This course guide was written to get you acquainted with the structure of the course, namely the syllabus, BlackBoard, and the weekly pacing for classroom/online instruction. This guide is not meant to prescribe a certain manner or specific activities that you must teach through; rather, it is intended to help you as an instructor achieve the goals set out for this course.
• The syllabus has not changed drastically – the course content, textbooks, and assignments are still the same. The difference is the addition of weekly objectives. • The syllabus has been redesigned to frontload a lot of the work so that students are doing a lot of reading and preparing for homework. Face-to-face or online discussions and activities are meant to help them explore and work on what they’ve prepared. We have an Activities Bank for that. • Text highlighted in green is meant for you to customize. • In the course policies section, most of the policies are set by the university and the department and should not be changed. Please note the areas in green. This is where you’ll add policies for your particular course. If you are teaching remotely/online, you should also include: o a modified attendance policy, which should stipulate how attendance might be counted in lieu of classroom attendance o a modified emergency procedures/inclement weather policy, which should address expectations on course obligations with regard to such occurrences o a communication policy, which can outline office hours and expectations for email etiquette and response times; and o a feedback policy, which can detail an expected timeline for shorter and longer assignments. You can find examples of such statements in Appendix A: Syllabus Statements. • In the course schedule, you’ll find that each week contains learning objectives, activities, and assessments. You should not change the learning objectives. You can make some slight modifications to the activities. You are able to modify the weekly assessments as you wish so long as the task you create sufficiently assesses whether or not students have met those learning objectives. These are explained more in depth in the section entitled Weekly Instruction.
• Weekly Lessons: Like the syllabus, the course is divided by week, with each week’s lesson objectives loaded on to the shell. It is up to you how you might want to include the homework and activities and what assessments to post if you don’t want to use the assessment ideas in the syllabus. • Grading & Rubrics: BlackBoard will now have rubrics that are linked to the assignments. These will also automatically calculate grades and populate in your gradebooks. Please grade in BlackBoard as you can still write text comments on each student’s assignments. • Remote/Online Teaching: You will notice that the first set of links on the black column in the left-hand side of BlackBoard are called Course Information. Even if you are not teaching remotely/online, you can still use these links. Each link on BlackBoard has more information on what information you should include.
You will find weekly learning objectives in the syllabus and in the Weekly Lessons on BlackBoard. These objectives should not be altered. They are designed to let your students know what they can expect to learn during the week. These objectives are also directly connected to the course goals as outlined in p.1 of the syllabus and are tied to the weekly assessments (writing activities, quizzes, etc.) The weekly objectives are currently tied to chapters in the Norton Field Guide. If you want to move around the order of the chapters in your syllabus, you can do so. Just move the objectives along with it.
The weekly activities and homework have been a core part of the syllabus for the past few semesters. It advises you on what to cover and to ensure an even pace. However, if you feel that your class needs some more time to cover the material, you are welcome to slow the pace down a bit by replacing certain activities with others from the Activity Bank. You are also welcome, where highlighted in green, to find alternative methods of covering the material. For example, if it says “Video Lecture: Demo of Rhetorical Analysis” but you would rather do a PowerPoint presentation, that’s fine as well, so long as the week’s learning objectives are met and assessed in weekly writing assessments.
There are assessments provided, but you do not have to use them. If you feel that another type of weekly writing assignment would be a better assessment of the week’s learning objectives, you should feel free to try that out.
It can be tough grading all these assignments while keeping up with lesson planning, classroom management, and not to mention your own coursework! Here are some tips for managing the grading load so that your students receive timely feedback and that will hopefully help you feel less burdened!
1. Prioritize the skills by focusing on the learning objectives and course goals. Time and time again, studies have shown that students often do not read our feedback as thoroughly as we’d like them to. Often, the feedback that we give is so comprehensive, but if students are already overwhelmed and see writing as a one-and-done process, it might not be the most effective use of our time!
Instead, consider isolating a couple of skills that the assignment and the unit ask the student to focus on. For example, if students are working on a summary paper, you may want to comment on things only related to the relevant skills. Don’t forget to praise what they’ve done well, too!
The downside is that sometimes, minor things get missed, but that’s fine. What research has found is that feedback points tend to stick with students more if: a. the feedback is grounded in something that has already been covered in class, b. there is a pattern to the errors in the writing, and c. students can engage with concrete suggestions that refer to prior coursework.
Prioritizing a couple of skills at a time does indeed have its limits, but it’ll also make your feedback purposeful and more effective.
(By the way, if you really want the research, just let me know! I’m happy to forward it along.)
