60 For Instructors: Diagnostic Essay
Lesson: Narrative Diagnostic Essay |
Objectives:Students will show their writing and critical-thinking abilities in this low-stakes (ungraded/participation/labor- based) essay. In this narrative essay of 1-2 pages, students will consider ways wellness blockers like stress, testing, and negativity from educators, learning blockers like lack of support and learning difficulties, or educational support like great teachers and involved parents have or have not affected their ability to learn in the past as well as the effects on their current attitudes towards or perspectives on higher education. |
Students will understand…
- It is important to focus on higher-order concerns like organization, clarity, and controlling idea.
- How stress, anxiety, and fear cycles affect their learning.
Questions:
- Have you ever faced a difficult challenge during your educational journey which made it harder for you to complete your work, remember things, or learn?
- If not, in what ways has your educational journey been supported by peers, teachers, or family?
Students will know…
- The definition of meta analysis and how this assignment shows their “thinking about their thinking.”
- How to format an essay for college.
- Conventions of the narrative genre.
- How to share their work for peer review.
- How to create a revision plan for a short essay.
Students will be able to…
- Create a story of their experiences that follows a narrative arc.
- Present their point of view with details “show” instead of “tell.”
- Form a clear and focused controlling idea that is more than a moral to their story.
- Write an Author’s Note about their writing process and introducing their work.
Tasks |
Classroom Activities
Students will:
- Brainstorm through cluster method, freewriting, and group discussion activities.
- Make a revision plan and revise based on instructor and peer review.
- Read sample essays by both students and professional writers (Alice Walker “How Oppressed Hair Puts a Ceiling on the Brain;” David Sedaris “Me Talk Pretty One Day”).
- Pick out Controlling ideas and organization strategies of the readings.
Homework Activities
- Post to the discussion forum your topic and controlling idea .
- Read and respond to two classmates’ posts.
- Read the articles
- Write brief summaries of each of the readings.
- Prepare discussion points for each reading.
- Meet with the instructor one-on-one about drafting the essay/share the rough draft.
Assessment:
Students will be assessed on…
- The essay itself is purely diagnostic– it is a warm-up to the first long essay of the class and a way to practice the format of the other essays:
- Day 1: Read, Analyze, Brainstorm, Write
- Day 2: Read, Analyze, Brainstorm, Write
Meet with instructor to discuss the draft
- Day 3: Peer Review, Instructor Feedback, and Revision Plan
- Day 4: Revise and turn in the final draft
- Labor-based approach/participation. As each step is done, with accompanying notes or discussion posts or class discussion, instructors can assign participation grades to the process work and a complete/incomplete grade for the final essay.
- Author’s Note– another option for a complete/incomplete grade.
Notes (add thoughts, explanations, and reflections)
This lesson is founded on a diagnostic or ungraded/low-stakes approach to allow students to see the way the reading and writing (and thinking, analyzing, and revising) will work over the course of the course. For each class meeting, students will complete reading, analysis/discussion, brainstorming, and writing. Since instructors will aid in workshopping this essay and will see the initial rough draft during a one-on-one conference, this essay will also allow instructors to see the writing needs and strengths of each student to better understand what areas will need the most focus during the semester. This approach will allow students to meet with instructors and also join a writing group during the first or second week of classes, normalizing and encouraging writing partnership as well as sharing writing right away.
The essay can easily be themed to match any course and will act as an introduction to wellness, educational experience, understanding identity, understanding culture, or even career-planning themed courses.