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Back to Table of Contents for On Course Across the Curriculum
1.
Strategy: Jigsaw Educator: Stacey DuVaul, Faculty, Writing, University of Arkansas-Forth Smith, AR Implementation: When learning descriptive writing, students often struggle to understand the importance of details; therefore, I use the Jigsaw to demonstrate this importance. I begin with the Mark Twain quotation, “The difference between the almost right word and the right word is really a large matter--it's the difference between the lightning bug and the lightning.” In Step A, I put students into home groups and have them choose to become their group’s expert in one of four areas:
Students then begin developing their expertise by studying their chosen area in the course text In Step B, students join their expert groups and discuss what they are learning about the descriptive writing skill of their choice. In Step C, experts return to their home groups to teach their skill to their peers. Home groups then write a descriptive paragraph using all four elements and present it to the whole class. 2.
Strategy: On Course Self-Assessment Inventory Educator:
Peggy Walton, Faculty, English, Howard
Implementation:
For the past 3-4 years, I’ve been asking students in my college
composition classes to take the On Course Self-Assessment Inventory at the
beginning of the class. Over the course of the semester, I have students analyze
their Self-Assessment results, set goals for improving 3 of the Inner Qualities
of Successful Students, and take actions towards those goals. At the end of the
term, they retake the Self-Assessment and then write an essay in which they
evaluate their growth in their three goal areas. Students truly benefit from
this practice of self-directed learning – the goal setting, the work at
attaining those goals, and the writing/reflecting about the process. 3.
Strategy: Desired Outcomes/Experiences & Success Teams Educator: Amanda
Pierot, Faculty, Developmental English, York Technical College, SC 4.
Strategy: Silent Socratic Dialogue Educator:
Implementation: I co-teach a special section of an English Composition class with a focus on Holocaust literature. In the past, it was often difficult for us to ascertain the level of students’ understanding or engagement with the material, and I proposed that we use the Silent Socratic Dialogue as part of a class journal activity in the course. I just finished reading the journals this weekend and wanted to share some of the very gratifying comments students made about this activity: ·
I noticed quite a shift of energy, from lethargic to energetic, once I was
encouraged to go deeper. ·
My emotions got more involved as I went on. I became more and more into my own
world. I felt more solemn and in a way, calm. ·
I was most intrigued by a question my partner asked me because it was something
I wouldn’t have thought of. ·
The most important thing I learned was how to go deeper into questions that I
have to answer. I have never been asked to do this before. ·
I was really into it. I went so deep that I want to know more. ·
This activity made me think really hard. All of the comments were positive; one student said she didn’t like the activity, but added that she still thought it was helpful, in spite of her discomfort with sharing her journal with another student. I would recommend using this exercise whenever a class is particularly quiet. We found that our students became more talkative after they had done this exercise. 5.
Strategy: Graduation Game (Ring Toss) Educator:
Sonia Delaquito, Transfer Specialist, Reading Area Community College, Implementation: The purpose of this activity is to help students realize the importance of planning and breaking a large project like a term paper into manageable chunks rather than tackling the whole project all at once. After playing the Graduation Game, ask student to imagine that they had been given a 10-page term paper to write. Ask students questions such as the following: What would be a 3-foot toss in writing a term-paper? What would be a 9-foot toss? What would be a 30-foot toss? What are the advantages and disadvantages of writing a term paper with 3-foot tosses? With 30-foot tosses? How did classmates respond when the players took 3-foot tosses…or much long tosses? How did peer response influence the players? How have you approached writing a long assignment in the past…are you a 3-foot tosser or a 30-foot tosser? How has that worked for you? How will you approach the upcoming term paper? How can you apply what you learned here to other classes and your life? 6.