2. Use a “quick-check” rubric for drafts. You can establish with your students a set of criteria based on the course goals and assignment purposes that you will check for when reading their drafts. This list doesn’t have to be comprehensive, but again should focus on a specific set of skills that you have been working on in class.
For example, if you are working on a rhetorical analysis, your “quick-check” rubric can include a likert scale on how well students have discussed the rhetorical appeals or connected the context and the text. And to lessen your workload, you might consider having students come up with those criteria for homework to post in a discussion board or to discuss in class.
If you’d like a sample “quick-check” rubric, just ask the Rhet Comp Office!
3. Five-at-a-Time Like the title suggests, grade 5 papers at a time. This technique can still work even if you’re a batch grader! Your batch, instead of being 18 papers, is just smaller.
More tips like this will be made available on our wiki (aer.uark.edu). Feel free to contribute your own if you’d like. And if you need any help, please reach out to us at the Rhet Comp Office!
The activities listed here are suggestions for increasing student engagement. They are divided by purpose and identify whether they’re for in-class or distance learning.
The activities are only a sample of what we can come up with. For a more dynamic list, consult our wiki (aer.uark.edu), which is linked through the ENGL 1013 BlackBoard. You can also feel free to contribute your own ideas – let’s make this a running list!
Note: Online can refer to both asynchronous and synchronous learning.
Use a short video clip that you’ve found online to introduce a new idea or topic. Generally speaking, students find video clips with animation to be more engaging and stimulating. Of course, clips on YouTube are fine, but here are two general sources for clips. (Please feel free to grow this list!) o NBC Learn: Higher Ed for clips on current events o American Rhetoric for audio and video clips taken from American speeches
(Adapted from Belinda Richardson & Debi Griffin, Bellarmine University)
Upload/distribute a handout of the key points in a recorded or live lecture. Instruct students to fill in the blanks with details from the lecture.
Can be helpful for students who struggle to take notes. Can be combined with “One Minute Paper” or “Support a Statement” activities.
(Adapted from Belinda Richardson & Debi Griffin, Bellarmine University)
At the end of the lecture, have students write for one minute on 1-2 main points of the lecture. They can summarize the points, analyze them, ask questions about them, refute them, etc.
Can be submitted as part of the Weekly Assessment or as part of the week’s discussion board, journal, blog, etc. Can be done individually or in pairs/groups.
(Adapted from Belinda Richardson & Debi Griffin, Bellarmine University)
After the lecture, provide a statement or a scenario that students must either support or refute using notes from the lecture or their readings.
Can be submitted as part of the Weekly Assessment or as part of the week’s discussion board, journal, blog, etc. Can be done individually or in pairs/groups.
(Adapted from the University of Waterloo)
Select a document to upload/distribute/share with students for analysis in class. Perform the analysis of your document with the class, specifying your procedures, and showing students how you reach your conclusions. Allow students time to conduct their own analysis following your example.
Can be helpful for analysis, synthesis, and reflection exercises. Can be submitted as part of the Weekly Assessment or as part of the week’s discussion board, journal, blog, etc. Can be done individually or in pairs/groups.
This online tool is integrated into BlackBoard and allows students to type or record an audio or video response to a topic that you choose. Students can create their own thread or respond to another peer’s comment in that thread.
Can be helpful as an alternative to the discussion board, as a way for students to generate questions on homework readings, or simply as a way for remote/online students to engage with each other. Threads can be reviewed in remote/online settings via a future recorded lecture or in an upcoming face-to-face class.
Visit this University of Arkansas TIPS post on VoiceThread to see how you can set up VoiceThread for your course. Includes a video for how students would engage with it.
(From “The Big List of Class Discussion Strategies” from The Cult of Pedagogy)
This is a digital discussion that students can engage in while another activity is happening. During a lecture or some other activity, allow students in groups to comment on what is happening in a collaborative document or chatroom. Students can respond by highlighting key points, connecting them to previous lectures, raising questions, asking their peers what they think, etc.
Can be a bit confusing at first but a quick demo should solve this. Can be beneficial for students who are reluctant participants in the traditional class discussion. Conversations can be collected for informal assessment.
(From “The Big List of Class Discussion Strategies” from The Cult of Pedagogy)
Thoughts, Questions, and Epiphanies is an activity that you can use to bolster flipped learning. Invite students to post their thoughts, questions, and epiphanies on an assigned reading on a discussion board/VoiceThread. If meeting in-person, invite students to share their thoughts at the start of the class. Allow students the opportunity to address each other. For more information, check out “Deeper Class Discussions with the TQE Method”.
