Diagnostic Paragraph
For your first formal writing assignment, consider Stagnant National Reading Scores Lag Behind Math an article found in the March 24th (2010) edition of the New York Times (The relevant article is found in the Resources folder on our class SmartSite). In it the Times writer Sam Dillon notes the following:
For example, Susan Pimentel, an expert on English and reading standards who is a member of the governing board that oversees the test, said that American schools were fairly efficient at teaching basic reading skills in the early grades, but that as students matured they need to be consistently challenged to broaden those skills by reading not only complex literature but also sophisticated nonfiction in subjects like history and science.
Keeping in mind Pimentel’s objective of “consistently challenging” student readers, what favorite or important book would you assign a middle school or high school student, and why? State the intended audience / grade level for your intended fiction or non-fiction book, and why you think your choice is merited. Your response should be no longer than a 200 word paragraph.
Your diagnostic paragraph should be submitted by 11:55 pm on September 27th via SmartSite (see the SmartSite assignments tab on our course SmartSite).
For this assignment you should focus on presenting a clear assertion, supporting it with some sort of evidence, and using as few words as possible to do so. This assignment is worth 0% of your grade, but you should still submit your best work.
