NJ K-12 Education meets
Expository Writing 101
The transition can be tough.
Q. What kind of writing instruction do you remember getting in your last school?
A. “In high school, grades were based on quantity not quality. I would rarely receive feedback.”
Q. What do you like about some of your writings?
A. “I like how persuasive I am in my writings, and don’t like expos because we are graded more on structure than true quality.”
Do you remember any specific writing
experiences that left you feeling like a
success or a failure?
“I felt like a success on my 1st expos paper
and got a “B,” but my 2nd paper I felt like I
failed until I came to the writing center and
was told it was good.”
Emerging ideas
Ambiguity
Multiple viewpoints
Creating a conversation
between texts
Expository Writing book
“They have heard for so many years that
writing is about making a point, making an
argument, being clear, making yourself
understood.”
– Richard E. Miller
There are two ways to look
at this picture! -------------
Working in “Clarity”
Write to Learn
Exploration vs. making a point.
Confusion
2010 NJ adopts
National Core
Standards
There is only
logic.
STANDARD 3.2 (WRITING) ALL
STUDENTS WILL WRITE IN CLEAR,
CONCISE, ORGANIZED LANGUAGE
THAT VARIES IN CONTENT AND FORM
FOR DIFFERENT AUDIENCES AND
PURPOSES.
NJ Core Curriculum Standards
Confront confusion
Deal with ignorance
Confront lack of understanding
“The more I learn the more I realize that I
don’t really know anything.”
Content: a persuasive, insightful
presentation of your own ideas that
analyzes the topic thoroughly.
This skill set is more problem-solving
oriented and less didactic.
Having an “Aha! moment”
Time to discuss divergent points of view
Work on reading comprehension
Free writing
Reverse outlines
Revision Exercises
Making Connections
Reading Skills
Talking about yourself as a writer
Making the most out of one reading
Creating a conversation with more
complex texts
Asking your own questions
Working with quotations
Patterns of error
Annotated bibliography
http://plangere.rutgers.edu/tutoring/student-info/online-student-resources
?