Writing in the Content Areas

Do You Spend Entirely Too Much Time Correcting Your Students' Papers? Do Your Students' Essays And Term Papers Take Side Trips To Nowhere? Is Their Writing Riddled With Mechanical Errors? Do Their Lab Reports And Essays Lack Specificity And Clarity? Writing In The Content Areas, Second Edition Is For Middle And High School Content Area Teachers Who Assign Essays, Term Papers, Lab Reports, And Other Writing Tasks To Students. This Book Provides Strategies And Tips To Help Teachers Of Social Studies, Science, Art, Etc. Improve The Quality Of Students' Writing And Apply National And State Curriculum Standards In Your Classroom. The Strategies In This Book Can Be Integrated Easily Into Every Teacher's Daily Plans. They Will Help Your Students Improve Their Abilities To Reflect Before Writing, Organize And Classify, Provide Detail Without Padding, Use Technical Terminology Correctly, Avoid Unnecessary Words, Spell Correctly, And Take Useful Notes While They Read And During Your Lectures. This Book Will Help Teachers Get What They Want From A Writing Task, Frame Their Assignments More Precisely, And Correct Student Papers More Quickly And Efficiently. The New Second Edition Offers Activities And Strategies Which Involve Technology (word Processing, Presentation Programming, The Internet, And E-communications), Differentiated Instruction, And Brain-based Learning. Cover -- Title Page -- Copyright Page -- Foreword -- Table Of Contents -- Introduction -- Part I Steps And Strategies -- 1. Guiding Principles For Teachers -- Guiding Principles For All Teachers -- The Learning Cyde -- Writing Is Connected To Reading, Speaking, And Listening -- Students Respect The Rigor Of Classes That Demand Writing -- Explicitly Teach The Form And Tone That You Expect For A Writing Task -- Guiding Principles For Including Writing In The Content Areas -- You Are Not Teaching Writing: You Are Teaching Your Subject -- Be Flexible In Your Definition Of Writing -- Content Area Teachers And English Teachers Probably Have Different Expectations -- Guiding Principles For English Teachers -- Give Reasons For Language Exchanges -- Emphasize The Importance Of Adjusting The Language For The Audience -- A Paradigm Shift: The Deficit Model Vs. The Resource Model -- Jumping In -- Building A Positive Climate For Writing -- Knocking Down The Stumbling Blocks -- They Don't Think What They Have To Say Is Important -- They Don't Know The Basics -- They Are Afraid To Make Mistakes -- Summary -- 2. Framing And Evaluating The Task -- Chapter Overview -- Framing The Task -- Length: Depth And Breadth -- Downsizing -- Sharing Office Space -- Training The Workforce -- Summary -- Focus: Controlling Idea -- Task: Key Words -- Detail: Specifics -- Facts And Figures -- Quotations -- Visuals: The Picture ... Statement -- Language Tone: Style -- Terminology: Word Bank -- Challenge: Consider -- Summary -- Sampie Writing Tasks: Leaky And Airtight -- Level One Thinking -- Level Two Thinking -- Level Two Topics -- Level Three Topics -- Connections -- The Statement Of Intent (prewriting Reflections) -- Evaluating The Writing Task -- Rubrics And Scoring Guides -- Holistic Scoring And Group Grading -- Selected-trait Scoring -- Self-reflective Assessment. Prescriptive Evaluation -- Coping With The Paperwork Load -- Student-teacher-task: Good To Go -- Summary -- 3. Support: Making The Case -- Chapter Overview -- Specifying -- Strategy 1: Sharpening -- Example 1 -- Example 2 -- Generality Words -- Teaching Through Visuals -- Strategy 2: Provide Detail -- Prepositions: Words That Give Time And Place -- Strategy 3: Facts And Figures -- Strategy 4: Names And Places -- Justifying -- Regarding Spelling -- Summary: Support And Specificity -- Eight Classroom Practices -- 4. Short Statements: In Fifty Words Of Less -- Chapter Overview -- The Brief Bio -- Model Brief Bios -- Action Words Of The Brief Bio -- Start With Key Words/phrases -- Connectors -- Connotation -- Places/events -- Model Place/event Statements -- Action Words Of Events -- Connectors -- Questions About Events -- The Contrast Statement -- Model Contrast Statements -- Why Think About Contrasts -- Setting Up The Contrast Statement -- Action Words Of Contrast -- Types Of Contrast -- The Simple Comparison -- Concurrence -- Lrony And Paradox: Even Though -- Using The Semicolon To Express Contrast -- Giving Examples -- The Cause/effect Statement -- Models -- Action Words Of Cause/effect -- Sequence Words -- Assumptions And Tenets -- Models -- Summary -- 5. Vocabulary: Word For Word -- Chapter Overview -- Writing Definitions: A Whole Brain Approach -- Sentence One: Left-brain (methodical) Thinking -- Step 1-noun -- Step 2-verb -- Step 3-realm -- Step 4-in/of -- Step 5-which -- Step 6-action Statement -- Sentence Two: Right Brain (metaphorical) Thinking -- Components Of The Right-brain (metaphorical) Sentence -- Summary -- Using New Words In A Sentence -- 650 Verbs -- 50 Verbs: Math -- 50 Verbs: World Languages -- 50 Verbs: History -- 50 Verbs: Religious Studies -- 50 Verbs: Business -- 50 Verbs: Government/politics/law -- 50 Verbs: Chemistry. 