LESSON PLANS, ENGLISH 106 Week 3Tuesday, September 3, 2013 OPENING What are todays activities?

Today in the lab, students will be introduced to Microsoft Words track comments feature. Student essays (draft 1, literacy narrative) are due in two formsa hard copy for me and an electronic version for a peer to reviewat the start of class. Together, we will start by generating examples of what constitutes helpful feedback and constructive criticism on the board. Students will say what issues are the most important to them as they begin to think about revision, and look for these first in reviewing the work of their peers. In addition, I will ask that students focus on large-order issues (organization, clarity, pacing), rather than small-order ones (punctuation, spelling, grammar), and to keep in mind the Norton Field Guides three key features of a good literacy narrative (a well-told story, vivid detail, and some indication of the narratives significance) as they work. Then, students will provide a peer (chosen by me based on conference groupspeer review will continue at conferences this week) with an electronic version of their essay, and practice making suggestions to the writer for revision, tracking their comments as they go. At the end of class, students will print out two copies of their commentariesone for the writer to take with them to conferences and one for me to review. What will students learn today? Students will become familiar with Microsoft Words track comments feature, gaining practice both in using it to think critically about and comment upon the work of another writer, and to understand and apply another writers suggestions for the revision to their own work. Students should notice, in commenting upon their peers papers, mistakes they might have made in their own papers, and be able to correct them later, even if their own editor missed them. By looking critically at another writers work, students should be able to identify some of their own strengths and weaknesses as a writer. Students will be able to give examples from their own essays to help their peers improve. What did they do well in their own paper that this particular writer could benefit from hearing about? What did this writer do particularly well that they could learn from? Why is this important to students? It is important that students enter into the peer review process recognizing the fact that writing is a processthat the real writing happens in revision. It is important, too, that they come to realize that their peersthat all new and even experienced writersmake the same mistakes they do in writing, and on a regular basis. It is important that they learn to give constructive criticism and helpful feedback to other writers before they can be expected to receive it in peer review. It is important, on a technical level, that students gain practice with a tool as practical as the comment feature, one they can be expected to use in the professional world and in their various fields. What are the assignments for the next class?

For tomorrows class, students will be expected to complete three readingsliteracy narratives by Sherman Alexie (Superman and Me) and Malcolm X (Literacy Behind Bars) and an essay by Anne Lamott (Shitty First Drafts)and two journals based on the readings. They will be expected to come to tomorrows class prepared for a discussion of the readings, with agenda topics for each. When is the next assignment due? Students revised essays (draft 2, literacy narrative) will be due the following Tuesday at the start of class. QUIZ/REVIEW N/A

ACTIVITY 1 In-class discussion of what constitutes helpful feedback and constructive criticism and how to give and receive it. ACTIVITY 2 Practice with Microsoft Words track comment feature, in preparation for peer review. CLOSING What three things were learned today?

LEARNING OBJECTIVES Students learn how best to give constructive criticism and helpful feedback to other writers before receiving it in peer review. LEARNING OBJECTIVES Students learn how best to use a computerized editing tool they can be expected to make use of in the professional world and in their various fields.

Today in the lab, students learned 1) what constitutes helpful feedback and constructive criticism and how to give and receive it, 2) how to use Microsoft Words track comments feature effectively, and 3) how best to approach the process of peer review in the coming weekwith an open mind and an eye to large-order issues and key features. What readings will be repeated next class? N/A

LESSON PLANS, ENGLISH 106

Week 3Wednesday, September 4, 2013 OPENING What are todays activities? Today in class, we will begin by building an agenda for each of the three readings students did previouslyliteracy narratives by Sherman Alexie (Superman and Me) and Malcolm X (Literacy Behind Bars) and an essay by Anne Lamott (Shitty First Drafts)using topics they brought to class for discussion. Students will be asked to compare and contrast literacy narratives by Sherman Alexie and Malclom X, and to make connections between these narratives and their own. Students will be asked to identify in the narratives the Norton Field Guides three key features of a good literacy narrative (a well-told story, vivid detail, and some indication of the narratives significance), as well as any people (literacy sponsors), places (setting of the story), events (literacy events), objects (associated with literacy), and features of the self, which they have been asked to include in their own literacy narratives. In discussing Anne Lamotts essay, students will be asked to reflect upon their own experiences writing shitty first drafts (!), identifying any similarities or differences in process and/or product. What will students learn today? At the most basic level, students will learn how to read and talk about the literacy narrative as a genre. Students will be asked to identify what they like and dont like, as readers, about a story, and why. What does a good literacy narrative look like? How does one write one? Students will learn to identify key features of a good literacy narrative, with an eye towards applying those same features to the writing of their own literacy narratives. Students will be encouraged to notice and point out specific details in the stories that make them successful. They will be asked to say what makes a literacy narrative significantto put the literacy narratives theyve been reading, as well as their own literacy narratives, to the Who Cares?/So What? test. Students will learn primarily by talking to each other, looking to their peers for alternate readings and varied interpretations of outcomes and events, an activity that will ultimately help shape their own perceptions of what constitutes a well-told story. In discussion of Anne Lamotts essay, students will be asked to zoom out in order to better see the frame of the course as a whole. What does it mean to write about writing? How does one do it well? Why is this important to students? If the authors of They Say/I Say are correct in their thinking that all good writing enters into conversation with other writing, then it is indeed important that students learn how to talk about good writing intelligently in the context of the classroom. It is important that students learn how to engage with ideas verbally as well as textually, to incorporate the writing of others into their own writing, to position their own writing in response to the writing of others, and to situate their work as writers in the context of a larger literary community. What are the assignments for the next class?

