Assignment Template for English Language Arts and Literacy

          In the assignment template for English Language Arts and literacy, there were several examples of instructing that I had previously been exposed to in classrooms. Some of the methods I agree with, but while reading the template it felt as if some aspects were being beaten to death. For instance, the template starts off with a single article. Before reading the article students must go through it and identify the main topics (via the headings and sub-headings). I almost feel as if this step could be skipped. For instance, in previous class’ that I have had, usually the teacher will provide a brief summary of what we are about to go over while they are handing out the articles. I prefer this method because it simply appears to be more efficient. This way the students can still work on their KWL charts because they know where the article will take them.

          The assignment template also mentions the importance of providing feedback to the students before they venture too far into their writing. In a previous class I had at Eastern Washington University, the teacher demonstrated this approach by having one on one conferences with them for just a short amount of time (ensuring everyone would be able to talk with the instructor that day). The key was to find only a couple of errors that needed to be fixed. The assignment template states that this is the best way to go about editing a student’s paper. This way there will only be a couple of marks on the paper. In addition, the students will also be able to track their progression in their own writing. Each time the student works on an essay, they will have a new point to focus on (rather global or local). 

          One approach that a teacher used was to have the students conduct conferences with their peers. This method was nice for the student body because they were able to see the thought process of their peers. At the same time, the students were able to receive feedback from multiple students in the same day. The only downfall is that the entire class needs to be in a mutual agreement to read their peers’ papers.