Englwrit 112: College Writing| Monday-Wednesday

Teacher’s Calendar with Suggested Lesson Plans

Fall Semester 2016

Underlined text refers to entries in the database: www.umass.edu/writingprogram/teaching/database/_resourcecontents.html.

Introduction to College Writing & Unit 1: Inquiring into Self
WEEK 1 / Wed, Sept. 7
Introduction to writing & writing community /
Goals
°  Introduce the concept of writing: as means for thinking, expressing ideas, engaging others.
°  Introduce syllabus: esp. course goals and policies, five units, and writing process.
In-class Activities
°  Briefly, introduce self and course. Writing Exercise about writing histories: List texts that you’ve written or read in your life—include ‘important’ as well as everyday reading and writing. (e.g., Diversifying Literacy Exercise).
°  Small groups: Students introduce themselves to begin to build writing community. Share writing histories. Why did writing matter? How were your approaches different or similar?
°  As class, discuss: What is writing? Why do we write?
°  Explain our approach to college writing. Note learning objectives, required texts, writing process, policies, calendar. Remind students to keep generative writing and drafts organized for unit portfolios.
Homework (due next meeting)
°  Reflective writing #1: Based on in-class discussion, reflect on an experience that informed or exemplifies their ideas about writing: the purpose of writing, what makes for good writing, who they are as writers (min. 500 words). Note: Ask students to post to Moodle journal or class forum so that they can access this for Unit 5. This is generative writing for Unit 5.
°  Read Opening Conversations (OC), Introduction (v-xvi). Also, read 1st OC essay for Unit 1. See recommended readings. Do Hierarchy of Influences activity.
Mon, Sept. 12
Writer & reader contexts /
goals
°  Introduce Unit 1, and explore context and self.
°  Start generating shared terms about reading and writing, and continue throughout semester.
in-class activities
°  Discuss OC intro, esp. “Writing as Conversation,” “Rhetorical Situation” and “Writer’s Contexts.” Discuss Satrapi op-art (OC) to generate discussion about rhetorical situation. Begin generating shared writing terms—e.g., Writer’s Toolbox—and continue until Unit 5.
°  Introduce idea of context. Discuss context/“influences” in OC essay.
°  Small groups: Reflect on writing histories (homework) to discuss what contexts shape writers and their perspectives on the world? Student contexts enrich the class writing community.
°  Introduce Unit 1 assignment (Contexts That Make Me, Pivotal Places, Self as Writer, Blowing Things into Proportion). Be explicit about what students need to submit in Unit 1 portfolio.
°  Generative Writing for Unit 1: how does OC essay help you reflect on your contexts?
homework (due next meeting)
°  Read 2nd OC essay. Do Reading for Self exercise.
°  Read EW Ch 1: A Writer’s Choices (14-20). Read Unit 1 Preface and one essay from SWA. Questions about Unit 1 assignment?
WEEK 2 / Wed, Sept. 14
Describing/narrating & reflecting on one’s context /
Goals
°  Introduce WRITING PROCESS, esp. DRAFTING. Explore how reading, discussion, informal writing, and revision can inspire new ideas for writing. Write to discover.
In-class Activities
°  Discuss 2nd OC essay & students’ responses: What contexts shape these writers? Where does the writer describe and narrate? Critically reflect? How does the text move between description/narrative and self-discovery?
°  Generative Writing to describe/narrate an experience in particular context(s). Use good details.
°  As class, discuss Unit 1 essay from SWA. Identify description/narration and critical reflection. What is “good” writing in Unit 1?
Homework (due next meeting)
°  Read EW, Ch 2: Exploring, Planning, and Drafting (20-35).
°  Write Unit 1 initial draft (750+ words); bring 2 copies to next class.
Mon, Sept. 19
Peer response: description & narration /
goals
°  Introduce PEER RESPONSE, and explore what constitutes constructive feedback.
IN-CLASS ACTIVITIES
°  UNIT 1 INITIAL DRAFT DUE; collect 1 copy for teacher response. Explain that, for all essays, teacher comments and peer comments each serve distinct, complementary roles—e.g., for Unit 1, you address critical reflection and essay development; peers address how description/narration affects readers. Consider all responses to essays. (Teachers: return with comments by next class on Wed.)
°  Writing Exercise: What are you seeking to understand about this context’s influence on you? Why?
°  Introduce Peer Response in relation to EW, Ch 2g-h. Practice on SWA essay. Discuss: How does purposeful description help the writers illustrate their contexts?
°  Small Groups: Students read and give constructive feedback, esp. on description and reader interest. Teachers: check in occasionally with each group. Computer Lab Idea: Students use Google Docs or MS Word Comment tool for peer response.
HOMEWORK (DUE NEXT MEETING)
°  Review EW, Ch 2g-h (if applicable, 2f). Revise draft, and bring revised essay to next class.
°  Writing Exercise: Read 2nd Unit 1 SWA essay; do Analyzing Stylistic Choices activity.
WEEK 3 / Wed, Sept. 21
Revision as re-seeing
Revision: description & paragraph purpose /
goals
°  Introduce REVISION and idea that writing is always in-process.
°  Continue to help students become more aware of shared terms and writing/revision strategies.
IN-CLASS ACTIVITIES
°  Distribute teacher responses. Reflective Writing: How will you address different readers’ reactions? List substantive revision plans.
°  Explain idea of revision as substantial re-seeing of purpose, idea development, style, audience.
°  Revision Exercise: description. Considering your essay purpose, develop and refine description in 1 paragraph of draft. A few students share.
°  Revision Exercise: paragraph purpose. Revise 1-2 paragraphs substantially—e.g., break up description with a definition of the context, illustrate general reflection through narration and description, etc. As class, reflect on paragraph purpose and order, identify revision strategies.
°  Computer Lab Idea: Revise drafts in-class and learn to submit drafts through Moodle.
HOMEWORK (DUE NEXT MEETING)
°  Revise draft based on responses and reflective writing. Bring almost-final copy to next class.
°  Read EW, Ch 29-32 on Language (146-160). Familiarize yourself with “The Top Twenty” most common errors in EW (1-11).
Mon, Sept. 26
Revision:
beginnings & endings
Copy-edit: sentence style /
goals
°  Continue to foster revision, and introduce concept and practice of COPY-EDITING.
IN-CLASS ACTIVITIES
°  UNIT 1 REVISED DRAFT DUE (CHECK OFF ONLY).
°  Revision Exercise: beginnings/endings. Small groups identify strategies in beginnings and endings of OC/SWA essays read so far. E.g., see Inquiring into Self: Imagining the Director’s Role. Individuals revise intros and/or conclusions.
°  Explain copy-editing. Discuss uses and limits of language conventions in handbooks, and help students navigate the EW handbook.
°  Copy-editing Exercise 1: Referring to EW, small groups focus on refining sentence style to fit purpose and voice—e.g., play with sentence length; play with word choice; use em dashes, semi-colons, and colons to elaborate. As class, a few share. Computer Lab Idea: Teach students to use MS Word Comments for copy-editing workshop—Comments work better than Track Changes so that writer is required to make decisions.
°  Copy-editing Exercise 2 focused on 2-3 issues in “The Top Twenty.”
°  Prepare students to begin editing log. Preview EW homework on copy-editing comma usage.