Collaborate Ultra is BlackBoard’s tool for synchronous conferencing. Using Breakout Groups, you can break your class into smaller groups for deeper discussion, engagement, etc.
Many of the suggestions can be adapted to online learning with the use of the Breakout Groups function.
Visit this BlackBoard Tutorial on BreakOut Groups in Collaborate Ultra to see how you can manage your synchronous sessions.
(Adapted from The New York City Writing Project)
Select a small group of 2-4 students and have them sit facing each other or in a circle. The rest of the class sit in a circle around them. The small group of students will engage in a discussion on a topic, e.g., structured peer review, etc. while the larger group of students on the outside observes what is happening and takes notes. Regroup and ask the larger group of students what went on.
This technique is great for demonstrating what you want your students to do during a class activity. It is best to select the students who will be doing the demo beforehand and practice with them (or give them some sort of emailed/face-to-face guidance).
Create and label one grouping of students that will discuss a section of an assigned reading. Give students an allotted time for this discussion. You can provide them with a set of guided questions to discuss, or they can freely discuss what happened, generate questions to ask about what they didn’t understand, react to what did happen, etc. This group is going to become the expert on this section.
When the allotted time is up, mix up the groups so that each new group contains one member from each original team. Students will have to share their expertise with their new group. Come back together as a whole class for students to share what they have learned. Note from Katherine: This task requires a ton of preparation but is very effective as a method of flipped learning if done well. Students need to have done the reading beforehand in order to discuss it with their first group, but before that, instructors need to assess that students have indeed a decent grasp of their assigned reading. You may want to give a brief quiz or so to see if students have actually understood the reading.
Video Description of the Jigsaw Learning Technique o https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dvi0ZvOhZs0
Step-by-Step Preparation (and Video) of the Jigsaw Learning Technique o https://www.theteachertoolkit.com/index.php/tool/jigsaw
(From John C. Bean’s Engaging Ideas, 2nd edition)
Divide the class into groups of four. The writer reads the draft aloud or provides digital or hard copies for group members to read silently. Group members are given several minutes to take notes on their responses – they can note areas that worked well, any negative reactions (disagreements, etc.), as well as any questions that occurred while listening or reading (areas needing clarification, better evidence).
Each group member then explains what they found effective/ineffective about the writing, what was clear/confusing, etc. No advice is given, only responses. During this time, the writer is not allowed to respond or make any clarifications – they are only allowed to take notes.
Repeat until everyone in the group goes. It may be best to allot a certain amount of time for each writer.
This activity is best paired with the Fishbowl activity. When the Fishbowl demo is done first, students will have an idea of what is expected of them.
Divide the class into pairs and have each pair exchange drafts with another pair. For classes with an odd number of students, one will be a group of three.
Prepare in advance a set of guidelines and/or criteria you want your writers to have focused on in their drafts. These criteria can come from the rubric, lessons, the textbook, etc. The writer will identify areas in which they think they did well as well as areas in which they struggled or need help.
The reader will ask the writer what they think they did well. The reader will also ask the writer to share with them a couple of places where they struggled or are stuck. Reverse roles. Having taken notes on what their writers are proud of/concerned with, the readers will read the writers’ papers, affirming what the writer did well (if they did, in fact do it well) and offering advice/encouragement with regard to the writer’s struggles.
Please feel free to help grow this list!
o VoiceThread See first activity under Discussion Activities
o Kaltura for BlackBoard U of A TIPS tutorial for creating video lectures, etc.
o Moderating Syncrhonous Sessions in BlackBoard’s Collaborate Ultra BlackBoard tutorial for moderating synchronous sessions.
o ScreenCastify for Chrome browsers o ScreenCast-o-Matic
Feel free to copy and paste these sample policies into your syllabus.
From Katie Powell, doctoral candidate
“Student absences resulting from illness, family crisis, University-sponsored activities involving scholarship or leadership/participation responsibilities, jury duty or subpoena for court appearance, military duty, and religious observances are excusable according to university rules. The instructor has the right to require that the student provide appropriate documentation for any absence for which the student wishes to be excused. Moreover, during the first week of the semester, students must give to the instructor a list of the religious observances that will affect their attendance.” —Academic Regulations University of Arkansas Catalog of Studies Participation is a critical element of this course. Since I cannot take “attendance,” our discussion board will serve in place of attendance. For this reason, no more than three (3) “absences” are allowed in this course before you will lose a letter grade, with a consequent letter grade lost for every 3 absences following. Our definition of absence here, of course, means your lack of participation in our weekly discussion posts. There will be one discussion post a week, and you will all be in charge of coming up with discussion questions. Full participation means one response of at least 150 words by THURSDAY of each week, and a response to at least 2 of your peers by the typical Sunday deadline. Depending on the circumstances of your absence, 2 of these 3 “absences” may be “made up” by scheduling a 1:1 appointment with your instructor.
