DR. PETER UFLAND, ADJUNCT PROFESSOR, COMMUNITY COLLEGE OF THE DISTRICT

OF COLUMBIA

TAMARA REAVIS, INSTRUCTIONAL SYSTEMS SPECIALIST, OFFICE OF THE

STATE SUPERINTENDENT OF EDUCATION

Bridging the Gap:Preparing High School Students

for College Writing

Writing Skills Essentials

Grammar Editing Organization Argumentation Style Research

Grammar/Punctuation

Students should be able to identify and correctly use all parts of speech.

Students should know all verb tenses and when to apply them

Students should know how to maintain verb tense consistency and use proper subject-verb agreement

Students should know the proper uses of commas, colons, semi-colons, apostrophes, and quotation marks

Students should know what words require capitalizationStudents should know the difference between clauses

and phrasesStudents should know what run-on sentences and

sentence fragments

Editing

Students should understand the importance of writing drafts and editing work

Students should know basic editing skills/strategies in order to identify grammatical and structural errors in both their own and others writing

Students should be able to evaluate the soundness/logic of organization and strength of argumentation

Students should be able to assess the appropriateness of a given style of writing depending on the assignment

Students should be willing to accept and use feedback from others

Organization

Students should know how to plan a paper through a variety of prewriting strategies: brainstorming; outlining; etc.

Students should know how to present ideas in a logical order

Students should know how to link sentences/ideas together in order to form a coherent and cohesive paragraph

Students should be able to place paragraphs in an order that is logical and supports their purpose

Argumentation

Students should know the difference between their topic and their thesis

Students should know how to support their thesis through the use of appropriate and compelling evidence, examples, logic; etc.

Students should know how to use refutation of counterarguments as a means of strengthening their own theses

Style

Students should be able to understand the need for different styles of writing depending on both the objective and the audience of their work

Students should be able to employ the different writing styles mentioned above

Students should be able to write in a variety of styles and at the same time develop and maintain their own unique voice in writing*

Research

Students should know how to use library facilities and catalogues in order to find a variety of types of sources

Students should know how to differentiate between primary and secondary sources

Students should be able to differentiate between academically acceptable and unacceptable sources on the Internet.

Students should understand the concept of plagiarism, in all its forms, and how to avoid it

Students should understand how to develop research questions, refine topics, and create a plan for research

Students should know how to take information from their research and employ to support their argument

Common Core Standards Initiative

State-led effort to establish a single set of clear educational standards for English language arts and mathematics.

Standards are benchmarked to international standards and designed by a diverse group of teachers, experts, parents, and school administrators.

DC, Maryland and 25 states have adopted Common Core Standards.

English Language Arts (ELA) Common Core Standards (CCS)

Organized by grade in K – 8 and grade bands from 9 – 10 and 11 – 12

Aligned to College and Career Readiness (CCR) Standards released Fall 2009

Divided into Reading, Writing, Listening and Speaking, and Language Strands

Literacy Standards for Grades 6 – 12 Science and Social Studies

An appendix supports the Standards with illustrative texts and student writing

CCR Standards Form theBasis for the K–12 ELA Standards

Common Core Standards for each grade follow the CCR Standards in each strand

Each grade-specific standard corresponds to a particular CCR standard.

Example:

Strand: WritingCCR.1: 1. Write arguments to support claims in an analysis of substantive topics or texts, using valid reasoning and relevant and sufficient evidence.

K.1: Use a combination of drawing, dictating, and writing to compose opinion pieces in which they tell a reader the topic or the name of the book they are writing about and state an opinion or preference about the topic or book (e.g., My favorite book is...).

College and Career Readiness - Writing

Standards are broken into four clusters:

Text Types and Purposes

Production and Distribution of Writing

Research to Build and Present Knowledge

Range of Writing

Writing Arguments

Introduce precise claim(s), distinguish the claim(s) from alternate or opposing claims, and create an organization that establishes clear relationships among claim(s), counterclaims, reasons, and evidence.

Develop claim(s) and counterclaims fairly, supplying evidence for each while pointing out the strengths and limitations of both in a manner that anticipates the audience’s knowledge level and concerns.

Use words, phrases, and clauses to link the major sections of the text, create cohesion, and clarify the relationships between claim(s) and reasons, between reasons and evidence, and between claim(s) and counterclaims.

Establish and maintain a formal style and objective tone while attending to the norms and conventions of the discipline in which they are writing.

Provide a concluding statement or section that follows from and supports the argument presented.

Writing Informative/Explanatory texts

Introduce a topic; organize complex ideas, concepts, and information to make important connections and distinctions; include formatting (e.g., headings), graphics (e.g., figures, tables), and multimedia when useful to aiding comprehension.

Develop the topic with well-chosen, relevant, and sufficient facts, extended definitions, concrete details, quotations, or other information and examples appropriate to the audience’s knowledge of the topic.

Use appropriate and varied transitions to link the major sections of the text, create cohesion, and clarify the relationships among complex ideas and concepts.

Use precise language and domain-specific vocabulary to manage the complexity of the topic.

Establish and maintain a formal style and objective tone while attending to the norms and conventions of the discipline in which they are writing.

Provide a concluding statement or section that follows from and supports the information or explanation presented (e.g., articulating implications or the significance of the topic).

Next Steps

How big is the gap? What steps can we take to bridge that gap?

Review the Common Core Standards for K – 12 Writing

Analyze exemplar arguments and informative/explanatory texts for CCS grades 9 – 12

Review Checklist for College Readiness. Are these skills covered in the Common Core Standards?

Discuss the current state of high school writers.

How do we bridge the gap?

•GO TO WWW.CORESTANDARDS.ORG

•GO TO WWW.OSSE.DC.ORG• Under news go to the tab Common Core standards

•CONTACT US• Tamara Reavis tamara.reavis@dc.gov• Dr. Peter Ufland pufland@udc.edu

For more information