• Set the tone for the semester by asking students to set goals for themselves as writers
• Discuss personal writing.
• Introduce Personal Essay Assignment.
• Discuss Web Forum Format.

NOTE TO LECTURERS: THIS IS THE DAY YOU SKIP. MOVE ON TO DAY 3.

Assignment for Day 3
Reading - In LL, 329-330 (on personal writing)

Writing - Write 1-2 informal paragraphs in response to each of the following questions:

• What are some of the ways that language is used in your family? What makes these language uses in your family different or distinctive?
• What is your most vivid memory associated with reading and writing in school (elementary, secondary, or college)? Was this a situation in which you would say you were a "success"? Why or why not?
• Describe the language of a group of which you are a member (such as age, hobby, sport, religion, etc.). Show how the group's language differs from "regular English" and how it shows the group's identity.
• When have you felt like an "outsider" because of the language you speak?
• When have you felt particularly accepted (or like an "insider") because of the language you speak?.
[WARN STUDENTS THAT THEY WILL BE DISCUSSING THEIR JOURNAL WRITINGS IN SMALL GROUPS WITH THEIR CLASSMATES NEXT CLASS, SO TO AVOID WRITING ANYTHING THAT THEY WOULD NOT WANT TO BE READ BY OTHERS.]

Related Handouts


• Appendix 1: Personal Essay Assignment

  Related Handouts
  

  • Appendix 2: Web Forum Instructions

    Activities
    Daily - What is "personal writing"? As a prompt for this daily, you might use variations on the questions under #2 on p. 330: "What is `personal writing'? What personal writing have you read? What personal writing have you done yourself? What is personal writing for? In what ways is it better, truer, or more meaningful than other kinds of writing? What does it lack that other kinds of writing have?"

    Discussion of homework assignment - Discuss some of the writer's goals that they generated in their homework assignment. Mention to students that they will be asked to return to these goals throughout the semester, reexamining them and developing them as they learn more about what is expected of writing on the university level.

    Brainstorm together on the board in response to the question,"What is good writing?" List student responses. Talk about which qualities are most important, i.e. is content more or less important than mechanics, and what features are context dependent, e.g. is it ever okay to use "I" in an academic paper? Try to move the discussion in the direction of personal writing (informal writing, journal writing, creative writing, etc.), its importance and its role for writers. [This is leading into a discussion of the first assignment: the Personal Essay.]

    Discussion of Daily - Spend a few minutes talking about students' experiences with (and expectations of) personal writing. In what ways is personal writing easy? In what ways is it difficult? Are there any "rules" that people follow when they do personal writing? (You will be asking them to answer this question about rules again after they complete the first writing assignment.)

    Give Assignment--Personal Essay - Examining Everyday Functions of Language. (See Appendix 1 for assignment sheet.) Your handout for the assignment should include a writing prompt, grading criteria, important due dates, and instructions for using the Web Forum. You may want to have students volunteer to read the assignment aloud. Emphasize getting started, focus, showing detail, due dates, and the fact that you will be explaining (in just a few minutes) in greater detail the Web Forum component of the assignment.

    Inform students that the assignment is also available on the Writing Center. You may want to give them a handout with directions about how to find it. At the minimum, give them the address for the Writing Center (http://www.colostate.edu).
    

    Explanation of Web Forum - Have students read through (out loud or silently) the instructions for getting into and posting to the Web Forum. Then field questions dealing with how to use it. (You might want to look over the handout again and play around a bit on the Web Forum before you come to class, just to prepare yourself for the types of questions they might ask.) Be sure to talk about the reason WHY we are asking them to write this on the forum rather than in a more traditional way. In what ways is this format going to be useful to them? Possible Answers: It gives them the opportunity to publish their work, to see others' work for ideas about ways of approaching the assignment (definitely NOT cheating in this case, unless they actually steal parts of others' writing), to receive response from their peers, and to have a set of texts on our topic which the entire class can use. You might also ask students how they anticipate that "publishing" their work on the Web Forum will affect how and what they write.

    Another important note: I have found that it is important to ease any fears they might have of using the forum by assuring them that they won't be penalized for technology goof-ups. This is meant to be an enjoyable assignment, not a frustrating chore. So if they encounter computer problems, they will be given time to work them out. Also, I usually recommend that unless my students are tremendously confident about using the Web Forum at home, that they go to a computer lab or to the library where a lab monitor can assist them if necessary.

    In any remaining time, ask students what kinds of questions they have about CO150 or the policy statement so far.

    Explain assignment for Day 3, emphasizing that these informal journal writings are the ones referred to in the Personal Essay assignment sheet, and that these writings will be the basis for class discussion and activities next time.