Dr. Louis' Blog

Dear Dr. Louis,

Could you remind me of that wonderful three part phrase about concrete detail?

With gratitude,

Marie S.

Dear Marie,

Of course! For student writers, knowing how to evaluate what evidence to use in an essay is a critical skill. So often, students just drop evidence -- concrete detail (CD) -- into their essays without making sure it's relevant, appropriate, and specific. They simply grab something from what they have read and drop it into their essays out of nowhere! We call that the "Kerplunk Effect." :)

To discern which concrete details are relevant, appropriate, and specific, student writers should ask themselves these three questions:

1. Will this concrete detail help me to answer the writing prompt's task? Eliminate CDs that do not.
2. Now that I know my CDs all help to answer my prompt, which ones am I passionate about? In other words, I know I'm going to have to write commentary; so I want to select the CDs about which I can have a good discussion. I might need to do a little research to get up to speed about this CD; but I like it, agree with it, and can use it to further my thesis.
3. If, however, I think to myself, "I can write about all the CDs I've listed," then, in order to choose the best CDS, I will select the CDs that might just separate myself from my classmates. Classroom teachers and test scorers receive and assess hundreds of essays. Teachers know that when they assign one prompt to a class, they'll likely find the majority of writers choosing similar concrete details and examples. But if a student writer can approach the task from a different perspective by selecting a CD that others might not select, then doing so separates that student from the masses. If  I can separate myself from the masses with a credible different approach to an answer, the reader/grader, psychologically, will think, "Hmm, that's different!" And as long as I convincingly answer the prompt and prove my point, the score will show it!

Keep Reading and Writing!

Happy Holidays!

Dr. Louis

The Vertical Vision: A Recipe for Success is a four-part webinar series that provides teachers with a practical and effective approach to teaching novel and drama selections while integrating vocabulary, grammar/syntax, and writing strategies. Teachers attending this webinar use their Scope and Sequence to create the various components. However, once it is in place, the results are phenomenal!

Over the next several weeks, we will cover the following components:• Part I: Core Literature Selections• Part II: Vocabulary that Accompanies the Core Literature• Part III: Grammar/Syntax that Accompanies the Literature and the Vocabulary• Part IV: Writing that Accompanies the Literature, Vocabulary, and Grammar/Syntax

PART I: CORE LITERATURE

The entire system revolves around the core literature that your students read. So, we begin with development of that reading. And no one can do it better than a department of English teachers, supported by the administration of a school.

‍A Word to the Wise. My experience has brought many great successes and many hard lessons. I would be remiss if I didn't share with you some wisdom from one of my trusted sage advisors who was an English teacher and Department Chair at both junior high and high school levels and the ELA secondary coordinator for an entire district:

"Promulgated reading lists have personal and political implications that could engender emotional (and legal) responses from parents and school boards and even students. I wish that the reading lists and decisions related to the content of these lists were within the purview and authority of the teacher; however, this is not the case. (1) Reading lists must have appropriate administrative approval prior to any dissemination. (2) Even if an approved reading list already exists, any alterations and/or prioritization of titles/works need appropriate administrative approval. (3) Reading lists must be carefully proofed for content, as well as accuracy of spelling, punctuation, capitalization, etc." Jo Ann Patton, Ph.D.

Pay special heed to her advice, and I'll give you two more guiding thoughts: (1) Never assign a literary work that you haven't already read. Do not assume that because a colleague of yours is using it in his/her classroom, or because it was a Pulitzer Prize winner, that it is also acceptable in a classroom of teenagers. (2) Regarding texts with sensitive material (e.g., gender, language, race, religion), be sure to have alternate titles available, just in case concerns arise. For example, a parent is upset about your assigning Tim O'Brien's Going After Cacciato (1978) to the twelfth grade Advanced Placement® English students because of the profanity used by the soldiers. Don't argue and say something like, "Well, a soldier is probably not going to say, 'Good Gravy' when he gets shot in the leg by a sniper." Simply say, "No problem, I have an alternate title. Let's consider having your son/daughter read Erich Remarque's All Quiet on the Western Front (1929). It, too, has been listed on the AP Lit test in the past, and both pieces are set in war eras and have some crossover themes."

Keep reading and writing!

Warm regards,

Dr. D'

Dear Dr. Louis,

Our district is considering summer reading. What is your opinion?

Delainey

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‍Dear Delainey:

One answer: the best of times; the worst of times. I say that because summer reading and any outside reading requirement can be a wonderful experience for the students; but, if it is not planned well, it can be a nightmare not only for students, but also for teachers, counselors, administrators, and parents.

