Tuesday, December 2, 2014

Day 40: Peer Review for RA Presentations

Schedule of events:
Self-Review and Peer Review Step 1: (15 minutes)Spend 15 minutes looking at your visual aid and notes, 
  1. Comparing it with the documents above
  2. Asking me questions
  3. Making changes
Step 2: (25 minutes)
With your partner, 
  1. Give your practice presentation (5-7 minutes)
  2. Give feedback on your partner's presentation (5 minutes)
  3. Switch!
Delivery Discussion:
What do you think is key for good delivery? Maybe the rubric will help you know?

Homework: By the last day of class, 10 December, you will need to complete the following:
  1. A final reflection that responds to any of these questions (or a mix). This should be thoughtful and well-developed. This is an opportunity for you to reflect and for me to get valuable feedback so that the class can improve and so that I can become a better teacher: 
    1. If you were an ESL 111 instructor in the spring, how would you teach the class? What would you focus on, what would you do the same as me, and what would you do differently? 
    2. If you were to take the one most useful thing you have learned in ESL 111 and explain it to a friend, what would you tell them? Why that thing? How would you explain it? 
    3. What was the highlight of ESL 111? Why was this the best part? What was the low of ESL 111 (not counting anything like attendance issues)? Why was this the worst part? What advice would you give future ESL 111 students? 
  1. A final collection of Writer's Help exercises based on any feedback I gave/give you in your Unit 2 and Unit 3 essay. Use this template. You may not use the same exercise that you used before on here. 
Attribution: This lesson was originally designed by Yaqian Jiang (2014), and I have adapted it to fit the style and format of my class.

Sunday, November 30, 2014

Day 39: Visual Aid Content & Design

Short List
  1. Attendance Check and Warm-Up
  2. Comparing with a Partner
  3. Researching Gender-Based Marketing
  4. Teaching the Other Half
  5. Analyzing PowerPoint Presentations
Homework:
By the last day of class, 10 December, you will need to complete the following:
  1. A final reflection that responds to any of these questions (or a mix). This should be thoughtful and well-developed. This is an opportunity for you to reflect and for me to get valuable feedback so that the class can improve and so that I can become a better teacher: 
    • If you were an ESL 111 instructor in the spring, how would you teach the class? What would you focus on, what would you do the same as me, and what would you do differently? 
    • If you were to take the one most useful thing you have learned in ESL 111 and explain it to a friend, what would you tell them? Why that thing? How would you explain it? 
    • What was the highlight of ESL 111? Why was this the best part? What was the low of ESL 111 (not counting anything like attendance issues)? Why was this the worst part? What advice would you give future ESL 111 students? 
  2. A final collection of Writer's Help exercises based on any feedback I gave/give you in your Unit 2 and Unit 3 essay. Use this template. You may not use the same exercise that you used before on here. 

The Details
Schedule of events:

1. [5 minutes] Attendance Check and Warm-Up:
How was your Thanksgiving?

2. [15 minutes] Analyzing PowerPoint Presentations
Back in just pairs, it's time to put this into practice with the commercial you submitted to me for your final presentation.


PowerPoint 1
Actual student sample;
Only content remains--
visual elements have been removed
PowerPoint 2
Open in PowerPoint
and not Google Drive
so that you can see all
the fun animation! ;)

Answer these questions with your partner about the two PowerPoint presentations:

How do bad visual effects influence you as a viewer?
How does bad content influence you as a viewer?
What is more important, content or visual effects?
How much text should a powerpoint have on each slide?
For each PowerPoint, note at least two changes that you would make to improve them.

When you have finished discussing, at my prompting, post here what you think a good visual aid should have and should avoid.  Basically, if you were assigning a PowerPoint, what would you tell your students to do or not do?  Then, we'll check to see if you're right!

3. [10 minutes] Presentation on Presentations
This is an old fashioned PPT presentation on how to make visual aids.  We'll compare what you said in section 2 with the guides given here.

As we go through this presentation, think about the rough draft of your visual aid.  Is there anything that you might need to change after this? 

