This Element explores relationships between collocations, writing quality, and learner and contextual variables in a first-year composition (FYC) programme. Comprising three studies, the Element is anchored in understanding phraseological complexity and its sub-constructs of sophistication and diversity. First, the authors look at sophistication through association measures. They tap into how these measures may tell us different types of information about collocation via a cluster analysis. Selected measures from this clustering are used in a cumulative links model to establish relationships between these measures, measures of diversity and measures of task, the language background of the writer and individual writer variation, and writing quality scores. A third qualitative study of the statistically significant predictors helps understand how writers use collocations and why they might be favoured or downgraded by raters. This Element concludes by considering the implications of this modelling for assessment.

CHOICE 1998 Outstanding Academic Books Grading is one of the thorniest issues writing teachers must deal with, yet, surprisingly little has been written on this topic. As writing teachers move increasingly toward practices that focus on writing as a process, they face a growing need to reconsider their systems of grading to determine whether or not these systems support their pedagogies. The authors interrogate the grading of individual papers as well as portfolios and the assigning of end-of-term grades. This collection explores the issues and problems that have emerged as conventional grading practices have lagged behind and been challenged by new theories of language. While the book will be of interest to theorists, Zak and Weaver have also made the book relevant and useful to teachers whose primary interest is the practical consequences of theory in their classrooms. Where theoretical discussion takes place, the language is clear and accessible. Many of the authors write directly from personal experience, telling stories of the classroom or writing of new techniques and approaches they have tried. They speak with the voices of teachers, and the tone and content of their words convey a sense of the immediacy of the topic.

"Writing, Redefined asks educators to reflect critically on the kinds of writing - and the kinds of writers - traditionally valued in school spaces and offers a compelling argument for broadening our ideas around composition in order to honor the stories, the voices, and the lived experiences of all students"--

The goal of teaching writing is to create independent and self-motivated writers. When students write more often, they become better at writing. They acquire habits, skills, and strategies that enable them to learn more about the craft of writing. Yet they require the guidance and support of a more knowledgeable person who understands the writing process, the changes over time in writing development, and specific techniques and procedures for teaching writing. In Scaffolding Young Writers: A Writers' Workshop Approach , Linda J. Dorn and Carla Soffos present a clear road map for implementing writers' workshop in the primary grades. Adopting an apprenticeship approach, the authors show how explicit teaching, good models, clear demonstrations, established routines, assisted teaching followed by independent practice, and self-regulated learning are all fundamental in establishing a successful writers' workshop. There is a detailed chapter on organizing for writers' workshop, including materials, components, routines, and procedures. Other chapters provide explicit guidelines for designing productive mini-lessons and student conferences. Scaffolding Young Writers also features: An overview of how children become writers; Analyses of students' samples according to informal and formal writing assessments Writing checklists, benchmark behaviors, and rubrics based on national standards Examples of teaching interactions during mini-lessons and writing conferences Illustrations of completed forms and checklists with detailed descriptions, and blank reproducible forms in the appendix for classroom use Instruction is linked with assessment throughout the book, so that all teaching interactions are grounded in what children already know and what they need to know as they develop into independent writers.

A friendly critique of the field, The Politics of Writing Studies examines a set of recent pivotal texts in composition to show how writing scholarship, in an effort to improve disciplinary prestige and garner institutional resources, inadvertently reproduces structures of inequality within American higher education. Not only does this enable the exploitation of contingent faculty, but it also puts writing studies—a field that inherently challenges many institutional hierarchies—in a debased institutional position and at odds with itself. Instead of aligning with the dominant paradigm of research universities, where research is privileged over teaching, theory over practice, the sciences over the humanities, and graduate education over undergraduate, writing studies should conceive itself in terms more often associated with labor. By identifying more profoundly as workers, as a collective in solidarity with contingent faculty, writing professionals can achieve solutions to the material problems that the field, in its best moments, wants to address. Ultimately, the change compositionists want to see in the university will not come from high theory or the social science research agenda; it must come from below. Offering new insight into a complex issue, The Politics of Writing Studies will be of great interest to writing studies professionals, university administrators, and anyone interested in the political economy of education and the reform of institutions of higher education in America.

Well established as a definitive text--and now revised and updated with eight new chapters--this book translates cutting-edge research into effective guidelines for teaching writing in grades K–12. Illustrated with vivid classroom examples, the book identifies the components of a complete, high-quality writing program. Leading experts provide strategies for teaching narrative and argumentative writing; using digital tools; helping students improve specific skills, from handwriting and spelling to sentence construction; teaching evaluation and revision; connecting reading and writing instruction; teaching vulnerable populations; using assessment to inform instruction; and more. New to This Edition *Chapters on new topics: setting up the writing classroom and writing from informational source material. *New chapters on core topics: narrative writing, handwriting and spelling, planning, assessment, special-needs learners, and English learners. *Increased attention to reading–writing connections and using digital tools. *Incorporates the latest research and instructional procedures. See also Handbook of Writing Research, Second Edition, edited by Charles A. MacArthur, Steve Graham, and Jill Fitzgerald, which provides a comprehensive overview of writing research that informs good practice.

Step into a classroom and “listen in” on the writing initiatives and motivations of students who are given significant choice and agency in the development of their writing. Discover why upper elementary children need ways to become literate as kids, not merely as prototypes of adults or teenagers. Filled with rich portraits of in-class writing interactions and challenges, this book highlights various themes that help teachers become better observers and more responsive to the complexity of writing in children’s lives. Key themes include drawing and popular media in children’s learning, the challenges of listening to students during conferences, the intersections of writing and relationships, the roles of sharing and publishing writing, and the importance of shaping a writing curriculum through dialogue. Book Features: Offers suggestions to help educators engage standards without overlooking students’ learning needs. Identifies approaches to enhance teachers’ expertise to support all writers, including those who fall outside usual expectations. Includes a writing process guide, examples of students’ work, and questions for reflection.

This highly practical book will inspire and motivate students to shape new habits and develop a winning approach to writing. Each of the 50 'Ways' in this book is a starting point, offering suggestions of things to do and think about, alongside opportunities to reflect on, choose and commit to new ideas and actions. It will help students to find the writing routines and strategies that work for them, develop their writing style and fine-tune their assignments with a critical eye. Additionally, it supports students in identifying their weaknesses and taking steps to address them. Whether your students are in their first or final year, this indispensable resource will support them in building the writing skills they need to succeed at university and beyond.

The first books to present specific guidance for teaching the Common Core State Standards Forty-three states plus the District of Columbia and the U.S. Virgin Islands have signed on to adopt the Common Core State Standards (CCSS). The need for curriculum guides to assist teachers in helping students meet these standards has become imperative. Created by teachers, for teachers, the research-based curriculum maps in this book present a comprehensive, coherent sequence of thematic units for teaching the skills outlined in the CCSS for English language arts in Grades 9-12. Teachers can use the maps to plan their year and craft their own more detailed lesson plans. Each grade is broken down into six units that include focus standards, suggested works, sample activities and assessments, lesson plans, and more The maps address every standard in the CCSS, yet are flexible and adaptable to accommodate diverse teaching styles Any teacher, school, or district that chooses to follow the Common Core maps can be confident that they are adhering to the standards.