Assessing Writers

The focus of this week's podcast is assessing writers. Enjoy snippets of articles and make sure to check out the links to free articles and helpful links from around the web.

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Each week Choice Literacy shares the Big Fresh newsletter with a round-up of features around a key topic in literacy education. You can find the December 4, 2020 issue here. 

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Out of Sight, Out of Mind: Accountability for Young Writers: Stella Villalba teaches young writers about writer’s craft. So how come evidence of learning from the minilessons isn’t showing up when she confers with her students? She decides to develop a plan to help students link craft lessons with their writing. 

Joy: Katrina Edwards deals with a frustrated writer on the verge of tears in her first-grade classroom. She realizes the element that is missing in her writing workshop is joy.

Joy Write: A book by Ralph Fletcher that inspired changes in Katrina’s classroom.

On the Cult of Pedagogy website, Mark Wise gives five suggestions for repairing rubrics that aren’t working well.

Magic on the Page: Encouraging Reluctant Writers: Joanne Emery writes poignantly about the struggle of a young child with an on-demand writing assessment. Her poem and narrative are thought-provoking and an inspiring guide for assessing writers in a personal way. 

NCTE Position Statement  on writing assessment offers five principles to ensure valid, fair and appropriate assessment practices.