RESPONDING TO STUDENT WRITING

1
RESPONDING TO STUDENT WRITING
2
When students understand the importance of what
they're trying to say as writers, they also care
about how their words go down on the page. They
know that in the end what they've said and how it
looks each contribute to a reader's appreciation
of text. I think we do our kids a disservice to
contend that a reader's appreciation is an
either/or proposition NANCIE ATWELL
3
THE ALCHEMY OF RESPONSE  
4
Responding to student writing is an imprecise
science

• purpose for writing
• kind of writing
• students
• time

Impossible for to have an infallible, rigid
formula  
5
f(x)A good response to writing
6
Ever Expanding Toolbox

• experience

• literature

7

• Responding is a continual process in which
  reflective teaching mingles with
• Tenacity
• Vision
• Knowledge about writing

8
Responding well should transform students drafts
into polished, final products. (rewrite by
rewrite)
9
We are modern day alchemist.
10
The immediate measure of our success is helping
students turn the basest metal in their writing
into gold.
11
The TRUE measure of our success is STUDENT
ACHIEVEMENT.
12
CONTENTS OF THE TOOLBOX MAY BE ENDLESS, BUT
13
Strategies for

1. Identifying and honing strengths of the paper
2. Focusing the paper in a way that moves it forward
3. Constructing an appropriate infrastructure for
   the writing
4. Discussing the relationship between error and
   clarity

14
Arresting start Initial focus of
writing Memorable beginning Satisfying
ending Clear sense of audience Clear sense of
purpose Effective use of figurative language
Identify audience Identify purpose Identify
organizational structure Suggest one that
works Suggest portions to chop Suggest portions
for elaboration
STRENGTHS
FOCUS
Identify errors that obscure intended
meaning Edit a paragraph or two with the
student Edit nothing thats illogical Dont
ignore editing
Become familiar with the rhetorical
demands Suggest a pattern or patterns of
development that work for the topic
INFRASTRUCTURE
FINE-LINE-EDIT
15

• Think of your responses as
• Part of on-going conversations
• Essential to the improvement of the students
  papers
• One of the best and simplest ways to
  differentiate instruction
• Pointless if they dont move students

16

• Strengths
• Clarity
• Specifics
• Guidance

17
You raise important issues but your organization
is weak. I never knew what to expect next. The
paper was lacking enough support. Where is the
development of the ideas?
You raise 3 important points on your second page,
but they get lost in the remainder of the paper.
On your next draft, focus on just those 3 and
support them with evidence and/or logical
argument gained from the course material or
outside sources.
I had trouble following your argument. It is not
coherent. There are not any transitions between
your ideas. I didnt know what your point was
until I read the last paragraph.
I was a little lost until I read your last
paragraph. It is a good summary of your argument
and it needs to be moved to the beginning of your
paper. Use it as a neat outline of what will
happen next, and then make sure the rest of the
paper supports your thesis.
http//depts.washington.edu/pswrite/responding
18
There is no thesis statement here. You are merely
summarizing the ideas of the two theorists,
rather than providing us with anything new. Where
are you in all this?
Most political science papers require you to make
an argument, rather than just summarize the
course material. You demonstrate a good
understanding of Hobbes and Locke, but you need
to make a claim that responds to the assignment
question. Be bold and direct about your thesis --
don't be afraid to take a stand!
http//depts.washington.edu/pswrite/responding

• Strengths
• Clarity

• Specifics
• Guidance

19
Specifics Clarity Strengths Guidance
In your second paragraph you did a good job
sticking to the main point plus key evidence,
something I hope to see more of in your next
summary. In the other paragraphs you mixed in
your personal opinions (I underlined opinions).
Look at the sample again. You haven't written a
summary. It's not only incoherent but you
included your opinions as well.
20
Good points in the intro but no clear argument
laid out Much in the intro appears to be ideas
from the student, but I know theyre
not Presents a plot summary Students stuck
Begins with a grand sweeping statement or
rhetorical question that forces a stand
Adds the business of the intro Title, author,
and background info
Chops till drops
Write nonstop without rules and pulls out stems
for paragraphs
21
Fluent writer bored Emerging writer lost 3rd
or so round of comments and no apparent movement
in drafts  
Complicate assignment with short text or shift
from the obvious pattern of development
Complicate assignment with short text that
magnifies a writing path
Rely on conversation, not written comments and
Go-in-Heavy
22
When students understand the importance of what
they're trying to say as writers, they also care
about how their words go down on the page. They
know that in the end what they've said and how it
looks each contribute to a reader's appreciation
of text. I think we do our kids a disservice to
contend that a reader's appreciation is an
either/or proposition
23
that readers either respond to content (in school
we usually call it "creativity") or to format (in
school, called "basic skills"). Readers respond
to both. If we teach simplistic formulas for good
writing we leave students wide open to readers'
disdain or, worse, their disinterest. Who, other
than a teacher, will read an illegible or
Unpunctuated text? What reader will read, very
far anyway, a mechanically perfect text that says
nothing?
NANCIE ATWELL, IN THE
MIDDLE