Specialized instruction in Written Expression: The challenges of Learning to Write

1. Specialized instruction in Written Expression: The challenges of Learning to Write Robert W. Frantum-AllenDecember 21, 2012

2. Objectives • Grammar: Writing Next Meta Analysis • Grammar: Visual Language • Grammar: Alternative approaches to Grammar • Grammar: Building Sentences

3. Writing Next Meta Analysis Grammar

4. Key Elements of Effective Adolescent Writing Instruction • Writing Strategies, which involves teaching students strategies for planning, revising, and editing their compositions • Effect Size 0.82 Teaching how to plan, revise, and edit (Flower and Hayes’ steps)

5. Writing Next • Summarization, which involves explicitly and systematically teaching students how to summarize texts ES 0.82 • Collaborative Writing, which uses instructional arrangements in which adolescents work together to plan, draft, revise, and edit their compositions ES 0.75 • Specific Product Goals, which assigns students specific, reachable goals for the writing they are to complete ES 0.70 • Word Processing, which uses computers and word processors as instructional supports for writing assignments ES 0.55

6. Prewriting, which engages students in activities designed to help them generate or organize ideas for their composition ES 0.32 • Inquiry Activities, which engages students in analyzing immediate, concrete data to help them develop ideas and content for a particular writing task ES 0.32 • Process Writing Approach, which interweaves a number of writing instructional activities in a workshop environment that stresses extended writing opportunities, writing for authentic audiences, personalized instruction, and cycles of writing ES 0.32 • Study of Models, which provides students with opportunities to read, analyze, and emulate models of good writing ES 0.25 • Writing for Content Learning, which uses writing as a tool for learning content material ES 0.23

7. And the issue of GRAMMAR… • Traditional grammar lessons are not likely to improve the quality of students’ writing ability. • Teaching students to focus on the function and practical application of grammar within the context of writing produces strong, positive effects!!!

8. Sentence-Combining ES 0.50 • Sentence-combining is an alternative approach to more traditional grammar instruction. Sentence-combining instruction involves teaching students to construct more complex and sophisticated sentences through exercises in which two or more basic sentences are combined into a single sentence.

9. Sentence-Combining • In one approach, students at higher and lower writing levels are paired to receive six lessons that teach • (a) combining smaller related sentences into a compound sentence using the connectors and, but, and because; • (b) embedding an adjective or adverb from one sentence into another; • (c) creating complex sentences by embedding an adverbial and adjectival clause from one sentence into another; and • (d) making multiple embeddings involving adjectives, adverbs, adverbial clauses, and adjectival clauses. The instructor provides support and modeling and the student pairs work collaboratively to apply the skills taught.

10. Traditional Grammar Studies

11. Traditional Grammar

12. Traditional Grammar

13. Grammar in context

14. Parts of speech instruction: Visual Language

15. Grammar Instruction To teach grammar in context they still need to know basic grammar concepts -parts of speech -subject – predicate relationships -Sentence Types

16. The noun The Noun is represented by a black triangle. The triangle stands for the pyramid, one of the first human structures, and black is for carbon, believed to be the first mineral discovered by humans.

17. Noun lesson

18. The adjective, article and pronoun The Adjective (small dark blue triangle), Article (smaller light blue triangle), and Pronoun (large purple triangle) are part of The Noun Family and so use the triangular shape with different colors.

19. Article Lesson

20. Label simple noun phrases the dog a shoe an airplane

21. Adjective Lesson

22. Label simple noun phrases the black dog a red shoe an white airplane

23. The Verb The Verb is a circle, to represent the shape of the sun which gives life. The red color also symbolizes life (blood). The verb gives life to the sentence.

24. Verb Lesson -give the students a red ball -ask them to lift, show, push, kick, etc the ball -write those words on a paper -explain that these are actions -put a red circle above the verbs

25. Label simple noun phrase plus verb the black dog ran a red shoe fell an white airplane crashed

26. The adverb The Adverb is a smaller circle and is often pictured orbiting the verb like a planet; it depends on the verb for existence.

27. Adverb lesson -give the students a command like “Walk” -have them walk “quickly” “slowly” ‘proudly” “tiredly” -label these words on paper with the word walk -give them a small orange ball

28. Label simple noun phrase plus verb the black dog ran quickly a red shoe fell slowly an amber airplane crashed splendidly

29. The conjunction The Conjunction is a small pink bar which represents a link in a chain

30. Label simple noun phrase plus verb and adverb the black dog ran quickly and a red shoe fell slowly

31. The preposition the Preposition is a green crescent to symbolize a bridge.

32. Preposition the black dog ran quickly over the hill and a red shoe fell slowly

33. The interjection The Interjection is a gold triangle with a circle on top; it combines the symbols of the noun and the verb together. Interjections function as both noun and verb in a sentence; it may have been the first word spoken by humans (ow!). It is gold because they are the “king of all words”.

34. Interjection! Oh, no! The black dog ran quickly over the hill.

35. Instruction for phrases and clauses

36. Phrases Any group of words that are part of a sentence and work together. noun phrase — the old lady verb phrase — spoke softly prepositional phrase — to her care-giver Phrases do not include both a subject and a predicate Clauses Dependent: A group of words that contains a subject and a predicate but does not express a complete thought. Independent: A group of words that contains a subject and a predicate that doesexpress a complete thought. What’s the Difference? p. 39

37. Examples of Phrases and Clauses p. 38

38. Sorting Phrases and Clauses • Sort into three columns: • We will check our answers on the following slides.

39. Sorting Phrases and Clauses

40. Sorting Phrases and Clauses

41. Sorting Phrases and Clauses Phrases p. 115

42. Sorting Phrases and Clauses Dependent Clauses p. 115

43. Sorting Phrases and Clauses Independent Clauses p. 115

44. Instruction for Teaching Sentences

45. Simple Sentence … one single, independent clause with a subject and predicate. • Examples with singlesubjects and predicates: • The girl loved her lizard. • Wolves howl at the moon. • Dogs are descended from wolves. p. 40

46. Simple, Compound, and Complex Sentence Structures Examples with compound (more than one) subjects, objects, and predicates: SIMPLE SENTENCES p. 40

47. Compound Sentence … two or more independent clauses linked by a coordinating conjunction. p. 41

48. Compound Sentences • Easier compound sentence: Michaela wrote a strong college application essay and many institutions offered her scholarships. • More difficult compound sentence: Either the show will be produced by the cast or the community must provide financial support. p. 39

49. Simple, Compound, and Complex Sentence Structures … dependent clause(s) is attached to an independent clause. COMPLEX SENTENCES p. 40

50. Question Words p. 42