Course Syllabus - Teaching English Composition | ENGL 301, Exams of Grammar and Composition

Download Course Syllabus - Teaching English Composition | ENGL 301 and more Exams Grammar and Composition in PDF only on Docsity! TENTATIVE SYLLABUS (SUBJECT TO FURTHER REVISION!) FALL SEMESTER - 2004 ENGL 301/501 Teaching Composition Tuesdays and Thursdays, 7:40-8:55 a.m. LA 206? Your Professor and Host: Jeffrey D. Wilhelm His Qualifications: 13 years of middle and high school teaching, 27 semesters of university level teaching in Professional Development School sites, recognized teacher-researcher and author in the field of literacy education, Ph. D. in English Education/Curriculum and Instruction His Office: LA 211J His Office Phone: 486-1199 His Home Phone: 433-9919 His email: jwilhelm@boisestate.edu His Office hours: T, R 10:30-11:30 a.m.; 2:00-4:00 p.m. or by arrangement Course website: UNDER CONSTRUCTION - you will be updated! Course Description: There will be three strands to the course: 1. The first strand is concerned with theoretical positions about teaching and learning; textuality, reading and composition; and how the way we teach declares a theoretical position that has many consequences for our students, their engagement and learning, and ourselves as teachers. We will consider issues like: how do we define the acts of composition, why do we teach particular kinds and ways of composing, what so we believe readers and writers need to know and do, what contexts do we believe work best to help students develop the attitudes, knowledge, and strategies they need to be successful composers, what teaching techniques and interventions we can best use to teach them, and so on. 2. In this second strand, the heart of the course, we will examine different strategies for teaching different aspects of the processes of composition. We will consider how different kinds of teachers enact different theoretical positions in their work and with what effects. 3. The final strand of will consider issues of standards, response and assessment. We’ll think about what students need to know, what they are required to know, and how we can use various responses and assessment procedures in ways that are most helpful to students’ learning. Course expectations and assignments: Each week you will be expected to read from course texts and ancillary materials such as articles. In the case of all readings, there are these two expectations: 1. Completion of readings when assigned. 1 2. Completion of responses to reading when assigned. Your responses must make your comprehensive understanding of the material visible, and your learning and thinking about the material accountable. I will be very serious that you demonstrate your understanding of all assigned material. Responding to Course Readings: The research base shows that we learn from our reading only when we converse with and critique that reading, when we weave what we already know and feel with what we are thinking and experiencing as we read to transform it and make it our own. As we read the texts in this course I will ask you to consider personal points of agreement and disagreement, to consider what has been left out, and to consider what the reading might mean for your own teaching. Most classes will begin with time for a response activity such as a quiz, literature circle, exploratory application activity or a dialogue journal exchange. These assignments will be announced and explained in advance. The Dialogue Journal In the case of a dialogue journal, you should come to class with 2-3 typed split-column journal pages to share with a classmate (or 4-6 handwritten pages). Your classmate will thoughtfully respond in writing to your journal on the blank right hand side of the paper. Your journal should prove that you have read and deeply considered the previous week's readings. As part of these responses, I encourage you to make observations and suggestions about class and ask any questions you would like me to address during the next week. We will also try out variations on the dialogue journal throughout the semester: writer's notebooks, response papers, trialogue journals and the like. But the expectations will be the same. A dialogue journal responds to and explores the reading assignments for the previous week. You should write on the left side of your journal only, leaving the right side for a partner's comments. In your journal you might do any of the following: *Quote or Point out: quote a part of the reading that you feel is an example of good writing or insightful thinking. What did you like about this writing or the ideas presented? *Ask questions: Point out where you agree or disagree with the text. *Reflect on issues that have been raised. What confuses you? What didn't you understand? Why do you think the author did something in a particular way? *React: Write about your reactions to the readings, giving examples of reasons for your reactions. What comes to mind as you read? Write about these experiences or memories. What made you think of them? *Connect: How does the reading relate to other things we've already read? How do you predict you will use it in the future? What implications will it have for your teaching? How does your reading connect to the interpretations of others in the class? 