For next time, students will be asked to complete a reading of and journal on Susan Brandts Sponsors of Literacy. Students will be asked to annotate Brandts essay as they read, and to bring to class a number of agenda topics for discussion. When is the next assignment due? Students in the Thursday conference group will work in small groups to close read the same essay during tomorrows conferences. QUIZ/REVIEW N/A

ACTIVITY 1 Agenda building and in-class discussion of two literacy narratives (Sherman Alexies Superman and Me and Malcolm Xs Literacy Behind Bars). ACTIVITY 2 Agenda building and in-class discussion of one essay (Anne Lamotts Shitty First Drafts). CLOSING What three things were learned today?

LEARNING OBJECTIVES Students will learn how to read and talk about the literacy narrative as a genre. (What does a good literacy narrative look like? How does one write one?) LEARNING OBJECTIVES Students will learn to enter into a conversation about writing well. (What does it mean to write about writing? How does one do it well?)

Today in class, students learned 1) how to read and talk about the literacy narrative as a genre, 2) how to enter into a conversation about writing well, and 3) how to identify what they like about good writing and why. What readings will be repeated next class? All three readings to be repeated, if necessary, in class on Friday.

LESSON PLANS, ENGLISH 106-235

Week 3Thursday, September 5, 2013 OPENING What are todays activities? Today in conferences, students will close read Susan Brandts Sponsors of Literacy, having read and annotated it in preparation for tomorrows in-class discussion of the same essay. Students will choose passages of the essay to read aloud to their peers, either because they consider themselves experts on the content of these passages, or because they struggled with them especially in reading. Either way, students will pose questions to the group for discussion, and offer what they feel is helpful commentary. Students will then work together to parse these passages, coming to a consensus, by the conferences conclusion, as to their meaning to Brandt and to themselves in the context of the class. Students will be asked first 1) to define for themselves the concept of literacy sponsors, then 2) to compare their definitions with their peers, and finally 3) to compare their group definition to Brandts own. Students will be asked to record all three variations on the definition of literacy sponsors in their glossary of terms, due at the semesters end. What will students learn today? Students will learn how to properly prepare a reading for in-class and/or conference group discussion. Included under this umbrella are the subtopics of annotation, note-taking, agenda-building, close-reading, critical reading, guiding questions, leading discussions, and becoming an expert on a text. Students will learn to parse passages in close reading for improved comprehension. Students will learn how to think critically about theory, then to put ideas learned in reading into practice in their own writing. Students will learn how to zoom in on a reading, then to zoom out in order to see it in the larger frame of the course as a whole. Why is this important to students? It is important for students to be able to read closely and think critically about a text before they can be expected to enter into a conversation about it in their own writing. It is equally as important for students to feel the expert in something as it is for them to be able to admit when they dont understand something. It is important for students to learn how to zoom in and out, in order to see the value of small assignments in the larger context of the class. What are the assignments for the next class? For tomorrows class, students in the Thursday conference group will be expected to take the lead in our discussion of Susan Brandts Sponsors of Literacy, bringing in agenda topics for discussion, asking guiding questions, suggesting passages for close-reading, and acting as experts on some aspects of the essay. When is the next assignment due? N/A

QUIZ/REVIEW N/A

ACTIVITY 1 Close-reading in small groups of Susan Brandts Sponsors of Literacy.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES Students will learn how to properly prepare a reading for in-class and/or conference group discussion, including the skills of annotation, note-taking, agenda-building, close-reading, critical reading, guiding questions, leading discussions, and becoming an expert on a text. LEARNING OBJECTIVES N/A

ACTIVITY 2 N/A

CLOSING What three things were learned today? Today in conferences, students learned 1) how to parse passages in close reading for improved comprehension, 2) how to think critically about theory, then to put ideas learned in reading into practice in their own writing, 3) how to zoom in on a reading, then to zoom out in order to see it in the larger frame of the course as a whole. What readings will be repeated next class? Susan Brandts Sponsors of Literacy to be repeated in class on Friday.

LESSON PLANS, ENGLISH 106-235 Week 3Friday, September 6, 2013 OPENING What are todays activities? Today in class, we will begin by building an agenda for discussion of Susan Brandts Sponsors of Literacy. Students who participated in Thursdays conferences will be expected to play a leading role in our discussion of the essay, bringing in agenda topics for discussion, asking guiding questions, suggesting passages for close-reading, and acting as experts on some aspects of the essay. Our discussion of the essay will focus on aspects of audience, authority, and intention. What will students learn today? Students will learn how to go about incorporating Brandts theory of the literacy sponsor into their own narratives. Students who have done so already can offer advice to those students who have not. Why is this important to students? Students will perhaps be surprised to learn that a reading difficult and theoretical as Brandts can be broken down into smaller, more manageable parts for improved understanding on the readers part. Such a realization will almost certainly boost students confidence in their abilities as readers of dense material. What are the assignments for the next class? Students in the Monday conference group will work in small groups to close read the same essay during that days conferences. When is the next assignment due? Students revised essays (draft 2, literacy narrative) will be due on Tuesday at the start of class. QUIZ/REVIEW N/A

ACTIVITY 1 Agenda building and in-class discussion of Susan Brandts Sponsors of Literacy.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

ACTIVITY 2 N/A

LEARNING OBJECTIVES N/A

CLOSING What three things were learned today? Today in class, students learned 1) how to define audience, authority, and intention in the context of the essay, 2) how to read and think critically about a difficult text, and 3) how to incorporate Susan Brandts theory of the literacy sponsor into their own literacy narratives. What readings will be repeated next class? Susan Brandts Sponsors of Literacy to be repeated in conferences on Monday.