FIVE KINDS OF KNOWLEDGE/ 5 KINDS OF WRITING: GIVING KIDS WHAT THEY NEED FOR SUCCESS WRITING (AND READING) PARTICULAR KINDS OF TEXTS

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1 FIVE KINDS OF KNOWLEDGE/ 5 KINDS OF WRITING: GIVING KIDS WHAT THEY NEED FOR SUCCESS WRITING (AND READING) PARTICULAR KINDS OF TEXTS Jeffrey D. Wilhelm Boise State University jwilhelm@boisestate.edu

2 Five Kinds of Knowledge *Knowledge of Purpose and Function *Knowledge of HOW TO GET THE STUFF (Procedural Knowledge of Substance) *Knowledge of HOW TO ORGANIZE AND STRUCTURE THE STUFF (Procedural Knowledge of Form) *Knowledge of WHAT conventions and codes are used to construct meaning (Declarative Knowledge of Form) *Knowledge of WHAT the point articulated by the material and its structuring must be (Declarative Knowledge of Substance)

3 FIVE KINDS OF COMPOSING Jeffrey D. Wilhelm See INQUIRING MINDS LEARN TO READ AND WRITE (forthcoming, Scholastic) And GOING WITH THE FLOW: MAKING LITERACY LEARNING IN SCHOOL MORE LIKE LIFE (forthcoming, Heinemann) I have found John Collier s idea about different kinds of writing very helpful to me. I ve adapted his idea by matching it to Hillocks kinds of knowledge to make the point that kids need lots of particular kinds of non-pressurized practice with the five kinds of knowledge. Purpose/Context as set by Essential Question *KNOWLEDGE OF PURPOSE: The obvious pre-condition of writing is that the students understand the purpose of the writing and how the writing will help them achieve some kind of functional communicative purpose that is meaningful to them. Frontloading *TYPE ONE: GETTING IT DOWN/Personal Exploratory Beginning to get the stuff This kind of writing is a risk-free form of frontloading and brainstorming. It involves generating ideas without an internal editor: Responding to prompts, exercising Bricolage, riffing, trying stuff out. This kind of composing might consist of talk, listing, webbing, journal writing, freewriting, notemaking, doodling and jotting, etc. Asks questions like What do I already know? Think? Feel? How does this connect to me? What can I learn from what other people already know? Ungraded. Gateway Instructional Sequence Moving towards expertise *TYPE TWO: DEVELOPING AND PLACEHOLDING KNOWLEDGE/Substantial exploratory- Getting more substantial stuff This kind of writing is also exploratory, but is more substantive. The writer is experimenting with developing and placeholding ideas in accordance with standards of the community of practice in the world. The writing may be short and fragmentary. This is PRACTICE for developing and dealing with significant ideas at the heart of the discipline. Asks the question: What does the community of practice know and how can I begin to come to know and deal with these ideas? Ungraded. *Types 1 and 2 are inquiry, i.e. discovering and getting the stuff one needs to understand and do work. *TYPE THREE: INFORMAL WRITING/Exploring putting stuff into a form This kind of writing should demonstrate that the writer actually knows something about the topic and is beginning to see connections within the data and to other texts and

