Dr.

Hartman,
Ireallyenjoyedthisassignment.Iwouldlovetothinkeverysingleoneofmylessonsout
thismuch.AmIabadteacherbecauseIdont?IalwaysfeellikeIshouldputmoretimeinto
myplanning.Planningismyfavoritepartofteaching.Eveninundergraduate,myfavorite
projectwasdevelopingaunitplanforoneofmyEducationclasses.Iamexcitedtoseehowthis
assignmentworksout.IhavefoundawonderfulsecondarysourceonmetawritingbyDouglas
JamesJoyce.Itseemslikeanotherpedagogyworthexploring,andIamalsohopingitwilltie
intomyinquiryproject.
Ihavealwaysbeenonetobelievethatbackwardsdesignisthemosteffectivewayto
plan,andIthinkittiesrightinwithstandardsbasedlearning.Thatbeingsaid,Iamnotsure
myassessmentplaniscomprehensiveenough.ShouldIdeveloparubricforeachindividual
partoftheassignment?Also,ismyrationaletoolong?
Ihaveanideaofthetimeline,butIamworriedwiththesnowdays,STEMdays,afield
trip,andSOLtutoringhappeningImaynothavethetimeneeded.
HaveIincorporatedenoughprocessintothisassignment?DoesitshowthatIvalue
processoverproduct?
Aswetalkedaboutinourconference,Iwantthestudentstobeabletoexpress
themselvesandcommunicateeffectivelyintherealworld,butIalsowantthemtobeableto
writewellfortheirwritingSOLnextyear.Isthisassignmentgearedtowardsbothofthese
goals?

Thankyou,
Katherine

KatherineLong
WADDesign
21February2016
Dr.Hartman
TeachingofWriting

Rationale/Overview:
WhyamIchoosingthisdesign/assignment?Whyisthisassignmentimportant/significant?
Studentshavealreadylearnedtoidentifythepartsofasentence(subjectsand
predicates)however,somestudentsarestillstrugglingwithincludingandidentifyinga
completethought.Havingalreadylearnedthebasicstructureofsentences,thestudentswill
learnhowtomanipulatethepartsofasentenceinordertowriteinavarietyofstyles.
Throughoutthisprocess,IwanttoensurestudentsarestillstayingwithintheStandard
AmericanEnglishrulesofsentencewriting.Withinthisassignment,thestudentswillreview
whathasalreadybeentaught.Usingdirectinstruction,Iwillteachthestudentstoaddphrases
andclausestomakesimplesentencesstrongerIwillcompletethisinstructionduringdaily
warmuptime.Theywilllearntoaddclausestoturnsimplesentencesintocomplexsentences.
Iwilloftenusestudentexamplestofacilitatediscussion.Thestudentswillberemindedofthe
previouslessonslearnedandlearnhowtorevisetheirwritingaccordingly.
Thegoalofthisassignmentistohavestudentswritestrongsentences.Iwantthe
studentstohaveconfidenceintheirsentencewriting,whilealsohavingtheabilitytorevise
theirownwork.Thereflectionportionoftheassignmentisthemostimportant.Iwanttoseeif
studentsunderstandtheimportanceofbeingunderstoodintheirwriting.
WhyamIdesigningitthewayIam?
Mostofthesestudentsdonotwriteexceptwhenrequiredbyteachersintheclassroom.I
chosetoapproachthisassignmentusingatraditionalmethodbecauseIthinkitiswhat
studentsaremostfamiliarwith,andthereforecomfortablewith,atthispoint.Ichoseto
narrowthemodeofdiscoursedowntoexpositoryanddescriptivewritingbecausethebulkof
thewritingassignedinmyclassroomthisyearhasbeeninthesemodes.
Context:
Thisunitwillbecompletedoverthecourseoffourweeks(givenatypicalschoolweekof
fivedays)inaseventhgradeLanguageArtsclassroom.Iteachfourseparateclasses,atotalof
103students.Oneclassisaninclusionclass,andIhaveacoteachertoassistwithinstruction.
Eachclassis55minutes.
Asmentionedabove,studentshavealreadylearnedtoidentifythepartsofasentence.
Thisassignmentwillcontinuethestudentsstudyofsentencewriting.Afterthisunit,students
willconcludethefocusedstudyonsentencewritingbypracticingcombiningsimplesentences
intostrongersentencesusingtheskillslearnedthroughfocusedfreeexpositoryanddescriptive
freewritingactivities.

Objective:
Thepurposeofthisassignmentistohelpstudentswritestrongsentenceswhilehelping
themavoidcommonmistakesemergingwritersmakewhenusingsubordinatingconjunctions,
independentclauses,anddependentclauses.

VirginiaStandardsofLearning(SOL):
7.7h)Expandandembedideasbyusingmodifiers,standardcoordination,and
subordinationincompletesentences.
7.7i)Useclausesandphrasesforsentencevariety.

