One of the most difficult skills for us to teach, and students to learn, is to classify and, more importantly,
evaluate evidence, particularly since the types of acceptable evidence, and the ways in which they
are presented in visual and written texts, varies considerably depending upon the academic content
area that is the focus of a class, and for other reasons, as well (See e.g., Langer,
As a college instructor, I am often disappointed by the fact that the expectations for students in high
schools are not sufficiently high. When I make this comment, my colleagues from secondary schools
often respond with "But I require a ten page paper with fifteen sources!" or "We make them read entire
books."
As I work with teachers across the country (and the world), I find that "the writing process" is still considered by many to be a step-by-step procedure: coming up with an idea, drafting a text, revising, peer reviewing others’ texts, editing...
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