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    Writing Prompt Presentation

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    Robert Reno
    Writing prompts are used to inspire writing responses and improve writing skills. Effective prompts are clear, related to course content, and allow for some student choice. Research shows that less specific prompts and less scaffolding yield better results for first-year students. Prompts benefit language learners and can be used in a variety of fields beyond English, including social sciences, science, math, and more. To be effective, prompts should grow from the curriculum, have clear expectations, and relate to the desired type of thinking.

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    Writing Prompt Presentation

    Uploaded by

    Robert Reno
    49 views10 pages
    Writing prompts are used to inspire writing responses and improve writing skills. Effective prompts are clear, related to course content, and allow for some student choice. Research shows that less specific prompts and less scaffolding yield better results for first-year students. Prompts benefit language learners and can be used in a variety of fields beyond English, including social sciences, science, math, and more. To be effective, prompts should grow from the curriculum, have clear expectations, and relate to the desired type of thinking.

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    A PowerPoint concerning the use of writing prompts in the classroom.

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    Writing prompts are used to inspire writing responses and improve writing skills. Effective prompts are clear, related to course content, and allow for some student choice. Research shows that less specific prompts and less scaffolding yield better results for first-year students. Prompts benefit language learners and can be used in a variety of fields beyond English, including social sciences, science, math, and more. To be effective, prompts should grow from the curriculum, have clear expectations, and relate to the desired type of thinking.

    Copyright:

    Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as pdf or txt
    49 views10 pages

    Writing Prompt Presentation

    Uploaded by

    Robert Reno
    Writing prompts are used to inspire writing responses and improve writing skills. Effective prompts are clear, related to course content, and allow for some student choice. Research shows that less specific prompts and less scaffolding yield better results for first-year students. Prompts benefit language learners and can be used in a variety of fields beyond English, including social sciences, science, math, and more. To be effective, prompts should grow from the curriculum, have clear expectations, and relate to the desired type of thinking.

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    of 10

    WRITING

    PROMPTS
    Presented by Bob Reno, 7 November 2017
    WHAT ARE WRITING PROMPTS?

    • The purpose of a writing prompt is to inspire a response in the form 


       of writing
    • Prompts are a convenient way to deliver an assignment
    • Hopefully, the use of a prompt will not only inspire, but will 
       improve writing
    • Prompts may take many forms: Written text, an image, a video, a
    cartoon, a map, an audio clip, or almost anything else that inspires
    thought
    • (Hopefully not a cattle prod)
    DO WRITING PROMPTS WORK?
    • Overall, yes
    • Oddly, less specific writing prompts seem to yield better results
    • For Instance, first-year students with choice of topic, within course content,
    performed better than those without choice (Lowe)
    • And again, for first-year students, less scaffolding or sequencing resulted in better
    scores.  Perhaps the continuous work and focus on one topic results in overload for
    the first-year student (Lowe)
    • Prompts seem to be especially helpful with Language Learners
    • Writing prompts are a key part of "authentic assessment" as opposed to the
    predictive nature of multiple choice tests (Wiggins 2)
    • Obviously, well-written prompts, tailored to the needs of the assignment, are most
    effective
    POSITIVE RESULTS OF USING
    PROMPTS (LIEU)

    • Student engagement
    • Critical thinking
    • Discovery
    • Writing skills
    • Class preparation
    • Collaboration 
    • Connection
    • Personal values
    WHAT CONSTITUTES A GOOD
    PROMPT?

    Generally speaking Specifically Speaking


    • One that grows from the curriculum • Break the assignment into specific tasks
    and questions
    • Clear and easily understood
    expectations • Provide context
    • Relate the assignment to the course • Be clear about what is not wanted
    • Relate the assignment to the type of • Be clear about what you do want
    thinking desired (understand, analyze, • Share the assignment with a colleague
    define, compare, evaluate)
    • Try the assignment yourself
    • Research?
    (Dartmouth Writing Ctr. Via LFC)
    IN WHAT FIELDS DO PROMPTS
    WORK?
    • ELA—of course!
    • Social Sciences
    • For Language Learners
    • Science (lab reports anyone?)
    • Math
    • Math!?!
    WHY MATH?
    • Of course, at higher levels, math is largely theoretical and requires writing
    papers—students need to become accustomed to this
    • Writing prompts can be a good way (in all fields) to get to know students and
    understand where they start the semester in terms of content knowledge
    • Geometry, especially, lends itself to writing
    • Rudimentary level students seem to benefit from contextualizing knowledge
    in word form, as well as number form (Russek)
    • Writing prompts leading to reflective writing can help to dispel anxiety
    surrounding math (Russek)
    OUTSIDE OF THE BOX
    APPLICATIONS
    • Math, as just demonstrated
    • Specific improvement in using verb tenses and moods for L2 students (Hinkel)
    • Flash Fiction to break students out of traditional paths of thought (thanks Mr.
    Trulock)
    • Anxiety (as pointed out concerning math writing)
    • To measure effectiveness of lessons
    • Digital prompts (using computer and keyboard) have been shown to
    decrease reluctance, in elementary students, to write (Yackanicz)
    Works Cited

    Crafting a Good Prompt.  Lake Forest College, https://


    www.lakeforest.edu/live/files/2084- crafting-a-good-
    prompt.  Accessed 2 Nov. 2017.

    Hinkel, Eli.  "The Effects of Essay Topics on Modal Verb


    Uses in L1 and L2 Academic Writing."  Journal of
    Pragmatics, vol. 41, no. 1, 2009, pp. 667-683. 
    ScienceDirect, doi.org10.1016/ j.pragma.2008.09.029.

    Lowe, M. Sara, Sean M. Stone, Char Booth, and


    Natalie Tagge.  "Impact of Assignment Prompt on
    Information Literacy Performance in First-year Student
    Writing."  Journal of Academic Librianship, vol. 42, no.
    2, March 2016, pp. 127-134.  Information Science &
    Technology Abstracts, doi: 10.1016/j.acalib.
    2016.01.002.
    Wiggins, Grant.  "The Case for Authentic Assessment."
    ERIC Digest, 1990, pp. 1-6.  ERIC, 
    http://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED328611.pdf. 
    Accessed 4 Nov. 2017.

    Yackanicz, Linda.  Reluctant Writers and Writing-


    Prompt Software.  Master’s thesis, Chestnut Hill
    College, May 2000.  ERIC, www.eric.ed.gov/
    contentdelivery/servlet/ ERICServlet?
    accno=ED440381.  Accessed 2 Nov. 2017.

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