Short Writing Assignments

It is often beneficial to have students submit the components suggested below to your course’s STELLAR web site. In its simplest form, “sequencing an assignment” can mean establishing some sort of “official” check of the prewriting and drafting steps in the writing process.This step guarantees that students will not write the whole paper in one sitting and also gives students more time to let their ideas develop.Every Monday morning, we would spend the first 10 minutes of class writing about dragons, time travel, or our weekends.

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Assignment sheets should detail: Providing questions or needed data in the assignment helps students get started.

For instance, some questions can suggest a mode of organization to the students.

Each change would require different tasks and more extensive knowledge. In this approach, students might write a statement of their understanding of a subject or issue at the beginning of a course and then return at the end of the semester to write an analysis of that original stance in the light of the experiences and knowledge gained in the course. A different approach to sequencing is to create a series of assignments culminating in a final writing project.

In scientific and technical writing, for example, students could write a proposal requesting approval of a particular topic.

This page contains four specific areas: Creating Effective Assignments Checking the Assignment Sequencing Writing Assignments Selecting an Effective Writing Assignment Format Creating Effective Assignments Research has shown that the more detailed a writing assignment is, the better the student papers are in response to that assignment.

Instructors can often help students write more effective papers by giving students written instructions about that assignment.

Defining the whole class as the intended audience will clarify this issue for students. What is the probable attitude of the intended readers toward the topic itself? Have you used explicit command words in your instructions (e.g., “compare and contrast” and “explain” are more explicit than “explore” or “consider”)? Have you told students the kind of audience they are addressing — the level of knowledge they can assume the readers have and your particular preferences (e.g., “avoid slang, use the first-person sparingly”)? If the assignment has several stages of completion, have you made the various deadlines clear? For instance, a 5-page assignment sheet for a 1-page paper may overwhelm students.

The more explicit the command words, the better chance the students will write the type of paper you wish. Does the assignment suggest a topic, thesis, and format? Similarly, a 1-sentence assignment for a 25-page paper may offer insufficient guidance.

This check might be something as informal as having students work on their prewriting or draft for a few minutes at the end of class.

Or it might be something more formal such as collecting the prewriting and giving a few suggestions and comments. You might ask students to submit a first draft in order to receive your quick responses to its content, or have them submit written questions about the content and scope of their projects after they have completed their first draft. Set up small writing groups of three-five students from the class.