4 knowledge bases, and is beginning to interpret and consider applications. To do this the writer is considers how to compose her understandings in a particular text structure. The writer may be experimenting with ways to organize, structure and express particular ideas through the use of genre conventions, text structures and the like. Again, it is a form of PRACTICE for dealing with different ways of shaping writing. Addresses the questions: So What? Now What? How does this stuff matter? What work can it do? How should we think about it, think with it, and use it? How can I best express my understanding of this material and how to think with it and use it? How can I being to shape my thinking into the structure of a genre like argument, narrative, etc.? Ungraded but will be shared and responded to by peers or teacher. *TYPE FOUR: FIRST DRAFT WRITING/Polishing and Expressing Understanding This is a substantive form of writing that has justifiable content, fits text structure requirements for a particular discipline, and attends to 2 or 3 specific standards called focus correction areas that are appropriate for the writer to learn and that are important in the context of this particular composing task. (Addressing more than 3 tends to overwhelm the writer and encourage her to ignore all correction areas.) This writing will be read aloud and responded to. It may be evaluated BUT for the purpose of shaping and revising it further. Addresses the question: How can I make this writing accessible to an audience? How can I make the writing fit the conventions of form and correctness? Final meaningful making project/knowledge artifact *TYPE FIVE: FINAL DRAFT WRITING This is a highly polished kind of writing that strives to be of publication quality. It can go outside the classroom without explanation or qualification. It meets the standards of a community of practice. This typically requires multiple drafts, and because it takes so much time and effort, should be considered a major project. Will be evaluated according to articulated standards that match requirements for this kind of writing in the world. Addresses and answers the essential question in some way and makes a personal comment and contribution to the problem posed by the question. Students should be able to name what they have learned and communicated, and how they learned and communicated this (declarative knowledge of procedure and form). Students will only compose one or two of these a quarter, and they should not do so until they have had developed expertise through significant practice with the previous four types of writing. Students should be groomed for success. Asks the questions: What are the conceptual and structural standards for this kind of writing? How good can I make my writing? GRADED. (adapted from an idea from John Collier)

5 THE INQUIRY SQUARE DECLARATIVE PROCEDURAL FORM Student names the features of the fable including animals as symbols of foibles, ends in moral, etc. How to put the substance of the proposed fable in an appropriate form: What animals could represent the foible and other contrasting values? What actions and key details could show the consequences of this foible? Events must be a syllogism leading to a conclusion that can be summarized as A moral. SUBSTANCE Knowledge of the content of particular fables. How to produce the substance of fables: brainstorming for human qualities that are immoral or irritating. Generate foibles and their concomitant actions, etc. Choose a big one that causes problems for self and others Choose a foible that is correctable Think about how people with this foible act Purposes: To make fun of errors, mistakes, negative human traits *To fight injustice *To be oblique, especially in repressive situations - to show better ways of treating each other, more positive ways of being in the world, to offer options *To explain and understand our faults *To entertain *To illustrate our shortcomings *To take the edge off our shortcomings through humor *To teach writing and reading for a directly stated central focus/main idea/moral WHY WRITE OR READ THIS KIND OF TEXT? HOW CAN WE GET THE STUFF TO WRITE OR READ THIS? (INQUIRY?) WHAT DO WE HAVE TO DO WITH THE STUFF TO FORM IT INTO AN ARGUMENT, SATIRE, FABLE, EXTENDED DEFINITION, ETC.?

6 Toulmin s Model of Argumentation CLAIM: The starting point for an argument. Good claims must be debatable, defensible, and insight-yielding. DATA: Answers the question: What makes you say so? or What do you have to go on? For an argument to move forward the audience must at least provisionally accept the data. Data provide a safe starting point. Evidence. WARRANT: Answers the question: So what? or What allows you to move from those data to that claim? Warrants are almost always some kind of general rule or principle. Warrants typically must be supported with backing until the audience would both see and share the value of the warrant. Arguments turn on warrants. Warrants are the reasoning and the thinking about the data. Without warrants, there is no argument. BACKING: Answers the question How do you know [ that... (the warrant) is something we should value/believe?] Backing is required until the point that the audience shares the value of the warrant. RESPONSE TO RESERVATION/REBUTTAL: Good arguments proactively consider what someone might say who disagrees with any portion of the argument. The response cites the reservation and addresses it.

7 Introduction to Persuasive Argument Ponder this: why do people bother to argue? List three reasons why you've gotten into an argument recently: Think about times you've lost arguments, and times you've won arguments. What makes a good argument? How do you win people over to your side? List three ingredients to a great argument: Why should you care about arguments? Feel free to use an example from your own life, from politics, from science, law, medicine, from history: How can a good argument be powerful? How can a bad argument be powerful?

