Assessing Writing, Teaching Writers: Putting the Analytic Writing Continuum to Work in Your Classroom

by Mary Ann Smith, Sherry Seale Swain

Overview

Many writing teachers are searching for a better way to turn student writing into teaching and learning opportunities without being crushed under the weight of student papers. This book introduces a rubric designed by the National Writing Project—the Analytic Writing Continuum (AWC)—that is making its way into classrooms across the country at all grade levels. The authors use sample student writing and multiple classroom scenarios to illustrate how teachers have adapted this flexible tool to meet the needs of their students, including using the AWC to teach revision, give feedback, direct peer-to-peer response groups, and serve as a formative assessment guide. This resource also discusses how to set up a local scoring session and how to use the AWC in professional development.

Book Features:

• Introduces teachers to a powerful assessment system and teaching tool to support student writing achievement.
• Offers a diagnostic tool for guiding students toward a common understanding of the qualities of good writing.
• Provides ideas for helping students learn from models and give productive feedback to peers.
• Illustrates ways to adjust the AWC to various grade levels and different teaching goals.

“Smith and Swain reveal how the Analytic Writing Continuum assessment tool can be used as a catalyst for a deeper understanding of writing and a source for a common language for teaching and learning writing. I would recommend this book to all involved in the process of English language arts curriculum and instruction.”
—Jessica Early, Arizona State University

“As a teacher of diverse students in myriad grades, I've found the Analytic Writing Continuum to be an invaluable tool. If you teach writing, you need this book!”
—Bob Crongeyer, codirector, Area 3 Writing Project at UC Davis

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780807775547
Publisher:	Teachers College Press
Publication date:	01/22/2017
Series:	Language and Literacy Series
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
File size:	5 MB

About the Author

Mary Ann Smith directed the Bay Area and California Writing Projects and served as director of Government Relations and Public Affairs for the National Writing Project. She is coauthor of Uncommonly Good Ideas: Teaching Writing in the Common Core Era. Sherry Seale Swain directed the Mississippi Writing/Thinking Institute before joining the National Writing Project as senior research associate.

Table of Contents

Foreword Jeffrey D. Wilbelm vii

Acknowledgments xi

1 Handwringing Moments in Teaching: What to Do with Student Writing 1

The Analytic Writing Continuum (AWC) 2

The AWC Story: A Collaboration of Teachers and Researchers 4

Special Features of the AWC 5

From National Scoring to Local Classrooms 10

Upcoming Chapters 11

2 The Attributes of Good Writing 14

Introducing the Analytic Writing Continuum 14

The AWC in Action: Argumentative Writing 21

The AWC in Action: Narrative Writing 24

The AWC in Action: Informational Writing 27

Defining the AWC Attributes 29

A Final Note about Attributes 43

3 The AWC Goes to the Classroom 44

Using the AWC as a Formative Assessment Tool 45

Using the AWC as a Tool for Teaching About Content 52

Using the AWC to Teach Revision 57

Using the AWC to Focus Instruction 62

Using the AWC to Teach Reluctant or Otherwise "Out of the Box" Students 65

Lessons Learned from the Classroom 67

4 Potting the AWC to Work in Your Backyard 69

The AWC as an Inquiry Tool 70

The AWC in Professional Development 73

Setting Up Professional Development in Your Backyard 76

Connecting the AWC to Preparing for College and Career 79

Your Turn 84

5 Setting Up a Local Scoring Session 85

The First Step: Becoming Familiar with the Scoring Essentials 85

The Second Step; Selecting Leaders 86

The Third Step: Selecting Anchors 87

The Fourth Step: Writing Commentaries 88

Introducing the AWC to Scorers 91

6 The Power and Potential of Invention 94

Bringing the AWC to Your Classroom 94

What Teachers Have to Say. Principles for Using the AWC 97

Making the Analytic Writing Continuum Your Own 99

Afterword Linda Friedrich 100

Appendix: Technical Rigor and Research on the System 103

Notes 105

References 106

Index 110

About the Authors 115

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

"This book will be your thinking partner and travel companion on a journey toward more effective teaching and assessing, and will be a lever for thinking partnership with colleagues and students."
—From the Foreword by Jeffrey D. Wilhelm, Distinguished Professor of English Education, Boise State University and author of "You Gotta BE the Book"

"Smith and Swain reveal how the Analytic Writing Continuum assessment tool can be used as a catalyst for a deeper understanding of writing and a source for a common language for teaching and learning writing. I would recommend this book to all involved in the process of English language arts curriculum and instruction."
—Jessica Early, Director of English Education, Arizona State University

"As a teacher of diverse students in myriad grades, I've found the Analytic Writing Continuum to be an invaluable tool. Assessing Writing, Teaching Writers explains in easy-to-follow terms how the AWC helps teachers and students analyze writing and make thoughtful decisions about both writing instruction and production. If you teach writing, you need this book!"
—Bob Crongeyer, codirector, Area 3 Writing Project at UC Davis; Member, NAEP Writing Standing Committee

Editorial Reviews

"Smith and Swain have provided a wonderfully practical book for teachers who are looking for a useful guide for writing and it has presented the literacy community with a promising tool that demystifies the writing process for both students and teachers."

—Teachers College Record

"This relatively short volume is one of the most important books on writing assessment to be published in this century. Its emphasis on classroom research by teachers is both timely and vital for the integrity of writing research."

—Assessing Writing

From the Publisher