Well-defined queries leads to accurate responses :

In chapter two of “Writing in the content area”, Amy Benjamin provides the guiding principles for framing and evaluating the writing task. This chapter beautifully emphasize on all the elements of achieving a clear and meaningful task. It is often very difficult for the students to write an assignment according to the expectations of the teachers when there is very less information given.  It is very important for the teachers to clearly and precisely provide the details and requirements of the writing task. Sometimes the teachers are vague and not specific, which leads to the room of errors from the student side. Focusing on the key question words helps the students to improve in their writing responses. Bloom’s Taxonomy is one of the best models that provide the hierarchy of thinking levels.

When the students are inquired to write a certain amount of words, they use repetition and empty words to fulfill the requirement of the length of the paper. Definitely, Quality of the paper is more important than its quantity. I really like the idea of asking detailed question within an assignment to keep the focus of the students in one direction. It helps the students to avoid unnecessary words and elevate thinking in their writing tasks. In a well-constructed writing task, it should suggest the number of well-developed paragraphs instead of exact amount of words or pages. When the teachers are well-defined in their queries, students are precise and accurate in their responses. The sample writing tasks in the chapter provides a vivid picture of leaky versus airtight writing task. It also specifies examples for how to incorporate the writing in other content areas.

Framing the writing task is not problematic only but evaluating a writing task is very challenging too. Grading a writing task and assignment is not an easy job for the teachers as well. However, the concept of rubric makes it easier to grade because it is simply a checklist of the things what students are going to be graded on. Rubrics not only help the teachers to grade the task, but also help students to understand the teacher’s expectations and standards. Absence of the rubric leads to imprecise and ambiguous writing tasks.

This chapter provides a great amount of information that can be incorporated in the class room to enhance the writing abilities of the students. Prescriptive evaluation and self-reflective Assessments also improve student’s work. I learned a lot from it and hoping to apply it in the future.