2 9/30 Procedural Frontloading/Gateway assignment and context memo-5% 10/12 Assignment sequence: Writing about Literature argument-10% 11/4 Mini-lesson; Inquiring into language usage assignment and context memo-10% 11/25 Error analysis paper-10% 12/11 Inquiry and Design composition sequence, including assessment rubric-15% 12/16 Final Statement Paper-5% REQUIRED READING CHECKSHEET: Soven, Teaching Writing in Middle and Secondary Schools Wilhelm, et. al, Strategic Reading Kirby, et al., Inside Out Kahn, et al., Writing about Literature Schuster, Breaking the Rules Romano, Mutigenre Writing Spear, Sharing Writing Technology in the classroom choice – to be selected by mid-September Graduate Students Hillocks, G. Teaching Writing as Reflective Practice. Teachers College Press Or another resource for teaching composition that you negotiate with the professor TENTATIVE DAILY SCHEDULE 1-T-8/24 Theories of teaching and learning Introduction to the course; to course blocking; overview of the semester What are our goals as teachers? What is effective teaching and learning? For Homework: Read introduction and Ch. 1 of SR; write an introductory letter to the professor: what is important to know about you? Be sure to cover a) what are some important things to know about you personally which would help me to know and teach you, b) your professional goals and how this class fits, i.e. why you want to teach composition/English/whatever, c) what you expect to learn during this course. 2-R-8/26 Motivation to Write Unpleasant and pleasant writing experiences What can we learn from these? What do our stories tell us about the contexts that help students and hinder students from becoming become better writers. Would you rather activity Review of the three theories 5 For HW: Read Chapters 2 and 3 of SR; Graves on the Knowledge Loom: http://knowledgeloom.org Compose Entrance Ticket questions for chapters 1-3 of SR. Compose a reflective protocol of a recent writing experience: what did you do and when did you do it to be able to complete the writing. 3-T-8/31 Opening Circle: sharing our entrance ticket questions Review of learning and literary theories What Happens When We Write? Protocol of a recent writing experience Literacy Bio assignment: Considering what we must do to compose literacy biographies HW: Read Soven, Ch. 1, 2, 8 4-R-9/2 More on motivation and instructional context How composition theories map on to learning theories Staking your theoretical positions HW: Read Soven, Ch. 3 Write a POSITION PAPER (don't exceed 5 pages) on the 2-4 most important understandings about learning and composing on which you'll ground your practice. Justify WHY these are essential considerations and how you play out your positions in your teaching. 5-T-9/7 Share Papers: We will look for patterns and common themes Overview of the Writing Process Ways to use Gateways to frontload concepts, procedures, genre understandings HW: Read SR, 4 Sign up for Seminar Presentations whenever ready; sign up for technology readings 6- R-9/9– Kinds of Writing and what we have to know and do to compose them Personal, expressive, exploratory writing Inquiry Square: demands of texts HW: Read IO, 1-3; compose list of teaching ideas for introducing new concepts or strategies to students Finish literacy biographies 7-T-9/14- Present LITERACY BIOGRAPHIES What patterns do we see? What can we learn from them about teaching? How can we learn about our own students as learners and writers? HW: IO, 4, 5, 10; compose list of a few “bottom line” principles and ideas from Inside Out on how to enact these principles. 8-R-9/16- Share Inside Out lists Creating Contexts for Writing Inquiry Square: Different Ways of Teaching Different Telos and different ways to get there Sign up for Seminar Presentations 6 HW: IO, 9 Complete a context memo on unit situation and purpose; compose a frontloading/gateway assignment, and justify how this will help students to “get the stuff” 9-T-9/21- Share CONTEXT MEMO and conceptual FRONTLOADING/GATEWAY, “GETTING THE STUFF” ideas Review: Reading and Writing as Inquiry- writing to learn Inquiry Templates HW: Read SR, 7 10-R-9/23- Sequencing: getting from here to there Snell’s law sequence Principles of Sequencing HW: read Soven, 6; 6+1 traits handout; Dialogue Journal 11-T-9/28- Dialogue Journal exchange Directed Writing Assignments Teaching Argument sequence HW: IO, 13; complete context memo and procedural frontloading/gateway 12-R-9/30- Share CONTEXT MEMO and procedural FRONTLOADING/GATEWAY Workshop: designing in-process assistance for a writing assignment 6+1 traits; how do they map on to different kinds of assignments? HW: Soven, 7; IO, 11; Writing About Literature; brainstorm ideas for ways to teach writing about a literary text that is part of your unit theme 13-T-10/5- Discussion: Ideas for teaching writing about literature Workshop: Writing about Literature SEMINAR PRESENTATION: SPELLING AND VOCABULARY HW: Read vocabulary article/s; visit some of the websites – write a review of 2 websites based on the article’s criteria for vocabulary instruction 14-R-10/7- share reviews; vocabulary development ideas and how you will contextualize them Vocabulary issues Workshopping and Mini-lessons HW: Complete a sequence to teach a Writing about Literature argument. Include assignment sheet, appropriate frontloading, exploratory writing, in-process assistance, reflection/criteria guide. Make sure you provide assistance BDA: before, during and after the assignment. 15-T-10/12- Share ASSIGNMENT SEQUENCE ON WRITING ABOUT LITERATURE SEMINAR PRESENTATION: MAKING THE CLASSROOM A WORKSHOP- USING MINI- LESSONS AND THEIR PLACE IN THE WRITING PROCESS HW: Read IO, 6 7