Ashley R. Ott Assignments & Activities Archive Activity Description “Books and screens are now bound up with one another whether we like it or not. Only in patiently working through this entanglement will we be able to understand how new technologies will, or will not, change how we read” (Piper ix). Digital reading offers new […]
Deep Digital Reading with Google Docs Read More »
Laura E. Decker Assignments & Activities Archive Activity Description First-year writers often struggle to take risks on projects, especially as they move from their composition courses to projects within new disciplines and contexts (Robertson et al.). However, taking risks by diving into new discourse communities, as Bartholomae argued, is required to participate effectively in the
Kim Fahle Peck Assignments & Activities Archive Activity Description Kenneth Burke’s famous parlor metaphor presents a picture of academic research as a conversation between ideas and perspectives: Imagine that you enter a parlor. You come late. When you arrive, others have long preceded you, and they are engaged in a heated discussion, a discussion too
Dramatizing the Conversation: Creating Dialogue Scripts to Support Source Synthesis Read More »
Zoe McDonald Assignments & Activities Archive Activity Description This activity transforms a familiar annotated bibliography into a full class activity to give students hands-on knowledge of two central components of composing: writing as a social process (Adler-Kassner and Wardle) and “authority is constructed and contextual” (ACRL). As Tressie McMillan Cottom observes , “writing is always
Danielle DeRise Volume 5 Chapter Description The polarization of American society means almost every topic is ripe for controversy. Students in first year writing classes reflect this noisy information ecosystem, commonly, by focusing on the degree of bias an author displays. In some cases, these observations result in savvy choices about source credibility, but in
Everything’s Biased: A Guide to Determining when Bias Matters Read More »
Michelle Sprouse Volume 5 Chapter Description Students are often encouraged to annotate while reading. However, annotation is often framed as an individual undertaking, a conversation between a reader and text. This chapter repositions annotation in the writing classroom as a social activity that can support students’ literacy development. Beginning with opportunities for students to reflect
Reading in Conversation: A Student’s Guide to Social Annotation Read More »
Jessica Jorgenson Borchert Assignments & Activities Archive Assignment Description This assignment comes out of my English 302: Advanced Composition course, a course that primarily services our English Education majors, and serves as an elective for all English majors and minors. Because of this audience, the assignment incorporates readings from Writing Spaces and/or Bad Ideas About
Writing About Writing (WAW) Synthesis Essay Assignment Read More »
Stina Kasik Oakes Assignments & Activities Archive Activity Description What’s a lobster? A second conversation? For years I worked to explain to students how to incorporate purpose, depth, and meaning into their writing with the terms “deeper meaning,” or “story under the story,” or “what the essay is really about.” But these phrases didn’t quite
Lobsters & Second Conversations: Addressing the “So What” in Your Writing Read More »
Ellen Carillo & Alice Horning Volume 4 Chapter Description Because reading and writing are related interpretive practices, attending to critical reading is an important part of teaching writing. This chapter defines critical reading and offers students strategies for undertaking a specific kind of critical reading, namely reading for credibility, particularly of online sources. The chapter
Effectively and Efficiently Reading the Credibility of Online Sources Read More »
