Day 2 . Wednesday, August 27th

Thursday, August 26:  Daily Class Outline

Lesson Objectives

Review expectations for the course. Discuss WTLs from Day 1 and homework done for today. Discuss strategies for critical reading.  Use critical reading skills to discuss Cohen's article.  Introduce the concept of summary and its conventions and apply them to Cohen's article.

Connection to Course Goals

The homework discussion invites students to consider what influences them as writers in general, but more specifically, it asks them to consider how the context of this classroom helped determine what they wrote about and the approach they used when writing.  Cohen's article lays the foundation for the subsequent articles and the theme of the first unit:  consumption and consumerism in America.  Summary is one of the first goals of the course (and necessary for Portfolio 1) and is a skill that we want to provide students for courses beyond CO150 and their civic lives.

A Possible Sequence of Activities for Today

1. Call roll and complete logistics: 

  • Is there anyone new today?
  • Who still needs to sign up for the New York Times?
  • Hand out materials to those who weren't in the previous class.  You might also ask those students to stay a moment after class or visit you during your office hours so you can catch them up.

Remember to note any students who have failed to attend class the first two class sessions and to automatically drop them on the form provided by the English office.

Activity Ideas:  Logistics

2. Review expectations for course, especially addressing any stated expectations that lie outside the goals of CO150.

Activity Ideas:  Reviewing Expectations
3. Discuss responses to the previous night's homework - specifically how context shapes our choices in writing (this is a good place to link back to the Interview Activity from Day 1, too).  You should briefly review the Writing Situation Model as you discuss the homework as well.

Activity Ideas:  Discussing Homework
4. Discuss Critical Reading. Activity Ideas:  Critical Reading
5. Discuss Cohen's article.  The goal here is to help students begin to identify main ideas. Activity Ideas:  Discussing Cohen's Article
6. Apply the Writing Situation Model to Cohen's article.

Activity Ideas:  Applying the Writing Situation Model to Cohen's Article
7. Introduce the principles of summary as outlined by the Prentice Hall Guide. Activity Ideas:  Introducing Summary
8. Guide students through the process of applying the summary principles to Cohen's article. Activity Ideas:  Applying Summary Principles to Cohen's Article
9. Establish a conclusion for the class session and assign homework. It is very important that you leave 5 minutes at the end of class to conclude and assign homework.  This avoids students missing the assignment and you having to talk over students while they are packing up.

Activity Ideas:  Concluding and Assigning Homework
Note:  You can use next week to catch up if you fall behind this week (it's a busy one!).  This follows the general mentality that weekly goals can be subdivided into daily goals, and so the purpose of the daily outlines is to help you, not restrict you.   

Assignment for Next Class Session

Assign the following to students:

  • Review the guidelines for writing an academic summary in the PHG on page 160-161. Using these guidelines, along with our discussion from class about the writer’s purposes and key ideas, write an academic summary of Lizabeth Cohen's article, applying the conventions of summary writing and taking care to give the proper people credit for ideas as Cohen cites other people's work in her own.
    *You might also have students check out the guide on writing summaries in the CO150 Room in the Writing Studio.  Since we are writing an "academic key point summary" you might ask:  Which type of summary explained there most closely correlates with the one explained in the PHG?
    *Have students post their summaries to their files on the Writing Studio as well as print out a copy to bring to class with them next time.

  • Also have students read Paul Krugman's article, "Money Can't Buy Happiness.  Er, Can It?" and Robert H. Frank's article, "Timmy's Range Rover."

    Bring the articles and answers the following questions to class with you next session:

    1. Who is each writer's audience?

    2. Why do you think he wrote the article he did?

    3. What is the article's main idea?  List the key points the writer uses to support the main idea.

    4. How do Krugman's and Frank's articles correspond with Cohen's article?  What is similar?  What is different?

  • In preparation for the introduction of the New York Times, assign PHG reading on the shaping of journalistic stories using the "inverted pyramid" (page 253), and on the reporter’s collecting/investigating heuristic, which utilizes "Wh" questions (pages 245-246).  

Additional Teaching Resources

For tips on how to plan your classes, visit the Planning a Class Guide on Writing@CSU.

For help creating your own lesson plans, check out Writting a Lesson Plan on Writing@CSU.

Go to the Teaching Summary and Response guide for additional strategies on teaching summary and response.

Throughout the semester, additional activity options are available via the Writing@CSU Teaching Activities Bank.