Reflective Essay
"Write a Reflective Essay"
Jim Burke, Writing Reminders
Ch. 51, pp. 272-281
Step 15: Formative Assessment Reflective Essay
Read the description below of a Reflective Essay by Serena Spinello and in your Readers Notebook write in your own words a paragraph telling what you think makes a Reflective Essay.
What is a Reflective Essay? By Serena Spinello
A reflective essay is a piece of writing that basically involves your views and feelings about a particular subject. The goal of a reflective essay is to not only discuss what you learned, but to convey the personal experiences and findings that resulted.
Writing a reflective essay is your chance to reveal and talk about your personal insight about a topic. Reflective essays are used as a self-assessment measure of sorts; they allow you to address your experiences and what you've gained. You may be asked to write a reflective essay after taking a course, completing a project or partaking in some type of experience. The reflective essay consists of your individual views on the matter and an explanation of your stance. The goal of this essay is to successfully relay your own beliefs, attitudes and observations. In some reflective essays, you'll be required to support your conclusions by citing materials such as books, journals, articles and other resources. A reflective essay should reflect your own thoughts on the subject matter, not those of others.
"Darkness at Noon" by Harold Krents
http://www.ldresources.org/?p=268
Step 16 : Formative Assessment
Read the reflective essay "Darkness at Noon" by Harold Krents and in your Readers Notebook answer the following questions in a reflective essay. In this reflective essay by Harold Krents the author is very disturbed about how a group of people are treated? Who is he mad at and why? He tells a joke about his own childhood and with that joke makes a wish for the future. What does he hope will happen? Have you ever noticed this kind of treatment towards other groups of people? How are they treated? Why do you think this is so?
"Homeless" by Anna Quindlen
http://www.miamisci.org/tec/mssstory.html
Step 17: Formative Assessment
In this reflective piece, Anna Quindlen has some things to say about another group of people, the homeless. In your Readers Notebook write a reflective essay describing what Quindlen thinks of the way homeless people are treated. Use examples from her essay to explain what you mean.
Student Reflection
to Minstrel Man by Langston Hughes
http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/poems/jan-june02/minstrel-man_2-1.html
Step 18: Formative Assessment
In your Readers Notebook write a reflective essay answering the following questions. Who is Pov Chin? What is he reflecting about? What is a Minstrel Man? If you need to, do a Google search to learn what a minstrel man is. Why does Pov Chin see himself like the Minstrel Man? What does Pov Chin mean when he says "wow, this fits perfectly." What is his life like when he is at school? What was it like to live in Cambodia?
Step 19: Summative Assessment: Reflective Essay
You have read three reflective pieces about how groups of people are treated. Write an essay about prejudice and how groups of people are sometimes treated based on the color of their skin, where they were born, their economic situation, where they live, a disability they have or other situation that is out of their control. Use examples from the three pieces you read to support your point of view. What do you think is the answer for encouraging people to treat others as they would like to be treated?
Reflective Essay Rubric
http://www.winona.edu/AIR/resourcelinks/RUBRIC%20&%20CH%20essay.doc