Standard Writing Conventions

By Jacqueline Smith on August 17, 2010
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To facilitate standard conventions, Mr. Lehrer maintained an expectation of what he called the "errorless draft,love collection Cartier on sale discount," which required students to respond to his written feedback in their final draft and to resubmit the attached rough draft so that he could detect that students responded to feedback. The expectation for writing standard conventions and appropriating skills in meaningful contexts reifies Delpit's (1995) assertion that intervention is needed to write in standard contexts. Scaffolding from students' home language to inform standard writing was Breitling Replica an enactment of code-switching pedagogies (Baker, 2002; Bakhtin, 1986; Delpit, 1995; Wheeler & Swords, 2006). Whenever possible, he interacted with students to clarify feedback. Therefore, he actively sustained awareness of standard writing and skills in meaningful contexts, aligned with grammar and usage embedded in local and national standards.

During a formal interview, Mr. Lehrer acknowledged the importance of sustaining skills in meaning contexts, as an integral facet of standard acquisition and usage:

4r. Lehrer: Yeah, sure, because that's the basis of the class. I mean, really, this kind of class revolves around the idea that those skills exist...within the context of important language usage. So if you're using language in an important way, which is to say you're using it to express meaning.

Author: True, so, you put skills in meaningful contexts, not finding the subject and the predicate.

4r. Lehrer: Even though occasionally I will do that if I really want to mention some things that they don't have, I think it's such a vacuum.

Author: So that would make you a little less approachable.

Mr. Lehrer: I think so, I think they know as the year goes on that I care about that stuff a lot. I really do. I demonstrate that when I get their papers and mark they up and when I talk to them about their writing, but it would have to be in a meaningful context.

This excerpt reveals that Mr. Lehrer's written comments were intended to provide skills in meaningful, nonthreatening contexts. He considered on-going written feedback an impetus to talk to students about their writing in an effort for them to acquire standard conventions. Mr. Lehrer determined his enactment of providing skills instruction and linking standard English with home language in the con-ext of their writing was more effective than isolated grammar worksheets. In addition, he was more poachable to his students.

Providing written feedback for 137 students across 11 of Mr. Lehrer's class sections was time consuming and posed constraints for Tag Heuer Replica meeting each student personally to address his comments. However, each student was provided with at least written feedback and opportunities to confer with a peer. He expected them to assume responsibility and respond to written feedback until the draft was errorless.

The "Letter to Future Self" was a writing assignment that employed standard writing conventions. Students wrote a letter to their senior self graduating from high school. Student letters would be mailed to them near the end of their senior year of high school.

The guidelines dictated the letter genre. Each paragraph manifested topics that were appropriate to the student during their seventh-grade year,antique Cartier on sale, including physical appearance, things that have happened this school year, and hopes and dreams for the future. Rough drafts included Mr. Lehrer's feedback for students to apply to the final edited version.

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