Prose & Paragraphs Summer 2018 Room 2202
Session 14 (2018.07.11)
In our penultimate regular class session, we took a look at summaries, introductions, and conclusions, as well as reviewing common student writing problems and giving feedback to a few brave students on their Chapter Four first drafts in the class Canvas discussion area.
Please remember to give thoughtful, helpful feedback to two classmates on their Chapter 4 first drafts in the online discussion area using the peer review guidelines in the chapter, as well as the suggestions on page 11 of the text.
When we meet on Thursday, we will wrap up the activities in the text, talk about any writing questions anyone has, and prepare ourselves mentally for Friday, the final session of this class.
See you then!
JBH
Session 13 (2018.07.10)
This final week of our summer mini-semester, we are looking at getting all the loose ends tied up. The daily schedule included looking at the readings, shared writings, and language exercises in Chapter 4, as well as putting together a first draft and revision of the essay assignment.
Monday, we started by looking at the main readings in the chapter. Tuesday, we shared our written thoughts on those readings and talked about some more shorter readings. Tuesday night, we wrote our first draft of the essay assignment on pages 109-111.
On Wednesday, we will look at some of our drafts in the Canvas discussion area on the screen in class, and move on to more writing and grammar activities on pages 100 through 108. Thursday we will wrap things up for real with a look at some common problems and a general lab day to prepare our final drafts of two essays for final scores.
Finally, on Friday, we will have a sit down exam. I will ask you to write your opinion on a general knowledge topic. YOu will have two topics to choose from in case one of them doesn't fit you.
See you in class!
JBH
Session 10 (2018.07.05)
We finished off the writing skills and grammar exercises in class Thursday, ending the session by looking at our formal writing assignment. We also took a couple minutes to look at creating a title. We will not have regular class in the classroom on Friday, instead using that time for one-on-one sessions with students (see schedule below).
Thursday and Friday, please use the assessment checklist on page 84 along with the peer feedback guidelines on page 11 to make thorough, helpful comments on the papers of two classmates.
Please post your revised draft of the chapter 3 essay to Canvas as the final comment under your first draft before we meet in class on Monday. We will be moving on to Chapter 4 next week.
See you in class!
JBH
Session 9 (2018.07.04)
This class got started by going over EQuIP- Pinning It Down, a presentation about the importance of using examples, quotations, illustrations, and particulars (specific details) to make our writing more powerful, interesting, and memorable. The PowerPoint presentation can be reviewed in this site's Writing Resources here. The main point of the lesson was that no matter how great your idea is, that can only be a small part of your writing (10 to 15 percent). The rest needs to be made of examples, quotations, illustrations, and particulars (details) to make your writing interesting, believable, and worth reading.
We also took time this session to compare our writing on the topics in chapter 3 on pages 63 and 66. As we move into the end of the second of our three week sessio, it's time for a look ahead.
Please print hard copies of the best drafts of your writing so far from chapters 1, 2, and/or 3. I would like to have one-on-one sessions with everyone after class Thursday and during our class time and afterwards on Friday. Because it often takes a few minutes to talk about writing, 30-minute slots are suggested. Please meet me in my office, Room 404 of the Main Building. Appointments are listed in the photo above.
We will be wrapping up our first draft, feedback, and revised draft of the Chapter 3 Essay this week, and next week, we will move on to our final chapter for this class. I will want you to turn in your best two essays from this class for a final grade on Friday, July 13th, along with an in-class timed writing test to be taken that day.
See you in class!
JBH
Session 8 (2018.07.03)
Tuesday, we got seriously started on Chapter 3. We had already gone over the first reading on friendship together, so after a few minutes of discussion to refresh our memories on the reading, we took time to write a journal entry in class. We then moved on to the second reading in the chapter which was about intercultural friendships.
Both readings have shared writing tasks. Please time yourself and write for 20 minutes each on the "Shared Writing" (Item B) on page 63 and "Helping each other understand" (Item D) on page 66. Please post both pieces of writing in the class Canvas discussion area Tuesday night and make a hard copy of both to bring to class and discuss on Wednesday.
On Wednesday, we will take a step back to look at our writings on the reading, along with an additional presentation on adding specific details to our writing.
See you Wednesday!
JBH
Session 6 & 7 (2018.06.29&07.02)
We continued working on language and grammar issues in Chapter 2. Over the weekend, we were asked to wrap up a revision of our Chapter 1 writing and write a first draft of the essay assignment in Chapter 2. Please post both to the class Canvas discussion area. Post your revised draft of the Chapter 1 paragraph as the final comment under your first draft.
On Monday (7-2) we wrapped up the last few items from Chapter 2 and moved on to Chapter 3. We talked about the initial discussion questions and looked over the first reading. For Tuesday, please give thorough, thoughtful, and helpful feedback to two of your classmates on their first draft writing from Chapter 2. Also, please make sure you have posted your revision of your Chapter 1 writing as the final comment under your first draft.
In class Tuesday we will continue looking at the Chapter 3 readings and move on to the writing and language exercises. Please stay ahead of the class in your book.
