Writing Across the Content Areas

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Breakout Rooms

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Goals

• Shift from the workshop model

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• Discuss complexities of writing

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• Learn strategies to take back to your classrooms

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• Use strategies across the day

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• Plan

What’s been the best part of summer so far?

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What plans do you have before you come back?

Shifting from the Workshop Model

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Shifting from the Workshop Model

Shifting from the Workshop Model

• Quantity over quality

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• Lack of explicit instruction

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• Students asked to complete work that hasn’t been taught

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• Writing block vs. writing across the day

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• Role of narrative writing

“It is rare in a working environment,” he’s argued, “that someone says, ‘Johnson, I need a market analysis by Friday but before that I need a compelling account of your childhood.’”

What Should Children Read?

“Gosh, what could I write about? Let’s see…I could write about flowers, but wait! I don’t really know that much about flowers. I think it’ll be easier to write about something I know a lot about. Writers often write about themselves. So, I’m going to write about myself.”

Complexities of Writing

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“Children acquire many different academic competencies during their school experiences; however, the ability to express themselves in writing may be the most complex” (p. 238).

Best Practices in Writing Instruction

What Makes Writing Complex?

Writing Strategies

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Writing Strategies

• Sentence or fragment?

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• Sentence builders & expansion

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• Coordinating & subordinating conjunctions

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• Sentence anagrams

• Possible sentences

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• Sentence combining & reducing

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• Paragraph frames

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Sentence or Fragment?

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Sentence or Fragment?

• Can only be done after you’ve provided explicit instruction on what makes a sentence

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• Who or what the sentence is about

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• What they are or what they are doing

Strategies

Sentence or Fragment?

• Likes reading

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• Ben went running

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• Swimming

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• Katie ate lunch

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• The itsy bitsy spider

Strategies

Sentence or Fragment?

• Can only be done after you’ve provided explicit instruction on what makes a sentence

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• Pull ideas from the class text

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• Make some full sentences and others fragments

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• Have students identify it each is a sentence or a fragment

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• They should explain why it’s a sentence if it is one.

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• They should create a complete sentence using details from the text if it’s a fragment.

Strategies

Sentence or Fragment?

• mammals

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• paleoecologist study ancient ecosystems

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• much bigger than

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• lived 30 millions years ago

Strategies

Sentence Builders & Expansion

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Sentence Builders

• Use to help students understand the parts of a sentence

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• Can be done orally or in writing

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• Start with just two columns: “Who or What” & “Action”

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• Add additional columns as students become more proficient

Strategies

Strategies

Strategies

Strategies

Strategies

Sentence Expansion

• Use to help students create more complex sentences

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• Provide students with a kernel sentence

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• Ask students to answer questions such as who, what, when, where, why, how.

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• Have students use the answer to those questions to form a new, more complex sentence

Strategies

Sentence Expansion - Example

The United States observes it as a national holiday.

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• What: Martin Luther King Jr.’s birthday.

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• When: Every year on the third Monday in January.

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• Why: King was a leader in the civil rights movement.

Sentence Expansion Jamboard

Kernel Sentence & Question Tips

• Start with a complete sentence

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• Avoid commands

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• Make sure students are familiar with answering who, what, when, where, where, and how questions

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• Don’t use questions that are answered in the kernel sentence

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• Vary number of questions on proficiency and experience

Strategies

Coordinating and Subordinating Conjunctions

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Conjunctions

• Use the vocabulary

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• Conjunction & junction share similar root words
• To join together

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Strategies

Conjunctions

• Use the vocabulary

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• Conjunction & junction share similar root words
• To join together

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• Coordinating = matches well

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• Coordinating conjunction = a word that joins two parts of equal importance together

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Strategies

Conjunctions

• Subordinate = sub + ordinate

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• Sub = below or under

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• Ordinate = rank or position

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• Subordinate = belonging to a lower rank or position

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• Subordinating conjunction = a word that joins two parts together, and one is more important than the other

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Strategies

Conjunctions

Conjunctions - Because, But, So

• Provide the same sentence starter for all three sentences

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• Explain the purpose of each conjunction

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• Because - explains why; the action is more important than the explanation (subordinating conjunction)

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• But - shows contrast; what comes after the but goes again what came before it; both parts of the sentence hold equal importance (coordinating conjunction)

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• So - shows cause and effect; what starts the sentence causes what ends the sentence; the cause and effect are equally important (coordinating conjunction)

Strategies

Conjunctions - Because, But, So

• Provide the same sentence starter for all three sentences

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• Explain the purpose of each conjunction

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• Ask students to complete the sentences using because, but, so

Strategies

Because, But, So Opportunity

• When you use “because” in the middle of a sentence, you do not need a comma.

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• When you use “but” or “so” to connect two complete sentences, you need a comma.

Strategies

Subordinating Conjunctions

• Provide phrases or clauses that start with different subordinating conjunctions

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Strategies

AAAWWUBBIS

Subordinating Conjunctions

• Provide phrases or clauses that start with different subordinating conjunctions

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• Explain the purpose of the chosen conjunctions

Strategies

Subordinating Conjunctions

• Provide phrases or clauses that start with different subordinating conjunctions

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• Explain the purpose of the chosen conjunctions

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• Have students complete each of the sentence starters

Strategies

Subordinating Conjunction Opportunity

• When you start a sentence with a subordinating conjunction, you will need a comma.

