writing fluency action plan independent project betty jackson, nbct kennedy high school
TRANSCRIPT
Writing Fluency Action Plan Independent Project Betty Jackson, NBCT
Kennedy High School
PDSA Cycle
• Plan – Do – Study – Act (PDSA) Cycle guides the continuous improvement process for the Action Research Project
Goal #1 for This Project
• To show advancement by ninth grade language arts students in complexity of sentence structure and vocabulary
• To encourage active reading strategies so students value exemplary published language examples.
Plan – Define the System
Students in ninth grade come to us with a wide range of writing achievement as shown in writing in these genres: journal, formal expository essay, research writing, original creative pieces, poetry, and memoir.
Plan – Define the System
Student lack of
sophistication and complexity in writing can be improved by specifically designed lessons directed at fluency and advanced vocabulary.
Plan – Define the System
Complexity of sentence structure and level of vocabulary can be measured to show improvement in these two areas by using the Gunning-Fog Index on one-hundred word writing samples.
Plan – Define the System
Student writing often exhibits “status markers” which suggest students’ use of colloquial language rather than standard formal language acceptable at all levels of society.
Plan – Assess Current Situation
• Using monthly writing assessments, students’ writing samples show a majority of ninth grade students are performing below class level expectations as shown by application of the Gunning-Fog Index.
Plan – Assess Current Situation
• Students often write basic subject/verb sentences and do not demonstrate use of compound/complex sentence structure.
• Students use colloquial language rather than more advanced standard English.
• Students use a majority of monosyllabic and two-syllable words as preference.
Plan – Analyze Causes
• Students do little writing in classes and are unfamiliar with using essay format to explain their points of view or describe processes.
• Students are not called upon to analyze and revise writing to improve syntax and vocabulary.
Plan – Analyze Causes
• Students are not called upon to analyze and revise writing to improve syntax and vocabulary.
Plan – Analyze Causes
• Students have not actively read or analyzed authors’ samples which provide models for their own writing.
Plan – Analyze Causes
• Students have not actively read or analyzed authors’ samples which provide models for their own writing.
• Students are not called upon to analyze and revise writing to improve syntax and vocabulary.
Do – Improvement Theory
• Teach students to use the Gunning-Fog Index to assess their writing compared to grade level.
• Assign students writing in all formats: journal, formal expository essay, research writing, original creative pieces, poetry, memoir, literary essay, news articles.
Do – Improvement Theory
• Grade and correct/edit each assignment, including comments, content grade (how well the material or topic is explored) and technique grade (technical grammatical expression).
• Show students status marking errors
Do – Improvement Theory
• Record Gunning-Fog Index rating to one writing piece each month and record results on individual student sheets, visually showing assessment compared to grade level on graduated scale.
Study – Study the Results
• By looking at individual writing charts, note whether improvement is occurring, and whether results are consistent.
• Since results seem to be mixed, and results improve when students learn to revise their work, students will be asked to revise work to improve scores.
Study – Study the Results
• Students and teacher are still at this point in the process. We have assessed the problem and are seeking improvement which will allow more students to attain end-of-year grade levels in writing.
Act – Standardize Improvement
• Not to this point in the cycle yet.
Act – Plan Continuous Improvement
• Not to this point in the cycle yet.