Jagtime Writing

2014-2015

  • It is time for us tohave students reading and responding to informative articles as a focus for assessment of writing again.
  • We will have a full week of Jagtime dedicated to:
  • Reading and analyzing an informative article
  • Making a plan for responding in writing
  • Writing a response
  • Before writing, remind students of the mini lessons that we have already went over. Also remind them that responding to an article should include at least two paragraphs and each paragraph consists of a new central idea and supporting details.
  • You may want to go back to November’s Jag lesson again and show examples of good work. (Optional)
  • Read this article individually or as a big group.

Plan for Feb 9,10,12

  1. You may want to first share with students their score from the 1st assessment. These are in the spreadsheet attached.
  2. Discuss with students how the assessment and writing activity will work. Explain to them that they will be reading an article dealing with collegeand then responding to it in writing in at least two paragraphs. Remind them that each paragraph should discuss one topic and have a main idea and supporting details.
  3. Show students the list of response questions. (Listed below) Explain that these are simply ideas to help them decide what to write about. They will choose two of these, or use their own ideas, and write a response to the article with a minimum of two paragraphs.
  4. Have students plan their response and being writing. (What will they write about?)
  5. Students should finish their writing by the end of Jag on the 12th.
  6. All Jag teachers should grade each student paper and have these grades in the spreadsheet attached by Feb. 20th. This is important, as we are using this to assess writing progress in our school.

Grading:

If you have extra time, have students look at the rubric and grade their own and look at a partner’s work and grade theirs. This will help them become familiar with common errors and/or good writing.

Response Questions for Articles

  1. Why is your topic important?
  2. Discuss what you have learned by reading this.
  3. Explain what you feel while reading this article.
  4. What part of the article was the most interesting?
  5. Would you like to read more about this topic? Explain why or why not.
  6. Does the author explain new concepts to you? Give an example. What are you still unsure of?
  7. If you were the author explain what you would do differently.
  8. Compare and contrast two individuals, events or concepts from the selection.
  9. How is the information that you have read similar or different from other texts, (or what you already know) about the subject?
  10. Explain the point of the author’s writing, and what words or information were used to prove the point?