Daily Lesson Plans

SABIR English 1A at COA Summer 2012

Week 1: June 18-21, 2012

DAY 1 June 18, 2012
Introductions—Class interviews

Review Essay Writing

Essay structure from sentence to paragraph. Developing topic sentences. Types of sentences (Hacker). Types of paragraphs (Hacker)

Topic sentences, supporting one’s point with evidence . . . credible vs. unreliable sources
Topical invention, three part thesis

What is an argument—fallacious arguments . . . review. Propaganda, advertising. What does it mean to be prejudiced or biased in one’s thinking?

What is a thesis?
Essay planning—the outline
Documentation—evaluating sources, CRAP test and other library exercises
Grammar—give Grammar Exam 1, correct in class

Freewrite
Defying Gravity—Write a 250 word response to this song. In what way are you defying gravity, all the naysayers –even internal ones, in this moment, right now?

Homework—in the syllabus. Send me an introduction of yourself and your contact information. You do not have to keep to a word limit, share as much as you like beyond what is expected.

Homework:
Diana Hacker Planning Section 1 Generating ideas and sketching a plan (2-11) and 1B Experiment with ways to explore your subject (11-16)

Diana Hacker.com/rules Complete ancillary exercises where apropos. Note shaded boxes.

Handouts:
Initial Planning Sheet
Excerpt from Writing with a Thesis
Library handout on Thesis sentences
(WEEK 1, NOT DAY 1)

Document Design (skim)

DAY 2
Freewrite: We Are the Ones We Have Been Waiting For: Inner Light in a Time of Darkness –read introduction. Write a response. Show the Baldwin pc. and the follow-up work. Homework, write a short response to the two short films. Make sure you document the sources. Practice paraphrase (dialogue), summary and direct citation in this short response.

Reading: The Three Fates (15). Do the meditation exercise for homework. Post and bring a copy of the response to class to share in groups.
Discuss and practice Ways to Explore one’s subject (11)

Homework: Reading Hacker 1C Formulate a tentative thesis (16); 1D sketch a plan (17)

Reading They Say, I Say—Read the Preface, Introduction and Part One (pages xvi to 51). In class we will do exercises using Walker and other writing and student writing. Bring copies of your writing(s) to class if you do not have a laptop.

DAY 3
They Say part 1 (19-51)

Freewrite: We are the Ones: Childhood (31) Read in class. Homework due by Monday, June 25. Today is the first day of summer; it is also the longest day of the year.

DAY 4
Homework: Read I Say for Monday, June 25, (55-101)

Show film: Pray the Devil Back to Hell. In class practice They Say: "Starting with what others are saying," "Her Point is: The Art of Summarizing," and then "As He Himself Puts it." This will be an in-class writing assignment or a group writing assignment. I am not sure yet. We will be in a classroom with technology so students can type it in class and post to the blog.

Homework: Start reading Mighty Be Our Powers. Show the interview on-line with Gbowee re: the Nobel Peace Prize. We will complete the book this week. The essay is due Thursday, June 28, for a peer review, week 2. The final draft is due, Monday, July 2, 2012.

Diana Hacker 46: Writing about Texts. Active Reading (346)

Constructing reasonable arguments 47 (358).

As you read Mighty, think about the author’s arguments stated and unstated. Think about inconsistencies or incongruence between what is stated and what is shown through actions. What makes Leymah such a provocative and lively character is the way she is able to do great work despite her dysfunctional home environment. Self reflection is key in Mighty, yet at the end of the book, is Leymah free or is this just an episode in a series called life?

We will read a book a week. There will be an essay due each week beginning, Week 2, Thursday, June 28.

Essay due dates:
Essay 1 June 28 peer review; final draft due via email July 2 Mighty
Essay 2 July 5 peer review; final draft due July 9 Half
Essay 3 July 16—Book Report essays due with abstracts. Final draft due, July 19 via email.

Bring copies of the abstract for class and post on the blog. What is an abstract? An abstract is a brief synopsis of your key points or argument. See http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/656/1/

Types of Abstracts

There are two types of abstracts: informational and descriptive.

