity: Supporting English Language Learners
Genre Reflection
Activity: Genre Reflection
Revisit the Section 3 Big Question
Break / 15 minutes
4: Research / 30 minutes / Slides 31–35
Section 4 Big Question
Research in the Writing Genres
Activity: Research in the Writing Genres
Research in the Standards
Activity: Research in the Standards
Research in Your Classroom
Activity: Research in Your Classroom
Revisit the Section 4 Big Question
5: Review and Closing / 20 minutes / Slides 36–41
Review and Closing
Reflection
Outcomes Review
Closing
References
Total / 6 hours
Workshop Outcomes
At the conclusion of this workshop, you will be able to
· plan appropriate writing prompts and assignments to scaffold students to higher standards;
· apply grade-appropriate instructional strategies that support students in writing opinion/argument and informative/explanatory pieces; and
· support English language learners (ELLs) in achieving the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) for writing.
Big Questions
Section 1
· What does effective opinion writing look like?
· What does effective argument writing look like?
· How can you support opinion and argument writing in your classroom?
Section 2
· What does effective informational/explanatory writing look like?
· How can you support informational/explanatory writing in your classroom?
Section 3
· How can you support narrative writing in your classroom?
Section 4
· What is the role of research in the CCSS?
Section 6
· What have you learned during today’s session?
SECTION SAMPLE
Section 1: Opinion/Argument Writing (Slides 4–12)
Time: 90 minutes
Big Questions
· What does effective opinion writing look like?
· What does effective argument writing look like?
· How can you support opinion and argument writing in your classroom?
Training Objectives
· Identify the role of opinion writing.
· Identify the necessary foundations of argument writing that Grade 3–6 students must develop.
· Identify opinion/argument writing skills present in student work.
· Identify specific strategies to help students write opinions.
Materials per Section
· Participants’ copies of the Participant Workbook
· Participants’ copies of the CCSS for ELA
· Participants’ copies of the CCSS for ELA appendices
· Chart paper
· Bold markers
Topic / Presentation Points / Presentation Preview /Section 1 Big Questions / · Display Slide 4.
· Explain to participants that in the first section of the workshop, they will discover the answers to the questions on this slide.
· What does effective opinion writing look like?
· What does effective argument writing look like?
· How can you support opinion and argument writing in your classroom? /
PW: Page 6
The Role of Opinion/Argument
Foundations of Argument Writing
Elements of Argument
Creating an Argument
Writing for an Authentic Audience and Purpose
Supporting Opinion/Argument
/ Note to facilitator:
Explain to participants that the words opinion and argument are not being used interchangeably. The standards clearly delineate that in Grades K–5, students are engaging in opinion writing. In Grade 6, this skill shifts to argument writing, which is different than basic persuasive writing. The opinion writing that students do in K–5 will build the foundational skills they need to be ready for argument writing that occurs in Grades 6–12.
It may be helpful to have participants glance at Writing Standard 1 K–12 to see the shift from opinion writing to argument writing. However, they will have activities that specifically address this change later in the morning.
If participants did not attend the foundational overview workshops, consider giving them time to review The Special Place of Argument in the Standards section found on pages 24–25 of CCSS Appendix A. Participants who attended Day 2 of the Foundational Overview will have already examined this section. Highlights from this section include:
-Only about 20% of students are prepared to write academic arguments when they enter college.
-Argument forces us to consider two or more perspectives and to evaluate strengths and weakness—a habit of mind that is necessary in many college classes.
-Argument moves beyond surface knowledge to critical thinking and analysis.
-Argumentative thinking is the basis of research.
· Display Slide 5.
· Ask for a volunteer to read the quotation from Slide 5 to the group. This information can also be found on page 6 of the Participant Workbook.
“While all three text types are important, the Standards put a particular emphasis on students’ ability to write sound arguments on substantive topics and issues, as this ability is critical to college and career readiness.”