4. [5 minutes] Explanation of the Self-Review and the Peer Review
On Tuesday, we will be doing mock-presentations and self- and peer-review.  To prepare, here are the documents we will be using to guide us:


5. [10 minutes] Presentation Sign-ups, Explanation of Homework, and Returning Unit 3 Assignment

Homework: 
By the last day of class, 10 December, you will need to complete the following:
  1. A final reflection that responds to any of these questions (or a mix). This should be thoughtful and well-developed. This is an opportunity for you to reflect and for me to get valuable feedback so that the class can improve and so that I can become a better teacher: 
    • If you were an ESL 111 instructor in the spring, how would you teach the class? What would you focus on, what would you do the same as me, and what would you do differently? 
    • If you were to take the one most useful thing you have learned in ESL 111 and explain it to a friend, what would you tell them? Why that thing? How would you explain it? 
    • What was the highlight of ESL 111? Why was this the best part? What was the low of ESL 111 (not counting anything like attendance issues)? Why was this the worst part? What advice would you give future ESL 111 students? 
  2. A final collection of Writer's Help exercises based on any feedback I gave/give you in your Unit 2 and Unit 3 essay. Use this template. You may not use the same exercise that you used before on here. 
Attribution: This lesson was originally designed by Yaqian Jiang (2014), and I have adapted it to fit the style and format of my class. 

Thursday, November 20, 2014

Day 38: RA Presentation Overview, Audience Analysis, and PowerPoint Analysis

Short List
  1. Attendance Check and Warm-Up
  2. Comparing with a Partner
  3. Researching Gender-Based Marketing
  4. Teaching the Other Half
  5. Analyzing PowerPoint Presentations
Homework:
Complete your outline (a rough draft of a PowerPoint, Keynote, Prezi, Google Slide, etc.) for your RA presentation by the Monday after Thanksgiving (1 December).

Additionally, by the last day of class, 10 December, you will need to complete the following:
  1. A final reflection that responds to any of these questions (or a mix).  This should be thoughtful and well-developed.  This is an opportunity for you to reflect and for me to get valuable feedback so that the class can improve and so that I can become a better teacher: 
    • If you were an ESL 111 instructor in the spring, how would you teach the class?  What would you focus on, what would you do the same as me, and what would you do differently?  
    • If you were to take the one most useful thing you have learned in ESL 111 and explain it to a friend, what would you tell them?  Why that thing?  How would you explain it?  
    • What was the highlight of ESL 111?  Why was this the best part?  What was the low of ESL 111 (not counting anything like attendance issues)?  Why was this the worst part?  What advice would you give future ESL 111 students?  
  2. A final collection of Writer's Help exercises based on any feedback I gave/give you in your Unit 2 and Unit 3 essay.  Use this template.  You may not use the same exercise that you used before on here.  

The Details
Schedule of events:

1. [5 minutes] Attendance Check and Warm-Up:
We are going to jump right in with a little more analysis: download this document and fill in the first part answering these questions:
  1. How many target audiences can you think of? (List at least 6 total)
  2. For each target audience, what kinds of products would they be interested in? (List at least 5 products for each audience)
2. [10 minutes] Comparing with a Partner
Now, scroll down to Part 2 of that document and discuss these three questions with the person next to you.  Be prepared to report your findings.
  1. How are products related to the target audience?
  2. Do any of the products that you listed have more than one target audience? If not, try to think of products that have more than one target audience. 
  3. How would you appeal to the different target audiences? (List at least 3 ideas for each target audience)
3. [15 minutes] Researching Gender-based Marketing
For the next step, we are going to divide the class in half.  One half will click on the left and the other on the right: 

Left Link
Marketing to Men
Right Link
Marketing to Women

After reading the article and watching the video (pay special attention to the last paragraph), answer the following question about the marketing strategies being presented:
  1. Who is the target audience?
  2. What kinds of products are being sold?
  3. What are the best ways to appeal to the target audience?
  4. Have the marketing strategies changed over the years? If so, how?
  5. How accurate were your predictions from earlier? 
  6. Do you agree with the video and the article? Why or why not?
4. [10 minutes] Teaching the Other Half
Now that you are experts in either marketing to men or to women, each pair should join another pair and teach them what you know.  Focus on talking about:
  1. Your target audience
  2. The types of products that are usually sold to your target audience
  3. The best ways to appeal to your target audience
And quickly compare:
  1. How are the marketing strategies similar
  2. How are the marketing strategies different
  3. Describe the commercials that you watched to your group members.  Would these commercials work on you?
5. [10 minutes] Analyzing PowerPoint Presentations
Back in just pairs, it's time to put this into practice with the commercial you submitted to me for your final presentation.
PowerPoint 1
Actual student sample;
Only content remains--
visual elements have been removed
PowerPoint 2

Open in PowerPoint
and not Google Drive
so that you can see all
the fun animation! ;)
Answer these questions individually about the two PowerPoint presentations:
  1. How do bad visual effects influence you as a viewer?
  2. How does bad content influence you as a viewer?
  3. What is more important, content or visual effects?
  4. How much text should a powerpoint have on each slide?
  5. For each PowerPoint, note at least two changes that you would make to improve them. 
Once you have answered the questions for yourself, turn to your partner and discuss these:
  1. Are your rankings similar or different?
  2. If the rankings were different, why? 
  3. Do you agree with the changes that your group members want to make?
Homework:
Complete your outline (a rough draft of a PowerPoint, Keynote, Prezi, Google Slide, etc.) for your RA presentation by the Monday after Thanksgiving (1 December).

