Wednesday, October 10

Day 22 (Wednesday, October 10)

Lesson Objectives
Students will

Connection to Course Goals
Collaborative writing presents students with a unique challenge to consider the writing process from a new perspective.

Connection to Students’ Own Writing
Today’s class allows for planning and drafting of explanations.

Activities

Since students have brought all of their sources and their annotations to class today, they have everything they need to draft the explanation.  Since each group member needs to be familiar with the whole body of research, they should read each others’ annotations. 

Especially if you will not be meeting your class on Friday, revisit the assignment sheet.  You might read and discuss a sample explanation with the class as a whole.

Once you have answered lingering questions about the explanation, groups should begin drafting.  Some groups may have begun already and some groups may need to begin now.  Therefore, this activity may appear chaotic.  It’s important to let groups negotiate how to write collaboratively, as many students have not done this before.

Wrap up class as usual, emphasizing the importance of making it to all group meetings that occur between now and Monday.  Allow groups a few minutes to agree upon a meeting location for Friday’s class (a time when everyone is available).

Homework
Meet with your group during class time on Friday to continue writing your explanation (we will not meet as a class in our regular classroom).  You may not finish your explanation during class time, in which case you should make appropriate arrangements.  Post your explanation to the discussion forum by the beginning of class on Monday (October 15).  To class next Monday (October 15), bring all of your sources and your annotations in a folder to turn in.