Loose Ends

I want to take time today to bring the semester to an end.  I understand that there may be some confusion about meeting today based on my instructions on the website to drop off the collaborative essay.  I hope I did not confuse too many, but we will be meeting today.

For Wednesday, I will need the service-learning report along with a printout from MyCompLab with all of the work you have done on the three skills you had identified from your grammar diagnostic. Finally, many of you did not turn in the brochure analysis.  If you have not, upload this text to the dropbox by today.

Week 5-Wednesday

Presentations

We will spend the first 30 minutes of class doing small group presentations based on the homework. I will go around the room checking notes.

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In-Class Writing

You have now spent a couple of weeks working on a collaborative paper. In a five to six paragraph essay, describe the experience. Point out the benefits and drawbacks of writing together. Explain your contribution to the revision and editing process. Have your paper ready by the end of the period.

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Reminders

• If you have signed up for tables in Building 3, make sure to be there on time. Any cash from the event should be deposited to the bursar's office. I have deposit slips. Please ask the cashier for a copy of the deposit slip and receipt.
• The final draft of the collaborative essay is due on Monday, June 14. Have one representative bring me the essay at 9:30 am.
• Service-learning reports are due by Wednesday, June 16.

Week 5

Today we will focus on the collaborative essays and the process of revision.  We will discuss the following:

• Difference between revision and editing
• The role of the topic sentence
• Developing paragraphs with examples
• Creating unity within the paragraph
• Establishing coherence

Resources

• Paragraphs 1
• Paragraphs 2

For Next Class:

Each member of the group will be assigned a particular editing topic to apply to the essay.  Here they are:

1. Conciseness
2. Paramedic Method
3. Sentence Variety

Some these are longer than others.  Each person will look up the topic, take notes, and prepare to show the rest of the group how to apply their particular area of expertise to the process of revising the collaborative essay.  I will check the notes and sit in on the presentations.

Week 4

Collaborative Essay Update

• Using Google Docs
• Printed copies

Review Use of Quotations

• Nuts and Bolts
• In-Text Citations

Review of Semicolon

• Basic rules

Reminder about MCL

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This week we being work on on an awareness/fundraising campaign for the Nicaragua Project.  We will work together to understand the campaign from the framework of a rhetorical situation as described in the homework for this past weekend.

• Author
• Audience
• Text
• Context

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Task 1:  Help analyze the current brochure we are using for the project and provide an analysis. Work as a team to come up with a one page analysis.  

Task 2:  Work in your established groups to set up goal for the awareness/fundraising campaign.  What do you want to accomplish together?  Here are some of the things to consider that would be most helpful for the project: 

• An email list of people interested in learning more about the Nicaragua Project.  
• Children's vitamins and books (paperback/Spanish) for the upcoming August trip. 
• A team fundraising goal to reach by the end of two weeks.

Task 3:  We will have a table set up on campus to sell cooked and baked goods.  This table should work as a "text" for the group and the activity around the table will be the foundation for the rhetorical situation of the project.  Come up with a schedule for the campus tables.

Task 4:  By June 16, groups will turn in a four page report providing the following:

• An introduction describing the group effort in participating in the Nicaragua Project.
• An analysis of the group's purpose, attitude, and background.
• An analysis of the audience that the group set out to reach.
• An analysis of the context in which the project was carried out.
• An analysis of the text the group created to engage in the audience.

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Service-Learning

Remember that the course has a 10-hour service-learning requirement.  In order to receive credit for your service-learning work, you will need to complete the sign-up forms, perform your service, and provide an analysis.  The Nicaragua Project will fulfill all of these requirements.  There are other possibilities, however.  Please check with me.

Collaborative Essay

You have until Friday to turn in draft 1 of your collaborative essay.  Use MCL to do so.  Make sure that the essay is organized and developed.  Don't just drop your part in and walk away.  At the end of the paper, provide a table of contents of sorts explaining who did what in the paper.  Be specific.  Each person should take credit for the paragraphs that he or she wrote.  Have this work in by Friday afternoon.

Note: This first draft will be evaluated mostly on its organization and structure.  The evaluation of the second draft will focus primarily on the content and clarity of the writing.

Please read the following pages:

The Rhetorical Situation   

• Introduction
• Audience
• Context
• Example 1
• Example 2
• Conclusion

Take notes.  Expect a quiz on Wednesday.

Week 3-Wednesday

The Essence of the Paper

Today we take one more step toward organizing the collaborative essay.  Please share your individual pieces with each other.  Take time to ask each other questions and begin to figure out how each section works individually and together.  After reading each of the pieces come up with one sentence that captures the essence of the paper. 

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Outlining

Use the sentence to tease out the main points of the essay.  Identify each point and then the supporting details.  Develop a formal outline before you leave class today.  Use the outline so that each person has a clear idea of what to focus on and turn in by Friday.  Remember that this first draft will be graded.  It should look, smell, taste, feel, and sound like an essay.  Aim for that 95! 

Week 3

Today we begin working on the collaborative essay based on the teaching/learning experiment from last week.   The paper should cover the following:

      A description of the experience emphasizing key moments

      What was learned about the learning and teaching process

      A recommendation or two based on the experience

      Pictures

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Here's the process I'd like for you to use to come up with the paper:

1. Have one person serve as the recorder for the group.  This person will jot down the main points of the discussion within the group. 
2. Have each person in the group share her notes.  These should first be read aloud.  Later, they should be emailed to everyone in the group. Upload the notes to the Imagination Federation site.  Name your file using the following protocol:  First Name Last Name Notes1
3. Have two people in the group act as artists/visualizers.  The role of these individuals is to provide a visual that takes into account what the group is discussing.  This can take the form of a drawing, a cluster, a diagram of some sort, or some other visual means.
4. Discuss the main points of each of the notes and determine what the group would want to focus on in this essay. Have one person keep the group on task in the discussion.
5. Come up with a thesis statement and working outline. (Review thesis statements.  Complete MCL exercise together).
6. Assign each person a section of the outline.
7. Each person will then bring their section to class on Wednesday.

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Resources for Organizing

Mindmapping