Course Description:
This undergraduate course will introduce potential secondary teachers to composition theory and pedagogy. Class discussions will address macro issues such as the purposes of writing instruction--from functional literacy to personal expression and social enfranchisement--as well as particular methods of writing instruction--from developing learning activities to evaluating students. Students will survey current research in composition studies while experiencing a learner-centered "writer's workshop" based on an inquiry model of writing instruction.
Course Goals
Students will:
Survey research on composition theory.
Synthesize and apply theory to classroom practice through the development of one course unit plan.
Reflect on theory in practice through writing, class discussion, and role playing.
Experience and critique a learner-centered writing environment.
Further their rhetorical proficiencies as they experience an integrated literature/composition curriculum.
Develop critical reading strategies.
Increase knowledge of computer facilitated writing and research applications.
Instructor goals:
Model a learner-centered classroom environment.
Further my research goals of studying computers in the composition classroom.
Institutional goals:
This course will be a central component of a teacher preparation program.
This course will encourage students to become teacher researchers and continue their work begun at the university.
This course will help students develop writing and research skills.
Activities
Students will:
Research traditional and online resources for literacy educators. Students will review one article from a current journal and one article or resource from an online source.
Explore a variety of ways to incorporate technology into the language arts classroom.
Via MUDs, reflect on composition theory in relation to practice through role playing scenarios adapted from Situations: A Casebook of Virtual Realities for the English Teacher by Betty Jane Wagner and Mark Larson.
Relate theory to prior and emerging experience via class mailing list discussions.
Participate in a "writer's workshop" in order to improve writing and experience a learner-centered, collaborative writing environment.
Publish a hypertextual, multimedia essay using Apple HyperStudio, a program growing in popularity in primary and secondary school media labs.
Develop one unit plan&emdash;detailed from gateway activities through student publishing. The plan should integrate literature, media, and computer technology. Possible topics might include Writing Reviews: Books, Films, Music, Multimedia; Growing Up Stories; or Tales of the City.
Required Readings:
Hillocks, George. Teaching Writing as Reflective Practice
Mayher, John.Uncommon Sense: Theoretical Practice in Language Education.
Macrorie, Ken.The I-Search Paper
Romano, Tom. Writing with Passion: Life Stories, Multiple Genres
Stock, Patricia. The Dialogic Curriculum
Course Packet:
Brodkey, Linda. "Writing on the Bias."
Camp, Roberta. "Portfolio Reflections in Middle and Secondary School Classrooms." In Portfolios in the Writing Classroom: An Introduction. ed Yancy, Kathleen.
Calkins, Lucy and Shelly Harwayne. "Conferring: The Heart of Writing Workshop." In The Writing Workshop: A World of Difference.
Dawkins, John."Teaching Punctuation as a Rhetorical Tool."
Haswell, Richard. "Minimal Marking."
Noguchi, Rei. "The Basics of a Writer's Grammar" and "Teaching the Basics of a Writer's Grammar." In Grammar and the Teaching of Writing.
Rief, Linda. "Generations: Writing and Reading for Life." In Seeking Diversity: Language Arts with Adolescents.
Course Outline:
Weeks 1-3
Inquiry and Expression: A Model Unit
(The following is an abbreviated sample unit that students might work through in order
to experience a prototypical secondary school writer's workshop. Though this project will take time away from the study of theory, I would feel duplicitous preaching active learning while practicing a transactional pedagogy. This semester I interviewed local English teachers as part of an ongoing research project and many successful teachers answered my questions concerning important influences by discussing their "hands-on" experiences with the Austin Summer Writer's Project.)
"Writing About Nature"
Readings:
Abbey, Edward, Desert Solitaire .
Behn, Harry, Cricket Songs: Japanese Haiku.
Blake, Jonathon, "Stories on the Trail."
Dillard, Annie, "Seeing."
Graves, John, Goodbye to a River (selected chapters).
Hughes, Langston, "The Negro Speaks of Rivers," "Sun Song."
Johnson, Cathy. "Finding Your Own Special Place," "Writing Your Own Field Guide," (from The Local Wilderness).
Johnson, Clare. "The Art of Field Sketching."
Lopez, Barrie, "Landscape and Narrative," "A Reflection on White Geese," (from Crossing Open Ground).
Ingalls, Daniel (transl.), "Summer," "Rains," (from Sanskrit Poetry).
Other media:
"A River Runs Through It" (film adaptation).
"The Jason Project" (Internet site that allows students to learn about and participate in environmental projects).
