All posts by Shannon Allen

About Shannon Allen

Shannon specializes in literacy instruction for struggling adolescent and adult learners. Shannon has worked in adult literacy since 2002 and with the LAC since 2006. She loves her work and this field!

Free Writing Lessons and Resources at Purdue Online Writing Lab (OWL)

Do you need information about grammatical rules or ideas about how to teach persuasive writing?  This site has free information and lesson plans for everything that your students need to know to be successful on the HSE test. Continue reading Free Writing Lessons and Resources at Purdue Online Writing Lab (OWL)

Use Rubrics to Promote Thinking and Learning

Research tells us that writing instruction is more effective when we use rubrics as a teaching tool and a tool for assessment.  Students who have the goal of passing the HSE exam should know the  Essay Scoring Rubrics well and will benefit from using them in self-assessment and to “score” exemplar essays and/or peers’ writing.

Continue reading Use Rubrics to Promote Thinking and Learning

Use Writing Frames to Support Writing Informational Texts

Sometimes the most difficult struggle for our students is actually putting pen to paper and generating text.  They are unsure of how to start and how to develop their ideas and sometimes their frustration causes them to quit before they start. Continue reading Use Writing Frames to Support Writing Informational Texts

Create your own Rubrics!

Research tells us that writing instruction is most effective when teachers and students consistently use rubrics as learning and assessment tools.

If you are an HSE teacher, you should be using the HSE Essay Scoring Rubrics to prepare students for those specific requirements.  If you teach other levels or would like to be more creative, this online tool will allow you to create your own rubrics independently or in collaboration with your students.

How Do We Teach Students to Cite Evidence in Their Writing?

This Teaching Channel video shows a 6th grade teacher demonstrating how she helps students master the skills of highlighting, annotating, and then writing a response to a prompt using evidence from the text. Notice her use of modeling, stop-and-talk, and Continue reading How Do We Teach Students to Cite Evidence in Their Writing?