DOCUMENT RESUME ED 110 544 88 UD 015 350 TITLE Individualized Language Arts--Diagnosis, Prescription, Evaluation. A Teacher's 'Resource Manual...ESEA Title III Project: 70-014. INSTITUTION Weehawken Board of Education, N.J. PUB DATE 74 NOTE 308p. EDRS PRICE MF-$0.76 HC-$15.86 PLUS POSTAGE DESCRIPTORS Curriculum Guides; *Diagnostic Teaching; Educational Diagnosis; Educational Resources; Elementary School Curriculum; Instructional Materials; *Language-Arts; Manuals; Secondary Education; *Teaching. Guides; Writing Exercises; *Writing Skills IDENTIFIERS *Elementary Secondary Education ActTite1 e III; ESEA Title III; New Jersey; Weehawken ABSTRACT l This document is a teachers' resource manual, grades Kindergarten through Twelve, for the promotion of students' facility in written composition in the context ofa language-experience approach and through the use of diagnostic-prescriptivetechniques derived from modern linguistic'theory. The "IndividualizedLanguage Arts: Diagnosis; Prescription, and Evaluation" project (on which this manual is based) was validated in 1973 by the standards and guidelines of the U.S. Office of Educationas innovative, successful, cost-effective, and exportable. As a result of the validation,the project is now funded as a demonstration site by the New Jersey ESEA Title III program. This Project, it is stated,was designed to meet the critical need of educators to developmore effective methods of analyzing students' writing, and to prescribe and apply individualized instructional techniques in order to promotegreater writing facility. The students' writing development is traced by three samples, taken at three intervals during theyear. The __evaluation of the samples, based on commonly acceptedLanguage Arts objectives is considered to pinpoint each student'scurrent strengths and needs. A prescriptive program which is said to emphasize the integration of subject areas is used inn this Project. Theprogram utilizes an individualized approach, and is used in gradesone through twelve. (Author/JM) *********************************************************************** Documents acquired by ERIC include many informal unpublished * materials ,'ot available from other sources. ERIC makesevery effort * * to obtain the best copy available. nevertheless, items of marginal * * reproducibility are often encountered and this affects the quality * * of the microfiche and hardcopy reproductions ERIC makes available * * via the ERIC Document Reproduction Service (EDRS). EDRS isnot * responsible for the quality of the original document. Reproductions * * supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made from the original, *********************************************************************4* t INDIVIDUALIZED LANGUAGE ARTS diagnosis prescription evaluation A TEACHERS' RESOURCE MANUAL, GRADES K - 12, FOR THE PROMOTION OF STUDENTS' FACILITY IN WRITTEN -COMPOSITION IN THE CONTEXT OF A LANGUAGE-EXPERIENCE APPROACH AND THROUGH THE USE OF DIAGNOSTIC-PRESCRIPTIVE TECH- NIQUES DERIVED FROM MODERN LINGUISTIC THEORY. ESEA TitleIIIProject: 70-014 Weehawken Board of Education Weehawken, N. J. 07087 Copyright, Weehawken School District, Weehawken, New Jersey, 1974. Copyright will be claimed only during the period of further development unless copyright of the final materials is authorized by the New Jersey Department of Education. The materials presented herein were prepared pursuant to a Grant froth the New Jersey Department of Education under provisions. of the Ele- mentary and Secondary Education Act of 1965, Title III.-However, the opinions expressed do not necessarily reflect the position or policy of the New Jersey Department of Education or the United States Office of Education. Weehawken School Dis trict, New Jersey 4 colvTxLyTs INTRODUCTION RATIONALE 1 OVERVIEW 2 RFSHLTS 3 GUIDELINES FOR THE TEACHING OF WRITING 4 MEETING STUDENTS' PERSONAL NEEDS THROUGHWRITING. CTIVITIES 5 BEGINNING THE YEAR'S WORK: Taking the FirstWriting Sample 6 USE OF THE DIAGNOSTIC GRID SHEET DIAGNOSTIC GRID SHEET. 8 OBJECTIVES AND RECOMMENDED TECHNIQUES: Guidelines 9 Recommended Sequence of DevelopmentalTechniques 10 Objectives and Recommended Techniques\ 11 HOW TO DEVELOP THE TEACHER - STUDENT WRITING CHECKLIST 15 GUIDELINES FOR ONGOING DIAGNOSIS 16 ORAL READING OF COMPOSITIONS: Some FurtherGuidelines for Diagnosis 17 BEGINNING THE YEAR'S WORK (2): Establishing Readines6 for Writing Activities 23 SUGGESTED STEPS FOR EVERY WRITING ACTIVITY 25 THE TECHNIgES THE TECHNIQUES: General Guidelines 31 SLOTTING: THE KERNEL SENTENCES 32 SLOTTING: NOUN PHRASES (CLUSTERS) 42 SLOTTING: VERB PHRASES 50 SLOTTING: CLAUSES (DEPENDENT OR SUBORDINATECLAUSES) 74 SLOTTING: PREPOSITIONALPHRASES 82 SLOTTING: APPOSITIVES 90 SLOTTING: VERBAL PHRASES 96 XPANSION BY