50 Verbs: Earth Science -- 50 Verbs: Biology -- 50 Verbs: Physics -- 50 Verbs: Literature -- 50 Verbs: Art/ Art History -- 50 Verbs: Music/music History -- Using The 650 Verbs -- Two Hats -- Summary -- 6. Organizers: Frames, Clusters, And Stems -- Chapter Overview -- Patterns And Clusters -- Classifications -- Classifications -- Essential Questions -- Key Words -- Paragraph Pattern -- Sentence Stems -- Comparisons -- Essential Questions -- Key Words -- Paragraph Pattern -- Sentence Stems -- Characteristics -- Essential Questions -- Key Words -- Paragraph Pattern -- Sentence Stems -- Chronology -- Essential Questions -- Key Words -- Paragraph Pattern -- Sentence Starters -- Claims And Cases -- Essential Questions -- Key Words -- Paragraph Pattern -- Sentence Stems -- Causes, Consequences, And Conditions -- Essential Questions -- Key Words -- Paragraph Pattern -- Sentence Stems -- Criticisms -- Essential Questions -- Key Words -- Paragraph Pattern -- Sentence Stems -- 4cs: Sentence Stems -- Sentence Stems: This/that -- Paragraph Patterns In The Newspaper -- Summary -- Part Ii: Appications -- 7. Research Papers And Webquests -- About Research Papers -- What Is A Research Paper? -- Analysis Or Argument -- Science Research Vs. Humanities Research -- Style Guides -- Formal Voice -- Equipping Students With Skills For College Writing -- Redundancy Vs. Rhetorical Repetition -- The Challenges -- Developing The Formal Academic Voice -- Skill-builders -- Learning Curve 1: Organization Of The Works Cited Page -- Learning Curve 2: Punctuation Of The Works Cited Page -- Learning Curve 3: What Goes With What? -- Learning Curve 4: Titles -- Five Ways To Eliminate Plagiarism -- Rxresearch -- Webquests: Information Adventures -- Introduction -- The Task -- Processes And Resources -- Conclusion -- Summary -- 8. Notebooks And Journals: I Write, Therefore I Think. Chapter Overview -- The Across-the-board Journal -- Rules Of Engagement -- Logistics: Q & -- A -- Journal Prompts -- Structural Prompts -- Wrap-ups -- Key Term -- Before/after -- Tying The Threads -- Triangulation -- I Think Of -- Current Issues -- Interdisciplinary Language -- Literary Terms -- Biological Terms -- Social Studies Terms -- Mathematicalterms -- Other Structural Prompts -- Thematic Prompts -- Quotations -- Other Thematic Prompts -- 100 Toolbox Words -- The Toolbox Word List -- Adding To The Toolbox -- 100 Briefease Words -- 20 Roots For Briefease Words -- Other Journal Prompts -- Other Journal Applications -- Writing Your Way Into Knowing -- Reflection/metacognition/thinking About Thinking -- Journal Writing For In-class Response -- Summary -- 9. Note-taking: For Future Reference -- Chapter Overview -- Paper Management -- Note-taking Vs. Copying -- Taking Notes From Lecture -- Before The Lecture -- During The Lecture -- Parting Shots -- After The Lecture -- Skills Of The Lecturer: Stand And Deliver -- Taking Notes While Doing Research -- Taking Notes On Index Cards -- Notecard Tips -- Taking Notes From Reading -- Why Take Notes? -- Trouble-shooting For Students Who Take Too Many Or Too Few Notes -- Model Notes -- Five Models For Note-taking -- Set-up I: Known/new Next -- Set-up Ii: The Big T -- Set-up Iii: Guided Review -- Set-up Iv: Phrase/theme -- Set-up V: -- Follow-up -- Summary -- 10. Writing Centers -- Chapter Overview -- Tutorials -- Curriculum-based Instruction -- Lessons 1-10: Addressing The Task -- Lessons 11-20: Development -- Lessons 21-30: Organization -- Lessons 31-40: Language -- Lessons 41-50: Gspc (grammar, Spelling, Punctuation Capitalization) -- Project-based Writing Centers -- Prescriptive-based Instruction -- Push-in Instruction -- Combinations -- Conclusion -- Appendix: A Workshop For Teachers -- Why?. What And How? -- Writing To Make Connections -- Writing To Understand And Clarify -- Writing To Organize And Remember -- Writing To Make An Argument -- Writing To Try Out New Language -- Writing For Assessment: Framing The Task, Scoring The Task -- Practice And Persistence.