Action
Research Project Title: Increase writing abilities of ninth and tenth grade
students by developing a systematic and foundational way of teaching writing.
Number
of AR Project Documented Hours: 40
AR
Project Summary (at least 250 words): When I first
decided on my Action Research Project, I was concerned about how it would be
received by my colleagues. Though I knew that my work was necessary, I was
concerned that it would not be embraced and appreciated. When I first presented
my ideas to my team members, I was pleased by their response. They agreed that
something needed to be done to remedy the challenge of developing strong
writers; and, they appreciated that I had a plan in place to ensure progress.
While it took a while to get all team members on the same page of what needed
to be done, they were all in agreement that it was in the best interest of the
students to determine a systematic way of teaching writing.
Since our genres of writing are generally guided by
our state assessment, we initiated a plan that will be followed when teaching
expository and persuasive essays. Working together, we used data to guide our
thinking; and, we developed an outline that will be followed by all students.
We are currently on the brink of using the outlines in the classroom.
Currently, we are working with the students to determine the purpose of writing
and the focus of the different genres of writing. Once this foundation has been
set, when we give the outlines to the students, they will help to guide the
process of writing and enable the students to grow in their abilities. In the
end, though the process has been time-consuming and somewhat tedious, I feel
that it will help to create positive change in our school and lead to a higher
rate of student achievement.