8 Heuristic for Claim Writing Plus what positives or pros might follow from the claim? Minus what negatives or cons might follow from the claim? Interesting What new insights or angles might be revealed through a consideration of the claim? Something you might not have considered previously? All cars should be yellow. All faculty and students should wear mood rings. Special training and certification from the state should be required prior to marriage/ to bearing children. All marriages should go back to being arranged.

9 Evidence Extracting/Citation For each claim below there are three pieces of data you might use to support it. Rank the three pieces in order of their power as evidence, critiquing each as you do so. We will build a heuristic for powerful and convincing evidence as we go through this exercise. 1. Elvis Presley is the best singer in history. a. He sold fifty million records, more than any other musician in the history of music. b. He had a unique combination of singing ability and personal magnetism. c. His movies are still being shown today. 2. Mr. Wilhelm is a terrible teacher. a. He gives too much homework, more than any other teacher. b. One student of his, Joe Zoblotnik, explains it this way: I went in to see him after school for extra help three times. The first time he yelled at me for bugging him. The second time he left after only five minutes because he said he had to get home. The third time he stayed all right but he made fun of me for needing extra help. He said I must be stupid if I can t catch on in class. c. Each year, 10% of his students fail English. 3. Jem, a main character in To Kill a Mockingbird, is a very caring boy who expresses Harper Lee s theme about the necessity of caring for each other as human beings. a. Throughout the novel he is nice to everyone he meets. b. Pauline Kael, a literary critic from Temple University, writes that Perhaps Jem s most positive attribute is his sensitivity to others, a quality he displays throughout the work. c. After the trial of Tom Robinson, an innocent black man who the jury found guilty, Jem wept uncontrollably. What warrants would be necessary to make the best evidence promote the claim?

10 NOTECARD WORKSHEET GOAL: To select relevant material for notes, given a topic limitation. I. Limitation: Shelley Duvall gives a credible performance as Olive Oyl in Popeye because she makes the character transcend its cartoon limitations. relevant passages: write the numbers comments or notes: II. Expanded Limitation: While Shelley Duvall successfully carries the character of Olive Oyl beyond the level of a mere cartoon caricature, Robin Williams is never able to bring to Popeye any human dimension. relevant passages: bracket in Kael review. comments or notes: III. Limitation: critics agree that the failure of Popeye is largely attributable to the directing of Robert Altman. Using the limitation above write: 1. a paraphrase note, paraphrasing a minimum of three sentences. 2. a summary note of a passage of at least five sentences. 3. a quotation note of a passage of at least thirty words, using one ellipsis. 4. a combination note of a passage of at least four sentences.

