Content-Area Literacy Professional Learning Writing Assessment

C3WP: Formative Assessment

Focusing formative assessment on a small number of skills or “moves” with writing, rather than all possible revisions and edits, can help writers improve their writing and internalize new writing practices and strategies. This is as true of non-fiction, source-based argument writing as of other writing types. We see formative assessment as part of a cycle of writing and learning in which:

Teachers TEACH source-based argument writing;
Students WRITE source-based arguments;
Teachers, working in community, use a common lens to ANALYZE what students are doing; and
Teachers IDENTIFY and DEVELOP instructional next steps.

C3WP’s Formative Assessment Tools

C3WP’s formative assessment tools are designed to provide a common lens and language to describe what students can already do and identify next areas of focus for their writing. In order to focus on some practices, while blocking out others, each C3WP tool focuses on particular dimensions of source-based argument writing. The tools featured on this page were created to be used collaboratively by teachers as they plan for writing Instruction.

Using Sources Tool (UST)

The Claim, Reasoning, and Evidence Analysis Protocol

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C3WP: Teaching On-Demand Argument Writing

Teaching Democracy Across the Curriculum

Educators from the Boise State Writing Project studied together and created units of study across the curriculum that give students opportunities to be citizen historians.

For the Sake of Argument: Teaching Evidence-Based Writing

By Linda Friedrich, Rachel Bear, and Tom Fox

The instructional resources contained in this article are designed to develop specific argument skills and include text sets that represent multiple perspectives on a topic. The resources also emphasize iterative reading and writing practices, the recursive development of claims, organizing and structuring writing, and embedding formative assessment opportunities. The formative assessment tools help teachers assess students' written arguments and provide specific feedback.