EN235: Methods of Teaching Secondary Language Arts, Dr. Michael O'Conner

Assignment Three: professional assessment of writing

Working collaboratively with a local area high school class, you shall receive and "assess" a number of written assignments from secondary students. Your goal is to advise and guide the student into creating a better "next draft" of the assignment.

These student assignments shall be sent to you as attached word documents via email.

Working with the specific assignment directions and the overall goals and objectives of the teacher for this assignment, you will:

a) carefully read the student writing in light of the assignment's requirements
b) make in-line, marginal and end comments on the writing, focusing on improving the next draft of the writing
c) determine a grade for the assignment as it stands currently

Make sure your text is distinct from the student's writing. You could use BOLD or a different color type. Also, consider using the Microsoft Word "track changes" feature. (In Word, go to Tools, Track changes, and turn the track changes button on and off on the Track Changes toolbar. If you do this, remember to turn the track changes button off at the end and resave the document.)

Editing-wise, remember to:
1) begin your comments with a positive statement
2) focus comments on higher order concerns
3) "teach" students lower order concerns, but don't "correct" the paper for them
4) have a set of closing comments that consist of a "pep talk" urging the student towards a better next draft

The grade you determine will NOT be placed on the student's writing assignment but rather recorded separately and sent to Dr. O'Conner, as part of your final compiled package document.

You will be required to complete your "grading" by a strict deadline. When you send your "marked draft" back to the high school student who sent you the paper via email, you shall also send a copy (CC) to Dr. O'Conner. Save the document under a different name than the one your were originally sent. Also, save the file as RTF or rich text format before sending, so it will open in any word processor.

If you are uncomfortable or unsure of comments you are making on the student writing, you are responsible for discussing these issues with Dr. O'Conner (in class or via email or IM) before sending them back to the student.

At the conclusion of this assignment, you will gather copies of all your "marked drafts" together into one large document to submit to Dr. O'Conner as a whole package. You will email these to the professor as an attachment. Make sure to place a LETTER GRADE on each draft at this stage of the assignment. (Do not send a grade back to the high school students in any way.)

Materials on the essay assignment itself and the teacher's expectations for the assignment are in Blackboard.