Writing Teachers Gather Round

[lunabee34]

I know a lot of my flist is in academia, and zulu and I have been talking about teaching and teaching writing specifically, and I decided to host a post about teaching writing.

So, if you teach or have taught writing at any age level, what are some of the strategies you use? Specific assignments? General thoughts about writing instruction?

If you have ever been a student of writing, what are some things your teachers did that worked? Failed abysmally? General thoughts about learning/teaching writing?

Recs for books, essays, or websites also appreciated.

Please feel free to share this around.

I'll put my thoughts in comments rather than the top-level post.

Comments

Re: Rubrics

[lyr]

Sure! Here is the one my first semester freshmen are working from right now. Their assignment is to write a causal argument based off of an issue raised by one of our readings:

Content, Development, and Organization

_____ 1-5 Paragraph organization
Paragraphs break in logical places, and all content is in the paragraph where it belongs.

_____ 1-15 Support
Evidence is relevant and well-developed. Examples serve to fully illustrate and substantiate your thesis. There is careful explanation of your causes.

_____ 1-15 Critical thinking
There is intelligent and thoughtful exploration of chains of events. You draw connections to larger warrants, and the reasoning behind all your claims is fully explored.

_____ 1-5 Introduction
The introduction is well-structured and does the job of introducing your position and your thesis.

_____1-5 Conclusion
The conclusion is well-structured and does the job of tying up your ideas into a developed thesis.

_____1-10 Focus
You remain on topic, and you include all the information you need without any filler or needless repetition. You clearly explain the relevance of all the evidence you use.

_____1-5 Body paragraphs
Your body paragraphs are well-structured with topic sentences, transitions if necessary, explanations and examples, and ties back to your thesis at the end.

Grammar, Vocabulary, and Mechanics

_____ 1-15 Grammar
Punctuation, verbs, pronouns, and sentence structure are correct.

_____ 1-10 In-text citations
You use at least 3 in-text citations and cite them correctly. You integrate the quotations smoothly to support your points effectively.

_____ 1-5 Word choice
The vocabulary you use is appropriate. Your words mean what you think they mean, and are also non-slang.

_____ 1-5 Works cited
You have a Works Cited page, and it is in the correct format.

_____ 1-5 Format
You follow MLA format correctly in the body of your paper. Your margins, font, spacing, and headers are all as they're supposed to be.


Also, for comparison, here is one from my second semester course. The assignment for this one is to write a research-based argument taking an issue affecting modern America and tracing it back to its historical roots:

Content, Development, and Organization

_____ 1-5 Paragraph organization
Paragraphs break in logical places, and all content is in the paragraph where it belongs.

_____ 1-15 Treatment of sources
Evidence is relevant and well-explained. You understand and accurately represent your sources. Examples serve to develop your position, but also fairly represent the position of the source material. Instead of merely reporting on the information you find, you use it to effectively strengthen your own thesis.

_____ 1-15 Argument
You build a strong, logical argument for your thesis. You make a clear, confident claim about the development of your issue from its historical roots, and you do not oversimplify the complexities of that development.You are not simply reporting the information you gathered from your sources, but using it to build and support an independent thesis of your own.

_____ 1-5 Introduction
The introduction is well-structured and does the job of introducing your position and your thesis.

_____1-5 Conclusion
The conclusion is well-structured and does the job of tying up your ideas into a developed thesis.

_____1-10 Counter-argument
You include at least one counter-argument that engages either why a reader would disagree with your position or how you disagree with one or more of your sources.

_____1-5 Body paragraphs
Your body paragraphs are well-structured with topic sentences, transitions if necessary, explanations and examples, and ties back to your thesis at the end. You engage with one or more sources per paragraph.
Grammar, Vocabulary, and Mechanics

_____ 1-15 Grammar
Punctuation, verbs, pronouns, and sentence structure are correct.

_____ 1-10 In-text citations
You use correct in-text citations and integrate quotations smoothly to support your points effectively.

_____ 1-5 Word choice
The vocabulary you use is appropriate. Your words mean what you think they mean, and are also non-slang.

_____ 1-5 Works cited
You have a Works Cited page, and it is in the correct format.

_____ 1-5 Format
You follow MLA format correctly in the body of your paper. Your margins, font, spacing, and header are all as they're supposed to be.

Re: Rubrics

[lunabee34]

This is so awesome. Thank you so much for linking this. I am going to experiment with seeing if I can get a variation of your rubric to work for me.