Lesson Seven: First In-Class Writing Assignment

In the computer lab today, students will write their first in-class assignment, a body paragraph on the topic Does music play an important role in your life? Each student should have a completed outline form (developed in class during the week).

After completing the vocabulary quiz (10 minutes) each student will be given a new floppy diskette. (I supply these at a cost of 25 cents each, and I collect them at the end of each lab session. Since I use the diskettes to load students’ writing samples onto the class website, I do not want them to leave campus and become virus infected). I then walk the students through the steps of saving a document to the floppy disk. (Instructions are also printed on the class syllabus.)

Once the students have opened a new Word document, typed their name, and saved the document to disk, we are ready to begin the step-by-step process of writing the body paragraph. As I demonstrate these steps using a PowerPoint slideshow, I ask students to be patient and not rush ahead. I provide a general explanation of the important of using the outline as a “map” to where they are going in the paragraph.

In the past, I would explain the steps orally. I assumed that because students had seen samples of outlines and body paragraphs, they would be able to produce a reasonable facsimile. Repeatedly, I was disappointed at the array of misconstrued organization attempts in their paragraphs. They showed particularly difficulty I using composing an appropriate topic sentence, using the transitional words, and stating a reason before providing supporting examples.

With the PowerPoint slideshow (see the show: Composing the Paragraph), I am able to display each progressive element of the writing process, as outline components appear on the screen and are followed by the corresponding paragraphs elements, which drop dynamically into place on the screen: first, the topic sentence; then, the first transitional word; next, the first reason; then, the first example; and so on. I proceed at a slow pace, asking students to compose one element at a time, following the model on the screen.

I continue this step-by-step guidance until the students begin composing their examples for the second reason. At this point, I allow them to complete the paragraph on their own. (Seeing how they handle the remainder of the paragraph is also a good indication of how quickly they catch on to these basic instructions, and allows me to identify students who may need special attention with their organization.)

Using this instructional approach, the writing results are vastly superior to samples I have received in the past. To grade these paragraphs is a comparative joy because I don’t spend countless hours writing out explanations about the basic paragraph structure on each paper.

Revision suggestion: This slideshow is a “first generation” product and can be revised for even better graphics. I look forward to honing it with the collaboration of the Carnegie grant participants.