We've been having some major issues in Year 11 and 12 getting students to write effective essays that discuss their ideas about topics. In fact, we've had some serious issues ensuring that students are developing ideas of their own and being confident enough to express them. We wanted to get our Stage 5 students confident in their own ideas and possessing the basic skills for writing an effective essay so tat when they reach Stage 6 they don't feel incapable of expressing a coerent idea.
So we made a plan.
An assessment task that allowed time for students to develop ideas, consider arguments, develop coherent paragraphs and create a well-constructed essay. The assessment's aim was to familiarise students with the processes and allow students plenty of opportunity for reflection and evaluation. It has worked a treat!
The assessment causes students to focus on what they do throughout the construction of the essay rather than the fianl product and as a result we have had some wonderful discussion. The students focus on reflection and the process because the assessment criteria and marking focus on it. This means those students still possessing the desire for high marks as their key motivation can still find the rewards. One of the most wonderful aspects of this assessment has been the conversations about the topic, about writing and about student's writing styles. The students have completed most of the activities and have written some outstanding essays. The funny thing is, I've barely taken notice of what they've written, but I've been overwhelmed with HOW they've written it. These guys have gone through pages in their books of drafts. They have done everything we want an HSC student to do, and they have done it because of the reflection element of the assessment. I am very confident that without it the students would have only made single attempts at a finished product. The results are very encouraging.
All classes in Stage 5 have reported the same success thus far with student output and quality of reflection. They have used the metalanguage of the criteria when reflecting and evaluating which is reinforcing the key skills they have learned throughout the process. If you are considering getting your juniors to tackle essays, I strongly recommend this process based, reflectve assessment as learning approach! Feel free to use the copy of the assessment below and improve it!
So we made a plan.
An assessment task that allowed time for students to develop ideas, consider arguments, develop coherent paragraphs and create a well-constructed essay. The assessment's aim was to familiarise students with the processes and allow students plenty of opportunity for reflection and evaluation. It has worked a treat!
The assessment causes students to focus on what they do throughout the construction of the essay rather than the fianl product and as a result we have had some wonderful discussion. The students focus on reflection and the process because the assessment criteria and marking focus on it. This means those students still possessing the desire for high marks as their key motivation can still find the rewards. One of the most wonderful aspects of this assessment has been the conversations about the topic, about writing and about student's writing styles. The students have completed most of the activities and have written some outstanding essays. The funny thing is, I've barely taken notice of what they've written, but I've been overwhelmed with HOW they've written it. These guys have gone through pages in their books of drafts. They have done everything we want an HSC student to do, and they have done it because of the reflection element of the assessment. I am very confident that without it the students would have only made single attempts at a finished product. The results are very encouraging.
All classes in Stage 5 have reported the same success thus far with student output and quality of reflection. They have used the metalanguage of the criteria when reflecting and evaluating which is reinforcing the key skills they have learned throughout the process. If you are considering getting your juniors to tackle essays, I strongly recommend this process based, reflectve assessment as learning approach! Feel free to use the copy of the assessment below and improve it!
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