The Good

• Reading is just not done at school; it can be done on the beach!
• Summer reading promotes reading year-round.
• If the whole family gets involved, it provides an opportunity for families to read together during the summer.
• Commitment and time management are part of an advanced course; summer reading sets that bar early on regarding the level of rigor expected from the course.
• Because time management is an important component of college readiness, summer reading prepares students for college-level time management skills -- pacing vs. procrastination.

The Bad

• Summer is supposed to be fun! (Well, isn't reading fun? -- I'm just saying, that's what you're going to hear.)
• Students wait until the last minute or do not read at all, and they start the year frustrated and in a slump.
• Students who matriculate into a school during the first week or the beginning of the school year are already behind in their reading and performance.
• If the reading and/or project is too difficult or not planned well, everyone will start the year discouraged.

Some of my favorite College Board® presenters and my own highly respected mentors say, "No," to summer reading.  Other College Board presenters® and mentors of mine say, "Yes, summer reading is a staple of our curriculum, and we love it." I respect both opinions. In some schools at which I taught, we required it. At others, we didn't. The students survived and excelled in both cases. I think that summer reading can be a very valuable requirement if done right. To do it right, however (so that it does not end up being a logistical and academic nightmare), requires a great amount of effort by an English department working together to align curriculum, goals, and expectations. The most successful summer reading includes all or most of the following items:

Teachers

• Meet with school administrators and gain approval regarding the summer reading program and any related reading lists, letters, forms, and documents (remember, parents will call the administrator first if a problem arises, and you want him/her to know and support your requirement);
• Meet with your department and create a summer reading packet for students at each grade level that is cohesive and unified -- in other words, the entire department should sign-off on each grade level's requirement so that the summer reading appears grade-level appropriate, aligned, and equitable. Observe the progression of skills from one grade to another -- introduce, develop, master;
• Decide either to 1) waive the summer reading requirement for students who enroll after school begins; 2) provide those students with a separate, less demanding or less extensive assignment; or 3) provide those students with ample time to read and to catch up; and
• Provide extra packets for counselors to disseminate as students enroll during the summer.

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Summer Reading Process and Packet

• Before Summer Break Begins
• Give students a document with two parts: 1) a parent and student awareness letter and cut-away form that is signed by both parent and student affirming the student's participation and submitted to the current  year's grade level teacher before the student leaves for summer break; 2) a list of all grade level selections so that parents see that summer reading is a school-wide program; and
• Hand each student a packet and require a signature (receipt) when a student receives his/her packet (this packet receipt can be on paper or digital);

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The Packet

• Provide information about the book: title, author, image shot of the book cover, ISBN, number of pages, pacing guide, price, e-book availability, focused skills (e.g., Watership Down, 7th graders focus on main idea, archetype, imagery, setting, figures of speech);
• Create a plan for students who might have a different edition of the book at home or whose family is unable to afford to purchase the book;
• Provide an alternative title or titles for each grade level (in case a parent is uncomfortable with diction in the text or the subject matter -- e.g., The Things They Carried -- Alternative Title = All Quiet on the Western Front);
• Provide a reading guide or pacing plan (e.g., if a book is 250 pages, and the students have 10 weeks; then, they should read 25 pages per week or 5 pages per day with Saturday and Sunday off. This reading guide helps students and their parents to manage their time more efficiently);

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Provide clear expectations:

• If you are asking the students to read a book in preparation for a test to be given at the beginning of the school year and if you have no other projects or assignments in addition to the reading --
• Provide writing prompts, guiding questions, and/or a study guide;
• Provide a model of a dialectical journal entry or how to annotate in the book based on the prompts (in our program, the Jane Schaffer® Writing Program [JSWP], we teach students how to annotate in red and green);
• Through the dialectical journal, introduce Style Analysis;

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Administer a test at the beginning of the school year:

• Multiple-choice; and/or
• Timed writing
• Let students select from a group of prompts on the test and write on one of them. Give students the prompts in the packet and tell them they should expect to see at least one of them on the test; and
• If you are expecting embedded quotations in their timed writing, have an open-book timed writing test.

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If you are asking students to complete a project in addition to the reading --

• Consider how and when students will submit it;
• Consider format: digital? analog (hard copies)? both?;
• Add Expository writing lessons if the project has a nonfiction piece to it; and
• Provide the due date and your late policy.

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If you are giving students a writing assignment in addition to the reading, be sure that students understand your policy about plagiarism and cheating.