(Common Core State Standards Initiative 2010b, 24)
· Invite participants to turn and talk to a partner about the key phrase, “sound arguments on substantive topics.” Ask that they work together to put this phrase into their own words. Invite a few participants to share their responses. For example, a sample response might be clear, logical, factually supported arguments on relevant, meaningful topics.
· Lead a brief discussion about why argument is so critical to college and career readiness. Point out that while K–12 students often spend a great deal of time writing narrative pieces, a significant portion of the writing they will be asked to do in college and in their careers will fall under the argument genre.
· Also reinforce the distinction between argument and persuasion, which was covered in the Foundational Overview workshop. Many state tests and curriculum documents ask student to write “persuasion” and sometimes teachers think that argument is just another term that means the same thing. However, the writers of the CCSS were very clear that they are asking for a reasoned, logical academic argument, not a persuasive essay.
· Ask participants to consider how often students in their classroom are asked to write within the opinion/argument genre. Many participants may say that their curriculum currently emphasizes persuasion rather than argument.
· Recognize that argument is a very complex type of writing, and the opinion writing that will happen in Grades 3, 4, and 5 will lay the foundation for the high-level, complex argument writing that students will do, starting in Grade 6.
· Display Slide 6.
· Explain that participants will now look at their grade-level standards for opinion/argument writing to determine what skills need to be taught to prepare students for the complex argument writing they will need to do later on. Direct participants to page 7 in their Participant Workbook.
· Explain to participants that they should reflect on Writing Standard 1 for Grades 3–5 and discuss with a partner what key skills need to be taught. Participants will look at the shift from Grade 5 to Grade 6 in an upcoming activity.
After participants have had time to discuss with a partner, engage in whole-group discussion. After whole-group discussion is finished, review some key skills listed on Slide 6. Note: you will need to click to advance each key skill. Some of these skills may have been discussed as a group, review those and continue to lead a discussion about the other skills
Introducing and stating opinions: Students must introduce their topic and clearly state an opinion. Additionally, they must establish an organizational structure early on that supports their purpose.
Supporting opinions with logical reasons: Students must learn early on that they need to make their thinking visible to the reader. This means providing logical reasoning to support their opinions.
Linking opinion and reasons: Students will use linking words, clauses, or phrases to connect their opinions with the reasoning to support those opinions.
Providing a concluding statement or section: Students must learn the skill of wrapping up their thoughts or providing a sense of closure to a piece of writing. This is a skill that they will work on not only with opinion writing, but with narrative and informative/explanatory, as well.
· Display Slide 7.
· Explain to participants that they will now examine student writing to identify the application of these skills.
· Refer participants to page 8 in the Participant Workbook.
· After participants have studied the student work, engage in group discussion specifically about the fourth question: What would you teach this child next? What is he or she ready to learn? (Participants will find answers to the first question in the annotations following the writing sample).
Sample responses to question 4:
- The student may be ready to focus on refining the organizational structure of the support in the body paragraphs (this is a new skill in Grade 5).
-The student may be ready to experiment with new vocabulary for transitional phrases and clauses.
If participants do not bring this up in discussion, emphasize that the structure of the standards allows teachers to differentiate for students by looking at before or after skills from other grade levels.
Note to facilitator: Adjust the amount of time you devote to the information on this slide depending on participants’ level of familiarity with the relationship between the College and Career Readiness (CCR) Anchor Standards and the grade-specific standards. This will be a review for participants who attended the Foundational Overview workshop.
· Display Slide 8.
Remind participants that in Grade 6, the CCSS shift from opinion writing to argument writing. At this time, we will examine exactly what that shift means.
Note to facilitator: Adjust the amount of time you devote to the information on this slide depending on participants’ level of familiarity with the elements of argument. This will be a review for participants who attended the Foundational Overview workshop.
· Briefly discuss that argument is a way of thinking. We build this way of thinking every time we ask students to support their claims with reasons or cite textual evidence for an assertion about a piece of literature.