Strategy: Silent Socratic Dialogue Educator:
Amy Nawrocki, Faculty, English, University of Bridgeport, Implementation: Utilize the Silent Socratic Dialogue early in the semester to familiarize students with the process. Provide a handout with quotations (e.g., any of the pages of Timeless Wisdom quotations from the On Course I Workshop book). Have student choose one quotation and respond to it with free writing for 5- 10 minutes. Pair students and guide them through the Silent Socratic Dialogue, emphasizing that their questions should aim to help their partner probe more deeply and critically into the topic. For homework, have students write a first draft of their next essay. In the following class, pair students (perhaps with the same partner they worked with in the previous class) and, using their first drafts as the initial prompt, guide them once more through the Silent Socratic Dialogue. As before, encourage them to ask questions that will assist their partner to dive more deeply into the topic of the essay. For homework, have students revise their essays, answering some of the questions that were asked of them in the Silent Socratic Dialogue. 7. Strategy: Success Teams & Desired Outcomes and Experiences Application: College
Composition Educator: Dick
Harrington, Faculty, English, Piedmont
Implementation: Place composition students into critique groups of four; these groups function as success teams for the course. For all major writing projects, have each student write three desired outcomes and three desired experiences on Post-it notes and place them on the inside front cover of their notebook. When students achieve a desired outcome or experience, they move the Post-it to the inside back cover of their notebook. Provide examples of possible desired outcomes and experiences, and encourage students to focus on ones they consider to be especially challenging. A desired outcome might be, “I’ll achieve a workable focus by the time I submit a first draft to my critique group.” Another might be, “The draft I submit to my critique group for the proofing session will contain no more than five proofing errors.” Another could be, “During the critique in the second drafting session, no matter how defensive I may feel, I won’t act defensive and will listen to feedback.” A desired experience might be, “I’ll achieve the experience of fluency by writing the first draft very freely, expecting to rewrite and rewrite freely.” Another could be, “I will experience total confidence when I present my essay to my critique group.” Occasionally hold class discussions in which students share the desired outcomes and experiences they are working on; in this way, students hear additional examples of outcomes and experiences that they may not have considered. The purpose of critique groups is to help all members to achieve their desired outcomes and experiences in the composition course. 8. Strategy: Victim/Creator Language Application: Developmental
English Educator: Jessie
Wrenn, Faculty, English, South Arkansas Community College, Implementation: Introduce students to the concept of Victim and Creator Language. Place them in small groups and ask them to write short skits that demonstrate real-life situations in which people are behaving as Victims, showing strong Inner Defenders or Inner Critics. Provide time for students to practice their skits; then have each group present its skit to the class (encouraging them to present Oscar-winning performances). After each skit, lead a discussion of the characters’ words and behaviors, identifying victims with strong Inner Defenders or Inner Critics. Upon completion of the skits, have the class vote on the top 3-5 Victims in all of the skits. Have students choose one of these “winning” Victims, and write reports suggesting changes that the character might make to improve the quality of his/her life. Have students share these reports with the class. 9. Strategy: Expert Groups (variation of the Jigsaw) Application: English
101: Writing Introductions Educator: Anne
Messner, Faculty, English, Implementation: The purpose here is to help students learn to write effective introductions. After presenting information about the characteristics of a well-written introductory paragraph (perhaps including a homework assignment to read the course text about writing intros), have students form three groups. In Step A, each group is assigned to develop expertise in a separate area of writing an introduction. Group One members become experts at composing and identifying powerful “hook” sentences. Group Two members become experts at composing and identifying effective theses statements. Group Three members concentrate on effective transitional sentences that move the reader smoothly into the body of the essay. In Step B, each student submits his/her next essay for review by the various expert groups. Each expert group makes suggestions for improvement and request revisions until the group designates the introduction as “good to go.” Students submit their introduction for review by the instructor only after they receive a “good-to-go” stamp of approval from all three expert groups. 10. Strategy: Dreams and 32-Day Commitment Application: English
Composition Educator: No name given Implementation: The goal of this activity is to have students write two essays and 32 short journal entries that are personally meaningful. For homework, have students create a collage that depicts one or more of their dreams or goals. The collages should also depict inner and outer obstacles that could keep them from achieving their dreams or goals. For purposes of understanding the assignment, show examples of collages previously created for this assignment (or create one yourself). After students present their collages in small groups, have them write an essay explaining their collage (dreams/goals and obstacles). Afterwards, have students identify one behavior that, if they did more of it or less of it, would help them achieve their dreams or goals. Have them undertake a 32-day commitment to do/not do their identified behavior and keep a daily journal to record their experiences. After 32 days, they present a summary or their experience to a small group, followed by writing an essay telling about their 32-day commitment experience and their lessons learned. 11.
Strategy: Jigsaw Educator: No name given Implementation:
Have students get into groups of three. Each student chooses to become the
group’s expert in one of the three parts of an essay: 1) Introduction, 2)
Body, or 3) Conclusion. To complete Step A of the Jigsaw, tell students about
the resources and time they have available to become their group’s expert. For
example, available resources could be homework reading in their course text and
sample essays provided by the instructor; available time could be 48 hours until
the next class meeting. In Step B, have the three expert groups meet to plan how
to teach their method to their home group members. Additionally, each expert
group creates a rubric to be used to evaluate student compositions. The
instructor reviews these rubrics for appropriateness (revising where necessary).
In Step C, experts return to their home groups, teach their part of a
composition (Introduction, Body or Conclusions) and explain the rubric that will
be used to evaluate every student’s composition. The instructor answers
questions about the rubric and has students practice using the rubric by
applying it to an anonymous essay written in a past semester. 12.