I will typically try to grade all major assignments within 1 week, and feedback will be accessed through the assignment. I will also email you when I post feedback and grades. Please note that longer assignments and group assignments might take up to two weeks.
Because we do not have built-in time in which we can see each other in person, I am committed to responding to you as quickly as possible. If you email me during the week, please expect a response within 24 hours. If you don't hear from me by then, feel free to “nudge” me to remind me to respond. Though I do check my email on the weekends, I will not respond after 8 pm, and please expect about 48 hours before you will hear back. With that and your Sunday deadline in mind, it might be important to consider questions you have about assignments before the weekend begins.
If you are affected by inclement weather or a natural disaster, please inform me as soon as you can. Your safety is the priority, and I’d like to know that you and your welfare are secure. If there’s anything that you need, please let me know as well. We can also communicate further on any missing assignments or work.
On July 15, 2020, the university Board of Trustees passed a resolution directing us to implement a face covering policy that, at a minimum, requires masks in buildings where physical distancing of more than six feet can't be assured. On our campus, that’s virtually every building. Everyone – students, faculty, staff and visitors — should plan on wearing a mask inside university facilities. The use of appropriate face coverings — face mask or shield, if a mask cannot be worn for medical reasons — is important for the health and well-being of our campus community. Not complying with the use of face coverings may mean instituting Code of Student Conduct violations.
It’s pretty simple: I protect you. You protect me. We protect each other.
Writing is rarely the straightforward process we wish it to be, and quality writing often involves drafts and peer reviews. Therefore, with every major assignment, you are required to turn in a draft for peer review on BlackBoard and to complete a review of another classmate’s draft through [Microsoft Office online or Google Docs]. Your instructor will provide a peer review sheet with instructions and assign you your partner a week prior, and you will have one week to complete the peer review.
After your peer has evaluated your paper, you can download a version that shows the comments and turn it into me with a brief paragraph highlighting if you found the peer feedback helpful. If you rate the feedback as unhelpful, I will then review the feedback you received to determine if points need to be taken off from your peer’s assignment.
If you do not turn in a draft or a peer review on time, you will lose [10 points per submission] off your final assignment grade.
Adapted from Kristen Figgins, doctoral candidate You should aim to submit your assignment at least 30 minutes before the deadline to avoid the inevitable doom that is BlackBoard being slow when everyone submits their assignment at the same time. Note that I do not accept papers via email.
There is a 3-day grace period after the due date where you can still submit your assignment without it being counted late. After the third day, your assignment will not be accepted, and you will get a zero (0). If you have an incomplete assignment, you should still turn that in to get partial credit.
This timeline does not apply to drafts or peer review.
Sample Submission Timeline [See the attached Word doc for proper alignment.] Thurs Fri Sat Sun Mon Tues Wed Thurs You can turn in the assignment early. You can turn in the assignment early. You can turn in the assignment early. ASSIGNMENT DUE DATE Grace Period Day 1 Grace Period Day 2 Grace Period Day 3 Assignment is late and not accepted.
(Possible Alternative / Add-Ons to the Classroom Disruption Policy) From Katie Powell, doctoral candidate
Participation is a critical element of this course because your growth as a learner and a writer requires you being open and willing to embrace the work of Composition I. The writing process can be messy and often unpleasant, but students are encouraged to approach all writing assignments, course discussions, major assignments and peer feedback with respect and compassion. Part of this vulnerability includes being fully present. Even though we will not physically meet as a class, our classroom space should be a space of learning, vulnerability, and growth. Students are to create not only a safe, but a brave space to connect and grow as learners, writers, and students.
As a faculty member, I am committed to using your preferred name and pronouns. We will take time in our first discussion board to do introductions, at which point you can share with all members of our learning community what name and pronouns you use, as you are comfortable. Additionally, if these change at any point during the semester, please let me know and we can develop a plan to share this information with others in a way that is safe for you.
[I realize this is an extremely detailed syllabus. This was done in the event that you want to just pick up the syllabus and teach. If you’d like to make modifications, please feel free to do that for the Lesson Focuses and In-Class Writings. But do not change the learning objectives.
If you want to swap the order of the lessons covered, just move the objectives and the lessons to the week you want to cover them. But do not change the objectives themselves.
You can (should) also reformat this in a way that makes visual sense to you and your students.]