· Refer participants to the definitions provided on this slide. As you review each definition, encourage participants to fill-in-the blanks on page 8 of the Participant Workbook. Discuss the Claim—Evidence—Warrant structure of a formal argument. The warrant is the logic that connects the evidence to the claim. Acknowledge that the last two items in this list, counterclaim and rebuttal, are more likely to be expected of secondary, rather than elementary students.
Claim: the position or assertion that supports an argument
Evidence: the facts or reasons that support the claim
Warrant: the chain of reasoning that connects the evidence to the claim
Counterclaim: an opposing position or assertion
Rebuttal: logical reasons for rejecting the counterclaim
· Display Slide 9.
Note to facilitator: Additional clicks are required for the sample answers on this PowerPoint slide to appear.
· Let participants know that they’ll now have an opportunity to practice crafting a basic argument. Emphasize that while there isn’t sufficient time to write a fully developed argument, this activity will provide an idea of what each of the elements looks like.
· Model for participants crafting an argument by going through the example on Slide 9. Try to study this example beforehand so you can talk through each part of the argument before displaying it.
Topic: Should people be encouraged to commute by bicycle, rather than by car?
• Claim: People should be encouraged to commute by bicycle, rather
than by car.
• Evidence: Maintaining a bicycle is significantly less expensive than
maintaining a car.
• Warrant: Spending less money on commuting expenses is a good thing in this tough economy.
• Counterclaim: Some may say that riding a bicycle to work would increase commuting time and therefore decrease productivity and money earned.
• Rebuttal: However, bicycles can navigate rush-hour congestion more efficiently than cars.
· After modeling, ask that participants work in small groups to develop an argument based on a topic they think their students would feel strongly about. Participants can record their thoughts on page 9 of the Participant Workbook. When participants are finished, ask for a few small groups to share their responses with the large group.
· Display Slide 10.
· Discuss the importance of creating authentic writing opportunities for students in which they write to a real audience for a specific purpose. Opinion- or argument-writing lends itself well to authentic writing. Students should be thinking about their audience as they craft, revise, and edit their writing.
· Direct participants to page 9 of the Participant Workbook and explain that they will brainstorm authentic writing opportunities for their students. You can start by going through the example given:
Students could write a restaurant review for their favorite restaurant. Once the work is published, it could be sent to the restaurant. The audience would be the restaurant owner and employees, as well as fellow customers of the restaurant. This opportunity allows students to write about their own experience of going to dinner with their family. It also allows them to think about a real audience as they write.
You can also remind participants of the authentic writing example in the student sample they looked at. The student was writing a letter to convince classmates to go on a certain field trip.
· Invite participants to share their responses and add to their chart as they listen to the ideas of others.
Display Slide 11.
· Refer participants to page 10 of the Participant Workbook. Review the quotation about students who are college and career ready.
The CCSS state that these students:
“Use relevant evidence when supporting their own points in writing and speaking, making their reason clear to the reader or listener, and they constructively evaluate others’ use of evidence.”
(Common Core State Standards Initiative 2010a, 7)
· Discuss how this emphasis on valuing evidence directly relates to effective argument writing. Talk about how this applies to all grade levels.
· Ask that participants work in table groups to answer the following question, which can also be found on page 10.
How can we support the argument genre across the grades and the curriculum?
Sample responses may include
-We can routinely ask students to provide support for their opinions (in appropriate grades).
-We can teach the difference between fact and opinion.
-We can teach students to recognize when authors write opinions and back the opinions with support.
-We can incorporate writing opinion pieces in content areas, such as social studies or science. / PW: Page 6
PW: Page 7
PW: Page 8
PW: Page 9
PW: Page 9
PW: Page 9
PW: Page 10
Revisit the Big Questions / · Display Slide 12.
· Before moving on to Section 2, revisit the Section 1 Big Questions. Invite participants to share what they have learned so far. /
© 2011 Pearson, Inc. All rights reserved. 6