Strategy: Jigsaw (Variation on #11) Educator: Joel R. Brouwer, Faculty, English, Montcalm Community College (MI), Implementation: When teaching the writing of the essay (descriptive, persuasive, explanatory), follow the usual jigsaw procedures for creating home and expert groups. Using material from the course text and class handouts, expert groups determine: 1) essential elements and 2) variations and options in each of these areas –
Experts teach the skills to their home groups. The assignment for the next class period is to write a simple essay where the essential elements are in evidence and options and variations have been used. Students submit their essays to their home groups, where the essays are checked for adherence to the principles taught in the group.
13. Strategy: Monthly Calendar Application: This strategy can be used in any class that has homework assignments and or tests Educator: Diane
Raines, Faculty, English, Implementation: Along with a syllabus, I give my students a "tentative schedule" that has all the dates the class meets. For each day the class meets, the schedule I provide lists assignments due and what we will be doing in class that day. I give students a variation of the monthly calendar (one for each month the class meets) and have them fill in, using a certain color of ink (e.g., green), when assignments are due in my class. I have them complete this task during class so that I know they are doing it. I then recommend that they fill out their monthly calendars for the rest of their classes, using a different color ink for each additional class.
14.
Strategy: Silent Socratic Dialogue Educator:
Amanda Jerome, Faculty, English, Saddleback College, Implementation: I like the idea of having students respond to a profound quotation, so I have them choose one from a list and then free write in their journals. Then they exchange journals with someone else who writes a response and a question. Then they get their own journal back and write an answer. Next, students trade journals with a different student who reads the entire dialogue so far, adds a response and asks a question. Then the original writer gets his/her journal back, writes and answer, and then exchanges with a third partner, who reads the entire journal and writes a response. In total, students receive three responses to their original ideas, and they have practiced writing clearly and thinking critically.
15.
Strategy: Silent Socratic Dialogue Educator: Supriya Draviam, Faculty, English, Cuyahoga Community College, OH Implementation: After students are comfortable with one another, have them write a response to the question, "What would you like your life to be like ten years from now." Then using the Silent Socratic Dialogue, have students ask each other questions that will enable their partners to think of a plan/road map/program for making that ideal future come true. In other words, what process will they use to create their desired outcomes and experiences? This activity prepares students to have adequate supporting details to write their Process essay with confidence. At the same time it enables them to come up with specific strategies for achieving the future life they want.
16.
Strategy: V x E = M Educator: Larissa Hill, Faculty, English and ESL, Glendale Community College, AZ Implementation: As an ice breaker on the first day of class, have students create business cards that represent their work life in 10 years. The card should include their names, job titles, and company names and addresses. They then use their business cards to introduce themselves to the class. Next have students write letters to themselves from the perspective of their future self, the one in the job on their business card. In the letter, they tell their current selves about how the writing skills learned in this English class have been instrumental in helping them get and keep their dream job. Have them staple their business cards to their letter and collect them. If you need a diagnostic writing sample, use the letter for this purpose, but don't mark on it (if you need to mark on it, make a copy). At mid-term, mail students their letters to revive their energy, enthusiasm, and commitment to their studies in general and to their English class in particular. Consider having them revise the letter as an activity to see how much they have learned about writing since they wrote the letter on the first day.
17.
Strategy: Inner Voices - The Language of Responsibility Educator: Joel R. Brouwer, Faculty, English, Montcalm Community College (MI), Implementation: When teaching narrative writing, have students read, discuss and understand the inner voices of the Victim (inner critic, inner defender) and the inner voice of the Creator (inner guide). Next, have students work in pairs to translate examples of victim language into examples of creator language. Share some examples through whole-class discussion. As a narrative writing assignment, have students write the story of an important moment in their lives, an instance of success, an instance of failure, or an “aha” moment, but altering the “truth” of what happened so that the main character responds to the situation with victim language exclusively. Be sure to include both inner critic and inner defender. Carry the story to some conclusion which may or may not be consistent with what actually happened. As an essential follow-up assignment, have students use the same scenario to write a second narrative where the main character responds to the situation with creator language. Follow the story to some conclusion which is not the same as in the first story and which may or may not be consistent with what actually happened.
18.
