The Better Writing Breakthrough: Connecting Student Thinking and Discussion to Inspire Great Writing

by Eleanor Dougherty, Laura Billings, Terry Roberts

Overview

Every teacher knows the challenge of trying to engage reluctant readers and struggling writers—students whose typical response to a writing prompt is a few sentence fragments scribbled on a sheet of paper followed by an elaborate shrug of the shoulders.

The best way to engage less confident readers and writers is to give them something powerful to think about. The Discourse and Writing Cycle explores writing as a means to focus student thinking, fuel deeper learning, and build complex understanding in English, social studies, math, and science. This field-tested approach from well-respected experts Eleanor Dougherty, Laura Billings, and Terry Roberts is designed for use in grades 4–12.

The book explores the three interrelated sequences of the cycle—the Discourse Sequence, the Transition to Writing Sequence, and the Writing Sequence—and includes classroom examples and sample lesson plans from across the content areas. The cycle will inspire you as a teacher and help you to inspire your students to write with confidence and competence.

“How often we dim or extinguish the creative sparks that can come from good writing! William Butler Yeats proclaimed that ‘Education is not the filling of a pail, but the lighting of a fire.’ This book lights the fire for the teaching of writing.” —John Hattie, author of the Visible Learning books

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781416618843
Publisher:	ASCD
Publication date:	03/04/2016
Pages:	180
Product dimensions:	7.00(w) x 8.90(h) x 0.80(d)

About the Author

Eleanor Dougherty is a consultant with education foundations and agencies on curriculum and professional development. Her graduate degree is in literacy education with an emphasis on the teaching of writing. She has assisted districts and organizations with diverse student populations across the country, and her work over the last two decades has focused on literacy and its role in the larger curriculum, particularly in the core subjects. Dougherty is the author of books and articles on education, including the ASCD book Assignments Matter: Making the Connections That Help Students Meet Standards. She is currently involved in developing a national literacy strategy through the Literacy Design Collaborative.

Terry Roberts and Laura Billings are the director and associate director of the National Paideia Center (NPC), which provides transformative professional development across the United States and abroad. The NPC is widely celebrated as a primary source for materials and training on classroom dialogue at all levels and in all subjects. Roberts and Billings have written extensively about the relationship between seminar discussion and critical thinking, most recently in their book Teaching Critical Thinking: Using Seminars for 21st Century Literacy.

Terry Roberts and Laura Billings are the director and associate director of the National Paideia Center (NPC), which provides transformative professional development across the United States and abroad. The NPC is widely celebrated as a primary source for materials and training on classroom dialogue at all levels and in all subjects. Roberts and Billings have written extensively about the relationship between seminar discussion and critical thinking, most recently in their book Teaching Critical Thinking: Using Seminars for 21st Century Literacy.

Table of Contents

Foreword. Lighting a Fire

Introduction. A Discourse Community

Part 1. Discourse and Writing as Thinking

1. Why Pair Discourse with Writing?

2. Crafting an Effective DWC Assignment

Part 2. From Discourse to Writing

3. Discourse: Thinking Out Loud

4. Transition: Preparing to Write

5. Writing: Refining Ideas for Purpose and Audience

6. Putting Discourse, Writing, and Thinking into Action

Part 3. The Discourse and Writing Cycle in the Disciplines

7. DWC in the English Classroom

8. DWC in the History or Social Studies Classroom

9. DWC in the Science and Math Classrooms

10. DWC Lesson Plans for Elementary, Middle, and High School

Appendix A. Glossary of Discourse and Writing Terms

Appendix B. The DWC Lesson Plan Template

Appendix C. Check Your Thinking

References

Index

About the Authors