11 THE CURRENT CINEMA The Funnies Sometimes the components of a picture seem miraculously right and you go to it expecting a magical interaction. That s the case with Popeye. But it comes off a little like some of the Jacques Tati comedies, where you can see the intelligence and skill that went into the gags yet you don t hear yourself laughing. Altman may have been trying too hard, taking the task of creating a live-action musical version of a comic strip (the screenplay is based on Elizie Segar s Thimble Theatre) too literally. He was probably reaching for something beyond the written scenes trying to create whole comic environment. Altman had to introduce an element of risk on top of the risks that all directors take. Whether this is interpreted as a form of hubris or as part of what makes him an artist or as what keeps him from falling asleep on the set (and it s probably all three), it s Altman s way of directing. Most of the commercially successful movies with actors in roles based on comic-strip characters (such as Skippy in 1931, Blondie in 1938, and Superman in 1978) have been content to deliver the simple catch phrases and repetitive situations that the strips were famous for. Altman tries for much more: the two-dimensional look and the jumbled congested Krazy Kat feeling of some of the early strips. Nobody has ever brought this off in a talking picture not with the degree of stylization that Altman attempts and when you look at Popeye some of the reasons suggest themselves. There used to be animated cartoons in which birds and animals would spoof movie stars a chicken might be Mae West. Cartoon figures playing movie stars have it all over movie stars playing cartoon figures. In cartoons, the creatures can do anything; their bodies don t get in the way and can t be hurt. But when you watch the actors in Popeye doing cartoon stunts, you re aware of gravity and how difficult what they re doing is. When you see an actor lifted up and put on a hot stove, the literalness is dumb and oddly unpleasant. Maybe certain kinds of jokes especially the ones involving transformations and mayhem, and the ones that derive from the absence of gravity need the shift in imagination that we make at a cartoon. Some of the most complicated feats of reproducing comics-strip effects in Popeye such as Olive s brother, Caster Oyl, being slammed so hard in the boxing ring that he flies out above the crowd, like a missile, and Popeye, when hit by Bluto Spinning like a corkscrew down through the boardwalk are eerily unfunny. Sweethaven (which was constructed on the island of Malts) is a funky cuckooland whose people, all crabby obsessives, are as warped as its architecture and its economy. The light that bounces off the grayish buildings has an odd, enameled quality, and the houses all seem to have been built crookbacked or to have buckled. It s a ramshackle, depressed town, with catwalks and chimneys and ladders and a red-light district everything weather-beaten and tottering. Sweethaven is so flimsy it seems boobytrapped; you expect it to fly apart or come tumbling down. (Yet when Bluto, in a rage, smashes the Oyl s house, it isn t nearly as funny as the Big Bad Wolf blowing a house down.) Popeye, the outsider, arrives, and even before he finds lodging he s stung a couple of times by the roving tax collector, who demands money in the name of Bluto s boss, the Commodore, the town s unseen tyrant. No one makes Popeye feel welcome the local citizens scurry away from him. The people of Sweethaven are living quirks; they might have bought their peculiarities at a novelty shop. A long, skinny man keeps

12 hiding behind a pole; there s a man chasing his hat who keeps kicking it ahead of him, and another whose head, when pressed down, sinks into his shoulders like a turtle s. The film has virtuoso bits of business, such as four men moving a piano over a rotting rope bridge. (This gag, which does work, isn t from cartoons; it s out of Laurel and Hardy.) But there are also glimpses of sometimes indecipherable activity at the side of the frame, and there are a lot of disassociated voice-overs a constant squawking. Some of the remarks we catch are classic griping (Olive s Not since I was a child have we had a sharp knife in this house ); others seem to be commenting on the action they re like wisecracks over-heard from the row behind you, and with expletives that would never have been allowed in the funny pages. At first, we anticipate that we ll get to know the grouchy people of Sweethaven, especially the Oyls and Wimpy the moocher (Paul Dooley), but they have no real roles they just keep the background busy and the looseness of this activity is so distracting that the foreground gags don t come off. Sometimes the foreground gags don t come off even when there isn t anything going on around them. There is a painful scene when Olive first shows Popeye his room and the bed collapses, the picture falls from the wall, and the doorknob falls off. You don t laugh, you just stare. It may be that Altman, despite the complex, random-looking incidents he is famous for, doesn t know how to shape and pace basic slapstick. He never does anything stale, and it may be that he can t stomach the thought of clicking-out a scene like this one, which has been done a million times. And possibly he thinks he ll get something more exciting by just tossing it off. But slapstick done imperfectly may come across as laborious, and that s what happens in a lot of Popeye. Altman s attempt to reproduce a full comic-strip lowlife environment seems to work against him in all sorts of ways. When Popeye first climbs through the streets of Sweethaven, singing a song, the editing seems peculiarly bad; his song is broken up by shifts in the camera position. Altman must be trying for the jostling patchwork mood of comics perhaps even for the slap impact of comic-strip frames but the patchwork jumble doesn t develop its own rhythm, and we can t find our way into the film. The editing throws us in and pulls us out, we feel as if we re being dunked in cold water. Sweethaven is just a small fishing village, yet when the man-mountain Bluto (Paul L. Smith, who was the head guard in Midnight Express ) goes to see the Commodore s boat is we have no idea where the Commodore s boat is. The boxing ring features a big plaster statue of the champ, Oxblood Oxheart, and when Popeye defeats him the statue falls; it s an abrasive, overpowering shot. I could never get the hang of the editors thought processes. There s a dinner scene at the Oyl s when they and their boarders are sitting around the table and all their ticks seem to intermesh and they ve finished the food before Popeye can get a bite. Or is it that there was so little food that nobody got to eat more than a morsel? The double time movements suggest something funny, but we can t quite tell what s going on.

