To examine sample summaries and conduct a peer review session so students may receive feedback on their homework. To prepare students for a marketing activity on Friday.
Peer review provides useful feedback for rethinking and revising writing.
Use the following samples or ones that you develop on your own to discuss the importance of engaging readers and using details to enhance description. Put these (or your own) samples on an overhead and discuss the strengths and weaknesses of each. Which one do students like more and why? Which one seems more interesting? Which is clearer in its purpose and focus?
Sample #1
This ad for Budweiser beer was found in Maxim magazine. Maxim is a men’s magazine filled with stories and everyday advice. The ad shows a tall, blond woman wearing a bikini. She is also wearing a cowboy hat. There’s a neon sign outside a bar that looks blurry. There are people inside the bar but they are not the main focus of the ad. The woman in the ad looks straight at you. She seems to be saying that if you drink Budweiser all your dreams will come true.
Sample #2
What if I told you that you could have the perfect butt? A butt so wonderfully silky and smooth that it shines with the brilliance of a new coat of paint? To achieve this ideal bottom, all you need to do is purchase a bottle of Jergen’s lotion. At least, that’s what the marketers for Jergen’s want you to believe. Featured in the September issue of Shape magazine, this ad catches a reader’s eye with a close up, profile shot of a woman’s butt. The butt is beautifully bronzed, so rich with color that it nearly comes to life on the page. It is set against the backdrop of a bright blue sky and large billowy clouds, as if to say that Jergens lotion will free you from the confines of everyday life and take you to a place where you feel fresh and soft.
Before beginning the peer review session, ask students if they have questions or concerns regarding their summaries. Now that they’ve had a chance to practice writing a summary of an ad, what challenges did they face? What questions do they have? Take a minute or so to address these concerns.
Then, have students get into pairs and exchange their homework. Before they exchange papers, give them explicit criteria to follow so they know what to comment on. For example, you might ask them to respond to the following questions:
Decide whether you want to collect students’ homework now or with their portfolio. If you will collect it later, let them know you will collect it so they don’t misplace it.
Following the workshop, have students do a revision plan: what are the three most important areas they need to work on as they revise their draft? After they list these goals, you can give them five minutes to begin working on revising their drafts.