Informational Abstracts

• communicate contents of reports
• include purpose, methods, scope, results, conclusions, and recommendations
• highlight essential points
• are short—from a paragraph to a page or two, depending upon the length of the report (10% or less of the report)
• allow readers to decide whether they want to read the report

Descriptive Abstracts

• tell what the report contains
• include purpose, methods, scope, but NOT results, conclusions, and recommendations
• are always very short— usually under 100 words
• introduce subject to readers, who must then read the report to learn study results

Qualities of a Good Abstract

An effective abstract

• uses one or more well-developed paragraphs, which are unified, coherent, concise, and able to stand alone
• uses an introduction-body-conclusion structure in which the parts of the report are discussed in order: purpose, findings, conclusions, recommendations
• follows strictly the chronology of the report
• provides logical connections between material included
• adds no new information but simply summarizes the report
• is intelligible to a wide audience

Steps for Writing Effective Report Abstracts

To write an effective report abstract, follow these four steps:

1. Reread your report with the purpose of abstracting in mind. Look specifically for these main parts: purpose, methods, scope, results, conclusions, and recommendations.
2. After you have finished rereading your report, write a rough draft WITHOUT LOOKING BACK AT YOUR REPORT. Consider the main parts of the abstract listed in step #1. Do not merely copy key sentences from your report. You will put in too much or too little information. Do not summarize information in a new way.
3. Revise your rough draft to
• correct weaknesses in organization and coherence,
• drop superfluous information,
• add important information originally left out,
• eliminate wordiness, and
• correct errors in grammar and mechanics.
4. Carefully proofread your final copy.

July 17 - 18 presentations for Book Report Essay.

Thursday, July 19. Complete research on Social Entrepreneur.

Included with this Book Report essay is a self-reflection on the presentation, one’s strengths and what one learned. Also include student feedback. For each presentation, students are to respond to classmate’s work:

Questions to Consider when responding to Student Presentations
1. What three areas of the essay were strongest? Be specific and use details.

2. What was most engaging about the work?

3. Name 1-2 things you learned from the presenter that changed the way you think about his or her topic. You can always comment more.

Essay 4 Social Entrepreneur Due for peer review Monday, July 23 Final draft due Wednesday, July 25. Abstracts due Tuesday, July 24. Presentations begin, Tuesday, July 24-25.
July 26, portfolio assembly workshop. Portfolios due Friday, July 27, 2012.


WEEK 2 June 25-28

DAY 1
I Say for Monday, June 25, (55-101)
Literature Circles meet. Practice documenting sources using in class writing to practice lessons from They Say I Say.

Freewrite: When Life Descends into the Pit (38). Read in class.

Homework: Walker (47-79)
Evidence—types of evidence

Literature discussion. Group activity. Character profile exercise for key characters, starting with Leymah Gwobee. This is a cyber assignment.

DAY 2
Freewrite: “All Praises to the Pause” (short essay). Write a 250 word response using as a reference this chapter from We Are the Ones. Include a free paraphrase, a shorter citation and a block quote.

Respond to a student essay using They Say for analysis: Parts 1 & 2.

Literature Circles
Group Writing activity
Diana Hacker: Evaluating Arguments 48;

Writing about Texts 46 (346)
Outlines and summaries

52 Supporting a thesis (411-418)
54 Integrating sources (418-426)
Documenting Sources: 55 (426-436)

56 MLA manuscript format; sample paper (463-475)

DAY 3
Freewrite: Summarize the key moments in Leymah’s life up to now and tie into your book review or interview. Utilizing They Say moves, plant a naysayer, show why what “they say” or she says, matters in now that you have completed her memoir.

Group discussion on essay topics. Initial Planning Sheet due with Essay Outline to share on Mighty. Bring a book review of Mighty to share.

DAY 4
Freewrite: Share Alice Walker’s “All Praises to the Pause” with Leymah in a conversation. In her voice, have her respond. How is Crowns and Thorns like “the pause”? How does war get in the way of one’s ability to “pause”? What does Leymah say of the “emptiness” Walker references as “possibility” (73)?

Peer Reviews using Microsoft Comment.

Half the Sky preview with video. Frontline World resource. Books for Essay 3. Bring to class for approval. Start thinking about a social entrepreneur a woman whose business is also making the world a better place. If you need suggestions, let me know.