Strategy: Success Teams Educator: Paula Sheil, Faculty, English, San Joaquin Delta College (CA) Implementation: In the 11th week of a 15 week semester, I asked students to fill out a 3x5 card indicating classmates they loved working with and a few they wish they had gotten to know better. I played with the information over a weekend and laid out the teams on Monday, three weeks before the final research paper was due. First, each team developed a "contract" of behavior and each member signed it. They discussed the problems of nonparticipation, weak work, etc. They assessed personal strengths and weaknesses and assigned "experts" in MLA, grammar, transitions and metaphors. Students researched their subjects on their own and then the experts from each team met and shared ideas. When it came time for the series of peer reviews, each expert commented specifically on his or her topic. It might sound odd ... the list that I presented, but the research paper is actually a lit review on a chosen topic so there is less "creative" writing and more "he said, she said" in terms of pulling together topic analysis. Students write up succinct summaries of library database articles, analyzing claim, data, warrant backing, tone, audience, and rebuttal (if any). Then they prioritize and sequence their summaries into their first draft and "write through" their findings with appropriate transitional/connecting language. They write their own intro and conclusion and that's where metaphor comes in. Often research papers are so dry, so I maintain that a good metaphor helps reader understanding. It's a challenge for the "metaphor" expert to contribute meaningful material to team members who are researching water issues, immigration, drug use, drinking laws, etc. The feedback was positive. Students like teams where each person is accountable. This was particularly successful at the end of the term after many other group discussions and activities. After so many peer reviews, the papers were 100% passing with a C or better. Only students who did not do the work failed and those 2 were already behind when this process began.
19.
Strategy: Affirmation Whisper Educator: Paula Sheil, Faculty, English, San Joaquin Delta College, CA Implementation: I started by having students brainstorm qualities of success on the board. Then they wrote out their own affirmation cards expressing what they wanted more of. Then they dutifully did the walkabout exchange, stating their affirmation, getting the "Yes, you are," response and following up with the "I know it." As you can imagine, they took a while getting into the exercise and then I noticed students who actively swept the room, looking for students they hadn't exchanged affirmations with yet. I thought I'd follow up the the affirmation whisper the next class period, but the timing didn't seem right. Class proceeded normally, with all the attention on research papers, documentation, writing, writing, writing. But I did set up their curiosity by having them make a name tag on a 3x5 card and handing out a big paper clip that I told them not to lose because they'd need to clip the name tag to the backs of their shirts. BUT I didn't say anything else about my plans. Then the last class came and it was then or never. They all completed a class evaluation, and I said we were going to do one more final activity and to keep their evaluations until they could comment on it. We set up the room with 13 chairs in the middle, students seated in those chairs and the other half standing behind them. I actually had the Enya music "Watermark," because it was the music my husband and I chose for our wedding! With the same "oh, what now" attitude that I experienced at the workshop, they gamely began and completed the exchange of whispered affirmations. At the end, they were all smiling, some broadly, some self-consciously. I didn't ask them to speak. I asked them to write about it as their final "evaluation" question. Then I opened up the floor. Few were willing to share, and those who did seemed to speak for the rest of them as there was a lot of head nodding. The results make it worth the risk. Students overwhelmingly liked hearing so many good things about themselves. One student wrote that it was "like church and seemed out of place" but liked hearing the affirmations. One wrote that it was a game to match the voice with a face and was glad he knew all the voices. (This is in opposition to students who complain that they go through entire semester without ever knowing the guy sitting next to them.) If you've done the exercise, you know what you felt...and you probably thought it wouldn't be the first thing you'd try. Well, guess what, it's not. It is a culminating activity and it is like cake and ice cream at the end. Trust yourself and they'll trust you.
20.
Strategy: Silent Socratic Dialogue Educator: Shari, Pergricht, Counselor, Harper College, IL Implementation:
I co-teach a special section of an English composition
class with a focus on Holocaust literature. In the past, it was often difficult for us to ascertain the level of students’ understanding or engagement with the material, and I proposed that we use the Silent Socratic Dialogue as part of a class journal activity in the course. I just finished reading the journals this weekend and wanted to share some of the very gratifying comments students made about this activity:
21.
Strategy: Success Teams and Tracking Forms 22.
Strategy: Jigsaw Educator: Janet Castilleja, Faculty, Developmental Writing, Heritage University, WA Implementation: In home groups of four, use the Jigsaw to study sentence structure. Items to be studied are 1) the complete sentence, 2) the sentence fragment, 3) the comma splice, and 4) the run-on sentence. Give each student information and examples for their chosen topic. Later or at the next class meeting, have the expert groups get together to discuss their understanding of each structure. Ask students to write three examples of each structure. Then have them return to their home groups and teach the structure. As an exercise, have students identify the structures in sample papers. The same method could be used as a test of their knowledge, or you could have them identify and correct sentence errors in their own previous papers. 23.
Strategy: Peer Success Teams 24.
Strategy: Draw Your Dream 25. Strategy: Success Team 26. Strategy: Self-Management Tools (Calendar, Next Actions List, Tracking Form, 32-Day Commitment)
I've used the Success Teams as groups, too. It is so easy for me just to tell them to discuss a concept with their success team. Overall, students just have more fun when they have others they can count on. I've already seen them encourage each other to read aloud and present in front of class. It is a lot easier to do something when you have a group of people encouraging and supporting you! This is really been a great experience so far. 28. Strategy: Silent Socratic Dialog |