• Provide prompt(s) -- I like to work with teachers in my same grade level and create several prompts. Then, I ask students to select one of the prompts in the first 25-30 pages of their reading (I explain more about this in this week's webinar entitled Summertime, and the Reading Is Easy). In fact, around the same time you give the students the summer reading information and packet, you could allow time for sustained silent reading and get them interested in the story before they leave!;
• Provide a dialectical journal or annotation activity;
• Have the students submit their work online through a writing program, such as jswponline.com or our google docs templates;
• Provide a rubric;
• Provide the process for completion (for JSWP, we have graphic organizers that would be submitted) and the due date; and
• Tell students to submit all of their work with the final draft. You must see the process to avoid plagiarism or cheating.

Awareness

• Post flyers on the entrance doors of all campuses and on the counselors' doors during the summer, reminding students about their summer reading;
• Post "Summer Reading Requirement" on the outdoor marquee and/or on banners along the walls;
• Create a brief school and community press release (this form of communication gives parents and summer employers a heads up and reminds adults and students that learning never stops); and
• Post the requirements on the school/district website.

So, to answer your question, I appreciate summer reading and, along with my department, have assigned it to my students for many years. I've also been amenable to decisions by teachers or administrators who are against it. But if you are going to have summer reading,

• Do NOT assign a book EVER that you have not read;
• Do NOT select a novel or drama that will turn off students to reading because they cannot understand it;
• Do NOT assign a book that needs your expertise in guiding the students' understanding of its importance (e.g., The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is one of my favorite texts to teach to 11th grade students. Because it is racially sensitive, however, it demands a teacher's guidance and expertise);
• Do NOT select a book that is so difficult that it should be reserved for later in the school year when students have gained more maturity and have learned about your expectations;
• DO make the assignment meaningful. Worksheets are not meaningful;
• DO put yourself in the shoes of the student and the parent. Ask yourself, "Is this assignment furthering my students' lives or just giving them busy work?"; and
• DO choose a book that is going to make the students enjoy reading. And, as an added bonus, pair it with a couple of recommended films with the same theme(s) or setting/mood for archetypes found in the book and suggest family movie nights. If you make summer reading interesting and fun, then the parents will enjoy it; and who knows, the students might gain and enhance their love for reading!

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Keep writing (and reading)!

Warm regards,

Dr. Louis

I am wondering about the Dialectical Journal form. My students complete dialectical journals as we read our novels, but I love this form that you attached . . . we do them in a journal notebook in class. Now that we are at home and all digital, I would like to use this form.My question is . . . do you give them the writing prompt for the whole novel at the top, or would you give them a writing prompt for the first few chapters?Thank you.Peace, Mrs. Michelle B.8th Grade ELA/Reading TeacherHello, Mrs. B.,Thank you for writing and for your question. It gives me an opportunity to give you some ideas.For novels and dramas and research projects, I give students four to five prompts:

• One of the prompts, I reserve for me. It is the one I use to model the skills. That way, the students aren’t copying my examples because I have a different prompt; however, they see and learn my thinking as I go through the process: decoding the prompt; gathering concrete details; generating commentary; producing well-developed body paragraphs; building introductions with a debatable thesis statement; and creating a memorable conclusion.
• I share all the prompts with the students upfront, and we decode each one. By decoding each one, students learn the skill of decoding prompts. And because we work on four in a row, the intensive focus helps them to understand the pattern, the process of decoding the prompt.
• I tell the students that by p. 25, 35, or 50 (up to you and depending on the length of the text and the content demanded by the prompt), they must sign-up for one of the prompts. Only a certain number of students may sign-up for a prompt. For example, let’s say I have four prompts, and I have 80 students, then after 20 students sign up for prompt #2, it’s gone. This serves several purposes:
• I don’t have to grade 80 essays on the same prompt;
• Different students are attracted to different prompts, and these give them choices;
• I have lottery due dates to stagger my grading. Allowing myself 48 hours for every 35 essays, helps me to stay fresh, fair, and consistent in my grading.
• So here’s how it works: After the students sign-up, I put the prompts in a hat, and we draw for due dates! Let’s pretend I have four prompts in a hat. I’ll have one of my first-period students student draw a prompt from the hat --
• Prompt #3 is due October 1 (+10 points) – the ten points lessens the shock of being the first to submit an essay!
• Prompt #1 is due October 3 (+6 points)
• Prompt #4 is due October 5
• Prompt #2 is due October 7

• I read the first couple of chapters or 25 pages aloud for the following purposes:
• To get them involved in the text;
• To teach them to make inferences;
• To model CD and CM entries for each prompt (that’s right – they have the four prompts, each one sitting at the top of a dialectical journal. And I provide 2-3 examples for each prompt;
• Once they sign up for a particular prompt, I have them turn in their dialectical journals every few days to observe their reading and annotating progress.
• I take just a few seconds, just a quick glance to make sure they are on track with their concrete details and their commentary as they relate to the prompt they have selected.
• I tell them that they should have 5-10 entries per week.
• When they turn in their dialectical journals each week, they star their two favorite entries for me to grade. I glance at all of them; but, I score the two they choose. I also can see how they are interpreting the text as they read it.
• Typically, the ones they star will be the ones they ultimately choose to “Gather CDs,” develop the topic sentence for each body paragraph, add CMs, and produce the concluding sentence for each body paragraph. Some CMs will lend themselves to producing their introductions, their thesis statement, and their conclusion.

