The Effects Of Using Writing On A Student Learning In A Seventh Grade Math Classroom

Author : Mayeen Quader
Publisher :
ISBN 13 : 9781109367850
Total Pages : 155 pages
Book Rating : 4.3/5 (678 download)

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Download or read book Improving 7th Grade Student Writing Skills by Teaching the Deconstruction of Writing Prompts written by Mayeen Quader and published by . This book was released on 2009 with total page 155 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Research questions: To what extent will the use of multiple instructional activities impact my students' abilities to respond appropriately to all aspects of a writing prompt? (1) Will instruction in multiple learning strategies improve my students' sense of self-efficacy as writers? (2) What happens when students, identified with difficulty writing responses to writing prompts, generate their own mnemonic device about the process of deconstructing writing prompts? (3) How will using the instructional approach of teacher-student modeling affect seventh graders' ability to write appropriate responses to all aspects of a writing prompt? (4) What happens when students identified with difficulty writing responses to writing prompts, generate their own questions? Research activities: This research explored the effectiveness of multiple instructional strategies centered on the teaching of deconstructing writing prompts to improve students' writing skills and self-efficacy as writers. Context: The inquiry took place in a seventh-grade World History classroom. The study focused on two female and three male seventh grade students. One student was high performing and the other four were average or low performing. Methods and Data: The inquiry took place over a five-week period and consisted of students practicing three instructional strategies: the Mnemonic Device, Teacher Student Modeling and Question Generation. Students were first given an introduction to a mnemonic device created to assist them with remembering essential steps of deconstructing writing prompts. They were required to generate a mnemonic song in order to memorize this process. Students utilized this mnemonic device to deconstruct two daily opener activities and write appropriate responses. Student work was analyzed using a rubric emphasized throughout the intervention. Students learned to identify various aspects of questions. They also learned how to recognize the tasks included in writing prompt questions. This knowledge facilitated the organization of their thought process and helped them construct well-written responses. This process to deconstruct writing prompts was emphasized throughout the intervention. Students completed a few worksheets illustrating their thought processes when deconstructing writing prompts. Observation data were collected through an audio recording and field notes were collected as well. Students practiced generating writing prompt questions to well written writing prompt responses and finally participated in an assessment responding to four separate writing prompt questions and to a questionnaire. To determine the results of the inquiry, I asked students to respond to similar Warm-Up responses prior to and after the intervention. Results: The findings suggest that explicit instruction in the deconstruction of writing prompts improved students' written responses and self-efficacy as writers. However there were many unexplained discrepancies. For example, each time certain responses were analyzed, scores vacillated. After practice with the Mnemonic Device strategy, students' scores vacillated. However, during the Teacher-Student Modeling strategy, the process of deconstructing writing prompts was reinforced, and scores increased by 9% - the highest overall throughout the intervention. Students' scores on their written responses only improved after this, and they did not regress as they had before. It seems as if these two strategies combined were most effective, and they greatly improved the writing of the students. On the final assessment students were required to write responses to four writing prompts, and they scored a 71.5% or C, if I were to give the class a letter grade. The first writing prompt responses in the baseline data scored a 54.82%. Therefore this is an increase of approximately 16.68%. Students went from writing at an F level to writing at a C level on their Warm-Up responses. Grade Level: Seventh, Secondary. Data Collection Methods: Questionnaire, Discussion Transcripts, Audiotape, Writing samples, Writing assessment, Audio-recording, Think Alouds, Student Work, Quick Writes, Observation-Field notes. Curriculum Area: Social Studies-World History. Instructional Approaches: Assessment/Evaluation, Class discussion, Curriculum Integration, Think-Alouds, Reading-Comprehension, Writing-Narrative, Writing-On-demand writing, Writing Organization, Writing-Prompts, Writing-Rubrics.