Table Of ContentOn Demand Writing
On Demand Writing
Applying the Strategies of Impromptu
Speaking to Impromptu Writing
Lynette Williamson
International Debate Education Association
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International Debate Education Association
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©2009 International Debate Education Association
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Williamson, Lynette.
On demand writing : Lesson plans for applying the strategies of impromptu speaking to impromptu writing /
Lynette Williamson.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references.
ISBN 978-1-932716-45-0
1. English language--Composition and exercises--Study and teaching
(Secondary) 2. Essay--Authorship. 3. Test-taking skills--Study and teaching (Secondary) 4. Extemporaneous
speaking. I. Title.
LB1631.W396 2008
808'.0420712--dc22
2008038233
Design by Gustavo Stecher, Andres Vanegas, imagenHB.com
Printed in the USA
Contents
Introduction: Speak Before You Write! 1
Chapter 1: Planned Not Canned 7
1. The Brain Purge: Prewriting Before the Prompt 9
Sample Brain Purge Student Handout 12
Conducting a Brain Purge Student Handout 14
2. Talking to the Wall: Verbalizing Ideas Before Writing 17
3. Taking It to Their Seats: Listening and Offering Feedback to an Oral Essay 20
Chapter 2: Real Writers Use Roadmaps 23
4. Recognizing Roadmaps: Noting the Structure of Published Essays 24
Hit the Roadmap, Jack! Student Handout 27
5. Constructing Roadmaps on Demand: Quickly Mapping Out Responses to Prompts 28
Constructing Roadmaps on Demand Student Handout 31
6. Signposting: Signaling to Your Audience Where the Essay Is Going 34
Signposting Strategies Student Handout 37
7. Extemporaneous Roadmapping: Synthesizing Nonfiction Examples 44
Extemporaneous Roadmapping Student Handout 48
Extemporaneous Roadmapping Scoring Rubric Student Handout 50
8. Collecting Aphorisms: Infusing Notable Quotations into Timed Essays 51
Collecting Aphorisms Student Handout 54
9. Eliminating B.O.: Removing the Blatantly Obvious from the Roadmaps 55
Removing the B.O. from Your Writing Student Handout 58
Chapter 3: Thinking Inductively, Writing Deductively 61
10. Brain Lather: Quick Writing to Diagnose Inductive or Deductive Thinking 63
What Kind of Thinker Are You? Student Handout 66
11. Data/Warrant/Claim: Transforming Inductive Thinking into Deductive Writing 68
Data/Warrant/Claim Student Handout 71
Chapter 4: Understanding Prompts from the Inside Out 77
12. The Prompt Generator: Student-Generated Prompts 78
The Prompt Generator Student Handout 80
13. The Qualified Thesis for Waffle–Lovers: Generating Thesis Statements That
Acknowledge an Opposition 83
The Qualified Thesis Generator Student Handout 88
Qualified Roadmapping Student Handout 91
Qualified Roadmapping Rubric Student Handout 93
14. Focusing a Vague Prompt: Qualified Criterion-Based Thesis Statements 94
The Criterion-Based Qualified Thesis Generator Student Handout 97
Chapter 5: Fleshing Out the Essay 99
15. Lean Mean Introductions: How to Write Skimpy Introductions That Pack a Punch 100
Lean Mean Introductions Student Handout 103
16. Body Paragraphs That Don’t Stand Alone: How to Craft Body Paragraphs That Develop
a Thesis 108
Body Paragraphs That Don’t Stand Alone Student Handout 111
Laying Claim to Your Topic Sentences Student Handout 115
17. So What?: How to Write Meaningful Conclusions 117
So What? Student Handout 120
18. Taking Time to Title: How Titles Provide Focus to an Essay 124
Taking Time to Title Student Handout 128
Chapter 6: Coaching the Timed Essay 131
19. Actively Coaching from the Sidelines: What to Do While the Students Write 132
20. Students as Peer Coaches: A System of Student Scoring 134
21. Peer-Editing: Taking a Timed Essay to a Final Draft 139
Editing an Essay Takes . . . Honesty • Guts • Style Student Handout 142
22. Portfolio Reflections: How to Prepare On Demand Writing for the Portfolio 145
Portfolio Reflections Student Handout 148
Chapter 7: Reaching the Top of the Rubric 151
23. Maintaining a Consistent Point of View: I OK—You Not! 152
I O.K.—You Not! Student Handout 156
24. Improving Syntactical Variety: Sentence Modeling 162
Modeling Morrison Student Handout 165
Simulating Shelley Student Handout 167
Rhetorical Reflections Student Handout 169
25. Self-Diagnosis of Sloppy Syntax: Reworking Original Sentences 171
Self-Diagnosis of Sloppy Syntax Teacher Resource 173
26. Vivifying Verbs: Improving Diction by Carefully Selecting Verbs 174
Vivid Verbs Teacher Resource 177
27. Seven Deadly Sins of Style: Catching Errors That Impede a Reader’s Understanding 178
Seven Deadly Sins Example Set Teacher Resource 180
The Seven Deadly Sins of Style Checklist Student Handout 185
Chapter 8: Practice That Can Make You Nearly Perfect 187
28. Strive to Specify: Converting Vague Phrases into Vivid Examples 188
Strive to Specify Student Handout 191
29. Actual Factual Impromptu: Infusing Facts and Stats in Interesting Ways 194
Actual Factual Impromptu Speech Student Handout 197
Actual Factual Impromptu Speech Sample Topics Teacher Resource 200
Actual Factual Impromptu Speech Scoring Rubric Teacher Resource 203
30. Beg to Differ—Or Not: Arguing in Three Sentence Without Begging the Question 205
Beg to Differ—Or Not Student Handout 208
Beg to Differ—Or Not Grading Rubric Teacher Resource 211
31. The Rhetorical Mode Scavenger Hunt: Reading Prose Like a Pro 212
The Rhetorical Mode Scavenger Hunt Student Handout 217
Rhetorical Modes and Their Criteria Student Handout 220
The Rhetorical Mode Scavenger Hunt Paragraph of Analysis Peer Review
Student Handout 226
Cross-Curricular Writing Analysis Form Student Handout 227
Appendixes 229
Appendix 1: Exercises For Expecting and Inspecting Good Listening 231
Appendix 2: 6-Point Scoring Guide for the SAT I 233
Appendix 3: Scoring Guidelines for the ACT Exam 236
Appendix 4: Coach as Critic: Responding Orally to a Set of Papers 239
Appendix 5: Coach as Scorekeeper: T-Scoring a Set of Essays 241
Appendix 6: T-Scoring Template 243
Appendix 7: Sample Student Essays on a 25-minute SAT I Prompt 244
Appendix 8: Sample Student Essays on a 45-Minute Literary Prompt 249
Appendix 9: It’s Time to Jam and Cram!: Preparing for an On Demand
Writing Exam 258
Resources: An Evaluative Annotated Bibliography 260
Introduction
Introduction
Speak Before You Write!
