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Designing Writing Assignments
When thinking about how to design written assignments, it helps to distinguish between two kinds: informal, low-stakes writing that allows students to begin or explore their learning about a subject, and more formal, high-stakes writing that allows students to demonstrate what they've learned.
Low-stakes assignments might stand alone, or they may be used as stages of a of a high-stakes project. High-stakes assignment should be staged. They often ask students for documentation of their research sources.
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Tips for Responding to Student Writing
How am I going to be able to respond to all this writing without overburdening myself? How do I handle issues like grammar when I'm not an English teacher? Are you supposed to grade journal entries, freewriting, or informal class letters?
These are questions people often ask when they first start planning a writing-intensive course. This section offers strategies for responding to low-stakes writing assignments, using peer review as a means of response, developing grading guides, avoiding becoming an editor of student papers, creating phrases to use when writing comments, and sharing examples of good and bad writing. Clicking on each tip will give you more information on that particular topic.
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Sample Assignments
The WID Program is committed to developing innovative writing activities that challenge students to test the ideas and concepts that are being covered in their classes. We are also interested in ensuring that students are given opportunities to practice using the rhetorical and stylistic conventions of their respective disciplines. This page contains brief descriptions of the different academic departments at LaGuardia and links to pages with assignments designed by members of these departments.
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CPE/ACT
There are two main writing examinations that CUNY students must pass: the CUNY Proficiency Examination (CPE) and the ACT. The CUNY Proficiency Exam (CPE) requires students to demonstrate academic literacy. The CPE tests: reading and interpreting textbooks and material of general interest; organizing and presenting ideas and connecting those ideas to other information or concepts; writing clearly and effectively for an audience; and interpreting and evaluating material presented in charts and graphs. The ACT is used in determining students' readiness for college-level courses, initial course placements, and readiness to exit from remedial, developmental, and English as a Second Language (ESL) course sequences. Students cannot enter senior colleges unless they have passed all three ACT exams: reading, writing, and math.
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There are several forms of supplemental writing instruction available to LaGuardia students as they continue developing and honing their writing skills:
The Writing Center
The
Writing Center at LaGuardia Community College is a valuable
resource that you should make use of when offering a writing-intensive
course. It is located in E111 and is open five days a week
from 9:15-8:05. The phone number for the Center is (718) 482-5640.
Check the Writing Center website for the latest
updates.
ESL Tutoring
If a student is having problems that seem primarily ESL-related,
please direct him to the ESL department (E200), where one-on-one
tutoring is available by appointment. The student must
bring a copy of his schedule in order to schedule an appointment
with one of the tutors. ESL tutoring is available five days
a week (Monday-Thursday from 9:00-6:50 and Friday from 9:00-4:15).
It is highly advisable to direct students to ESL tutoring
as soon as possible because the tutoring schedule gets filled
up very quickly. If you have any questions or would like further
information, call (718) 482-5640.
Writing Fellows
Writing Fellows have weekly office hours in M-118 for the
students of faculty currently completing the WID program.
Contact your assigned Fellow for his or her hours.
CUNY WriteSite
Students should also be directed to the CUNY
WriteSite. Many of the links provided by this WID web
site provide grammar exercises, quizzes, and handouts. Of
course, these resources are also valuable assets to professors
offering writing-intensive courses. These links can be useful
as a source of handout for your course, or can be added as
external links on your class Blackboard sites. |
Useful Links
LaGuardia and CUNY:
LAGCC Center for Teaching and Learning (CTL):
Visit this site for information about the way LaGuardia
faculty members are working together to explore issues of
pedagogy and practice in order to advance student learning.
You'll also learn about the CTL's interdisciplinary workshops,
forums, and on-going seminars.
LAGCC E-Portfolio Website: Curious about
what's going with e-portfolios at LaGuardia? Then check
out this new site.
LAGCC Library: Visit our college's website
for access to CUNY+, databases, on-line research, library
hours, and information about MLA and APA style.
LAGCC
Ask a Librarian Reference Service: LaGuardia's students
can now email reference questions, such as how to search
a database, to the library staff. Questions are answered
within 72 hours (longer for weekends & holidays).
CUNY
Online Resource Engine: Visit this site for information
about professional development opportunities, teaching with
technology, discussion groups, links, and tools and utilities.
CUNY
Proficiency Exam (CPE): Check out this site for detailed
information on the CPE.
CUNY
WriteSite: Offers online instructional support in grammar
and style, help with each stage of the writing process,
and hints for how to handle various kinds of writing throughout
the disciplines.
Hunter
Writing Center: Contains a great deal of information
on all sorts of writing-related issues.
New York Public Library:
New York
Public Library: This is the general site for our city's
library.
Ask
Librarians Online: The New York Public Library has a
new service that allows individuals to have their library
and research questions answered via e-mail or live web chat.
NYPL
E-Journals and Full Text Articles: Contains the New
York Public Library's collection of newspaper and magazine
articles, encyclopedias, dictionaries, and biographies.
Other Sites of Interest:
Purdue
Online Writing Lab (OWL): Useful resources for both
faculty and students. For faculty, there are a variety of
grammar and writing handouts. For students, there are online
quizzes and tutorials.
University
of Hawaii at Manoa: Contains valuable information about
the development of writing-intensive classes.
The
WAC Clearinghouse: Based at Colorado State University,
this site houses abundant resources for teachers who use
writing in their courses, including this useful list of
links
to other WAC programs throughout the United States.
Edison
Initiative Writing Across the Curriculum Bibliographies:
Extensive lists of resources for applying WAC principles
within various specific disciplines.
Computer
Teaching Tips: Simple Ideas for Teaching Writing and Reading
in Computer Labs: This site makes some helpful suggestions
and connections between WID and computer-based learning.
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