Reading & Writing Reading Logs: Prepare the first five chapters of Half the Sky for discussion on Monday, July 2. Use the Literature Circle Assignment to guide some of your comments or questions after your brief summary. All logs should briefly summarize the plot of the chapter and list key characters with a profile. Don’t forget to include page numbers.

WEEK 3 July 2-5 HALF-WAY MARK

DAY 1
Check-in. How is everyone doing? If you do not know how you are doing we should talk.
Freewrite: Crimes Against Dog (80).

Half the Sky discussions begin. We will discuss 5 chapters each day beginning July 2. Keep reading logs noting the key ideas, characters, plot, location, organizations, heroines and villains; vocabulary, geography, history lessons, etc. You will turn in these notes when you turn in the essay. Type your notes.

DAY 2
Half Chapters 5-10
Due Initial Planning Sheet; Outline

DAY 3
Holiday. No classes.

DAY 4
Freewrite: “This Was Not an Area of Large Plantations: Suffering Too Insignificant for the Majority to See” (88). Read and respond in class.

Half Chapters 11-14
Essay due for peer review


WEEK 4 July 9-12

DAY 1
Library orientation 9 AM
Half essay due via email to coasabirenglish1A@gmail.com

Freewrite Read Chapter 7: “I Call that Man Religious” (111). Write your own gospel as you meditate on what it means to be American.

Homework: Complete the book you are reading this week and prepare planning sheets and outline. Don’t forget to bring in at least two outside sources, preferably one on the book and the other on the author. The essay is due Monday, July 16 with abstracts for a peer review. The final draft is due on July 19 via Internet. Include all related assignments like the self-reflection and students comments. Presentations start July 17-18, 2012.

They Say: Part 3 “Tying it All Together,” Chapters 8-10 (103)
They Say: Part 4 “In Specific Academic Settings (139)

We will look back at Mighty and Half and our own writing to reflect on these final sections of the book.

Review. This is the time to ask for clarity on any writing matters or areas you feel weaker than others as a writer. Make a list of what you’d like covered this week.

DAY 2 Week 4 July 9-12 con’t.

Freewrite/Cyber-Assignment: Write a summary analysis of your book. Use three citations: one block quote, one shorter citation and one free paraphrase. This free write should be three –four paragraphs long.

Post on the blog. Respond to one student’s post. If there is already a response there, chose another student summary essay analysis. Using They Say, incorporate “I Take Your Point” or Reading for the Conversation into your comments (139). “The Art of Metacommentary” may also work (129).

Talk about the Social Entrepreneur Essay. Look at Frontline World videos. Read an article about Muhammad Yunus, founder of Grameen Bank.

DAY 3
Cyber-Assignment Freewrite: Bring in a book review and summarize it. Now write your own book review.

Review key writing concepts. Practice citing sources, MLA exercises from Hacker, practice writing thesis sentences using the 3-part thesis format.

We’ll spend a little time talking about your book report essay and presentation. Abstracts are due next week as well.

Talk more about the SE essay. What a video about Mimi Silbert, founder or Delancy Street Foundation.

DAY 4
Freewrite Walker on “Grief” (164)

We might read a play today.

Week 5 July 16-19

DAY 1
Freewrite: Glimpse of Life Beyond the Words (183)

Peer Reviews and Abstracts due for peer review

DAY 2-3
Presentations of Book Report Essays July 17-18.

DAY 4
Independent study. Essay 4 due by Friday, July 19

Week 6 July 23-26 FINAL WEEK OF CLASSES
DAY 1
Essay 4 Social Entrepreneur Due for peer review Monday, July 23 Final draft due Wednesday, July 25.

DAY 2
Abstracts due Tuesday, July 24. Presentations begin, Tuesday, July 24-25. Each student is to respond to all presenters. This is a cyber assignment. Note the questions you were asked to consider for the Book Report presentations:

1. What three areas of the essay were strongest? Be specific and use details.

2. What was most engaging about the work? You can also comment on the way the essay was delivered, the presenter’s voice or passion for the topic and why he or she was so moved.

3. Name 1-2 things you learned from the presenter that changed the way you think about his or her topic. You can always comment more.

DAY 3
Presentations conclude

DAY 4

Thursday, July 26, portfolio assembly workshop.

FINALS DUE:
Portfolios due Friday, July 27, 2012. Email to coasabirenglish1A@gmail.com