Additionally, by the last day of class, 10 December, you will need to complete the following:

  1. A final reflection that responds to any of these questions (or a mix).  This should be thoughtful and well-developed.  This is an opportunity for you to reflect and for me to get valuable feedback so that the class can improve and so that I can become a better teacher: 
    • If you were an ESL 111 instructor in the spring, how would you teach the class?  What would you focus on, what would you do the same as me, and what would you do differently?  
    • If you were to take the one most useful thing you have learned in ESL 111 and explain it to a friend, what would you tell them?  Why that thing?  How would you explain it?  
    • What was the highlight of ESL 111?  Why was this the best part?  What was the low of ESL 111 (not counting anything like attendance issues)?  Why was this the worst part?  What advice would you give future ESL 111 students?  
  2. A final collection of Writer's Help exercises based on any feedback I gave/give you in your Unit 2 and Unit 3 essay.  Use this template.  You may not use the same exercise that you used before on here.  

Attribution: This lesson is part of a group project by students of the University of Illinois' EIL 511: Task-based Language Teaching class, Hamzeh Abbadi,  (the leader in drafting/adapting this lesson), Martha Gast, Muna Salim Saleh Aullad Thani, Chelsea Coronel and Jon Bair. This lesson is a modification of Jill Tschopp Huang's 2014 lesson.

    Tuesday, November 18, 2014

    Day 37: How to Analyze an Ad

    Short List
    1. Attendance Check and Warm-Up
    2. Planning Your Own Commercial
    3. Debrief
    4. Analyzing the Real Commercial Compared to Your Own
    5. Individual Guided Practice Analyzing and Improving Your Ad
    Homework:
    Unit 3 Rhetorical Analysis Essay final draft due TONIGHT at midnight on Compass 2G.

    Naming conventions: Please name your paper 111_RA_Your NetID_FINAL

    The Details
    Schedule of events:

    1. [5 minutes] Attendance Check and Warm-Up:
    What do you remember from Monday?  What do you remember about audience and purpose?  What makes an ad "good" (successful/effective) or not?

    2. [12 minutes] Planning Your Own Commercial:
    In Unit 3, it was easy to analyze an article, because all of you have experience writing essays.  But probably none of us have experience planning a commercial.  So, we are going to plan a commercial for a company, and then we will see if our planned advertisement is similar to theirs or different (and if ours is even better than theirs!)

    Description of the Rhetorical Situation:
    You will create a commercial for Proactiv (a skin care company), and you will attempt to market their product, the Proactiv Solution System, a three-step skin care package intended to treat acne (mainly in teenagers or young adults, but would work for anyone who has acne).

    How would you design this commercial?  Use the following questions to help make sure you consider everything in your plan (don't forget to explain your reasoning behind each decision):
    • Who would act or speak in your commercial? Why?
    • What type of setting or music would you use? Why?
    • Would you use a storyline?  If so, what type of storyline? Why or why not? 
    • Which appeals would you incorporate?  Why those and why not others?
      • How would you incorporate pathos into your commercial?
      • How would you incorporate ethos into your commercial?
      • How would you incorporate logos into your commercial?
    You will write one document per group outlining your plan.  This plan/document can be written in whichever way best suites your group (MS Word, Google Docs, pen-and-paper, pictures, etc.)

    **One rule: You may NOT look up and watch any Proactiv website, advertisement, or commercial. That's cheating! :) 

    3. [7 minutes] Debrief
    At the end of the time limit, we will compare our plans and see what different groups did and why they did it differently.

    4. [10-15 minutes] Analyzing the Real Commercial Compared to Your Own
    Now, it's time to see what the real company did in their real commercial.  Take a look at this video.

    Compare and contrast what you did and what the makers of this commercial did:
    • How is your commercial different from this one in terms of:
      • Voice-over (pathos/emotion)
      • Storyline (pathos/emotion)
      • Facts and data used in the ad (ethos and logos)
      • Celebrities or experts (ethos) 
      • The company image (ethos and pathos)
    • Which was more effective, your planned commercial or the company's?  Why?
    • How successful was the real commercial in using appeals? Explain 
    5. [10 minutes] Individual Guided Practice Analyzing and Improving Your Ad
    Finally, it's time to put this into practice with the commercial you submitted to me for your final presentation.