HOMEWORK (DUE NEXT MEETING)

°  Create editing log that lists grammar-style issues learned and future goals. Refer to EW, Ch 19: Commas (110-118) and find one comma rule to add to editing log.
°  Complete revisions and copyediting. Unit 1 portfolio due by start of next class (print, GoogleDocs, or Moodle?).
Unit 2. Interacting with Texts
WEEK 4 / Wed, Sept. 28
Reading a text
Summary: what,
why, & how /

goals

°  Encourage writerly REFLECTION, and introduce PUBLICATION & CIRCULATION.
°  Explain SUMMARY and the need to read carefully in order to INTERACT WITH TEXTS.

IN-CLASS ACTIVITIES

°  Reflective writing #2: Reflect on Unit 1; see EW Ch 2j for possible questions. Publication/circulation activity. Computer Lab Idea: Students “publish” excerpts of essays on Moodle forum; at end of class, students reflect on how peer contexts might influence “interaction” with OC essay.
°  UNIT 1 PORTFOLIO DUE. (Teachers: return next week.)
°  Introduce Unit 2 essay assignment. Review “Rhetorical Situation” & “Listening to Others” in OC Intro.
°  Discuss role of reading in writing course: Refer to discussion from first class. What do we read? How do we read? How do we read specifically in an academic community?
°  As class, read definition of summary (EW Ch 3a) and excerpt of 1st OC essay for Unit 2. Writing Exercise: summary. List points to include in a summary. Explain that summary can include what the text says (topic), why the writer says that (purpose), and how the writer develops the what (example, reasoning, organization). Discuss.
°  Writing Exercise on 1st OC essay: Freewrite about one sentence that you found personally interesting. Discuss; use questions in EW Ch 3a to extend discussion.

HOMEWORK (DUE NEXT MEETING)

°  Read EW, Ch 3: Critical Thinking and Argument (35-44).
°  Finish reading 1st OC essay. Writing Exercise: Use Outlining activity to develop in-class work into 200-word summary (what, why, how) of essay. Drawing on EW CH 3, write separate 500-word response; refer to specific lines or passages from essay. See recommended readings for Unit 2.
°  In preparation for next class, read Writing Program’s Academic Honesty statement (handout) and Ch 38c-d: Taking Notes & Ch 39: Integrating Sources & Avoiding Plagiarism (198-203).
Mon, Oct. 3
Response /

goals

°  Generate RESPONSE strategies and explain the differences between response and summary.
°  Explain ACADEMIC HONESTY using WP’s statement and EW.