Strategies

Conjunction Practice

Sentence Anagrams

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Sentence Anagrams

• Prepare cards with words or phrases that are topics/ideas from the text

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• Have students work to arrange cards to form a sentence

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• Chart sentences as students share

Strategies

Possible Sentences

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Possible Sentences - Pre-Work

• Write a summary of a text after reading it

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• Pull out key vocabulary from your summary
• Add such vocabulary if you didn’t include it the first time

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• Include key vocabulary and words/phrases that were in your summary in the word bank - 10-14 words in bank

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• Attempt to write sentences that might appear in the text with your bank of words, using 3-4 words in each sentence

Strategies

Possible Sentences - Example

Strategies

Possible Sentences

• Go over each word or phrase in the word bank to

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• Ask students to write 3-5 sentences about what they might learn in the text, using 3-4 words each time

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• Have students read the text

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• Provide time for students to revisit sentences, writing DK for don’t know, T for true, and F for false
• Students should revise any false sentence

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• Scaffolds: use fewer words; sort word bank into people, places, problems, outcomes; complete as shared writing; math - provide sample problems & key vocabulary and ask students to create “rule”

Strategies

Possible Sentences - Example

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• Since schools are dangerous in Pakistan, there’s low attendance and teachers are losing hope.

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• Women don’t have equal rights, and they’re being banned from school.

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• Malala’s message of hope is helping women get equal rights.

Strategies

Possible Sentences - Example

• The Taliban made it dangerous for girls to go to school in 2009, so many of those schools closed. Attendance at Malala’s school dropped by more than 60%.

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• True.

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• Malala’s message of hope is helping people all over the world stand up and speak out for equal rights.

Strategies

Sentence Combining & Reducing

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Sentence Combining

• Give students at least 3 sentences/ideas from the text

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• Ask students to combine the ideas into as few sentences as possible

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• Discuss each sentence as students share

Strategies

Sentence Combining - Practice

• Bessie tried to get into U.S. flight schools.

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• Bessie was turned down repeatedly because of her gender and race.

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• A Black businessman suggested she go to France.

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• Race relations were less strained in France.

Strategies

Padlet

Sentence Reducing

• Give students one compound/complex sentence

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• Ask students to separate the sentence into several simple sentences

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• Provide feedback when students include more than one thought per sentence

Strategies

Sentence Reducing

Since race relations were less strained in France, a Black businessman suggested that Bessie move there after U.S. flight schools repeatedly turned her down because of her gender and race.

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• Race relations were less strained in France than they were in the U.S.

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• A Black businessman suggested that Bessie move to France.

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• U.S. flight schools repeatedly turned her down.

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• Bessie was turned away because of her gender and race

Strategies

Paragraph Frames

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Paragraph Frames

What’s in a paragraph?

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• Structure: The sentences in the paragraph are sequenced in a way that ensures clarity for the reader.

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• Coherence: The sentences are logically connected with transition words that signal that connection or indicate a change of direction or emphasis.

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• Unity: Every sentence supports the main idea of the paragraph.

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• Sentence Skills: The sentences are grammatically correct and clear, and their types and structures vary.

Strategies

Paragraph Frames

Strategies

Paragraph Frames

• Topic sentence - expresses a paragraph’s main idea

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• Details - support the topic sentence

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• Concluding sentence - use one of the following strategies:
• Use a different sentence type
• Include an appositive
• Start with a subordinating conjunction

Strategies

Paragraph Frames - Practice

Which number is the topic sentence?

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1. Thanksgiving is a popular American holiday.

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• Our meal is very traditional

Strategies

Paragraph Frames - Practice

Which number is the topic sentence?

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• In the cell nucleus, chromosomes are separated into two identical sets.

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• Mitosis is a process of cell division.

Strategies

Paragraph Frames - Practice

Which number is the topic sentence?

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• Harriet Tubman helped slaves to freedom.

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• John Brown led a small rebellion against slavery.

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• The anti-slavery movement began to grow in the 1850s.

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• Abraham Lincoln won the presidential election.

Strategies

Paragraph Frames - Practice

Which sentence is the topic sentence? What detail doesn’t belong?

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• Harriet Tubman escaped from slavery.

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• Harriet Tubman risked her life many times by helping other enslaved people.

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• Harriet Tubman was an extraordinary woman.

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• At seven years old, Harriet Tubman was sent to work in the fields.

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• During the Civil War, Harriet Tubman became an armed scout and spy for the Union Army.

Strategies

Paragraph Frames - Example

T.S. - The Catholic Church was the most dominant force during the Middle Ages.

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1 - church = center / town life

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2 - pope = religious leader

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3 - pope = crown kings & excommunicate people

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4 - tithe -> convents, monasteries, cathedrals

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C.S. - Overall, the Catholic Church was an extremely powerful institution.

Strategies

Paragraph Frames - Example

The Catholic Church was the most dominant force during the Middle Ages. The church was the center of town life. The pope was the religious leader of the Catholic Church. He had the power to crown kings and excommunicate people from the church. The church collected a tithe, a church tax, which led to the construction of convents, monasteries, and great cathedrals. Overall, the Catholic Church was an extremely powerful institution.

Strategies

Paragraph Frame Practice

Teaching Strategies Across the Day

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Writing Strategies

• Sentence or fragment?

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• Sentence builders & expansion

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• Coordinating & subordinating conjunctions

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• Sentence anagrams

• Possible sentences

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• Sentence combining & reducing

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• Paragraph frames

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Time to Plan

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Parking Lot

Evaluation