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Class Plan -- Unit Three, Day 40
Goals Assignment for Day 41
4-5 page draft for Monday's workshop. YOU MIGHT GO AHEAD AND TELL YOUR STUDENTS THAT THE WORKSHOP WILL BE TAKE-HOME, BUT THAT THEY WILL SPEND SOME CLASS TIME GETTING STARTED ON IT.

Activities:

Daily - In-Text Documentation Scavenger Hunt. One way to get through this day's unavoidably dry subject matter is to make students actively seek out the answers to their own questions about documentation, using the MLA guidelines (like the rest of us). In the past, I have used the In-Text Documentation "Scavenger Hunt" sheet (See appendix), and asked students to work in small groups (2 or 3), dividing the questions among them (about 3 to each group). [When you assign the questions, remember that the last ones are quite a bit more complicated than the first ones.] It usually takes students very little time to do this (less than 10 minutes), which is good, because the ensuing discussion always takes more time than you would expect, as students have lots of questions about the details of MLA documentation--at least a couple of which are sure to stump you. [Just tell them you'll come back with the answer in the next class, that you'll have to look it up.]

Discuss Daily - Go over the answers to the Scavenger Hunt questions, discuss issues raised by student questions, then perhaps discuss some of the points from the In-Text portion of the MLA Documentation Tip Sheet (See appendix). [You might emphasize once again the importance of framing quotes, determining what needs to be cited, and how to introduce sources.]

Discuss MLA Works Cited Format - Your students will probably be quite familiar with some points about MLA Works Cited format, as they have had a chance to practice it in putting together their annotated bibliography. However, I usually go over three or four of the most common types of entries they are likely to be doing (book, essay in anthology, article in print journal, article in electronic journal), providing the bibliographic information for them and asking them to tell me the order in which this information should be placed in the entry, what punctuation to use, etc. (I write the entries on a blank OH transparency or on the board as the students feed me the information.) I also always make a point of reminding students that nobody simply memorizes this Works Cited format. They have the PHG section on documentation (pp. 559-66, 588-9) at their disposal, and (depending on their majors) they might in future classes want to purchase a copy of the most recent MLA handbook. [I usually bring a copy of the MLA handbook to class with me on that day, to show my students and to search for answers to some of their questions after the discussion is over.] You might also go over the Works Cited portion of the MLA Documentation Tip Sheet (See Appendix).

If you find yourself with extra time, you might open the discussion up to problems that students are having in drafting so far, and try to get students to offer suggestions to one another for the drafting process.