Phase 1 Sequence
- Introduce question-at-issue: What should we eat? (a.k.a., the ominvore's dilemma)
- Assess our starting point: Explore prior knowledge
- How do we answer that question? What are we eating and why?
- What kinds of information do we need to answer the question?
- How would/do we gather information to answer significant questions?
- Introduce Academic Inquiry strategies (as a framework for phase 1)
- Focus on close reading:
- Read Nation articles: to collect thesis of each article (its answer to the question)
- Generate questions for further inquiry
- Read "The Way We Live Now" piece: Expand reading for thesis to reading for argument and summary writing
- Assess what we've learned and pose more questions
- Focus on critical reading: reading rhetorically
- Introduce rhetorical triangle & conversation metaphor
- Read 3 Times magazine articles, for purpose, audience and context, focusing on writer's strategies for focus, development, organization, coherence
- Audience: how do we respond and why? What effect does the article have? Can we identify features that caused the effect?
- Purpose: what is the writer's intention? What does he do to try to reach that? How well does his purpose fit with ours as readers?
- Context: Where was this published? What kind of information does it use and how was it gathered? How does our knowledge of context influence our reading?
- Focus on critical reading: evaluating information
- Develop criteria for quality information (timeliness, accuracy, credibility/authority, accessibility, objectivity)
- Re-read articles to assess effectiveness is responding to question-at-issue
- Students identify article that best adds to the conversation and keeps it going
- Students write a letter to someone they know well, recommending that they read it and inviting a conversation on it.