The Beginning-of-the-Year Diagnostic Essay

The Diagnostic Essay and Dr. Louis' Fifteen Rules

At the beginning of the school year, teachers are wise to diagnose their students’ writing abilities in order to create lesson plans that enhance students’ strengths and improve their weaknesses. To get the most out of this diagnostic, I assign the writing activity on a Tuesday, Wednesday, or Thursday somewhere within the first four to seven days of school after the classes have somewhat leveled and late students have arrived.

I have found that the best diagnostic to give students in any grade level is a personal narrative prompt. I’m not a fan of “tell me what you did this summer,” because I want to hear their voices and learn about their personalities and their attitudes as well as their ability to write.

Providing students with four to five topics and allowing them to select the one that resonates with them offers students options. In addition, this suggestion gives you a break from reading the same topic 180 times! We have many topics from which to choose in the JSWP’s Teaching the Personal and Fictional Essay guide, and I have extracted and listed a few below to get you thinking.

Also, at the beginning of the school year, the last thing a teacher wants to do is to score 180 essays when she or he hasn’t even taught the students a skill. What you want to do is quickly diagnose, and you can do that in a one-page document.

Remember to make this a contained assignment: scope, length, time -- you simply want to get to know your students and their current writing habits and abilities.

• The Diagnostic Assignment
  
  • Give the students one sheet of paper with 25 lines. Limit this assignment to a two- to three-lined introduction, two body paragraphs, and a three-lined conclusion. The objective is for you to read and diagnose the assignment quickly without scoring it.
  • I like this assignment to be written by hand to 1) lessen the number of words in a 25-lined document; 2) observe my students' ability to write and punctuate correctly rather than technology's predictive software and spelling/grammar fixes; and 3) prepare myself for handwriting differences among students. However, if you want it typed, set a maximum word count of 100 words for the introduction; 400 words for two body paragraphs; and 50 words for the conclusion. (Keep it close to 500 for your own sanity.)
  • To make this assignment more enjoyable for the students and you, give them three to five prompts from which to choose.
  • Sample Prompts -- Write about a time when . . .
    
    • you were happy
    • you felt free
    • you didn't feel free
    • your life changed
    • you did something you're proud of
    • you made a good decision
    • you helped someone
    • you stood up for something you believed in
    • you lost something
    • you found something
    • you made someone laugh
  • Time
    
    • If you have a fifty-minute class, allow two class periods (do not allow students to take this assignment home).
    • If you have a 90-minute class, have them write the piece in one class period.
  • Say to your students, "I want you to show me your best writing so that we do not have to review and repeat skills that you learned when you were less experienced writers or that you have already mastered!"
    
    • "Are you going to take a grade?" They ask.
    • Your reply to start the year with guidelines. "Anything that I assign to you, scholars, is fair game for my taking a grade. Everything I ask you to do is to prepare your young minds for success. I expect you always to do your best whether I take a grade or not. But plan for me to assess everything you do in this course. And I do not want to hear that question again because I will not respond to it."
  • The Diagnostic Process and "Dr. Louis' Fifteen Rules"
    
    • Open "Dr. Louis' Fifteen Rules" spreadsheet (email info@janescaffer.com to get your copy) and export your rosters onto the spreadsheet. Use a different tab on the spreadsheet for each class.
    • Remember, do not score these diagnostic pieces. Rather, for each student, place a checkmark on the "Fifteen Rules" spreadsheet for each student's top three most common errors. You may also add one or two rules to the list that correspond to recurring student errors but try to keep the list under twenty items in order to manage your students more effectively.
  • Setting the Stage for Improvement
    
    • The Collective: Post on your wall, bulletin board, or display board the "Teacher's Three Big Rules," which you derive from the most common student errors you discover from the students' collective diagnostic assignment.
      
      • These are the rules that you want the entire class to address for every piece of writing. They may also be associated with your grade level standards and approved by the administration.
      • I titled this display "Dr. Louis' Three Big Rules." You can replace the word "Teacher's" with your name.
    • The Individual: Then, give each student an index card with his or her top three errors.
      
      • These individual rules are different from the "Teacher's Three Big Rules."
      • For self-contained classes, I tape the index card to the students' desks.
      • For students who move from class to class, I printed a handout and had the students put the handout in the grammar section of their notebooks.
      • If digital, they would have an Excel spreadsheet, and the first tab would have a student's three rules. The remaining tabs would consist of their grammar journal lessons.
  • Scores and Corrections
    
    • Students value what you value. There must be consequences to these errors and rewards for mastery. Here is my point structure:
    • "Teacher's Three Big Rules" -- 10 points
      
      • In one essay or writing assignment, I can assume that if the student makes this error once, that student will continue to make the error, so I count off one time and place a check mark where it continues to occur.
      • Students must submit complete sentences with their errors corrected and highlighted withing 48 hours to earn three points back. If students do not submit their corrections, I take an additional 10 points off the entire assignment.
    • "Individual Students' Three Rules" -- 5 points per error
      
      • Since these errors are specific to the students, I need them to pay close attention and get rid of these bad habits. For this reason, they can add up quickly.
      • Students must submit complete sentences with their errors corrected and highlighted within 48 hours to earn three points back per error. If students do not submit their corrections, I take another 10 points off the entire assignment.
    • Miscellaneous Errors -- 2 points per error
      
      • These errors might be typos or oversights, but they still count because we want our students to proofread their work.
      • Eventually, if these miscellaneous errors recur, they might replace one of the students' "three rules."
    • Rewarding Students
      
      • Over the course of the year, when a student masters one of his or her rules, I give that student fifteen bonus points on the assignment, and a gold star is added to the spreadsheet.
      • I then replace the mastered rule with a new one to be mastered.
      • Each student always has three rules.
      • At first the rules will be based on errors, but as the students progress, you can also give them style-type rules, such as "create a parallel structure" or try your hand at "alliteration."