Lesley Bogad, Ph.D.
Department of Educational Studies

Below you will find three different writing assignments I use with my undergraduate pre-service teachers in a course called Schooling in a Democratic Society. The assignments range from low-stakes to higher-stakes writing. They share a common purpose which is Writing-to-Think. Each assignment pushes students to become better critical readers and writers as they engage the theoretical content of our course.

Writing Assignments

“Think Piece” Writing (10%):
We will begin the thinking work of this course with two informal, low-stakes writing assignments that I call “Think Pieces” (borrowed from Peter Elbow, a leading scholar in the field of teaching writing). Your Think Pieces are a chance for you to work out your ideas, impressions, confusions and thoughts before you come to class. These writing assignments should be 2-pages long. While you should pay attention to basic writing conventions, you will not be assessed on grammar, style, organization or structure. All I want you to do is think on paper. What is this article about? What do you make of it? What do you think the main ideas are? What parts did you like? What part didn't you like? Use your own voice, draw from your personal experience and think about the issues that the author raises. Just fill the paper with your thoughts and don't stop writing until you hit the end of page 2. NOTE: You will not receive full credit if you don't fill 2 pages. These papers will be assessed on a check-, check, check+ basis.

Position Papers (7.5% each):
In the early weeks of the semester, you are assigned three Position Papers (see dates in the Course Schedule section of this syllabus). Your grades will be counted for two of these three papers. If you choose to complete more than two of them, your lowest grade will be dropped. To complete these assignments, you will write a 3-5 page, reflective, analytical response paper about the reading assignment for the week. In this paper, you must name the argument(s) the author makes and describe the evidence she or he provides to support that argument. Because thoughtful, critical engagement with these topics often becomes more sophisticated through interaction (through class discussions and written feedback), you have the option to rewrite one of the Position Papers. All rewrites must be submitted to me by Tuesday, March 28.

*Talking Points (up to 1% each):
As a form of extra credit (not required, though a useful exercise in and of itself), you can prepare brief “Talking Points” on the reading assignments each week. This is not a busy work assignment; rather it is designed to teach you how to prepare for class each week, and to help you come prepared to participate confidently in our discussions. Please use one 5x8 index card each week, and follow the format below. We will be modeling this format in our class discussions during the semester, so after a few weeks the concept of an argument will be easier for you.

I WILL NOT ACCEPT ANY LATE TALKING POINTS—if you are absent, you forfeit the assignment. This is not an assignment that is designed to improve your writing skills, but rather to improve your thinking skills. I will assess the Talking Points based on your efforts to articulate your understanding and confusions.

	1 point	Exceptional thought and effort; Indicates careful reading practices and reflects your struggle to make sense of the readings in relation to the course themes and concepts. Includes evidence of your own thought process and connections to other texts
	.5 points	Moderate thought and effort; Reflects general engagement with the text. Little evidence of your own thought process, and few if any connections to other texts.
	0 - .25 points	Very little thought or effort. General notes without any reflection. Notes seem disconnected from any personal thought process, and disconnected from other course themes and texts

• Argument, Evidence: The focus of this paper is on naming the argument and supporting it with evidence. I highly recommend that your paper includes a sentence (in the beginning somewhere) that says, “In this article, Delpit argues that…” This structure will help keep you focused and ensure that you are naming the author's argument specifically.
• Avoid summary: Naming the argument is different than summarizing the whole article. You will not be able to include every point or example that the author uses. I already read it so you don't need to recount every paragraph. A good warning sign that you are summarizing is if you include phrases like, “First, the author talks about…” or “Then, the author says…” or “Another interesting point she makes is…” These are all leading you to summarize. Focus on the argument statement and then follow with a discussion of 3-4 clear examples of evidence the author uses to support that claim.
• Use the texts: These reflections are positioned to help me know how you are making sense of the course themes and readings. Show off the fact that you have read by integrating the articles into your responses. When you can, put the course texts in dialogue with one another. It shows me how you are making connections between course materials. Don't just generalize about the articles — use direct quotations as well.
• Translate quotations: When you use quotations, don't let the quotes speak for themselves. Tell me what they mean to you and why they are relevant to your point. Translate them when necessary using your own words.
• Citation: When discussing course issues and themes be sure to distinguish between your original arguments and the claims made by the authors we read. If an idea, phrase or sentence comes from an article be sure to cite it. You can use “quotation marks and a parenthetical note following that names author and page number” (Delpit, 3) or you can incorporate the citation into your paragraph — Delpit argues that… and note the page number at the end of the sentence (3).
• Who benefits, who suffers?: As you are working through the evidence, think about it. Don't just regurgitate information from the text, but discuss the point and what it means. If you merely describe it without any analysis, I will probably write, “so what?” in the margin of your paper. Take it to the next step. Analyze the implications of this claim. Why does it matter? Why should we care? One way to do this is to ask yourself w ho benefits and who suffers??
• Don't be afraid to name Power: Understanding how power structures relationships between individuals and groups is central to this course. Name it. Say what you mean. When you talk about “people,” what people are you talking about? When you say “we,” whom do you mean? Don't just say, for example, that ‘kids from different cultures experience school in different ways.' Name the power relationships that allow some people more privilege than others.
• Rah Rah Diversity: It is not enough to do a sympathetic reading around the issue of multiculturalism. Don't just talk about how great it will be when all classrooms embrace diversity, or how important it is to improve the injustice in our schools. Rah, Rah Diversity! Be a critical thinker, not a cheerleader. Speak beyond your good intentions to name how and why . We all want a better world but we each have different visions about how to go about creating it. Be specific in naming your perspective.
• When You Disagree: You may not agree with every single thing you read in this class. That is okay. However, when writing your position papers you must clearly articulate the author's position and demonstrate that you understand the evidence she or he provides. THEN you can offer a counter argument, and provide evidence of your own to explain why you disagree with the author's claims. In other words, you do not have to “convert” to the authors' positions by the end of the semester, however you are required to demonstrate that you understand them in your position papers.