    At your own computer,
    1. Open the commercial on the Internet
    2. Use the Visual Analysis Questionnaire to begin analyzing the ad
    3. Find the top 2-3 reasons why the ad is successful or not
    4. Begin writing an outline following this template 
    Homework:
    Unit 3 Rhetorical Analysis Essay final draft due TONIGHT at midnight on Compass 2G.
    Complete your outline for your RA presentation by the Monday after Thanksgiving (1 December)

    Attribution: This lesson is part of a group project by students of the University of Illinois' EIL 511: Task-based Language Teaching class, Muna Salim Saleh Aullad Thani (the leader in drafting/adapting this lesson), Martha Gast, Hamzeh Abbadi, Chelsea Coronel and Jon Bair. This lesson is a modification of Jill Tschopp Huang's 2014 lesson.

      Friday, November 14, 2014

      Day 36: Rhetorical Analysis Presentations

      Short List
      1. Attendance Check
      2. Intro to Commercial Analysis
      3. Debrief
      4. Practice Analyzing Commercials
      5. Explanation of the Unit 4 Task and Homework
      Homework:
      Unit 3 Rhetorical Analysis Essay final draft due Wednesday night at midnight on Compass 2G.

      The Details
      Schedule of events:

      1. Attendance Check

      2. [15 minutes] Intro to Commercial Analysis
      I have talked briefly about our final projects, but today we will start getting ready for it.  This unit and project are a lot of fun, but still require a lot of deep, critical thinking and analysis that I know you are capable of.

      So, to begin, you need to be in groups of 3 people, though there will be one group of four.  You may choose your group.

      1. Watch these six commercials.  
      2. Commercial 1
        pop icon
        Commercial 2
        baby
        Commercial 3
        first date
        Commercial 4
        Monopoly & Lebron
        Commercial 5
        Lebron and Dwight
        Commercial 6
        tree of life
      3. After you have discussed these two questions completely (don't rush through), post very detailed, descriptive answers that reflect your discussion here
        • How are these commercials different? 
        • Why do you think the same company produces such different commercials? 
      3. [5 minutes] Debrief
      At the end of the time (or if all of the groups finish early) we will debrief this activity and find out what we all discussed in common and what differences we have in our answers.

      4. [10-15 minutes] Practice Analyzing Commercials
      Using the thinking and analyzing skills you just put to practice in the first activity today, now try your best to do a rhetorical analysis of one of the following commercials.  Each group will do a different commercial.

      Use this Visual Analysis Questionnaire to help guide your analyses.  

      Commercial 1
      ADHD
      Commercial 2
      Allstate
      Commercial 3
      PETA
      Commercial 4
      Head & Shoulders

      5. [10 minutes] Explanation of the Unit 4 Task and Homework
      Our final major assignment in ESL 111 is a presentation and not a paper.  You will be conducting a rhetorical analysis on a commercial and the presenting your commercial and analysis to your classmates.  Before working on the presentation, though, the first step is to choose a commercial you would like to analyze.

      Guidelines:
      • Ads must be in English or have no language used in the advertising
        • product name in another language is acceptable
      • Ads must be of "normal" length 
        • approximately between 30 seconds and 1 minute
      • Ads must be "linkable" 
        • meaning they are available to be seen online with a link to Youtube or a similar, publicly available site
      • Ads must be "unique" 
        • no two students may have the same ad--the student who submits his or her ad first will be the one permitted to analyze it
      Submit your commercials here by Tuesday night at midnight.

      Assignment Prompt and Grading Rubric for Final Presentation

      Homework:
      Unit 3 Rhetorical Analysis Essay final draft due Wednesday night at midnight on Compass 2G.

      Attribution: This lesson is part of a group project by students of the University of Illinois' EIL 511: Task-based Language Teaching class, Chelsea Coronel (the leader in drafting/adapting this lesson), Martha Gast, Muna Salim Saleh Aullad Thani, Hamzeh Abbadi, and Jon Bair.  This lesson is a modification of Jill Tschopp Huang's 2014 lesson.  