Hi Dr. Louis!

Happy New Year! I have a question for you regarding expository writing.

In filling out the T-Chart for a body paragraph, how do you explain the difference between the commentary sentence and the concluding sentence? The ideas all come from the CM side of the chart. Is the concluding sentence more general?

Thanks for your advice. Ginger

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‍Hi, Ginger,

Thank you for your astute question. You are correct about the Commentary (CM) and Concluding Sentence (CS)ideas coming from the CM side of the T-chart. And I love to watch students’ eyes beam when they realize that after they have brainstormed their commentary ideas, their body paragraph is all but done! In the past, they would fret over what to write. Now, their task is different: they must discern which of their multiple CM(green) thoughts fit best for the revised topic sentence (blue), the commentary (green), and the concluding sentence (blue).

‍Topic Sentence

‍I say to the students, "Pick up your blue pen! To revise your topic sentence, look at your commentary ideas. Do you see an overarching idea? Do you see something that sheds a true light on the idea you are trying to get across to your reader? Is there some word or phrase that has an umbrella effect? Now, revise your topic sentence.

"After they cross out what they have used to create their topic sentence ("When you use it, you lose it!"), I say, "Keep your blue pens in your hand. You have another blue sentence to write, don't you?"

‍Concluding Sentence

‍They reply, "Yes, our concluding sentence."

"That's right! You don't want to give away all your good stuff, because that concluding sentence is important. It's how you leave your reader. It's how you as a writer -- you as a thinker and productive, global citizen -- make a difference. When Robin Williams in Dead Poet's Society suggests that each student 'add his own verse,' this is what he is suggesting. There are moments in your writing that your input can help us say, 'hmm, that's an interesting idea.' It's possible. So, you want it to have impact. You want your reader to think, 'Wow! That's good!' Look for your commentary ideas that could provide a sense of completion, a finished feeling. In other words, look for the green ideas on the right side of the T-Chart that consider the 'big picture' or 'the human condition.' What green thoughts (CMs) bring home the point you want to make and leave the reader smarter than when s/he started your paragraph!'

They write their concluding sentence, and I remind them to cross out what they used.

‍Commentary

‍"Pick up your green pen! Now, look at what is remaining on the green side. Remember, you must make sure that your commentary sentence or sentences address every part of your concrete details, your evidence. So, if you have two CMs that reveal two examples about your topic, then your commentary must analyze both examples. Since the ratio is 2+:1 in expository (two or more sentences of CDs to one sentence of CMs), see how much concrete detail you have. If you wrote four or five sentences, then writing a couple of sentences of analysis is fine. Just make sure the analysis, the commentary, takes into consideration all of your evidence, not just part of it.

Ginger, that's how I teach them how to produce writing with logic, organization, tone, and voice. And that's how I teach them to discern between commentary and concluding sentence.

Thank you for your question.

Keep reading and writing!

Happy New Year,

Dr. Louis

Good morning Dr. Louis,

I am having my students complete outside reading before they come to class and as a way to support their comprehension and prepare them for a quick reading quiz, I am going to have them write summaries of what they read. How would you apply a Jane Schaffer® structure to a summary?

Thank you,

Samuel M.

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Dear Samuel,

Is it one text or several? Is it fiction or nonfiction? Title? Author?

Here’s an idea: Pretend that you have met a person who has not read the novel, but you want to tell them all about it from start to finish. In three well-developed paragraphs (3+:0), summarize1) the setting; 2) the important characters you met, and 3) the events that occurred, and/or conflicts that arose in the beginning, the middle, and the end of the novel.

For the topic sentence of your first paragraph (beginning), provide an overview of the setting; for your concrete details, list three important plot points; for the concluding sentence, provide your opinion as to why the time and place and social mores of the novel are important.

For the topic sentence of your second paragraph (middle), provide an overview of the conflicts in the story; for your concrete details, list three important plot points; for the concluding sentence; provide your opinion on whether the conflicts are justified and why (only one sentence).

For the topic sentence of your third paragraph (end), provide an overview of the resolution of the conflict; for your concrete details, list three important plot points; for the concluding sentence, provide a theme in the novel (only one sentence).

‍Keep reading and writing,

Dr. Louis