In the video clip to the left, Ms. Alyssa Byars shares with her students a step by step outline that helps her students organize their essays using the TCSE format.  Please see the links below to view the scaffolding documents that Ms. Byars reviews with her students to help guide their understanding of the TCSE format and also guides their implementation of this framework into their independent writing.  After introducing the outline and support documents to students, Ms. Byars walks them step by step through setting up their sample /exemplar paper following MLA formatting so they have an exact model and have gone through the process of setting up their own paper.

In the video clip to the left, Ms. Byars models for students how to create logical explanations that prove the previous quote and adding additional support for the essay's claim.  Ms. Byars explains that students need two sentences of explanations that answer the question, "How does the quote prove the claim and thesis?"

Notice also in the video how Ms. Byars models for students how to write in "placeholder" statements such as "This quote shows"  to help transition into their explanation components and then how they can take it out once their explanation statements are strong and carry the meaning on their own.

In the video clip to the left, Ms. Byars models for students how to repeat the CSE process for paragraph 2, doing just enough modeling to review the outline and remind them of the structure before releasing them to work on practicing this strategy on their own.

 In this video clip you will see Ms. Byars providing explanations to students for feedback she provided to them in their Google Doc drafts through comment boxes.  When asked about the return on her time investment for this practice, Ms. Byars explained that the time she spends providing students with feedback on their early drafts pays off in her final grading in increased quality of student writing and in more efficient grading because she has already reviewed earlier drafts of the writing.  See an example of her feedback to students below.

In the video clip to the left, Ms. Byars uses questioning effectively to promote student thought and problem solving as they work to work on applying the feedback Ms. Byars provided to them.  In my subsequent conference with Ms. Byars regarding this practice she explained how she knows her students are smart enough to figure out the answers for themselves and will be more likely to understand and apply the process independently than if she just gave them the answer.  She also explains her intentional use of a gradual release of responsibility where she models for students how to get started with their papers using the TCSE strategy but then expects them to work on applying it on their own with her support and the support of their peers so they can then independently use the strategy on their own papers.