MODIFICATION 112 1 CONTENTS (cont'd) EXPANSIONBY DUPLICATION 116 SENTENCE REDUCTION 124 MOVABILITY 134 SENTENCE INVERSION 140' THE PASSIVE TRANSFORMATION 144 THE EXPLETIVE TRANSFORMATION 148 EMBEDDING (SENTENCE COORDINATION AND SUBORDINATION) 154 THE INTERROGATIVE TRANSFORMATION 161 THE IMPERATIVE TRANSFORMATION 172 THE EXCLAMATORY SENTENCE 178 SENTENCE SYNTHESIS 186 THE FRAMED PARAGRAPH 190 OUTLINING (PLANNING THE PARAGRAPH OR THE WHOLE COMPOSITION) 195 APPENDIX SUGGESTED WRITING ACTIVITIES 242 RELATED READING ACTIVITIES 245 LINGUISTIC EXPLANATIONS: Introduction 254 Sentence Synthesis 255 Slotting: The Kernel Sentences 256 'Sentence Reduction 258 Sentence Inversion 259 The Passive Transformation fJ 260 The Expletive Transformation 261 The Imperative Transformation 264 The Interrogative Transformation 265 The Exclamatory Sentence 269 Embedding (Sentence Coordination and Subordination) 272 Slotting: Clauses (Dependent or Subordinate Clauses) 274 Slotting: Verbal Phrases 280 Slotting: Appositives 284 Slotting: Prepositional Phrases 285 Slotting: Noun Phrases (Clusters) 289 Slotting: Verb Phrases 291 Movability 305 Expansion by Duplication 306 Outlining (Planning the Paragraph or the Whole Composition) 307 I INDIVIDUALIZED LANGUAGE ARTS ,.. diagnosis prescription valuation kr For further information about, our Project, you are cordially invited to contact the Project Team: Jeanette Alder, Principal, Roosevelt School Project Director Louisa Pl., Weehawken, N. J. 07087 Telephone:(201) 865-2274 Project Consultants: Mildred R. Arata, Former Principal, Roosevelt School Dr. Edwin Ezor, Professor of English Dr. Ted Lane, Professor of Reading/Language Arts Jersey City State College 8 RATIONALE . Linguistics, the study of_language, provides knowledge which can be translated into techniques for improving selected aspects of writing in- struction. These techniques can be blended with a language-experience approach, so that the language, feelings, and ideas of studentscan be used to promote motivation, precision, and control. Furthermore, such instfuction*ilizes writing activities in all parts of the curriculum, and can be organized within a diagnostic-teaching framework. Teachers and students can thus have continuous diagnosis of the writing, prescrip- tion of relevant methodologY, and evaluation of results. In general, this rationale provides for helping tomeet students' im- portant personal writing needs. Simultaneously, it offers a structure so that teachers may have guidelines, procedures, strategies, andmany spe- cific examples of how to teach writing. Our approach is basibally one of discovery. Ir can be used with either gradedor non-graded classes. It c'an be employed with almost any kind of classroom organization. ;Our rationale includes the expectation that students' language can be a powerful springboard for learning Language Arts skills. However, these skills are acquired in such a way that positive attitudes and understand- ings are promoted. ThOe, in turn, generate and reinforce further skill development. Thus, a curriculum balance is struck between the ideaS, 'feelings, and attifad0 of the students and the acquisition of the writing `skillsnecessary for ftuccess in life. Our program is intended to encourage growth: increasing iself- confidence and positive achievement on the part of the students whoyare being helped to become better writers. 9 -1- OVERVIEW Authorities in the Language Arts agree that educatqrs need to develop 'more effective methods of 'analyzing students' writing; to preser±4. and apply individualized instructional techniques in order to promote great- er writing facility.Our Project, "Indiv3dualized Language Arts:Diagnosis, Prescription, and Eya;uation," was designed to meet this critical need. The students-' writing development is traced by three samples, taken at three intervals during the year. The evaluation of the samples,Jbased on commonly accepted Language Arts objectives, pinpoints each studenes current strengths and nee4s. A prescriptive program which emphasizes the integration of subject areas is used in our Project. The program utilizes an individualized approach. Writing instruction is related to speaking, listening, and reading activities, as well as to the students' ideas and feelings. The program is used in grades 1 - 12. The target population is highly mobile and includes many Spanish-speaking youngsters. The methods and mate- rials in this program were developed cooperatively by the Project staff, Weehawken administrators and faculty members, and the students themselves. 10 -2- RESULTS ' Between 1970 and 1972, two successive statistical evaluations revealed that the writing skills of the children in our Project had definitely im- proved in certain ways. In 1,10-71, we matched the youngsters