Activities:
1. Initial writing sample. "Write about a place in nature that is important to you. It need not be a wilderness area; an urban or suburban green space such as a rooftop garden or a city swimming hole can serve as a valuable link to the natural world."
2. Close observation. Read Dillard's "Seeing" and Johnson's "Finding Your Own Special Place." Closely observe and write a detailed description of one small facet of nature such as an ant bed or a flower bud.
3. Poetic "snapshots." Read and discuss haikus and Sanskrit poems; have students adapt the forms for their own poems.
4. Nature journal. Read "Stories on the Trail," "The Art of Field Sketching," and "Writing Your Own Field Guide." Have students write and illustrate journal about their "special place."
5. Writing about bodily sensations. Have students describe an especially painful or enjoyable sensation.
6. Nature as metaphor. View and discuss "A River Runs Through It." Read and discuss "The Negro Speaks of Rivers" and selections from "Goodbye to a River." Have students create their own nature metaphors by elaborating on the following prompt: "If I were an_________ (animal, plant, or any other element of nature), I would be a ____________."
7. The rhetoric of the environment. Invite guest speakers from local environmental groups as well as local "property rights" groups to speak about local issues and share their organization's literature. Have students analyze each group's rhetoric.
8. 'TheJason project." Have students explore "The Jason Project" web site.
9. Research. Research environmental issues via online and traditional resources.
10. Final product. "Look through your portfolio and decide on a topic you wish to develop further. You might write a personal narrative in which the environment plays a central role, a description of a local area that needs conserving, an editorial about a local environmental issue, or any combination of the above." Projects will be workshopped periodically and will be due at end of semester.
11. Multimedia publishing. Encourage students to publish their piece in multimedia format using Apple Hyperstudio. An ideal situation would allow students to collaborate with a local park or environmental organization in creating an interactive brochure for a "real" public audience.
Weeks 4-6
Different Views of Literacy Education
Readings:
¥ "Writing on the Bias," Brodkey.
¥ Uncommon Sense, Mayher.
Activities:
¥ Compare functional, developmental, cultural, personal expressive, and critical paradigms of literacy education via online and face-to-face discussions.
¥ Working in groups, critique current secondary composition texts or curriculum guides and note sections that exemplify the above perspectives. Which paradigms dominate current texts?
¥ Write an informal parody, satire, or cartoon of a classroom dominated by one of the above perspectives.
¥ Write a brief essay explaining your philosophy of literacy education through the use of an extended metaphor (e.g., "Teaching English is like fly fishing...").
Weeks 7-10
The Inquiry Paradigm
Readings:
¥ Teaching Writing as Reflective Practice, Hillocks.
¥ The I-Search Paper, Macrorie.
Activities:
¥ Web scavenger hunt of composition resources.
¥ One page reviews of articles or resources for literacy educators.
¥ Begin designing course unit plans.
Weeks 11-14
Classroom Practice
Readings:
¥ The Dialogic Curriculum, Stock.
¥ Writing with Passion, Romano.
¥ "Generations: Writing and Reading for Life," Rief.
¥ Course packet readings in classroom practice.
Activities:
¥ Via MUDs, reflect on composition theory in relation to practice through role playing scenarios adapted from Situations: A Casebook of Virtual Realities for the English Teacher by Betty Jane Wagner and Mark Larson.
¥ Workshop course unit plans.
Week 15
Final Workshops
Evaluation:
(Adapted from Peg Syverson's "Five Dimensions of Learning")
Evaluation will be cumulative and based on portfolio assessment. Students will document in their portfolios evidence of development across five dimensions: confidence and independence, skills and strategies, use of prior and emerging experience, knowledge in content area, and critical reflection.
Students may use the following heuristic as they reflect on their progress in the course:
Confidence and independence
In what ways have I made progress in developing my own reading, writing, and thinking abilities? What evidence do I have that suggests I am capable of developing my own curricula and working effectively with students?
Skills and strategies
What skills have I developed as a writer? What strategies have I learned as a student and researcher? How can I apply these skills and strategies as an educator?
Content knowledge
What evidence suggests I have indeed gained knew knowledge in the subject area&emdash;composition and composition pedagogy? Be specific.
Use of prior and emerging experience
In what ways have I made knowledge "personal" by applying new information to my own experiences? How do I see myself applying any new knowledge to my professional work in the future?
Reflection
In what ways have I developed an awareness of my own learning processes? How have I demonstrated the flexibility required of a "reflective teacher?" What are some of my most important "discoveries" from this semester?