One of the biggest problems middle-grade, and even some high school, social studies students have is shaping the knowledge they have learned into presentable written assignments. Obviously, there are many reasons why students' written work is less than adequate. And, work as they might, teachers can not always overcome every student writing problem. However, teachers can help their students by making written assignments clear and nudging students in the direction of good writing.
The purpose of this article is to suggest ways teachers can (1) help give students clearer directions on how to construct written assignments and (2) help make their grading of written assignments easier and more justifiable. Knowing that students are more comfortable when they "know what the teacher wants," both these activities will help take some of the roadblocks out of students' paths as they work.
Creating an Analytic Scoring Template for Students
An analytic scoring template is both a collection of what students should put into a written assignment - if they are to do it well - and a customized list of criteria for teachers as they grade the written assignments students will give them. As shown by the example below, the template helps students because it shows them the type and specificity of the information that the teacher expects will be embedded within the assignment. While it does not give students the specific information they need to include - students will have to use the material they have covered in class to find this information - it does give students a handy checklist they can use to see if they have all the information the teacher is asking them to include.
If, for example, the teacher expects that a good written assignment should include a list of the chronological events that precipitated Louis Reil's rise to power in the 1800s, the template teachers give students will tell students that listing these is important to the construction of the written assignment. Students will then use the template to construct their answer, knowing that if this information is not included their written assignment will be deemed incomplete or not up to the standards set for this particular assignment.
Although it might seem simple, one problem students typically have is that they begin to write before they think. They may get off to a running start, but many soon slow to a crawl and eventually give up in despair believing that the assignment was too difficult or they were too "stupid."
Good writers at any level, of course, depend upon the strength of their research. The advantage of using analytic templates is that it encourages - especially if teachers talk this through with students - students to do their research and collect their information before they begin writing. It would also make sense for teachers to then move to the next step, which would ask students to use a simple numbering system to order the information collected before they begin to write. Such a process moves students quickly through the first draft of an assignment.
How students shape the information into a written assignment remains open. Obviously, there is great freedom in the creativity of any student composition. Even if students were given all the information, likely each would produce a different written composition.
When the compositions are completed, and students have worked through the process of drafting, sharing, and critiquing their own writing (or serving as a critical friend for the writing of another student), the template then serves a second function. This function is the evaluation of the written work. Because the teacher has outlined and shared what is seen as the crucial information for the assignment, the template can serve as a content checklist when the teacher begins to evaluate the students' work. This makes grading easier for the teacher, who can evaluate each section with a "how many out of 4" criteria or a "present - missed" sense. The analytic template also helps teachers justify the grades given, offering the possibility of pointing to a section of the template that was either missed by the student or that was given bonus marks because it was completed beyond the scope of the written assignment.
The analytic template serves two purposes. It serves as a checklist that helps students understand what the teacher expects in a quality written assignment, and the teacher now has a scoring rubric that improves the ease and the consistency of grading the final assignments. As a bonus, the rubric actually helps students who are not great or natural writers. Those students, even with help, can score well on the completeness criteria, even if they lose marks on the grammatical aspects of the assignment.
The sample below suggests the kind of analytic rubric teachers can use to help shape students' writing and improve their own processes of evaluation. While it is specific to a social studies unit teaching about Japan, it is simple enough that teachers can adapt the shape of the rubric for other units. Note that there is an introduction to the assignment, a set of concepts bolded across the top of the rubric, with specific information listed below these concepts that would show the criteria a teacher would use to evaluate the given assignment.
This rubric suggests a final grading pattern out of 16 points. Students who did well on the written assignment would have completed their work to match the extent listed along the top of the rubric - worth 4 points each. Also notice that the actual grading of writing skills is only ¼ of the final grades. Such a system offers hope for those notoriously poor writers - if only in their own heads - and allows them a comfort zone and a direction in which to improve their written work without feeling that they will be constantly hammered by a teacher who sees them as poor writers from the beginning.
Sample Performance Task With Analytic Scoring Rubric
Imagine you are a Canadian journalist on assignment in Japan. Your task is to write a newspaper article describing four agents of change in Japanese culture. Identify and define what each agent of change is, whether it is an internal or external agent of change, and what effect it has had on Japanese culture. In order to do your best, be sure to review the scoring rubric before you begin.
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ANALYTIC SCORING TEMPLATE
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Agents of Change
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Specifics
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Effects on Japanese Culture
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Organization and writing
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| 4 | Four major and important agents of change | The specifics identified are relative to Japan and clearly support the major topic. | Article demonstrates a depth of understanding of the impact of change on Japanese culture. | The organization and writing is exemplary, detailed and clear with few, if any, grammatical errors. |
| 3 | Most of the agents of change identified by the student are major and important ones. | Most of the specifics identified support the major topic. | Article demonstrates a reasonably good understanding of the impact of change on Japanese culture. | The organization and/or writing meets standards. There may be a few grammatical errors. |
| 2 | At least two of the agents of change identified are major. | The specifics identified may be mixed up or do not clearly support the topic. | Article shows a satisfactory understanding of the impact of change on Japanese culture. | The organization and/or writing is satisfactory. There may be more than a few grammatical errors. |
| 1 | At least one of the agents of change identified is major. | Few of the specifics identified support the topic. | Article does not show a clear understanding of the impact of change on Japanese culture. | The organization and/or writing may not meet standards. There may be many grammatical errors. |
This template can be customized to many different types of assignments, and the scores can be doubled or tripled to put a higher rating on the piece. What is important is that students know what is expected of them and that they have a guide to help shape and present their knowledge. Teachers in turn have a template to use to evaluate their students' work. Not all students will be strong writers; however, with clear directions they will have a better chance at success. The path will be a little more visible.