My students are preparing for our state's big writing test. We've been working on essays all year long but they still seem to be struggling with the basics? How can this be?
They aren't internalizing the basics.
Why? Well, I sat down to try and figure this out when I read this great post by Secondary Sara:
Secrets From the Tutor: What Your Secondary Students Need This Year
In that article, it explains how even though we as teachers think we have said something 100 times, it's because we say it 6 times a day and so it feels like we're repeating ourselves incessantly. However, to the student, they have heard that information just one period a day and that information is competing for space in their brain along with 6 other classes, after-school sports, clubs, and other activities.
It was like an "Ah-ha!" moment for me as I realized that my students need more repetition than I thought they did; They need more re-teaching and more time.
My solution: Flashcard books!
Every day we review some part or function of an essay. Then we record it in our flashcard book. That night, they are to study all the flashcards that have information on them. The next day, I ask each student one question from what was on the cards out loud at the start of the period. If the student gets it right, it's a 100. If the students is on the right track, but not "there", it's a 75%. If it's wrong or they do not remember, it's a 50%. I mark this on a copy of my roster and at the end of the week I average their scores and enter that average as one grade under the title "Verbal Quiz".
To make sure that I ask every person a question, I have all my students' names on popsicle sticks. As I draw a name, I put it back inside the cup but inside a paper towel holder.
As we add at least 1 card each day, any question can be asked of any card so it's a cumulative kind of thing. Each day we are building up our knowledge. It's also quick and easy to see who is studying. Since my students care about their grades, this works very well. I have seen students who were not able to answer the first or second day, come in on the third ready to go.
I tend to come up with my questions on the spot, but that's probably because I have been teaching for 26 years. If you think you might need a little more structure, then maybe these task cards would help:
These task cards go over the 6 steps in the writing process, the 3 sentences included in an introduction, the 8 sentecnes in a body paragraph, the 6 sentences in a counterclaim paragraph, and the 3 sentences in a conclusion.
You can use these for the daily questions and then later, play a Scoot or Scatter game a with them! This way these cards do double duty!
You could also try adding in a little friendly competition with the Essay Challenge! This requires students to apply their knowledge of structure. You can read more about it by clicking here.
I have also had success with using these Cloze Activities. This is where students have to apply their knowledge of the terms.
Whatever you do, I hope one of these ideas helps your students to be ready for their state test in writing!
Thanks for stopping by!
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