13 Warrant Workouts State your viewpoint on the issue of whether Atticus is characterized as a good parent and briefly explain why you think so. The following evidence could be used to argue either side of the issue. After thinking about how the other side would use this evidence, write a warrant for each that explains how this evidence supports your conclusion about Atticus as a parent. (could also have students write warrants for both sides, or also write responses to reservations) A. Atticus says he has threatened to whip Scout but has never actually hit her. B. When Scout uses profanity in front of Uncle Jack, Atticus tells him that if he doesn t pay attention to her, she ll get over this stage. C. When Scout says she is never going to school again, Atticus makes a compromise with her, saying: If you ll concede the necessity of going to school, we ll go on reading every night just as we always have... By the way, Scout, you d better not say anything at school about our agreement. D. Atticus allows Scout to wear overalls; Aunt Alexandra suggest that he should encourage her to wear dresses so that she will become a lady. Juliet has a purer and more mature love than Romeo does. A. She is not compromised by prior relationships like Romeo s love for Rosaline. B. She consciously goes against her father, mother, nurse, extended family, and ultimately her religion because of her love for Romeo. C. She withstands Romeo s bungles and mistakes like his killing of Tybalt.

14 PUTTING IT ALL TOGETHER SLIP OR TRIP? After Margaret and her husband Charles got into a fight, she stormed out of the house and left him at home alone. She drove to her country club where a party was going on. Everyone there complimented Margaret on her dress and how well it fit her slender figure and this made her feel somewhat better. Margaret left for home just before one in the morning. She invited a few friends to follow her home for one more drink. She got home ten minutes before they arrived but when they rang the doorbell, Margaret ran outside, yelling, Something terrible has happened! Charles slipped and fell on the stairs. He was coming down for another drink he still had the glass in his hand and I think he s dead! Oh my god, what should I do? The police at the scene concluded that Charles indeed died from a wound on the head, and confirmed that he had been drunk. What do you think happened? You are a member of the CSI investigative team. You must determine whether this was an accident or murder. Analyze the evidence in Margaret s story and the crime scene photograph and look for clues for how and why the incident occurred. Once you ve gathered the evidence, warrant it to make your claim! Was it accident or murder!

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16 Sell Your Junk Now that we've broken down the persuasive arguments in T.V. commercials, it's your turn to practice convincing people by using warranted arguments. I've given each group three items. They might be strange, or seemingly useless, or even broken, but it's your group's job to sell them. For each item, start with the claim, "You should buy (Your item here)." In order to support that claim, come up with two pieces of data, and connect each piece of data to your claim through a warrant. Ex) Claim: You should really buy this empty CD case. Data: The case is still very functional for holding CDs and keeping them safe. Warrant: If you buy the empty CD case, you'll have a spare the next time you find an unprotected CD. After all, a protected CD lasts longer, and you'll be able to enjoy it for years to come! Item 1: Claim: You should really buy. Data: Warrant:

17 Talkback Guide for Argument 1. Does the argument report the data? The data and evidence presented are... a. Asks if the data are persuasive? Is more information needed to establish the data? (An argument can t be advanced unless the audience accepts the data as compelling) The information is persuasive/unpersuasive or sufficient/insufficient because.. 2. Cites the warrants? The data are linked to the claim by these warrants and explanations... a. Asks if the warrants are clear? Does the warrant justify the leap to the conclusion? The warrants are clear and convincing/unclear and unconvincing because Cites the backing for warrants, if necessary? The backing for the warrants is/are... a. Asks if the backing supports with specifics the truth or acceptability of the warrant. The warrants are shown to be true in the form of backing that Qualifier or Reservations are listed. The reservations to the argument are... a. Has the arguer considered all of the objections which the audience can make against the claim? Have the reservations been adequately responded to? The reservations are adequately/inadequately addressed by Claim is cited. What is it you should believe or do? What is it you lack? What threatens you? What is it your need? The claim is clearly stated as... /is implied to be... a. Whether the argument is convincing and why is explained. What worked and did not work for you as a reader? Where was the author convincing and not convincing? What will you do or think in the future as a result of this argument? I was convinced/unconvinced by the argument because... and this argument will inform my thinking and action in the future by...

