Speaking versus Writing | Sample Rubrics | Sample Assignments | Additional Resources
Speaking versus Writing
SAGES encourages students to develop all of their communication skills – through class discussions and oral presentations as well as through formal and informal writing assignments. Students may come into your class believing that writing is simply speech in concrete form. We can help them see the different conventions and expectations for oral and written communication by discussing them explicitly.
As you coach students on participating in class discussion, consider giving them suggested patterns (this can be especially useful for shy students). For example, you might tell students that they can contribute by questioning a peer (“What did you mean by X?”), providing supporting evidence (“Your comment reminds me of X passage in the reading”), or clarifying a point with their own counter-arguments or evidence.
Similarly, students may need help making the transition from speech to writing. For example, while it is perfectly acceptable to join multiple clauses with "and" in speech, too much of this in an essay becomes confusing and exhausting. Consider pointing out places that “sound spoken” in an essay and ask students to revise for more formal diction. Conversely, some students try too hard to “sound smart” and end up producing prose that no one would ever speak. You might advise these students to talk into a tape recorder and selectively transcribe their actual speech.
Sample Rubrics
The following rubrics have been designed by various Case faculty teaching in SAGES. Consider adapting one (or more) of them for your own classes. (See also Mano Singham's Talks Rubric on the UCITE pages. The link is embedded in the 2nd paragraph under "Assessments.")
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Sample Assignments
When you ask students to give oral presentations, it is important to provide guidelines and expectations. Consider recording student presentations and asking students to do a self- (or peer) evaluation of their performance(s).
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Additional Resources
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