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AISV MS Action Plan to Address MAP Data Next Steps

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AISV MS - Full Team Writing Session 2 - Oct 2024

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from "Beyond Literary Analysis"

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Sentence Fragments, Expansion, and Combining

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Sentence Fragments, Expansion, and Combining

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AISV MS - Full Team Writing Session 1 - Oct 2024

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Email: jenny@erinkentconsulting.com

Linked In: Jenny Killion

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Literacy Consultants & Consulting Services | Erin Kent Consulting

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The Writing Revolution: A Guide to Advancing Thinking Through Writing in All Subjects and Grades by Judith C. Hochman and Natalie Wexler, published by Jossey-Bass/Wiley Buy this book from: You may need a writing revolution in your classroom. Here's how to lead it. Expectations about student writing have changed dramatically in recent years.

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Back to Results

Killing the Five-Paragraph Essay and Other Necessities

John Warner

An important challenge to what currently masquerades as conventional wisdom regarding the teaching of writing.

There seems to be widespread agreement that-when it comes to the writing skills of college students-we are in the midst of a crisis. In Why They Can't Write, John Warner, who taught writing at the college level for two decades, argues that the problem isn't caused by a lack of rigor, or smartphones, or some generational character defect. Instead, he asserts, we're teaching writing wrong.

Warner blames this on decades of educational reform rooted in standardization, assessments, and...

An important challenge to what currently masquerades as conventional wisdom regarding the teaching of writing.

There seems to be widespread agreement that-when it comes to the writing skills of college students-we are in the midst of a crisis. In Why They Can't Write, John Warner, who taught writing at the college level for two decades, argues that the problem isn't caused by a lack of rigor, or smartphones, or some generational character defect. Instead, he asserts, we're teaching writing wrong.

Warner blames this on decades of educational reform rooted in standardization, assessments, and accountability. We have done no more, Warner argues, than conditioned students to perform "writing-related simulations," which pass temporary muster but do little to help students develop their writing abilities. This style of teaching has made students passive and disengaged. Worse yet, it hasn't prepared them for writing in the college classroom. Rather than making choices and thinking critically, as writers must, undergraduates simply follow the rules-such as the five-paragraph essay-designed to help them pass these high-stakes assessments.

In Why They Can't Write, Warner has crafted both a diagnosis for what ails us and a blueprint for fixing a broken system. Combining current knowledge of what works in teaching and learning with the most enduring philosophies of classical education, this book challenges readers to develop the skills, attitudes, knowledge, and habits of mind of strong writers.

Reviews

That title sounds as if it will be a grumpy polemic, but it's actually an inspiring exploration of what learning to write could be, framed by an analysis of why it so often is soul-destroying for both students and their teachers.

Articulates a set of humanist values that could generate rich new classroom practices and, one hopes, encourage teachers, parents, and policymakers to rethink the whole idea of School and why it matters to a society. Warner is pragmatic, not programmatic, and hopeful without being naïve... I hope teachers, parents, and administrators across the United States read his trenchant book. We are the reformers we have been waiting for.

Why They Can't Write dissects the underlying causes of why so much writing instruction fails in the American system and it provides tested, practical solutions for doing better. The book is more than a how-to-teach guide, however. It diagnoses several important structural problems in American education, including standardized testing, the allure of educational fads, the abuses of technology-driven solutions, and cruel working conditions for teachers.

I wanted direction on how to better teach writing, and I got it-sample assignments that I can tweak to fit my classroom and discipline in marvelous ways. But I got so much more. I closed the book feeling energized and motivated to go back to the classroom and make changes. In fact my first reaction, as I finished, was 'I have to go write about this!' Which so perfectly encapsulates so much of what John would like to see us do as learners that I couldn't help but laugh.

What is to blame for students' bad writing? According to Warner, the entire context in which it is taught. He rails against school systems that privilege shallow "achievement" over curiosity and learning, a culture of "surveillance and compliance" (including apps that track students' behaviour and report it to parents in real time), an obsession with standardized testing that is fundamentally inimical to thoughtful reading and writing, and a love of faddish psychological theories and worthless digital learning projects.

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Book Details

Part I: Introduction
Our Writing "Crisis"
Johnny Could Never Write
The Writer's Practice
The Five-Paragraph Essay
Part II: The Other Necessities
The Problem of Atmosphere
The Problem of Surveillance
The

Part I: Introduction
Our Writing "Crisis"
Johnny Could Never Write
The Writer's Practice
The Five-Paragraph Essay
Part II: The Other Necessities
The Problem of Atmosphere
The Problem of Surveillance
The Problem of Assessment and Standardization
The Problem of Educational Fads
The Problem of Technology Hype
The Problem of Folklore
The Problem of Precarity
Part III: A New Framework
Why School?
Increasing Rigor
The Writer's Practice
Making Writing Meaningful by Making Meaningful Writing
Writing Experiences
Increasing Challenges
Part IV: Unanswered Questions
What about Academics?
What about Grammar?
What about Grades?
What about the Children?
What about the Teachers?
In Conclusion
Acknowledgments
Appendix
Notes
Index
About the Author

John Warner is a columnist for the Chicago Tribune, a contributing blogger for Inside Higher Ed, and an editor at large for McSweeney's Internet Tendency. He is the author or coeditor of seven books, including The Writer's Practice: Building Confidence in Your Nonfiction Writing.

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Back to Results Killing the Five-Paragraph Essay and Other Necessities John Warner An important challenge to what currently masquerades as conventional wisdom regarding the teaching of writing. There seems to be widespread agreement that-when it comes to the writing skills of college students-we are in the midst of a crisis.

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Resources for our work together this year!

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Achieve the Core

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Achieve the Core

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Text Complexity Grade Bands and Associated Ranges from Multiple Measures

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Text Complexity Grade Bands and Associated Ranges from Multiple Measures

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Achieve the Core

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Common Core Standards Qualitative Features of Text Complexity Explained

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Common Core Standards Qualitative Features of Text Complexity Explained

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Common Core Qualitative Rubric- Literature

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Common Core Qualitative Rubric- Literature

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Achieve the Core

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Feel free to use this as a template!

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AISV MS Team Session Compiling Complex Texts

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Whole Group Reading Plan for The Catcher in the Rye

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Know Better, Do Better: Comprehension | The Scholastic Teacher Store

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In this timely book, the Libens explore what kids truly need to comprehend texts. Focusing on vocabulary, knowledge building, and language structures, they offer ideas to put into action now.

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A practical framework for creating units that combine whole-class novels and independent reading to truly help students grow as readers. Take a deep dive into the troubles and triumphs of both to find a student-centered, balanced approach to teaching reading.

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DAA MS - Book Club Considerations & Planning Tips - Sept 2024 (3)

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AISV MS Tackling Informational Texts - Oct 2024

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Achieve the Core

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AISV Team Virtual Session - April 2025 (1)

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Criteria for Selecting Grade Level Complex Texts

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Podcast de Paso a paso · Semanal · Melissa & Lori Love Literacy™ is a podcast for teachers. The hosts are your classroom-next-door teacher friends turned podcasters learning with you. Episodes feature top literacy experts and teachers…

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Suggested G3-12 Writing Scope & Sequence: Macro Level

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Suggested G3-12 Writing Scope & Sequence: Micro Level

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Common Practice & Responsive Teaching Structures

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Common Practice & Responsive Teaching Structures

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Thinking Across a Cycle or Week of Classes

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Thinking Across a Cycle or Week of Classes