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Writing to Learn for College Readiness in ALL Disciplines

HSTW Summer Staff Development Conference

8:00 a.m. and 9:45 a.m., Thursday, July 18, 2013, Room 210AB, Charlotte Convention Center

Charlotte, NC

Presentation:

Presented by:

Elizabeth Wiggs, English teacher:

Lara Howard, History teacher:

Whitney Coon, Math teacher:

Lee Early College

1105 Kelly Drive

Sanford, NC 27330

919-888-4502

Essential Questions:

1. How do we implement a school-wide writing program?

2. How do content area teachers use writing in the classroom?

3. What are content area writing concerns and how do we address them?

Sample Writing Format:

(This format was developed by teachers at Kings Mountain High School and adapted by Janet Rogers from Stanly County Early College)

TPEQEA: (pronounced tuh-pee-kee-uh)

T: Topic: Introduces the topic of the paragraph

P: Point: Makes a clear argument about the topic

E: Example: Provides an example to back up the point

Q: Quotation (optional): Provides research to prove the point

E: Elaboration: Explains how the example and/or quotation prove the point

A: Analysis: Analyzes the importance of the argument and takes the elaboration one step farther

Practice: In a TPEEA paragraph, explain the best lesson you ever taught.

Topic: What was the topic of your lesson?

Point: What was the point/purpose of your lesson?

Example: What’s an example of what you did during this lesson?

Elaboration: How do you know this helped your kids understand your lesson?

Analysis: Why was this lesson important for your students to understand?

Sample Writing Lessons for History

  1. TPEQEA Round Robin

Write enough prompts for the groups you will have in your class. Assign students into groups of 2-3 students each.

Distribute prompts (one per group). Each group will only write once on each prompt. The groups will write a topic sentence for their prompt, and then switch prompts with another group. They will then write the point sentence and trade.

The groups continue to trade prompts unless they find a problem. For example, if there is an issue with an example sentence, the group only edits and then returns the prompt to the appropriate group for revision.

I usually put a number placard in front of the group so that they can just write their number down next to the sentence they wrote.

This works well as a review for a unit.

  1. TPEQEA Annotated Article

Provide an article to students with a prompt/question for reflection. As students read they should use color or codes to annotate the article for potential examples & quotes. After students read the article, they should respond to the prompt. The elaboration and analysis sentences should not come from the article; these should be original thoughts.

Also, you can have students find their own scholarly article. This would help students with their research skills. Another option is to have students respond to a prompt of their own based on what they determine to be a main idea of the article.

  1. IDSig TPEQEA Paragraph

An IDSig identifies and explains the historical significance of a term. IDSig paragraphs work well when formatted in TPEQEA.

The topic sentence would answer the questions who, what, when, where, and why. The point sentence would answer the question, why is this term significant? The examples, quote (optional), elaboration, and analysis should prove the student's point.

This works well to focus on essential vocabulary of a unit.

Sample Writing Lessons for Science

  1. Chemistry: Unit Reports

College students are held solely accountable for their learning. They will be required to take detailed, accurate notes and be able to correctly analyze and interpret the material they encounter in each class. Having them create detailed, multi-page reports for each unit in Chemistry helps them master this skill.

In order for students to create these unit reports, have them write a TPEQEA-style summary of each lesson at the end of every class using examples from class/lab and quotations from the book/teacher. At the end of the unit, the students will have generated an entire report on the selected topic. (This can also be done in the form of Cornell Notes—students can write their Cornell Notes during class and then write the summary in TPEQEA.)

  1. Earth Science: Who Killed the Electric Car? (movie) Essay

Students will watch the movie Who Killed the Electric Car? and respond to a prompt in a TPEQEA-style paragraph. This lesson provides students with the important college-ready skill of being able to argue effectively using sound evidence.

Prompt:

Pay attention to the different suspects listed in the movie. You are the Jury. Decide whether the suspect is guilty or innocent. For each of the seven suspects write a paragraph defining your reasoning as to their guilt or innocence. Use the TPEQEA format.

Example:

T- ______is guilty/ innocent of killing the electric car.

P- They are ______because…..

E- (An example from the movie)

Q- (A quote from the movie)

E- Elaborate on the example

A- How does the example/quote show that they are innocent/ guilty?

Sample student response:

I find the batteries of the electric car guilty of killing them. It is this way because the battery only went so far before dying. The battery only went 60 miles without dying and many people need more mileage. With poor mileage, there were not many people who wanted such almost useless technology. Some of the electric car drivers said, “I need to go someplace without worrying if my battery is going to die on me so I won’t have to walk home.” Every car driver needs to know that their car will never quit on them during the day. With the poor battery life that nobody wanted, the battery is yet another cause of the car’s death.

  1. Chemistry: Thomson’s Experiments Website Summary

In college, students are frequently asked to seek out and interpret information on their own. This lesson asks students to visit a website on Thomson’s Experiments and summarize each one of them.

Prompt: Go to the following website and write a TPEQEA paragraph from each of Thomson’s Experiments, explaining the importance of each.

  1. Energy and Phase Changes Mini-Lab

Procedure:

For this activity, you will simulate sweating by wetting a finger. Be sure your hands are clean and dry. Wet one of your fingers and then wave your hand in the air.

Observations:

Do you feel any difference between the wet finger and the others? If so, what is the difference?

Analysis:

(1)What do you think caused your wet finger to feel different? Do you think energy is involved in this observation? Explain your reasoning.

(2)From what substance does energy leave? What is your proof?

(3)To what substance does energy go? What is your proof?

(4)If the energy change, ΔE, is defined as Efinal – Einitial, what is the sign of the energy change in your skin?

