The Hughes News
Sophomore Honors English Newsletter ~ October 2018
THIS TERM'S ESSENTIAL QUESTION:
Sophomore Reading Challenge
Unit 1: Inside the Nightmare
It was a Dark & Stormy--Classroom?
WRITING AS A PROCESS
The reality? Many students quickly peruse our feedback (if we're lucky) and then log in to IPASS to see what effect--if any--the score has had on their average. If their grade hasn't budged a whole lot, neither will their writing.
And little learning has occurred.
To thwart that depressing cycle--and to restore writing to exactly what it was meant to be--a process, my student authors will be responding and returning to the same essay throughout the term. Prior to submission of their first draft, students will type in their essay at least one question for me as a starting place for our digital, asynchronous conference. Once they receive feedback, they can begin revising and then submit a final draft. With this model, true growth has occurred in the student writers, and the revision process works as it should--all before a permanent grade is recorded in the gradebook.
At the end of the term--after we have explored several other literary selections based on our unit's Essential Question, students will return to this essay, rework what is there--infusing more textual evidence from the more recent selections, receive feedback again on their new draft, make the necessary revisions, and then submit their final essay for the term.
This is how real-world writing works: an idea is born and fleshed out several times before it is just right. And if the students play their cards right, the final essay at the end of the unit is glorious.
Take a look at the video below that illustrates this process beautifully!
PASSION BLOGS
How to Contact Me
Email: beth.hughes@wpsk12.org
Website: msbethhughes.org
Location: Wakefield Memorial High School, Farm Street, Wakefield, MA, United States
Phone: (781) 246-6440
Twitter: @msbethhughes