• NFG = The Norton Field Guide • ADS = A Dash of Style
By the end of the week, students will be able to: • Identify where to find important information in the syllabus. • Explain the expectations of academic writing. • Annotate a text using a variety of codes, keywords, etc. to identify an argument or arguments in a text that you are reading.
• Read the syllabus. Come prepared with questions. • Read NFG, Ch. 1, pp. 3-9 & Ch. 2, pp. 10-32.
• Welcome to the class! Review course syllabus, policies, goals, weekly objectives, and (briefly) in-class vs. major assignments. • Write a diagnostic “essay”. • Talk about what you think writing in college will require of you. Discuss writing in academic contexts, reading for writing, reading and writing habits. • Lecture on how to annotate a text.
• Diagnostic Writing Sample: Introduce yourself to your instructor and tell them what you think they need to know about you. This can be anything from who you are, where you’re from, what your major is/will be, what your favorite music/movies/shows are, or anything like that. Tell them what you think you might learn from this course and how you might improve on what you already know about writing, now that you know what’s on the syllabus. If you wish, tell them what you’re nervous about and what you’d like extra help on! • Objectives Check-Up: Look at the objectives for this week. How well do you think you did on each objective, on a scale of 1 to 3 (1 = didn't get it at all, 2 = still working on it, 3 = definitely got it). Explain why you think that this is, and give real examples to support your own evaluation.
By the end of the week, students will be able to: • Annotate a composition in preparation for writing a summary. • Write an effective summary of a text using their notes and/or annotations. • Choose an appropriate text for their summary assignment (Assignment #1). • Explain how overusing and underusing the period affects writing style.
• Read NFG, Ch. 3, pp. 33-44. Annotate the sample essay on pp. 40-41, focusing on where the writer summarizes and where he responds. • Read NFG, Ch. 4, pp. 45-52. Which of the suggestions made in Ch. 4 are you willing to adopt for this course? Do you think they’ll be helpful for your other courses as well? What might be some difficulties that come up with following these academic habits of mind? • Read NFG, Ch. 61, pp. 693-696 [or complete the reading of your instructor’s choice]. Find an article that you want to summarize for Assignment #1. • Read NFG, Ch. 30, pp. 340-342. How do you deal with writer’s block? • Read ADS, Ch. 1. Complete [instructor’s choice of exercises] on Inquizitive.
• Introduce Assignment #1 • Discuss the purpose of a summary. Lecture on annotating a composition for summary. • Write a sample summary of the instructor’s choice of reading. • Draft a summary of your article. • Discuss punctuation using the period in context of your readings.
• Summary Practice: Write a summary of the instructor’s choice of reading. • Draft of Summary for Assignment #1: Complete a draft of the summary of the article you chose for Assignment #1. Have this ready for peer review next week. • “The Period” Exercises: Choose a combination of any exercises from ADS, Ch. 1, pp. 41-43
By the end of the week, students will be able to: • Provide useful feedback for their peers’ drafts. • Revise their first draft for organization and structure.
• Draft of Summary for Assignment #1 (from Week 2 In-Class Writing Assignment) • Read NFG, Ch. 32, pp. 348-355, Ch. 35, pp. 373-385 & Ch. 36, pp. 386-391. Look through your draft. Make a list of ways you've guide your reader in the draft, as suggested in Ch. 35 & 36. If you have not, identify areas where you think readers might need guidance.
• Discuss the purpose of peer review. Introduce models of peer reviewing. • Complete a peer review of a classmate’s summary draft. • Lecture on structuring the beginning and ending of a text (and organizing, paragraphing, signposting, etc. for cohesion and coherence). • Revise your summary for organization and structure based on the lecture.
• Peer Review: Conduct a review of your peer’s work and submit a reflection of the process. (Provide a reflection questionnaire for students, or have them reflect freely.) • Revision of Summary for Assignment #1 (from Week 2 In-Class Writing Assignment). Revise your draft based on the lecture and peer feedback.
By the end of the week, students will be able to: • Differentiate between the use of quotations, paraphrases, and summaries in their writing. • Include quotations, paraphrases, and summaries in their writing. • Punctuate their quotations in their writing. • Format their papers and in-text citations based on a citation style of their choosing.
• Read NFG, Ch. 51, pp. 526-538. What did you learn about quoting, paraphrasing, and summarizing? How does it differ from what you learned about this in previous English classes? What did you not know about these skills before you read this chapter, and do you currently use any of these tactics? • Read ADS, Ch. 6, Quotations Marks (The Trumpets) pp. 139-158. Complete [instructor’s choice of exercises] on Inquizitive. • Assignment #1 (Summary) due [date]!!!
