Minds Matter

Chicago - Writing & Critical Thinking

Our writing and critical thinking program seeks to take advantage of the opportunity for mentees to receive dedicated attention in a two on one setting, to recognize that different mentees have different writing skills, and to integrate the process with applying for summer programs.

There has been considerable research on writing in the last 5 years. In the past, we thought that if students wrote more and got feedback, that they'd get better. This happened for some, but not for most. It is clear that explicit teaching of writing is the most productive. By explicit, we mean that when a piece of writing lacks organization, the first natural thing to do is to say "this piece lacks organization." As the teacher, you've pointed out the organization problem on one essay, but not done anything to teach the person what organization means. That is done by systematically teaching writing.

Therefore, we are focused on: teaching one writing skill at a time so no one is overwhelmed; collecting others' papers to show good examples; presenting bad examples so students "see" how a paper lacks a certain attribute and suggest changes to make it better"; and identifying books/essays/short pieces to read to students so they understand what good writing sounds like.

The skills that we are focused on developing are as follows:

Ideas: Ideas are the heart of the message, the content of the piece, the main theme together with al the details that enrich and develop the theme. Ideas are strong when the message is clear. The writer chooses ideas that are interesting, important and informative.
Organization: Organization is the internal structure of a piece of writing, the thread of central meaning, the pattern. Examples are compare-contrast, deductive logic, development of a theme, chronological history of an event.
Voice: Voice is the writer coming through the words, the sense that a real person is speaking to us and cares about the message. It is the heart and soul of the writing, the wit, the feeling, the life and breath. When a writer is engaged, he/she imparts a personal tone and flavor that is unmistakably his/her own
Word Choice: Word choice is the use of rich, colorful and precise language that communicates in a functional way.
Sentence Fluency: Sentence fluency is the rhythm and flow of the language, Fluent writing has cadence, power, rhythm and movement. It is free of awkward word patterns that slow the reader's progress
Conventions: Spelling, grammar, paragraphing, use of capitals and punctuation.

Minds Matter, Inc.
1120 Avenue of Americas
4th Floor
New York, NY 10036
info@mindsmatter.org
212.626.6584