EDU-EDU8613 - Expository Writing & Embedded Grammar Instruction

Course Description

This teacher professional development course teaches you the entire writing process as you support your 4th-8th grade students in expository writing. You will explore the fundamentals of the writing process before diving into how you will teach students to plan for and draft their essays. Later, you will learn about creating mini-lessons, scheduling student conferences, and teaching revising and editing strategies to your students. Lastly, you will learn about how to assess student progress in writing. You will leave the course with an expository writing lesson plan ready to implement and multiple resources that support your planning and your student's writing.

Course Outline

1. The Writing Process

The Difference Between Expository and Narrative Writing
Five Different Expository Writing Structures
An Overview of the Writing Process

2. The Planning & Drafting Stage

How to introduce and teach each of the five expository writing structures
How to analyze a writing prompt and choose an appropriate structure
Several general tips to encourage your students to begin the drafting stage

3. Writing Mini-Lessons

A Basic Lesson Structure You Can Use For Any Writing Mini-Lesson
Five Sample Lessons You Can Incorporate Immediately Into Your Writing Instruction

4. Conferences

How To Manage Your Time So You Can Conference Privately with Each Student
The Four Key Parts of a Writing Conference
How to Track the Content of Your Conferences

5. Revisions

The ARMS Acronym for Revising
Several Strategies You Can Teach to Help Your Students with Revising
How To Use a Checklist to Encourage Your Students to Peer-Revise

6. Embedded Grammar

Why Grammar is So Important
How Grammar Used to Be taught and Why That Method is Not Effective
A Strategy to Teach Grammar with Mentor Sentences
How to Apply This Strategy in Your Own Classroom

7. Editing

The CUPS Acronym for Editing
Several Strategies You Can Teach to Help Your Students with Editing
How to Use a Checklist to Encourage Your Students to Peer-Edit

8. Assessment

How to Score Expository Writing
How to Use the Data You Collect from Scoring
Three Intervention Strategies to Use with Your Struggling Writers

9. Putting it All Together

Using the sample provided, build your own expository writing lesson plan for an upcoming lesson.

10. Applying What You Have Learned

Get ideas on how to implement the concepts into your classroom, find a list of online resources that provide additional strategies for expository writing, and read the research behind collaboration and student engagement that supports this evidence-based professional development.

Learner Outcomes

Analyze five different expository essay formats
Build a plan for a successful expository writing lesson
Explore assessment methods for expository essays to help you drive your instruction

Notes

This is an asynchronous online course offered through the third party vendor ed2go. This course can be taken on either a PC, Mac, or Chromebook. The instructional materials required for this course are included in enrollment and will be available online. You will have three months to complete the course, and may complete the course earlier than the three month period. Editing of a Microsoft Word document is required in this course. You may use a free version of Microsoft Word Online or Google Docs if you do not have Microsoft Office installed on your computer.