• Generate questions on the NFG’s explanations of quotations, paraphrases, and summaries. • Lecture on the difference between quotations, paraphrases, and summaries, as well as how/why they are used. • Workshop on including accurate quotations, paraphrases, and summaries in writing. • Workshop on the usage of quotation marks.
By the end of the week, students will be able to: • Explain how the rhetorical situation (purpose and audience) influences the way writers compose their messages and arguments. • Identify errors in comma usage (comma splices, etc.). • Justify using commas for stylistic purposes, such as influencing flow, meaning, etc.
• Read NFG, Ch. 5, pp. 55-57 & Ch. 6, pp. 57-60. • Read NFG, Ch. 70, pp.983-986. or complete the reading(s) of your instructor’s choice]. Answer the questions on p. 56 (Thinking About Purpose) and p. 57 (Thinking About Audience) about those readings. Prepare these answers in advance of the week’s discussion. • Read ADS, Ch. 2, The Comma (The Speed Bump) pp. 44-68. Complete [instructor’s choice of exercises] on Inquizitive.
• Introduce Assignment #2. • Lecture and discussion on the rhetorical situation, specifically on purpose and audience. • Analyze and practice breaking down a composition’s rhetorical situation. • Workshop on the usage of commas.
• Practice analysis of the rhetorical situation: Choose a brief composition - your own, or a brief article - and analyze the rhetorical situation of that composition. • Comma Practice
By the end of the week, students will be able to: • Annotate a text in preparation for a rhetorical analysis. • Organize their approach to composing a rhetorical analysis. • Draft a thesis statement that addresses the focus of their rhetorical analysis.
• Read NFG, Ch. 11, pp. 98-114. Using the guide on p. 114, annotate the sample analyses by Allen (pp. 102-107) and Clark (pp. 107-113) to show how each writer organizes their analysis. Annotate also for evidence. • Read NFG, Ch. 11, pp. 115-130. Prepare a brief guide on how to approach writing a rhetorical analysis, as if you were explaining it to someone else (like your roommate or parent). You can create a flowchart, a step-by-step manual, etc. for this brief guide. • Read NFG, Ch. 36, pp. 387-390 on “Thesis Statements” and “Topic Sentences”. [And/or insert your choice of reading on thesis statements and topic sentences.] • Find an article that you want to analyze for Assignment #2.
• Share and discuss the annotations that you did for the sample analyses by Allen and Clark. • Share and discuss the brief guides you created on approaching a rhetorical analysis. Lecture/demo on the process of writing a rhetorical analysis, from invention (generating ideas from a text) and organizing the essay. • Workshop on drafting a thesis statement. • Reflect on week’s learning objectives – how well do you think you’ve done?
• Thesis Statement Worksheet: Submit a draft of your thesis statement. • Article Annotation and Plan for Assignment #2: Submit an annotation of the article for Assignment #2 and include a plan for how you will approach writing a rhetorical analysis for this article. Have this ready for conferences next week.
Attend the conference at your chosen time with a your writing plan for Assignment #2/ a complete draft of Assignment #2. [Conference can be face-to-face or online using Collaborate, Zoom, etc.]
• Complete a draft of Assignment #2. Have a completed version ready for peer review.
By the end of the week, students will be able to: • Identify appropriate types of evidence that can be used in their rhetorical analysis. • Incorporate evidence that supports their thesis statements into their rhetorical analysis. • Critically offer feedback on the effectiveness of a peer’s rhetorical analysis.
• Read NFG, Ch. 38, pp. 398-408, on “Arguing Logically: Claims, Reasons, and Evidence”. After reading the chapter, identify the claims and evidence you will include in your rhetorical analysis to support your thesis statement. • Read NFG, Ch. 32, pp. 348-355 & Ch. 33, pp. 356-360. How will you change your approach to peer review? Based on the readings, will you revise or rewrite your draft following peer review? • Assignment #2 (Rhetorical Analysis) due [date]!!!
• Workshop on using different types of evidence in writing a rhetorical analysis. Review quotations, paraphrasing, and summarizing as needed. • Revise draft of Rhetorical Analysis to incorporate (more/different types of) evidence. • Complete a peer review of a classmate’s rhetorical analysis draft.
• Evidence Plan: Identify the types of evidence you’ve included in your first draft. Do they logically support your thesis statement? • Peer Review: Conduct a review of your peer’s work and submit a reflection of the process. (Provide a reflection questionnaire for students, or have them reflect freely.)