IN-CLASS ACTIVITIES

°  SUMMARY & RESPONSE TO 1ST OC ESSAY DUE. Explain summary vs. response and why each matters for academic readers.
°  Explain academic honesty. Discuss summarizing, quoting, paraphrasing, citing (why and how) using EW, Ch 38c-d, 39, & 41d. In pairs, check citations in summary and response.
°  Discuss responses so far, and name response strategies that students are already using. As class, share. Introduce additional strategies (e.g., Possible Ways of Responding). Do rhetorical appeals (EW 3d) offer additional ways of responding?
°  Writing Exercise: Locate a “difficult” passage, and focus response on difficult rather than easy sections. Complicate response with Challenging Your Reading or Wrestling the Terms of the Text.
°  Preview 2nd OC essay; see EW Ch 3a. Computer Lab Idea: Introduce library resources (preview for Unit 3). Students research author or publication context in order to further “interaction.”

HOMEWORK (DUE NEXT MEETING)

°  Finish reading 2nd OC essay. Writing Exercise: Mark sentences/passages in 2nd OC essay that inspire “wrestling.” Write 200-word summary and 500-word response; refer to specific lines/passages.
…WEEK 5 / Wed, Oct. 5
Response: using quotation, paraphrase, and summary to complicate analysis /

goals

°  Practice ethical, effective paraphrase and quotation, and complicate responses to texts.

IN-CLASS ACTIVITIES

°  SUMMARY & RESPONSE TO 2nd OC ESSAY DUE. Discuss summary, then responses.
°  Small Groups: Students read responses, and give suggestions on introducing, embedding, and responding to quotations/paraphrases. Writing Exercise: Revise 1-2 paragraphs that cite the essay.
°  Writing Exercise: Practice sentence structures that connect ideas—e.g., subordinating clauses (because x, y happens; even though x, there is y; etc.). See EW Ch 15: Coord & Subord (96-100).
°  Writing exercise: What question is your response exploring? Generate focused and complex guiding questions for Unit 2 (preview to creating a Unit 3 research question).

HOMEWORK (DUE NEXT MEETING)

°  Further develop one response into fuller essay that critically integrates summary, paraphrase, and quotations. Submit Unit 2 draft one day before scheduled conference (e.g., GoogleDocs, Moodle).
WEEK 5… / Thurs-Tues, Oct. 6-11
Student-teacher conferences in place of class meeting /

goals

°  Help students focus and develop Unit 2 initial drafts.

IN conferences

°  UNIT 2 INITIAL DRAFT DUE one day before conference. Student understands academic honesty?
°  Help students create revision plan—esp. developing focus and complexity. Refer to OC essay to extend response and SWA essays to model “interaction.”

HOMEWORK (DUE NEXT MEETING)

°  Read SWA Unit 2 preface plus 1-2 essays. Note response strategies (e.g., complexity, use of sources).
°  Revise. Bring 2 versions of revised draft to next class: (a) one full draft and (b) one abridged version with introduction, first and last sentences of each body paragraph, and conclusion.
WEEK 6 / Wed, Oct. 12
Peer response: analysis development & organization /

goals

°  Help students give and receive critical, respectful responses to one another’s drafts.

IN-CLASS ACTIVITIES

°  UNIT 2 1ST REVISED DRAFT DUE (check off only). Indicate the focus of peer versus teacher response—e.g., teacher addresses focus and complexity, peers address development and organization.
°  Peer Response: one peer comments on critical response and explanation in version (a); consider academic audience’s expectations for analysis. Then, second reader comments on organization in (b).

HOMEWORK (DUE NEXT MEETING)

°  Revise, and bring copy to next class.
°  Read EW, Ch 41: MLA Style, esp. 41a-b, 41c point 1, 41d point 10, & 41e sample (208-254). Skim EW, Ch 15, 20, 23, and 24: Coordination & Subordination, Semicolons, Quotation Marks, & Other Punctuation (96-100, 119-120, 129-134)—read more closely 15a-b, 20a, 23a; and 24c-d.
°  Build on editing log that lists 2 more copy-editing goals (e.g., semi-colon usage, MLA style).
Mon, Oct. 17
Copy-editing: transitional sentences & MLA citation style /

goals

°  Continue developing copy-editing skills.

IN-CLASS ACTIVITIES

°  UNIT 2 2ND REVISED DRAFT DUE (check off only).
°  Revision & Copy-editing Exercise: Explain commas with compound sentences and introductory phrases as ways to emphasize connections between ideas. Re-write 2-3 transition sentences using punctuation that connects ideas most effectively.
°  Copy-editing Exercise: in-text and end-of-text citation; also, issues listed in editing log.

HOMEWORK (DUE NEXT MEETING)

°  Review EW “The Top Twenty,” and identify 2 additional copy-editing goals. Add to editing log.
°  Finish revising and copy-editing essay; Unit 2 portfolio due at start of next class.
°  Read OC essay for Unit 3 (see recommended Unit 3 readings).
Unit 3. Adding to a Conversation
…WEEK 7 / Wed, Oct. 19
Introduction to “adding to a conversation”
Generative writing: topic & audience
continues on next page… / DO INFORMAL MID-SEMESTER COURSE EVALUATIONS.

goals