Teaching Writing to Teens

Kristy Miller--Writing workshop
Garth Witmer--Writing poetry
Sara Roman--fictional/creative writing
Frank Romeo--Non fictional/instructional writing

Good Writing Assignments

What are some common features to good writing assignments?

 

A good writing assignment should be broken down into 5 basic principles.  First, your writing assignment should reflect your district/school curriculum.  For instance, what specific classroom/lesson objective will this assignment satisfy? Will the assignment introduce new/old course material or reinforce a specific planned objective? Next, it is essential to know your students writing styles, in addition to their strengths and weaknesses.  In addition, it is important for your students to understand the purpose and meaning behind the assignment.  For example, a good writing assignment should be meaningful to the students, authentic, and reflective of their learning abilities.  This means that the writing should serve a purpose that the students recognize as real.   In addition, the students should be writing about specific and immediate situations rather than abstract and theoretical ones.  Another feature of a good writing assignment is to specify the requirements, what you expect, of the writing assignment.  The students should be provided with a complete list of the requirements, including a grading rubric, deadlines and complete writing instructions. Finally, the assignment should be broken down into manageable and predetermined steps to help structure and formulate a well written paper.  Another important step in the process is to take the time and discuss the assignment with your students. Good writing assignments are not just handed out and forgotten until it is due (http://wac.colostate.edu/intro/pop10d.cfm).

"Good writing assignments always start with a clear goal that the teacher can express, usually on the assignment sheet so that students understand the goal as well" (http://wac.colostate.edu/intro/pop10d.cfm).

 

Two (Three) websites

The History Net
The History Channel
Give Me Liberty: An American Journal

These websites will supplement a unit on Federal v. States rights/powers.  This unit takes place within a U.S. History, 10th grades average ability class.  The students will use these websites for interactive map exercises, primary source documents and audio/visual pod-casts.  In addition, the "Give Me Liberty" website includes primary source's that are accompanied by a media worksheet.  The students will also be able to take multiple choice and true/false quizzes to reinforce the material.  This website also includes a printable outline for the entire chapter along with a timeline date sheet for the students to complete.  The students can email me their worksheets, primary source documents and quiz/test scores.  They go directly to my email address where I can assess and provide feddback/comments.

Three Books

The Great Decision: by David McKean 
The Best american History Book: by Eric Burnett (Reading level: Ages 9-12)
Homework Helpers: U.S. History (1865-present): From Reconstruction Through the Dawn of the 21st Century: by Ron Olson


The unit on Federalist v. Anti-Federalists for grade 10 will be supplemented by the following three books, which describe the stuggles between Federal and State power in the United States.
This unit takes place within a 10th grade U.S. History class with average ability level students.

Burnett, E. (2003). The Best American History Book. Lincoln, NE: iUniverse, Inc.

McKean, D. (2009). The Great Decision. New York, NY: Public Affairs:Perseus Books Group.

Princeton Review. (2007). Homework Helpers: U.S. Histroy (1865-present) : From Reconstruction Through the Dawn of the 21st Century. Franklin Lakes, NJ: The Carrer Press.