G/E Blocks - History 12-2, 12-3

Today I returned the first paragraph writing assignment and went over how to read the marking rubric.  In senior history courses it is important that students master the essay form and the "what/so-what" response style.  I have found that some notations on the writing sample along with a "prescriptive" rubric that systematically identifies the areas where improvement is needed is the most effective process for improving student writing (along with practice, of course).  Some areas I focussed on today were:

1. ensuring all parts of the question prompt are addressed (in this week's assignment many students spoke well about the political aspects of the topic but ignored the war itself).

2. varying the sentence length for interest but also to punctuate important points.

3. thinking about word choice (not necessarily using big words, but using precise ones)

4. employing transitions to guide the reader through the argument (I call words such as "nevertheless" and "therefore" SIGNPOST words and they can really add clarity to your work).

Here is the rubric:

Next, I gave an introductory lesson in the use of PowerPoint, one of the presentation formats we will use this year.  Thanks for a good week; I hope you all have a happy weekend.  There is no homework.