See you Tuesday!
JBH
Session 5 (2018.06.28)
In Thursday's session, we got started on Chapter 2, discussing a love story that ended in death.
For our next session, please continue pre-reading and answering questions in Chapter 2, with a special focus on page 36 and pages 37-40. Please complete item B on page 36, and post your response in the Canvas discussion area before class time tomorrow. In addition, please read the story on pages 37-39 and write your response to item D on page 40. Bring a hard copy of your shared writing from both pages (36 and 40) to class Friday for more discussion in the classroom.
Be ready to talk about your written responses and as much of Chapter 2 as we can handle at the next class session. Expect an essay assignment over the weekend. Feel free to look ahead and get started.
See you in class!
JBH
Session 4 (2018.06.27)
Wednesday, we wrapped up the language exercises in Chapter 1 and got ready to start Chapter 2.
Tonight, please give feedback to at least two classmates on their first drafts in the Canvas discussion area and preview Chapter 2. Be ready to do more writing when we meet on Thursday.
See you in class,
JBH
Session 3 (2018.06.26)
In our third class day we discussed the exercises through the first part of Chapter 1. While we still have a few activities to do in that chapter, please go ahead and write your Chapter 1 essay first draft and post it to Canvas ASAP (tonight, or for sure, by class time Wednesday). Using comments from classmates and your own ideas, you should post a revised draft of your paragraph/essay as the final comment under your discussion post in Canvas by the weekend.
Wednesday, we will try to find time to look at a few students' writing on the screen, continue in Chapter 1, and possibly move on to Chapter 2. Please stay ahead of the class in your reading and pre-answering questions and topics in the text.
See you in class!
JBH.
In our third class day we discussed the exercises through the first part of Chapter 1. While we still have a few activities to do in that chapter, please go ahead and write your Chapter 1 essay first draft and post it to Canvas ASAP (tonight, or for sure, by class time Wednesday). Using comments from classmates and your own ideas, you should post a revised draft of your paragraph/essay as the final comment under your discussion post in Canvas by the weekend.
Wednesday, we will try to find time to look at a few students' writing on the screen, continue in Chapter 1, and possibly move on to Chapter 2. Please stay ahead of the class in your reading and pre-answering questions and topics in the text.
See you in class!
JBH.
Session 2 (2018.06.25)
In class, we started working our way through Chapter 1's readings on birth order. Please pre-read and answer all questions in the text through the rest of the chapter for our next class session. It's up to you how much you write to prepare for discussion questions, but you should be following the instructions.
For example, on page 16, Item C asks you to mark any places in the text that are still unclear to you. If you don't have marks in your text or on a piece of paper, you did not follow instructions and will lose homework credit. Item D instructs you to write for about 20 minutes on one or more of the questions that follow. You can't read what you wrote and get feedback if you didn't write anything.
Please follow instructions like these that ask you to write in your book or write your thoughts about a reading for comment. You are responsible for staying ahead of the class and responding to all questions/topics in your book or on a piece of paper.
For now (Monday night), please post the answers to the following questions in the Canvas discussion area (create a discussion) and respond to at least two classmates in a sort of online conversation:
1. Who are you?
2. What do you want (from this class)?
3. What can you add (to this class)?
4. Why do you need to write?
Please post your answer and respond to two classmates before we meet Tuesday morning.
For the discussion subject or title use "Your Name/Questions Answered."
After that, please choose one of the four options for essay topics and follow instructions in Chapter 1 to complete the first draft of your essay assignment. We will talk about it more in class, but please start reading the chapter and thinking about your essay now. The deadline for posting your first draft is 12 midnight Tuesday night, June 26th. Guided by the evaluation criteria at the end of the chapter, and the Sandwich method* we talked about in class, please give helpful, thoughtful feedback to two classmates on their writing in Canvas before our Thursday class session.
*Sandwich method:
1.) An overall positive paraphrase/summary of what the writer is saying.
2. Specific suggestions about changes that you think would improve the writing.
3.) Positive comments about specific points/the writing as a whole.
See you Tuesday!
JBH
Attention: Class room has changed from 2202 to 2210.
Day 1 (2018.06.22)
Hi everybody and welcome to Prose & Paragraphs!
This is a writing class, which means we are going to be writing this summer. Please bring paper and pencil to class every day, along with your textbook, and be prepared to write something every night after class too.
You are taking a full-credit one semester class in three weeks, so expect a little faster pace than usual.
Did I mention that we will be writing? It's a writing class. Expect to write every day. In English.
For this first session, please check out my intro, read the book and be ready to talk (and write) when we meet again on Monday in the classroom.
Please buy the book ASAP. ---------------------------------------------------->
It is available at the HUFS bookstore.
Then, please pre-read and pre-answer questions in Chapter 1 through page 23 before Monday's class and be ready to discuss all the topics in class.
We will move on to the writing assignment in chapter 1 after our second class session, posting it online in a class blog and giving each other feedback on our writing. We will go over instructions for posting our writing and feedback to the blog when we meet next time.
See you next week!
JBH