By the end of the week, students will be able to: • Explain why arguments in a report require multiple sources of information to support an argument. • Identify patterns and connections for organizing a synthesis. • Describe how a writer responds to a situation with an argument • Narrow down a topic to research for their synthesis and advocacy papers.
• Read NFG, Ch. 12, pp. 131-147. Using the guide on p. 146-147, annotate the sample reports by Schembri (pp. 139-143) and Marcus (pp. 143-146) to show how each writer presents their argument(s) for readers. Annotate also for evidence: consider the types of evidence used, how they are incorporated into the writing (quotations, paraphrasing, summarizing). • Read NFG, Ch. 12, pp. 148-156. Where do you think you might encounter the most difficulty in the report writing process? (Invention? Research? Drafting? Something else?) Read NFG, Ch. 63, pp. 764-769. Annotate the text to show how Bader presents her argument and the types of evidence she used. Answer questions #1-4 on p. 769. • Read NFG, Ch. 50, pp. 519-525. Read the writing sample by Stewart (pp. 520-521). How many pieces of research are included in a paragraph? How are they categorized, and why does Stewart use so many sources? Use the questions on the top part of p. 522. Prepare a guide on how to identify patterns and connections. You can prepare a visual (like a flowchart) or a step-by-step guide. Use the questions on pp. 522-523 to assess Stewart’s sources.
• Introduce Assignment #3. • Share student answers on sample reports and lecture on reports and synthesis. • Demo/Analyze methods for organizing sources and strategies for identifying patterns and connections in sources. • Discussion on narrowing down and choosing a research topic and how to look for sources.
• Patterns & Connections: What have you noticed about the way synthesis papers are organized? I what ways is it similar or different to any writing you’ve done in the past? What do you think will challenge you for the next paper? • Research Topic & Plan: Make a list of several topics that you want to research. What is your plan for finding and evaluating sources?
By the end of the week, students will be able to: • Identify reputable publications and databases they can use to find sources for research. • Evaluate articles sources to determine how logical, truthful, and accurate they are. • Assess different sources to see which ones best fit their research needs. • Generate a working bibliography of scholarly and popular sources for research.
• Read NFG, Ch. 47, pp. 479-488 & Ch. 48, pp. 489-510. Where do you think you will find sources for your last two assignments? What resources do the university’s library and website provide? Give some examples of popular sources. Why should you avoid using only popular sources? How do you plan to keep track of your sources for these last two assignments? What will you do to make sure you remember what each source discusses? • Read NFG, Ch. 49, pp. 511-518. Using the guides on pp. 514, 516, and 517-518, evaluate the list of sources you have found for your research.
• Lecture/demo on finding and evaluating sources. [Instructor can cover using the library’s databases to locate sources, evaluating sources for logic, truth, accuracy, and fit.] • Workshop on generating a working bibliography. [Instructor can demo methods, strategies, and technology to that can help you track your work.] • Generate a working bibliography of scholarly and popular sources for research that is formatted correctly according to your preferred citation style.
• Working bibliography: Submit a working bibliography of [# of sources]. • Objectives Check-Up: Look at the objectives for this week. How well do you think you did on each objective, on a scale of 1 to 3 (1 = didn't get it at all, 2 = still working on it, 3 = definitely got it). Explain why you think that this is, and give real examples to support your own evaluation.
By the end of the week, students will be able to: • Explain why writers might use different strategies to communicate their argument. • Employ different writing strategies to complete their synthesis paper.
• Read NFG Ch. 39, pp. 419-423 & Ch. 40, pp. 424-431, Ch. 41, pp. 432-442 & Ch. 63, pp. 779-783 (Tugend – Multitasking Can Make You Lose… Um… Focus). Answer questions #2-4 on p. 783. How does Tugend use sources to strengthen her argument? Look at the paragraphing in the article – we know, based on the short blurb about Tugend before the article that this was written for a newspaper. Would this type of paragraphing work for an academic paper? Why or why not? • Reread the tips and questions for writing a synthesis in NFG Ch. 50, p. 522-523. Prepare a thesis statement/draft/outline of your synthesis paper for workshop.
• Review answers from readings and generate/answer questions about synthesis writing and writing strategies. Discuss how different strategies are used in writing. Analyze different syntheses to show how different sources are used to bolster arguments. • Workshop on using writing strategies to compose an outline/draft for synthesis. • Complete a draft of Assignment #3.
• Thesis Statement Check: Submit your thesis statement and outline for Assignment #3. • Assignment #3 Draft. Submit 2-3 paragraphs for a quick check to see if you’re on the right path. Be sure to have a full draft of Assignment #3 ready for the following week.
