Goals

• Peer Review Workshop II: Editing Workshop

Assignment for Day 23
Reading - [ASSIGN THE POPULAR MAGAZINE ARTICLE ON YOUR CLASS TOPIC (FOUND IN THE COURSE PACKET).]

Writing - After reading this article once, read it a second time with these questions in mind: What is the purpose of this piece of writing? Who is the intended audience? (In other words, to what particular TYPE of person does the author seem to be writing?) What are some of the details in the articles that clued you into this? Then answer these questions on paper. (Be as specific as possible.)

• Appendix 17: Grammar Errors

Activities:
Daily - Make a list of the 2-4 kinds of style errors that you have the most trouble with in your papers.

Discussion - Grammar/mechanics lesson on problems you noticed happening pretty much across the board in students' Response Essay. Review for about 20-25 minutes.

I usually discuss why correctness is important yet why we don't spend so much time on it in CO150. I include the fact that many audiences will not give their work a second chance if it has lots of surface errors, how student errors can interfere with communication, and some of the other attitudes audiences have toward correctness.

I also use this day to introduce students to the handbook section of the PHG and to explain (again) my method of dealing with style issues (mechanics, grammar, usage, etc.). [IF YOU ARE USING ERROR PATTERN ANALYSIS OR A "GRAMMAR LOG" APPROACH, YOU MIGHT WANT TO REMIND YOUR STUDENTS AT THIS POINT ABOUT WHAT THEY ARE SUPPOSED TO BE DOING WITH YOUR COMMENTS--RECORDING THEM? IDENTIFYING OTHER OCCURRENCES OF THE ERROR? USING THEM IN EDITING WORKSHOPS LIKE TODAY'S?]

I concentrate on 2-3 areas that many students had problems with in the Response Essay, using an OH which demonstrates errors which need to be corrected (see Appendix 17 for an example of this). It is also a good idea to refer to the appropriate pages in PHG as you review.

Editing Workshop - Have students exchange drafts with a partner. Look at the list the writer wrote for the Daily and concentrate on looking for those errors. They should mark possible errors in pencil. Tell students that they should save about 10 minutes at the end of the workshop time for discussion and corrections. [CORRECTIONS ARE DONE BY HAND IN THE TRADITIONAL CLASSROOM. STUDENTS ARE OFTEN UNCOMFORTABLE WITH THIS AND MUST BE REASSURED THAT THE INSTRUCTOR WILL LOOK AT THEIR CORRECTIONS AS IF THEY WERE DONE "FORMALLY" ON THE COMPUTER. ALSO, IF THERE ARE STUDENTS WHO DISCOVER THAT THEY HAVE A LOT OF PROBLEMS WITH STYLE IN THIS ESSAY, I'LL LET THEM TAKE THE PAPER TO CORRECT AND TURN IN BY THE END OF THE DAY OR PERHAPS BY THE NEXT DAY.]

COLLECT INQUIRY ESSAY FOLDERS.

Explanation of Assignment for Next Class, and Class Topic for the Rest of the Course - Tell students that in the next two units, they will not be reading essays which deal with language as their topic. [Be prepared for whoops, whistles, and other expressions of ecstasy and delight when you make this announcement.] Rather, they will be looking at the different strategies that writers employ in using language (Unit II - Text Analysis), then practicing using some of these strategies themselves by arguing a position on an issue related to the class topic (Unit III - Written Argument). Talk for a few minutes about your class topic, and tell them that they will be reading the first essay on this topic for class next time.