Strategies to Help Struggling Writers Find Evidence:

1. Strategies to Help Struggling Writers Find Evidence: Vocabulary and Organization Builders

2. What do you mean? Can you tell me more?

3. More wonderful samples:

4. Obstacles- Mild to Moderate • Handwriting. • Mechanics. • Getting started. • Word retrieval. • Organization.

5. Obstacles cont. • Unclear purpose. • Lack of Evidence. “Teachers should accept whatever struggling writers are able to write independently and then provide feedback and explicit instruction to help them elaborate on their initial efforts.” (Peterson, 2014)

6. My Contentions • Students who struggle with writing must first have a firm understanding of what they are writing about. • Students who struggle with writing NEED strategies to help organize ideas. • Students who struggle with writing need to be taught how to show evidence by citing examples from personal experience or use of citations from texts. • Student who struggle with writing must have good writing modeled.

7. Developing concept understanding • “Owning a concept involves creating as many connections as possible between a new word and prior knowledge” (Santa, Havens, Franciosi, Valdes, p221) Graphic Organizer give students an opportunity to elaborate on their understandings. “Instructional strategies need to focus on the process of deriving word meanings in contrast to the product of coming up with the right meaning” (Plaut, p 29-30)

8. The Frayer Model Essential Characteristics: Traits that are critical to the concept. These things have to be present. Nonessential Characteristics: These are traits that can be attributed to the concept but aren’t required. They may be options but aren’t always present. Model Meanings

11. In groups of four, take 5-10 minutes to complete the model and come up with a definition for good parenting. Activity – Define Good Parenting

12. Redefining or elaborating on the concept “Teachers should help students understand how to draw on this lived experience, understand that they have learned things that can contribute to their writing, and also understand the limitations of personal experience” (Dean, p. 27) It is now up to the teacher to provide opportunities to elaborate….

13. After viewing clips from the movie, would you change anything in your definition of good parenting Revision Spend a few minutes on your definition

14. Follow Up Discussion, Writing • Go through your essential characteristics for good parenting. How many of those traits did Sam possess? • Did Sam fall short on any of the essential characteristics? • What accommodations or supports might Sam need to help parent Lucy? • What about Rita, how does she fall short of being a good parent? • What does she need to have or change to be a better parent?

15. Pre-Writing Strategy

17. Supported Research • “We have found that students who struggled to organize their thoughts, or even think of something to say, did much better when we provided them with templates” (Graff, Birkenstein, p. xi)

18. Standards • CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.9-10.1.aIntroduce precise claim(s), distinguish the claim(s) from alternate or opposing claims, and create an organization that establishes clear relationships among claim(s), counterclaims, reasons, and evidence. • CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.9-10.2.bDevelop the topic with well-chosen, relevant, and sufficient facts, extended definitions, concrete details, quotations, or other information and examples appropriate to the audience's knowledge of the topic. • CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.9-10.2.fProvide a concluding statement or section that follows from and supports the information or explanation presented (e.g., articulating implications or the significance of the topic).