Introduction
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In the fall of 2014, I began teaching in a special admit school in South Philly. In order to be accepted into the school, the students must have gotten a B+ or above on the PSSAs, either play a musical instrument or sing and be selected following an audition with the music staff. The school is small, with around 60 students in each grade. As a result, each grade has a total of two classes. I began the process of co-teaching and eventually taking over one of the junior English classes in October of 2014. Right around then, the students wrote thesis papers on The Great Gatsby. This was the first assignment that I had ever graded. Needless to say, I was excited to read what they had written. As I sat, grading the first set of papers of my career, I noticed some serious deficits. Among other things, the students were unable to construct argumentative, specific theses or to use and analyze quotations effectively.
I was disappointed, surprised and, to be honest, a little worried. Eleventh grade at that school is the year that the college preparatory process begins in earnest. In 9th and 10th grade, the English teacher focuses on preparing students for the PSSA, a statewide, standardized test students must pass to graduate. Most of the students at this school plan to attend college and, as such, it is crucial for them to know how to execute a thesis paper.
As I reflected on this troublesome gap in my students’ education, I decided that I wanted to do something. I wanted my students to walk away from a year with me both capable of writing thesis papers and confident in their ability to construct analytic essays. At this point, I had a decision to make. I could teach my students to write thesis papers by assigning them thesis papers unit after unit. I was loathe to try this, however, because I worried that my students would get bored, disengage and, as a result, not actually learn what I was trying to teach. Alternatively, I could develop a curriculum that targeted the specific deficits I saw in my students’ craft and use more unconventional assignments to attempt to teach them these skills.
This was the seed of my inquiry project and led me to develop the question, What happens to students’ thesis paper writing skills when the class proceeds through unconventional units on argumentative writing and close reading?
I was disappointed, surprised and, to be honest, a little worried. Eleventh grade at that school is the year that the college preparatory process begins in earnest. In 9th and 10th grade, the English teacher focuses on preparing students for the PSSA, a statewide, standardized test students must pass to graduate. Most of the students at this school plan to attend college and, as such, it is crucial for them to know how to execute a thesis paper.
As I reflected on this troublesome gap in my students’ education, I decided that I wanted to do something. I wanted my students to walk away from a year with me both capable of writing thesis papers and confident in their ability to construct analytic essays. At this point, I had a decision to make. I could teach my students to write thesis papers by assigning them thesis papers unit after unit. I was loathe to try this, however, because I worried that my students would get bored, disengage and, as a result, not actually learn what I was trying to teach. Alternatively, I could develop a curriculum that targeted the specific deficits I saw in my students’ craft and use more unconventional assignments to attempt to teach them these skills.
This was the seed of my inquiry project and led me to develop the question, What happens to students’ thesis paper writing skills when the class proceeds through unconventional units on argumentative writing and close reading?