WR 440



WR 440 Dr. Cornelia Paraskevas

Spring 2008 Office Hours: 8:30-9:50 M

1:50-3:20 W

1:30-3:40 Th

or by appt.

Maaske Hall 330

Phone: 838-8477 (office)

e-mail: paraskc@wou.edu

TEXTS: K. Wood Ray, What You Know by Heart

Carol Booth Olson, The Reading/Writing Connection: Strategies for Teaching and Learning in the Secondary Classroom (2nd edition)

JSTOR—Landmark Texts (Hamersly Library)

You also need to become familiar with all of the following:

- the Oregon Writing Benchmarks and Standards (ode.state.or.us). At ODE’s homepage, click on ‘Publications’ (left hand corner) and then click on Oregon Standards Newspaper. Choose Section B (English Language Arts) and print that section. Always bring it with you to class.

- the scoring site (). Print the scoring guide and bring it with you to class.

-NCTE Beliefs about the Teaching of Writing

()

-NCTE journals at your authorization level (Italics indicate the name of the

journal)

Elementary: Language Arts

Middle: Voices from the Middle

High school: English Journal

College: College English or English in the Two-Year College

GOALS: The goal of the class is to give you the theoretical background and context of composition theory; the experience in designing and evaluating assignments; the ability to connect reading and writing through craft; and the practice to produce and revise written material (rich, thoughtful, polished pieces) quickly and easily.

We will devote equal time to theory and practice; be prepared to do lots of writing (in-class and out-of-class)! I expect you do be doing 2-3 hours of homework for each hour you are in class—that’s the norm for upper-division college classes. Some weeks, there will be more than 10 hours of homework, other weeks less—but the overall assumption is 9-12 hours of work per week; plan your time wisely.

Please note: LING 215 is a prerequisite for this class—that means you passed the class with (at minimum) a D-. If you didn’t, you should drop the class.

LEARNING OUTCOMES

|Students will be able to |As measured by |

|Situate their pedagogy within the appropriate theoretical |Formal writing; journal entries; article summaries |

|framework | |

|Design assignments informed by theory and standards |Out of class project “Designing Writing Assignments” |

|Evaluate work based on the ODE traits |In-class work; designing a writing assignment |

|Evaluate material based on writing craft |Out of class craft analysis |

|Evaluate professional articles with respect to writing issues |Journal entries |

|Use writing as a tool for learning |Journal entries |

|Develop strategies for all stages of the writing process |Drafts of out of class projects; designing a writing assignment |

|Become reflective practitioners |Journal entries; essays; in class writing |

ATTENDANCE POLICIES: Since the class is organized as a workshop, your attendance and active participation are required. You can miss up to 2 classes --that’s one week-- no questions asked. After that, however, your grade will be reduced by 5 points for each class missed. If you miss more than 6 classes, I will ask you to drop the class because you will have missed a significant portion of the in-class work and discussion.

ACADEMIC HONESTY: Students are expected to adhere to all university guidelines concerning academic honesty and avoiding plagiarism.  Sanctions for dishonesty can range from failing an assignment up to failing the course.  See WOU Code of Student Responsibility, sections 574-031-0030 and -0040.

DISABILITIES ACCOMODATION: Students with any sort of documented disability should work with the Office of Disability Services [x88250/APS 405] in the first two weeks of the term to develop appropriate accommodation arrangements for this class.

ASSIGNMENTS: Please keep all work for WR 440 in a separate folder which you will always bring with you to class.

NO LATE ASSIGNMENTS WILL BE ACCEPTED UNLESS YOU HAVE MADE PRIOR ARRANGEMENTS WITH ME (PRIOR MEANS A MINIMUM OF 24 HRS. BEFORE AN ASSIGNMENT IS DUE—THAT INCLUDES JOURNAL ENTRIES.

Reading and Reflection Journals: For each assigned reading, you need to do all of the following in order to receive full credit for the day:

1. date and number the entry on the upper right hand corner

2. summarize 3-4 points from the reading that you found interesting (depending on the number of readings). For days when there are multiple readings assigned, do one entry for all of them combined; please make sure you list points from all the readings.

3. write a one-page reflection, using your personal experiences to connect to those key points.

Entries (combined reading and reflection) should be approximately 2 pages long and must be done before you come to class.

IN THE BEGINNING OF CLASS, YOU WILL HAVE TO SHARE YOUR ENTRY WITH A PARTNER WHO WILL RESPOND IN WRITING TO YOUR ENTRY.

Longer Assignments

Please note all of the following:

No paper will be accepted without in-class peer feedback on the day specifically set aside for that purpose. Drafts for peer review should be substantial—not lists but complete papers, close to length as the final piece.

When you turn in your papers, please include ALL prewriting, early draft, feedback.

For all your assignments, your audience is your colleagues.

I. Snapshots: Pieces about me as a writer and a future teacher of writing (and reading)

Level 2 assignments:

IN CLASS

• Teaching writing –first thoughts (in-class)

• End-of-term reflections on Teaching writing—looking into the future: Using the knowledge you have developed during the term through reading and reflecting about writing, how do you plan to teach writing? Create a short (2-4 pages) piece on your understanding of (Best) Ways to teach Writing.