18 EXTENDED DEFINITION: HERO General Intro: Someone who helps people Criterion: A hero stands up for what he/she believes in despite personal risk Criterion: A hero shows that he/she cares about others. Example: Martin Luther King spoke against racism to the whole country in spite of the fact that he was receiving death threats Warrant: Martin Luther King stood up for his beliefs despite personal risk. Therefore, he is a hero. Counterexample: Rachel did not stand up for Laura when others were making fun of her Warrant: Rachel did not stand up for her friend because she was afraid others might make fun of her too. Therefore, Racnhel is not a hero. Example: Fat Momma stopped to help the little girl. Warrant: Fat Momma showed that she cared when she stopped to help. Therefore, she is a hero. Countere Iron Enfor past the li did not sto Warrant: T Enforcer di that he care stopping to Therefore, h hero.

19 Rank the following definitions from strongest to weakest. Then identify the features that make the best one the strongest. Western Hero In every Western, there is going to be a hero, someone whom everyone liked and could only dream of being. Western heroes are rather unique compared to every other hero, yet they all seem to have similar characteristics that captivate the audience. The most important aspect of a A Western hero would have to be mystery, whether the mystery evolved from his name, past, or motives. He would also be at the center stage, in the center of all action, yet he would not reveal his true self to anyone. Another aspect that is needed is courage. Whether it was his courage to fight outlaws, Indians, or even stand up for his own rights or those of others, courage was essential. All in all, the Western hero would have to be an interesting character. Crime There is really no way to give the perfect definition of a criminal act. I think that everybody has his own separate definition. What some people may consider a crime, other people may not. It s a personal thing. And you usually know when you re doing something that you would consider a crime. Force beyond the line of duty Police brutality is an act which is vague in its meaning. The generally accepted definition is the use of unneeded force by police in the line of duty. However, there are always times that make it necessary for a more precise definition. A more workable and usable definition which could be used by a judge in deciding a brutality case would be an intentional, unprovoked act of force by an officer in which his life or any innocent bystander s life is not put in danger by the victim of his assaults. In order to clarify this definition, one must look at it in sections. The first word which is key to understanding the definition is intentional. This means that the officer is using force with a clear understanding of what he is doing and that his actions are done on purpose. For example, if a police officer s gun accidentally misfires and injures a person, this act would not be considered police brutality since the officer was not intentionally using force. Another key word in the definition is unprovoked. The act must be unprovoked which simply means that the person the officer is using force upon has not resisted attempts by him to carry out his correct job as an officer. For instance, if an officer is summoned to arrest a shoplifter, and the person complies with the officer, the policman may not use force upon the shoplifter since no force is needed to carry out his lawful task. However, if the shoplifter resists arrest and begins to make vocal threats and then strikes out at the officer, then he is allowed to use force that is needed to carry out his job. Apply each to the analytic scale.

20 Please answer each question with the best answer possible. 1. About how many inches of snow would have to fall before you could consider the storm a blizzard? 2. Label each of the following as a city, town, or suburb: San Diego Beverly Hills Aspen, CO Green Bay, WI Bangor, ME Ft. Lauerdale, FL 3. You are rating the following students for National Honor Society on the basis of leadership. Put a check by each of the following activities you consider a position of leadership. Then rank them from the activity that requires the most to the least leadership. Secretary of senior class First string basketball player Reporter for school newspaper Valedictorian Part in school play Member of ski club Community service organizer 4. If a male were described as average in height and weight, what would be his height and weight? 5. At what age does middle age start? 6. How many people in this room have brown hair? 7. An island is described as having a tropical climate. What would the temperature be on an average summer day?