I know that I was expected to shudder in horror at the advent of on demand essays
required on both high school exit exams and the new SAT I. As a 21-year veteran
of the National Writing Project, I have been a devout proponent of the multiple-
draft writing process. Yet, I have to admit that I was thrilled that many of the writ-
ing skills I’d been expecting of my students would finally be inspected on standard-
ized tests. To be sure, I still believe in the writing process. Drafting and revising are
tried-and-true practices for polished pieces of writing (just ask me how many times
I revised this intro). However, I also find tremendous merit in being able to respond
to a prompt in an organized and succinct way in a limited amount of time (just ask
me how many times I dash off a quick e-mail, memo, or letter of recommendation
without the luxury of editing).
We are expected to perform on demand constantly. Employers evaluate our
ability to respond on demand from the moment we first meet in the job interview.
Later, we need that ability for conferences, phone calls, and for presentations and
meetings. What do all of these situations have in common? They all invite us to
prepare ahead of time. Sure we’ll never know the exact questions that will be put
to us in an interview, but we’d be fools not to do a little research about the com-
pany or think through a reply to the “tell us a little bit about yourself” question.
While it’s not uncommon for us to pre-think before going into a situation where we
may be required to speak on demand, it is uncommon for us to prepare for a situa-
tion where we may have to write on demand on an unknown prompt. This is where
I turn to speech and debate students for proof that preparing for an impromptu
situation—oral or written—is not only possible, it’s imperative.
In addition to teaching English, I coach my school’s speech and debate team.
Some of my students compete interscholastically in impromptu speaking. Im-
promptu speaking demands that they think for 2 minutes on a randomly selected
topic, then stand and deliver a 5-minute seamless speech. It requires that they de-
1
velop a thesis, illustrate with specific examples from their reading, personal experi-
ence, and current events, and it insists that they organize their information to allow
for a meaningful conclusion. So how do these kids prepare? They read. They read
the novels that are assigned to them in their English classes; they read newspapers
and magazines; they read their own junk-food literature, but what is important is
that they read. How do they organize their thoughts in 2 minutes? They practice
breaking down topics into rhetorical modes (cause and effect, comparison/contrast,
process analysis, etc.), and they brainstorm and outline practice topics. How do they
compose seamless analyses of a topic? They practice speaking—speaking to walls,
stuffed animals, anything that doesn’t have to listen and won’t talk back. Then they
practice for and before their friends, and finally they practice for me. All of this prac-
tice makes constructing a flawless presentation in 2 minutes possible, but they have
put in hours of practice before they even draw a topic at a tournament.
Unsurprisingly, the kids who’d had the impromptu practice were the ones who
not only cheered when they heard of the 25-minute SAT I essay but also scored
among the highest on the test. They entered the test confident that they could
think on their feet and from their seats, and they knew that they were prepared
for any prompt. They had rehearsed numerous organizational strategies and had a
palette of examples from which to choose. They were prepared.
I would like to assert that the preparation and practice of an impromptu speaker
are simply the logical precursors to the impromptu writer. Encouraging students to
speak before they write makes sense. Experts specializing in teaching writing to stu-
dents with learning disabilities support this theory. One such research-based study
found “Ultimately, the most important element is that the process of learning to
think aloud with teachers and peers leads to the internalization of procedures, pro-
cesses, and patterns of thinking that result in better written products. In the long run,
internalization contributes to more independent learners who know and can flexibly
apply the secrets that proficient writers use” (Baker, 109). Furthermore, speaking
before we write adds fluidity to our expression of ideas and eventually comes to be a
natural part of the writing process. Another study found that talking before writing
“seemed to be particularly important because of the trouble they [students] have
translating their verbalized ideas into words and sentences” (Baker, 109).
Talking through an idea is not only an efficient means of prewriting, it also allows
for immediate feedback. If students can listen to a partner’s response to the same
prompt, they will hear alternative ways to approach topics and examples and con-
nections that they had overlooked (Reynolds).
2 | On Demand Writing