OUT OF CLASS

• Responding to the NCTE Beliefs About the Teaching of Writing and to the IRA/NCTE standards based on personal experiences (2-3 pages)

• Becoming a professional-- reading in the field: Choose two NCTE articles about an issue on writing at your authorization level and (see pg. one for a list of journals) and write a summary for each. Then, write a short comment on why you found these articles useful. The articles you choose must have been published within the past 5 years. (Total length: 2 pages)

Level 3 assignment

Literacy Narrative: According to William Strong, “Literacy narratives help us develop insight, discover meanings in our experience;…they allow us to revisit experience and learn from it.” This assignment is divided into three parts: past, present, future.

For this piece, you need to choose a specific writing event from your past that has shaped your relationship to writing as a writer and learner. Specifically, you need to tell the story of a time when writing went well for you or a time when writing was a complete disaster. Following William Zinsser’s advice, “think small—look for small [writing] incidents that are still vivid in your memory…Take whatever memory comes calling…The biggest stories have to do with significance—not what you did in a certain situation but how the situation affected you and shaped the person you became.” In other words, you will need to balance interesting autobiographical detail with the significance—the “so what”—of the experience. (3-5 double spaced pages—narrow focus)

II. Creating a Writing Assignment (Individual and group project)

For this project, you need to create a writing assignment on the basis of touchstone/mentor texts.

Individual part—craft analysis: After doing the heuristics to discover the assignment you’re interested in designing, you will need to choose a relevant non-fiction text for craft analysis (appropriate to your authorization level). The craft analysis must include details on layout, text organization, sentence craft, punctuation choices—all are necessary. (2-4 pages, level 3)

Group part: Choose ONE of the group’s assignments, revise it, if necessary, in order to make sure it aligns with the ODE Standards, and do the following:

-develop explicit guidelines for prewriting, drafting, peer response and revision

- create explicit, assignment-specific evaluation standards that do not copy the

ODE standards but align with them

-present the theory that informed your assignment

Remember that, as Wood Ray says, “fun is not a sufficient reason in itself to include something in our writing curriculum; we have to know, theoretically, why an activity makes sense in our teaching.” (level 2)

GRADING: There are 230 points possible: logs 50 points; level 2 snapshots: 40 points (10 points each); literacy narrative 50 points; creating a writing assignment 90 points (50 points for craft analysis; 30 points for group assignment, 10 points for presentation).

Optional (“extra credit”): Consult with a writing tutor during the drafting of your literacy narrative; write a one-page reflection on your experience (10 points)

JSTOR Articles (Hamersly Library/Online; articles marked with a * are on e-reserve)

*Richard Argys, “One more thing: Can we teach process writing and formulaic response?”

Sondra Perl, “Understanding Composing”

Carolyn Matalene, “Experience as Evidence”

Connors and Lunsford, “Teachers’ Rhetorical Comments on Student Papers”

Peter Elbow, “Ranking, Evaluating and Liking”

Nancy Sommers, “Responding to Student Writing”

Nancy Sommers, “Revision Strategies of Student Writers and Experienced Adult Writers”

*Nancy Sommers, “Across the Drafts”

Larry Beason, “Ethos and Error: How Business People React to Errors”

Please have readings done on the day they are listed.

|MONDAY |WEDNESDAY |

| Introduction; writing myths (in-class writing); Wood Ray Ch. |NO CLASS—Read the NCTE Beliefs About the Teaching of Writing and |

|1. |the IRA/NCTE Standards (pg. 48 Olson). Write a brief response to|

|Teaching writing—first thoughts |each of the statements based on your experiences.(due on April 7)|

|History of the field; approaches to writing; Argys article |9 Wood Ray 2-4. Olson ch. 1 , 2 |

|Bring ODE Benchmarks and Standards to class | |

|14 Prewriting: Olson chs. 4 (pg. 74 in-class writing) |16 NO CLASS (2-4 pg. Loop Writing) |

|Perl Guidelines | |

|21 Olson 6 (also pg. 210). Matelene, Perl |23 Olson ch. 9, 11; Sommers (Revision Strategies/Across the |

|Bring literacy prewriting for in-class work (creating a collage) |drafts) |

| |Bring collage for revision |

| |Becoming a professional piece due |

|28 Literacy narrative draft due for in-class work |30 Wood Ray 6-8 Appendix E. |

|May 5 LITERACY NARRATIVE DUE –Wood Ray 5, 9-10, Appendices A-C;|7 Designing a reading/writing unit. Olson ch. 3, 9 (to pg. |

|Practicing Craft Analysis in class |208), 10 |

| |(Heuristics/ models of reading/writing asssignments) |

|12 Olson ch. 12 Grammar and writing: |14 Error analysis and sentence imitation |

|Craft analysis due for in-class work |Beason |

|19 In-class group work on developing a reading/writing unit |21 Writing Assessment; Elbow. Responding to writing: Olson ch.|

|Craft Analysis Due |13; Sommers “Responding …” Connors & Lunsford |

| |Developing evaluation standards for writing assignment |

|26 NO CLASS—MEMORIAL DAY |28 Assessment continued; Holistic Scoring Writing Assignments |

| |due |

|June 2 ODE Scoring |Presentations of writing assignments |

| |(10-15 minutes per group) |

Final: June 9 (10 am class) at 10; June 13 (noon class) at 12

End of term reflections on teaching writing (in-class writing). Bring all your class notes, books and journals.

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