(5)What happened to the water on your skin when you waved your wet finger? (What state was the water in before and after you waved your finger?) Does energy leave the water or enter the water in order for this to happen? How do you know?

(6)What is the sign of ΔE for the water? How do you know?

(7)On this energy diagram, label the line that represents the energy of liquid water. Label the line that represents the energy of water vapor. Explain your choices. Draw an arrow representing ΔE for the evaporation of water from your skin

Sample Writing Lessons for Math

  1. Word Problem TPEQEA Proofs

You can have students write TPEQEA paragraphs to answer word problems and solve proofs. Using the TPEQEA format students can reflect on what they know about the given question and can show the teacher that they truly understand the answer without guessing.

Example:

Park officials need a triangular tarp to cover a field shaped like an equilateral triangle which is 200 feet on a side.

Question 1: Suppose you know that a triangular tarp has two 60 degree angles and the side length between these angles is 200 feet. Will this tarp cover the field? Explain in a TPEEA paragraph.

T: Yes the tarp will cover the field.

P: It can be proven that the tarp and the field are congruent triangles.

E: For example, the angles of the tarp are congruent with the angles of the field. Also, the side of the tarp is congruent with the corresponding side of the field.

E: Therefore the triangles are congruent by Angle-Side-Angle (ASA).

A: Using the ASA proof, we are able to find out if the tarp will fit without having to create any other measurements.

Question 2: Now suppose you know that a different triangular tarp has three 60 degree angles. Will this tarp necessarily cover the field? Explain in a TPEEA paragraph.

  1. Math Novel Unit

There are many books that classrooms can use to increase reading and writing in math. Two examples are the novels Flatland, by Edwin Abbott and Zero, by Charles Seife. In college students will be asked to write about given assignments but will also be asked to collaborate with other students and assess their writing as well. They are also given the responsibility of completing weekly online assignments without being reminded daily.

Weekly discussion boards:

Every week students are expected to communicate with their peers through a discussion board. They are expected to post their TPEQEA-style answer to the writing prompt by Friday. By Sunday, they are expected to respond to two of their peers’ answers. These should be intellectual discussions that are in depth and demonstrate the writing style their school has adapted. This assignment helps students prepare for the frequent discussion board assignments they will encounter in college.

Example discussion board questions:

How does the real world relate to the story?

What do you agree and disagree with from this chapter?

What questions do you still have to further your understanding of the text?

Higher order thinking questions:

After several chapters students will be asked to use the knowledge they learned and apply them to their math class. They will answer these questions in TPEQEA paragraphs and will be able to use examples and quotes from their math class to bridge their knowledge from the novel to their mathematical work.

Ex: Is there a real world situation where the concepts in the book and the classroom be used in real life?

Can you explain these mathematical concepts in a different way?

How do you interpret the meaning of the text as it relates to the classroom and the real world?

Final Writing Prompt:

Students are asked to expand on what they learned by choosing which final project they would like to choose. These writing prompts will go through the writing process of being peer edited and rewritten until they are ready to be handed in.

Example questions:

What would the world be like if the culture in the story was true?

Describe the events that might occur if the ending was changed to ______.

Pretend you are a character in the novel and describe ______.

  1. Children’s Picture Book

Students are asked to take a complex topic and break it down in a creative way that a young child could understand. This will help them truly understand the material because if they can break down the basics of the topic in the simplest terms then they can build on that foundation to learn the material in depth. Students can be asked to break down the topics into TPEQEA paragraphs. They can then use their imagination to illustrate their paragraphs and add characters to bring the story to life.

Ex) Students were asked to write a picture book in groups on simplifying radicals with imaginary numbers. One group came up with the Super Hero “Super i” who was a negative person trapped in an evil castle (the radical sign). Once the negative under the radical broke free he became the super hero who broke his other friends in partners free.

  1. TPEQEA Review Book

Students are asked to create a booklet that reviews material from a chapter before a test. Students are asked to come up with a TPEQEA paragraph for each lesson of the chapter. It is the responsibility of the students to write down quotes each day that they think are beneficial and pick the best examples for each paragraph. They will then combine these paragraphs into a booklet that they will be able to study with for the chapter tests and the final at the end of the semester. This is an important college ready study skill and will help them organize each lesson so they are not bogged down at the end of the semester. This will be especially important in college when students don’t have any homework or quizzes to study from but are responsible to make their own study guides.

Sample Lessons for English

  1. Pre-reading Activities

You can use TPEQEA as a pre-reading activity to help students make predictions. Ask them one of the following questions before reading a selection and have them answer in one TPEQEA paragraph:
1. Based on the title, what do you think this book is going to be about?

2. What do you think is going to happen next?

3. How do you think the book will end?

4. Which character will be your favorite and why?

Then, students can Pair and Share about their predictions.

  1. Play-Time!

You can use this lesson with virtually any play you read with your students. Have the students individually select between two and ten lines from the play and then choose one of the following prompts to answer in one TPEQEA-style paragraph:

1. What emotions do these lines evoke and how?

2. What is confusing about these lines and what could they possibly mean?

3. What is one major metaphor used in these lines and what do you think it means?

4. How are these lines majorly significant to the rest of the play?

Next, have students swap paragraphs with one another and write a TPEQEA-style response to their partner’s paragraph. This activity will facilitate classroom discussion.

  1. Annotated Bibliographies

In almost every college class, students will be required to not only complete research efficiently, but also to select what parts of their research are relevant. Annotated bibliographies help students develop this skill. UNC has excellent information on them which can be found here:

Have students use the TPEQEA-style format to write summaries and reviews of all of their research.

Students can also use TPEQEA to write paragraphs explaining how they can use this research to support their arguments.