I gave the VTS Pre-test last week and as I watched this year's new batch of students taking the test, I wondered to myself something I often wonder as I watch art students writing... "Do they really work like this in their Communication Arts classes?" It led me to wonder if students write the same way in a class where it is unexpected (at least) to read & write as they do in a class where the expectation is to improve reading and writing skills. As the faculty in my building is starting to explore CCSS and looking at cross-curricular lessons, I reached out to my CA teachers to see if anyone would want to team up with me to explore this a bit. I selected another image and created another VTS pre-test (didn't want to corrupt my true VTS pre-test data, ya know...) and three of my colleagues gave it to their CA classes. Three might have been going overboard, but how could I turn down willing volunteers?
At first glance, it seems like my hypothesis was correct. Students write better when their perception is it is for the class where they are supposed to demonstrate those skills. However, I haven't looked at them very deeply yet because my week was crazy with a meeting after school every night as well as open house too. It will be interesting to compare results from my VTS students that are also in this CA class. Stay tuned, I'll let you know what I find out!
Okay, so I read your post last night, and payed particular attention to how they were behaving while writing... What a great point. Most went above and beyond what I would have expected, but there were many who just gave me a few words and they were done. I wonder if by doing VTS and bringing writing into our classrooms more we will see better writing in our classes as well?
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