[...]... of writing assignments strongly influenced the writing outcomes" (27) A 2001 NAEP INational Writing Project study drew similar con­ clusions about the relationship between writing assignments and the success of student writers The study looked at writing assignments and the related writing that students composed, as well as at interview tran­ scripts of both students and teachers reflecting on the assignments. .. recently completed Each writing assignment should be part of a larger curricu­ lum that focuses on writing for a range of different audiences and pur­ poses In other words, designing effective writing assignments involves attention to the assignments that have come before and those that will come after The entire series of writing assignments matters Looking across the range of assignments, you should... challenges in the writing classroom 1 The Essentials of an Effective Writing Assignment know that good writing assignments result in good writing I've seen the ways that writers-me, my col1eagues, my classmates, the students whom I've taught-write stronger, more sophisticated papers when they are asked to respond to well-developed writing assignments When I first started teaching business writing, for... because of all the demands we face in (and out of) the classroom Designing writing assignments is just one of the many tasks that we must complete as we teach, and of those tasks, designing writing assignments is one of the more complicated jobs that we face Writing teachers face challenges similar to those that students face when composing a writing assignment We have to identify audience, purpose, and... our writing assignments to the spe­ cific group of readers in the classroom-to fit the message to the audi­ ence's needs The research by Storms, Riazantseva, and Gentile as well as the findings of the 2001 NAEP I National Writing Project study indicate that writing assignments need to contain adequate detail for students to understand and accomplish the writing task We need to match the writing assignments. .. my first graduate paper, "Designing Writing Assignments for a Composition Curriculum." I gathered a variety of books-peda­ gogical books that explained how to teach writing and textbooks that included example after example of writing assignments and response prompts I read extensively and did my best to learn as much as I could I thought I was ready I redesigned the writing assignments for the next... plans and teacher resources The time that I spent doing all that writing and re­ writing actually changed the way that I write I learned to write by writing- and that's how students in most effective writing classrooms learn to write Writing instruction needs to focus directly on writing, not on talking about writing or reading about writing The delivered curriculum needs to include many oppor­ tunities... motivated to do it." For a writing assignment, this means incorporating multiple op­ portunities for writing and encouraging students to write frequently A writing assignment may ask students to write a descriptive essay, an informative report, or a persuasive letter The best writing assignments, however, do not limit writing activities to a primary task As we design writing assignments, we need to structure... composing writing assignments is no simple charge Edward M White explains this challenge: "The construction of appropriate writing assignments is one of the hardest jobs for the teacher and is exacerbated by the dearth of supportive material available Every teacher should keep in mind that designing assignments is a particularly demanding form of writing, call­ ing for the teacher to use the entire writing. .. stronger writing I quickly learned that 2 Chapter 1 the more detail and attention I put into the writing assignments, the better students' writing was It's not that I was just lucky Research tells us that student suc­ cess in the writing classroom is directly related to the support and di­ rection provided in the assignments Barbara A Storms, Anastasia Riazantseva, and Claudia Gentile analyzed the writing . classroom. Designing writing assignments is just one of the many tasks that we must complete as we teach, and of those tasks, designing writing assignments. Effective Writing Assignment 1 2. Putting Beliefs into Practice 9 3. Designing Writing Assignments 35 4. Defining New Tasks for Standard Writing