BUILDING RATIO

THROUGH WRITING
Technique 37: Everybody Writes
Technique 38: Art of the Sentence
Technique 39: Show Call
Technique 40: Build Stamina
Technique 41: Front the Writing
AMOUNT AND QUALITY
OF WRITING

- determinants of academic
success
TECHNIQUE 37:
EVERYBODY WRITES
Prepare your students to engage
rigorously by giving them the chance
to reflect in writing before you ask
them to discuss.
EVERYBODY WRITES
- a technique in which teachers ask
all students to prepare for more
ambitious thinking and discussion
by reflecting in writing for a short
interval.
- use at the beginning of discussion
It is in the writing that
something like ideas – clear
conceptions, coherently
described – begin to emerge.
BENEFITS OF EVERYBODY WRITES
 You are able to select effective responses
to begin the discussion.
 Every idea that gets shared in discussion
is in effect a second draft.
 It allows you to Cold Call students simply
and naturally.
 It enables you to give every student, not
just those who can get their hands up fast,
the chance to be part of the conversation.
 Processing thoughts in writing refines them,
challenging students intellectually,
engaging them, and improving the quality of
their ideas and their writing.
 You set standards to steer students in a
direction you think especially fruitful.
 Students remember significantly more of
what they are learning if they write it down.
Allowing students time to write
before you ask them to discuss
builds participation ratio and think
ratio, enabling students – slow,
reflective types included – to
participate, and pushing students
toward more rigorous thinking.
TECHNIQUE 38:
ART OF THE SENTENCE
Ask students to synthesize a complex
idea in a single, well-crafted
sentence. The discipline of having to
make one sentence do all the work
pushes students to use syntactical
forms.
“Write a topic sentence with three
supporting sentences and a
transition to link one paragraph to
the next.”

I think X. I think Y. I think Z.

Sample 1:
Jonas thinks A. Jonas tries B. Jonas
says C.

Sample 2:
Bothered by thoughts of A, Jonas tries
to do B, hiding his plans to do C
from his parents.
 Population Size

Time
SENTENCE STARTERS AND SENTENCE
PARAMETERS
Differentiate:

1. Summarize the data from this

graph in one complete, well-written
sentence.

2. Summarize the data form this

graph in one complete, well-written
sentence that begins with the phrase
“Overtime…”
SAMPLE SENTENCE STARTERS
 Growing exponentially…
 Not just increasing, but…
 The curve that expresses the function…
 The relationship between…
 In the long run…
 When the line approaches vertical…
SENTENCE PARAMETERS
 Looking beneath the surface (art teacher)
 Use the word “ambiguous” (English
teacher)
 To test the hypothesis (in science)

 Write the sentence using a subordinate

clause with the word despite
 Write a sentence beginning with a
participial phrase
 Use the second person or the pronoun one
as in One notices.
January 3
How did Ralph’s actions lead to a “violent swing”? What
did he do, and what was the effect of his actions? Use the
following format:
Because Ralph ____________________, __________________
Ralph’s action(s) – cause main effect(s) of Ralph’s action(s)

January 11
What did Ralph do to make Jack’s taunt “powerless”?
Start your sentence with “Despite Jack’s…”
January 24
In one beautiful sentence, explain the
most important development in this
section of the text.

March 12
Describe in one sentence how
Christopher’s father was feeling and
how Christopher’s response to the
situation is difference from his father’s
One ideal place to use the Art
of the Sentence is at the end of
the lesson given its purpose is
to help students synthesize
and summarize.

Exit ticket or the next’s day’s Do Now

Prompt with a parameter
may surprisingly be
more rigorous but not
always.
TECHNIQUE 39:
SHOW CALL
Create a strong incentive to complete
writing quality and thoughtfulness
by publicly showcasing and revising
student writing – regardless of who
volunteers to share.
REVISING WITHOUT SHOW CALL

Teacher: Let’s give Martina some

feedback. What was effective about her
answer?
Student: She had really good details.
Teacher: Good. What was good about
the details?
Student: Um I don’t remember exactly; I
just remember they were really good.
I like Martina’s thesis sentence.
I like Martina’s thesis sentence, especially
her use of a strong verb like “devour”
I like Martina’s thesis sentence, but it
would be even better if she put in the
active voice. Who can show us how to do
that?

Great, now let’s all go through our

sentences, check the ones that are in the
active voice, and revise any that are in the
passive voice.
THREE QUESTIONS FOR YOUR SHOW CALL
1. What kind of work do you want to
Show Call?
2. When do you want to Show Call?
3. How many students do you want to
Show Call?
WHAT KIND OF WORK DO YOU WANT TO
SHOW CALL?

Three reasons for choosing a

work:
1. The work is exemplary.
2. It demonstrates a common
error.
3. It has a good balance of
strengths and weaknesses.
ACCOUNTABLE REVISIONS
 Check or Change
 Offline rewrite
 Live edit
DURING THE SHOW CALL:
TWO KEY MOMENTS

The Take
- the moment when you take a
student’s paper off his desk with the
intent to project it.

The Reveal
- the moment you show the work to
the class.
THE TAKE
Remain unemotional
Frame it positively
Use and “ask” with the take
THE REVEAL
Factors:
Whether you want to name the
student whose work you show
Whether and how the work is
read
Whether you want to tell
students what they should look
for
TECHNIQUE 40:
BUILD STAMINA
Gradually increase writing time to
develop in your students the habit of
writing productively, and the ability
to do it for sustained periods of time.
IMPLEMENTING
BUILD STAMINA
 Practice Success
 Pencils Moving
 Prime the Pump
 Valorize Student Writing
TECHNIQUE 41:
FRONT THE WRITING
Arrange lessons so that writing
comes earlier in the process to
ensure that students think rigorously
in writing.
RDW (read-discuss-write)
ADW (activity-discuss-write)

RWD (read-write-discuss)
AWD (activity-write-discuss)