The WOW Factor assignment

The posts so far this year have been very “serious” assignments leading to a big project. However, students need lower stakes assignments to practice and experiment with their writing skills. Also when learning new topics, students need time and encouragement to reflect on what they’ve learned.

The WOW Factor assignment encourages students to share with their class and instructor something that really surprised them in their reading, research or study of the topics for that unit or had them say “I didn’t know that” or “WOW! That’s cool!” The topic may also encourage them to ask questions or say “I would like to know more”.

Title: The WOW Factor
Objective/s: Learner will develop an internal dialogue while reading, studying, and researching history. Learner will build note taking skills. Learner will reflect on the content they are studying.
Assignment type: Formative
Assignment Details:
1. Students are assigned reading from texts and other sources, but many students view this as a passive process and often fall asleep on the book hoping for some sort of learning osmosis to occur. To be more effective readers and efficient students, learners should carry on an internal dialogue while reading. Check out this resource for some great lessons to implement in your courses about talking to the author and building critical thinking skills. If you can not conduct an activity to teach this skill, at least with adult learners share some resources about Question-Answer Relationships while reading. Be sure to share with your adult learners that this skill is expected but often not taught, and that a study skill like this can be more effective and efficient.

2. Now that the students understand what is expected of them while reading, it is time for them to practice the skill. While reading the required text or participating in a content discussion, the student will write down at least 5 WOW “I didn’t know that” or “That’s amazing” facts. Then for each WOW, they are to write at least 3 questions about that topic that come to mind and they would ask the author. Breaking from the traditional note taking techniques, the student is learning to engage with content and if they own the book could write their WOW facts and questions right on the page.
3. Students will then select one WOW fact and questions and build a reflective assignment that they will share in a discussion with their classmates. At the top of the document the student will quote or paraphrase the WOW fact and provide the source of that fact in APA or MLA format. The student will write a brief paragraph about why that information excited them or why they related to that information or found it most interesting. Then below the paragraph they will list each of their internal dialogue questions with an answer for each that may have come from more reading, research, or the answer may be they didn’t find anything definitive but they found out something else interesting related to the fact. Each answer should also include the source in APA or MLA format.
4. Student will post their WOW assignment in a discussion to share with classmates.
5. Student will respond to at least two classmates WOW assignments with 2 additional questions/answers and resources they found to answer their new questions.

Rubric: Based on 100 points
Student selects and posts in a discussion their WOW fact and asks 3 questions. -20 points
Student included a paragraph about why that fact interested them and how they relate to that term. -10 points
Student cites sources for WOW fact and the answers to their 3 questions. -10 points
Student included the answers to their questions in their post or additional information they located about the topic. -30 points (10 points for each question)
Student responded thoughtfully in a supportive and constructive manner to at least 2 classmates’ submissions. The response should include at least 2 more questions, answers, and sources. -30 points (15 points for each response to a classmate)


The WOW moments are now spreading through your class. Students may realize from reading each other’s WOW assignments that they overlooked something interesting in their reading and go back to read it again. Students will encourage each other to think critically about the content they are discussing and find the answers together. History is a broad subject that doesn’t have to bore students. Instead, they can find the areas that most excite them. For example, they might be fascinated with fashion from a certain age or how a weapon or sport became popular. Instead of sitting passively waiting for all the “facts” of history to somehow be absorbed for a test, they can activate their prior knowledge of a subject, engage with new content, and share their excitement with others.

History Research Paper Series--First Draft

I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday season and are ready to start thinking again about scaffolding your research papers.

There are several different approaches that you might take with the next step which is composing the rough draft. You might suggest to students that they have peers, friends, and family read and review their rough draft. You might also suggest that they read the document out loud to themselves or a friend to start catching awkward phrases or mistakes.

I like to use an optional discussion where students post their rough draft for classmates to review and provide feedback. The advantage of this is that students get multiple perspectives from other students who understand the parameters of the assignment. I usually give bonus points (5 points) to the student for just taking the time to put their rough draft in the discussion and additional bonus points (up to 5 points) for taking the time to thoughtfully review a classmates’ paper. It is helpful to reviewing students to provide a rubric or other tools when evaluating the papers so they can provide the most useful feedback to their classmates without sounding overly critical or harsh. I announce to students that I will not read the papers in the discussion, so they feel less risk about showing work that might not be polished. However, I also state I will monitor the discussion for questions and positive, thoughtful correspondence.

Most students seem to understand that the rough draft is a first, second, or even third version of their final paper. They also understand that the rough draft should have citation, quotation, and basic grammar and spelling. However, be sure your students know that the rough draft is to have strong organization and is more than a free writing activity to get thoughts on paper.

For the purposes of this blog, the lesson below is for the student to submit the paper to the instructor to continue the feedback loop presented in other assignments. I do not think that this assignment should be graded except possibly some points for turning it in on time. This is the moment to help students struggling with the writing process and a graded assignment might be too penalizing at this step to encourage improvement.

Objective: Learner will compose a rough draft of their final research paper using the steps prior to this assignment. The rough draft should include a strong thesis statement, demonstrate research on the topic including a Works Cited or Bibliography section, and must be well organized with a concluding statement.

Assignment type: Formative

Assignment Details:
Student will compose a rough draft of their final paper. The rough draft must include the following:
1. Thesis Statement
2. Researched details as examples in the body
3. Works Cited or Bibliography and in-text citation
4. Strong organization of thoughts and ideas

Student will submit the assignment to the instructor for feedback and review. (In my courses the assignments can immediately be run through a plagiarism detector and can be marked up using that tool. Students can see the plagiarism report and this can save many students from accidentally plagiarizing on the graded final version. Additionally, this is a good opportunity to require students to submit some questions about their paper or to have a live session with the instructor to discuss areas for improvement.)

There is no rubric included for this assignment because the focus should be on encouraging your student to improve the assignment for the final version.

Games!

I freely admit that I have always disliked playing video games; however, in today's world with modern students, instructors can expect that video games will engage and teach their students at all levels of education in ways traditional education does not.

I prefer free games that are easy to access for me and my students. Some games are very simple crossword puzzles and matching games such as those found at one site for Elementary Children and this free resource. Others can be more involved like the ones on this BBC site where role playing and experimenting with different scenarios teaches about the past. One site with a wide variety of game types and topics is History.com.

A resource that I enjoyed included many games from several periods of US history including one two player game where you act as British or Colonials battling it out for control of the Colonies. Another role playing game at pbs.org tests if you can Strike It Rich in the California Gold Rush.

A simple five question game about myself that both my husband and I had fun taking was "Which Founding Father are You?" at http://www.constitutionfacts.com/. Surprisingly, this quick game got a conversation going in my house (He was Hamilton and I was Madison)... this game might be a fun way to engage or "hook" students in a more in-depth discussion about founding fathers.

You may be asking yourself "How can I assess learning from a game?" I know I have debated the use of games. However, I am beginning to realize that the rehearsal of information presented in new, dynamic, and interesting ways and the problem solving in these games has as much value as some other more traditional practice activities. There are, of coarse, games that are much cooler and detailed that are not free. But those are for another day...do you have any free games you like to use with your classes?