VirginiaSOLWritingStrandFocus:
Attheseventhgradelevel,studentswillplan,draft,revise,andeditexpositoryaswellas
narrativeandpersuasivepieceswithattentiontocompositionandwrittenexpression.Students
willachievegreaterindependencewithsentenceformation,usage,andmechanicsand
understandthattheconventionsoflanguagehelpconveythemessagefromthewritertothe
reader.Studentswillusewritingforexpressivepurposesandasatoolforlearningacademic
concepts.Theywilluseavailableandappropriatetechnology.

VirginiaSOLCurriculumFrameworkEssentialKnowledge,Skills,andProcesses:
Tobesuccessfulwiththisstandard,studentsareexpectedto:
usesubordinatingconjunctionstoformcomplexsentences:after,although,as,asif,because,
before,evenif,eventhough,if,ifonly,ratherthan,since,that,though,unless,until,when,
where,whereas,wherever,whether,which,andwhile.
incorporatevarietyintosentencesusingsimple,compound,andcompoundcomplex
sentences,including,butnotlimitedto:coordinationjoiningwords,phrases,clauses,or
sentencesbyusingappropriatecoordinatingconjunctionssubordinationestablishingthe
relationshipbetweenanindependentandadependentclausebyusingappropriatesubordinate
conjunctionsandmodifieranadjective,anadverb,oraphraseorclauseactingasan
adjectiveoradverb.

AssignmentDesign

Whatarewedoing?
Wewillbecontinuingoursentencework.Wewillreviewwhathasalreadybeentaught
andlearntoaddphrasestomakeoursentencesstronger.

Dontworry:wellstillbeusingwarmuptimeforsentencework.Rememberthephrasesand
clauseswetalkedaboutlastsixweeks?YouknowhowallyearIvebeentellingyounotto
startsentenceswithbecause?Well,wearegoingtolearnwhatphrasesandclauseshave
todowiththat,andthenyouwillbeabletowritesentencesthatstartwithbecause!

Whyarewedoingthis,Mrs.Long?
Atthebeginningoftheyear,Ishowedyouallsomerealworldexamplesofhowmyclass
couldhelpyou.Iknowsentenceworkisntthemostfun,butIpromiseitwillhelpyouforthe
restofyourlife.Dontyouthinkitisimportantforpeopletounderstandwhatyouaretryingto
communicatetothem?Thinkofallofthesetimeswhenyouwouldwantpeopletoknowwhat
youaretryingtosay:blogging,emailingyourboss,jobandcollegeapplications,writingaletter
toyourcongressman,orevenwhenyoupostsomethingonsocialmedia.Iwantyoutobe
understood!
Okay,okay.Howoneartharewegoingtodothis?
Wearegoingtocontinueworkingonunderstandingsentencesinourwarmups.Wewill
befreewritinginclassalittlemoreoften,justsoyoucanpracticewhatyourelearning.Aftera
while,wewillgobackandbreakaparttheelementsofthesentenceswehavebeenwriting
duringfreewritingtimeandseehowwearedoing.Wewillevenlookat
studentswork
from
otherplacestoseehow
they
arewriting.Oncewehavelookedforthesentenceinformationwe
havelearnedinotherpeopleswritingandourown,youwillwritealettertomeansweringthe
questionIsitimportanttowriteincompletesentences?Ifso,why?Ifnot,explainwhy!
Whenwillthisallbeover?
Ihatetobreakittoyou,butyouwillneverfinishwritingsentences.However,this
assignmentshouldbeoverrightaroundthetimewetakeourReadingSOLinApril.Wewill
continuetoworkonourwritingafterthisassignment,butwewillmoveonfromthisfocus.

AssessmentTool/Plan

Howarewegoingtobegraded?
Insteadoftakingatestattheendofthisunitlikewehaveforthepasttwo,Iamgoingto
gradeaswegoonthisassignment.Youwillbegradedonthewarmupactivities,warmup
extensions,yourfreewriting,theactivitieswhereyoulookatsomeoneelseswritingandyour
own,andtheletteryouwillcompleteattheend.

Thisishowitwillallbreakdown:
WarmUpActivitiesandExtensionsClassworkgrades
LookatWritingActivitiesClassworkgrades
LettertoMrs.LongTestgrade

*Remember,classworkisworth40%ofyourgradeinmyclass!Youhavetoworkthroughout
thisentireassignmentinordertodowellontheletter.Letsworkhardandlearnhowto
expressourselveseffectively!

WarmUpActivitieswillbegradedforcompletionsincewecompletethemasaclass.
Extensionswillbegradedforaccuracybecausetheyofferrightorwronganswersonly.
Wewillanalyzeourownwritingbyidentifyingsomeoftheelementsofgoodsentences
wehavelearnedthisyear.Iwillbelookingtoseeelementswerecorrectlyidentified.We
willcompletethissameactivityusingsomeoneelseswritings(perhapsChristopherPaul
Curtisoranotherseventhgraders).
Afteryoulookatyourwritingandsomeoneelses,youwillwritemealetter.Thisletter
willbeacompletiongradeIwillbelookingforanhonestandwellthoughtout
answer.Youmaywanttotakesometimetothinkbeforeyoustartwriting!Thereisnta
rightorwronganswertothequestion.Justthink:Isitimportanttowriteincomplete
sentences?Whyorwhynot?Pleaseexplainyouranswerindetail!