Writing Analysis
Writing is one of the focus areas for young elementary students. There are many important functions for writing in our society and students need to be able to understand the function of writing, how written language is organized, how to get their ideas and words on paper, and how to correctly use punctuation. Students should be encouraged and provided with many opportunities to write, read, and talk in order to develop these concepts because each supports one another. Writing is used in a variety of circumstances and provides an opportunity for to understand the way in which the student thinks.
The purpose of analyzing a writing sample from a student is to develop insight into both the processes and the products of the child’s writing. Collecting writing samples gives the teacher an opportunity to evaluate the student’s progress and their thinking processes, as well as evaluating their products. It is important to collect many different writing samples throughout the year in order to track the student’s growth.
In order to further understand the value of collecting writing samples, I collected an essay from a student in my teacher's class. I am placed in a resource room at an elementary school. The students in the class are third, fourth, and fifth graders who are pulled out of their general education classes for small group instruction. They are all different ages and educational levels who have specific learning needs and learning profiles. Student A is a boy in third grade who comes to the resource room for support during the writing block. He comes in for half an hour before lunch to receive individual support for his writing. He struggles with writing because he becomes easily frustrated trying to organize his ideas. Student A's latest writing assignment is to write a persuasive essay. In order to make this a more manageable task, his teacher has broken up the essay into five different areas, an introduction, three body paragraphs, and a conclusion. Each paragraph is written on a separate piece of paper so that Student A can focus and organize his ideas clearly. Student A has chosen to persuade his audience to hate snow.
During the writing block, I was able to sit down with Student A to work with him on editing his persuasive essay. Student A's essay was structured well and he had strong points to support his argument. I asked Student A if I could make a copy of his work so that I could study his work and think about his skills as a writer. He was happy to share his story because he was proud that he was able to complete the assignment and show off his hard work.
After collecting the writing sample, I sat down and analyzed the work in order to further understand Student A as a writer. It is evident that Student A is a struggling writer and is not on grade level. However, Student A is improving and show significant progress. Student A is a newer student in the class because he was just classified this year so it is interesting to see how much he has learned in a short time. From the writing sample it is clear that Student A is beginning to understand that he needs to have a main idea for each paragraph and support that statement. In each paragraph he gives a reason for hating the snow and then supports it with a personal example. For example, in his first body paragraph he states “snow is the worst weather because it is not safe”. He then supports this idea by talking about a time he saw a plow plowing the snow and he observed a man walking who was covered in snow by the plow. This shows his understanding of supporting the main idea of the paragraph. This writing sample also shows that Student A understands the layout of a persuasive essay. He has a clear introduction, three strong supporting body paragraphs, and ties his ideas together in a conclusion. Although he demonstrates a strong understanding of the structure of a persuasive essay, the writing sample also shows where Student A needs to improve as a writer. He needs to work on expanding his ideas, drawing the reader into the essay in the introduction, and giving a better ending. These are all areas that many students need to improve upon but having the writing sample allows the teacher to see this clearly with evidence.
The data that I collected from the writing sample would guide my future instruction of this student. This analysis was useful because it allowed me to observe Student A's development as a writer and figure out his strengths and weaknesses. In order to fully understand each student’s writing ability and where to help students develop, collecting writing samples is essential. Each student has individual writing needs that need to be further developed. As a teacher, you need to be aware of each student’s writing level and how to support them so that they can develop. Collecting writing samples on each student can help plan future instruction for each individual student.
Writing is an important skill that takes time for students to develop. Development happens simultaneously with reading and talking, so it is important to provide students with many opportunities to explore in these areas. Writing samples are a good resource to use in order to collect data on each individual student. The data collected can be used to figure out how to help and support student’s development and plan future instruction.
Writing is one of the focus areas for young elementary students. There are many important functions for writing in our society and students need to be able to understand the function of writing, how written language is organized, how to get their ideas and words on paper, and how to correctly use punctuation. Students should be encouraged and provided with many opportunities to write, read, and talk in order to develop these concepts because each supports one another. Writing is used in a variety of circumstances and provides an opportunity for to understand the way in which the student thinks.
The purpose of analyzing a writing sample from a student is to develop insight into both the processes and the products of the child’s writing. Collecting writing samples gives the teacher an opportunity to evaluate the student’s progress and their thinking processes, as well as evaluating their products. It is important to collect many different writing samples throughout the year in order to track the student’s growth.
In order to further understand the value of collecting writing samples, I collected an essay from a student in my teacher's class. I am placed in a resource room at an elementary school. The students in the class are third, fourth, and fifth graders who are pulled out of their general education classes for small group instruction. They are all different ages and educational levels who have specific learning needs and learning profiles. Student A is a boy in third grade who comes to the resource room for support during the writing block. He comes in for half an hour before lunch to receive individual support for his writing. He struggles with writing because he becomes easily frustrated trying to organize his ideas. Student A's latest writing assignment is to write a persuasive essay. In order to make this a more manageable task, his teacher has broken up the essay into five different areas, an introduction, three body paragraphs, and a conclusion. Each paragraph is written on a separate piece of paper so that Student A can focus and organize his ideas clearly. Student A has chosen to persuade his audience to hate snow.
During the writing block, I was able to sit down with Student A to work with him on editing his persuasive essay. Student A's essay was structured well and he had strong points to support his argument. I asked Student A if I could make a copy of his work so that I could study his work and think about his skills as a writer. He was happy to share his story because he was proud that he was able to complete the assignment and show off his hard work.
After collecting the writing sample, I sat down and analyzed the work in order to further understand Student A as a writer. It is evident that Student A is a struggling writer and is not on grade level. However, Student A is improving and show significant progress. Student A is a newer student in the class because he was just classified this year so it is interesting to see how much he has learned in a short time. From the writing sample it is clear that Student A is beginning to understand that he needs to have a main idea for each paragraph and support that statement. In each paragraph he gives a reason for hating the snow and then supports it with a personal example. For example, in his first body paragraph he states “snow is the worst weather because it is not safe”. He then supports this idea by talking about a time he saw a plow plowing the snow and he observed a man walking who was covered in snow by the plow. This shows his understanding of supporting the main idea of the paragraph. This writing sample also shows that Student A understands the layout of a persuasive essay. He has a clear introduction, three strong supporting body paragraphs, and ties his ideas together in a conclusion. Although he demonstrates a strong understanding of the structure of a persuasive essay, the writing sample also shows where Student A needs to improve as a writer. He needs to work on expanding his ideas, drawing the reader into the essay in the introduction, and giving a better ending. These are all areas that many students need to improve upon but having the writing sample allows the teacher to see this clearly with evidence.
The data that I collected from the writing sample would guide my future instruction of this student. This analysis was useful because it allowed me to observe Student A's development as a writer and figure out his strengths and weaknesses. In order to fully understand each student’s writing ability and where to help students develop, collecting writing samples is essential. Each student has individual writing needs that need to be further developed. As a teacher, you need to be aware of each student’s writing level and how to support them so that they can develop. Collecting writing samples on each student can help plan future instruction for each individual student.
Writing is an important skill that takes time for students to develop. Development happens simultaneously with reading and talking, so it is important to provide students with many opportunities to explore in these areas. Writing samples are a good resource to use in order to collect data on each individual student. The data collected can be used to figure out how to help and support student’s development and plan future instruction.