By the end of the week, students will be able to: • Follow a citation style guide to correctly format in-text citations and a works cited/reference list. • Critically offer feedback on the use of sources to establish a strong argument in a peer's synthesis paper.
• Read NFG Ch. 52, pp. 539-543 & Ch. 53, pp. 544-547. If you are using MLA, refer to Ch. 54 for the style guide; if you are using APA, refer to Ch. 55. • Format your in-text citations and works cited/reference list according to the citation style that you chose. • Assignment #3 due [date]!!!
• Complete a peer review of a classmate’s synthesis draft. • Revise draft of synthesis paper.
• Peer Review: Conduct a review of your peer’s work and submit a reflection of the process. (Provide a reflection questionnaire for students to fill out, or have them reflect freely.) • Complete Assignment #3. (This week, you get a freebie for an in-class writing assignment!)
By the end of the week, students will be able to: • Determine how much background information/context is needed in their argument to make their stance clear. • Identify strategies for using evidence that will best support their claims and reasons. • Evaluate what types of evidence will appeal to readers’ values and trust.
• Read NFG Ch. 13, pp. 157-184. Using the guide on p. 170-171, annotate the sample argumentative piece by Worthen (pp. 165-170) to show how each writer contextualizes their position and provides good reasons. Annotate also for evidence: consider the types of evidence used, how they are incorporated into the writing (quotations, paraphrasing, summarizing). • Read NFG Ch. 38, pp. 397-417. Review the first few pages on arguing logically. Think about the papers you’ve written so far for this class. Do you think you’ve provided logical claims that contain strong reasons? What types of evidence have you used? Going over the list of evidence types on pp. 401-408, identify what audience and purpose the evidence would be most persuasive for. Why is it important to incorporate other viewpoints? Which of those logical fallacies are you familiar with? How can you combat them? • Read NFG Ch. 64, pp. 808-814. Annotate the text to identify Dzubay’s thesis and the claims and evidence she uses to support those. Answer questions #1-4 on p. 81814.
• Introduce Assignment #4 (and its relation to Assignment #3). • Lecture/analysis on argumentation, specifically with regards to breaking down the Worthen reading. • Review thoughts on logical fallacies (from homework). Lecture/analysis on evidence and logical fallacies. Practice identifying logical fallacies in the wild! • Review homework answers to the Carr reading. Workshop framing your research topic as a problem and identify strategies for appealing to your audience.
• Identifying Logical Fallacies in the Wild! Look for published opinion pieces. Summarize the arguments in the piece and the evidence used to support those claims. Identify any logical fallacies. • Strategies for Beginning and Ending: Reflect on the intended audience of your research topic – who is likely to care? In her introduction, Dzubay opens with a case that includes Disneyland. How might that strategy appeal to (or isolate) her readers, and how much background information will you need to provide? Are there any terms you’ll need to define? Can you anticipate counterpoints? Have this ready to discuss for next week’s conferences.
Attend the conference at your chosen time with a your writing plan for Assignment #4/ a complete draft of Assignment #4. [Conference can be face-to-face or online using Collaborate, Zoom, etc.]
• Complete a draft of Assignment #4. Have a completed version ready for peer review.
By the end of the week, students will be able to: • Identify the components needed for a convincing proposal/advocacy paper. • Use a variety of writing strategies to effectively frame the problem for their audience. • Include evidence that advocates for a solution to the problem they’ve framed in their research. • Critically offer feedback on the framing of a problem and the persuasiveness of the solution in a peer's synthesis paper. • Accurately use semicolons when proofreading their drafts.
• Read NFG Ch. 37, pp. 392-396 & Ch. 69, pp. 959-968. Annotate the text to identify the problem that the writers present and the background information they provide so that their audience can understand their argument. Annotate also for evidence and a proposal for a solution. Why does their solution make sense even without evidence (quotations, paraphrasing, summaries)? Answer questions #1-4 on pp. 967-968. • Have a draft of Assignment #4 ready for Peer Review. • Read ADS Ch. 3, Semicolons (The Bridge), pp. 69-86. Complete [instructor’s choice of exercises in ADS or on Inquizitive.]
• Review homework answers. Lecture/analysis on analyzing for cause and effect. • Practice using semicolons, colons, dashes, and parentheses. • Complete a peer review of a classmate’s proposal/advocacy draft.
• Peer Review: Conduct a review of your peer’s work and submit a reflection of the process. (Provide a reflection questionnaire for students to fill out, or have them reflect freely.) • Revision Plan: Based on this week’s lessons as well as peer review, what do you have to revise for your final paper?
Assignment 4 due [date]!!!