        Thursday, November 6, 2014

        Day 32: Review of Introductions & Conclusions

        Short List
        1. Attendance Check and Warm-up
        2. Introduction and Conclusion Quiz-Making
        3. Taking the "Quizzes" and Teaching
        Homework:By Monday, have a rough draft of our rhetorical analyses:
        • Drafts of Introductions and Conclusions
        • Outlines of Body Paragraphs 
          • (Optional): Whole body paragraphs
        Optional (& Recommended): Peer Review
        This will be required after Monday's class.
        • I will tell you your partner
        • Follow these steps:
          1. Send an email with your rough draft to both your partner and me
          2. Carefully and kindly review your partner's draft using this worksheet
          3. Email the worksheet and the first draft back to both your partner and me

        The Details
        Schedule of events:

        1. [5-10 minutes] Attendance Check and Warm-Up:
        Are there any questions about your drafts of the assignments?

        2. [10 minutes] Introduction and Conclusion Quiz-Making
        What do you remember about introductions and conclusions?  Would you be able to pass a quiz on them?  Even more important, would you be able to write a good introduction and conclusion?

        In four small groups, we will create quizzes on each and "test" our classmates.

        Instructions:
        • The "quizzes" will each have 7 questions
        • The "quizzes" will be conducted orally and visually on one computer screen.  
        • At least one person in the group should be prepared to spend 3-5 minutes giving a short presentation teaching/reviewing the other group about your topic. 
        Resources:
        Only look at the resources for your group! If you are in the introduction group, please do not click on the conclusions group link and vice versa!


        Introduction Groups Conclusion Groups

        3. [30 minutes] Taking the "Quizzes" and Teaching
        At this point, you will spend a few minutes taking each other's quizzes.  Following each "quiz" a member of the team giving the "quiz" will teach for a few minutes on each topic.  Then, after about 15 minutes, we will switch sides. :)

        IMPORTANT ANNOUNCMENT:
        We will not meet in this classroom at all next week.  On MONDAY we will meet in the Undergraduate Library (UGL).  Please meet in the upstairs entrance to the UGL.  If you do not know where this is, stay and talk with me and I will explain it.  

        We will, on Monday, schedule times to meet one-on-one for individual conferences about your drafts.  This means, after Monday, each of you will meet with me individually instead of holding class.  But, since two class days are cancelled, if you miss your appointment with me, it will count double on attendance. Again, this will be discussed more on Monday.  

        Homework:By Monday, have a rough draft of our rhetorical analyses:
        • Drafts of Introductions and Conclusions
        • Outlines of Body Paragraphs 
          • (Optional): Whole body paragraphs
        Optional (& Recommended): Peer Review:
        This will be required after Monday's class.
        • I will tell you your partner
        • Follow these steps:
          1. Send an email with your rough draft to both your partner and me
          2. Carefully and kindly review your partner's draft using this worksheet
          3. Email the worksheet and the first draft back to both your partner and me
        Attribution: This lesson uses Jeff Arrigo's 2013 original materials. I have adapted and designed the activities to fit my teaching style and classroom atmosphere.

        Tuesday, November 4, 2014

        Day 31: Rhetorical Analysis Thesis Statements and Outlines pt. 2

        Short List
        1. Attendance Check and Warm-up
        2. The Assignment
        3. Thesis Review
        4. Reverse-Engineering a Rhetorical Analysis Outline
        5. Intro to Rhetorical Analysis Introductions
        Homework:
        By Monday, have a rough draft of our rhetorical analyses:
        • Drafts of Introductions and Conclusions
        • Outlines of Body Paragraphs 
        By Friday, have an outline and thesis statement

        The Details
        Schedule of events:

        1. Attendance Check:
        Before you sit down, please rejoin your group from Monday.

        2. [10 minutes] The Assignment
        I discovered that many people were confused about the nature of our current task, so I wanted to clear that up and help ensure that every one of my students succeeds in writing a rhetorical analysis essay.
        1. Unit 3 Assignment Prompt and Grading Rubric
        2. Your topic is not Single-Sex Schooling is Good for Girls or Reality TV is Bad
        3. [10 minutes] Thesis Review
        Let's take a couple of minutes to slow down. I know that learning inductively by looking at models and examples and trying to figure out rules or how to do something is often really hard, and I think that I might have made it either too hard or just not guided enough on Monday. So, let's as a whole class look at what makes thesis statements for rhetorical analyses somewhat unique, and then let's look at the thesis statements that we wrote for today look like--do they match?


        1

        2

        3

        4

        4. [30 minutes] Reverse-Engineering a Rhetorical Analysis Outline
        Now, you are equipped with a thesis for your rhetorical analysis essay, but you have not yet actually structured your outline. Here, we are going to use a real student rhetorical analysis to try and learn the basic structure. This is not a formula to follow, but a real example of a great essay that can guide you in making your own. As you draft your outline guide, make sure that it is generic enough that you can apply it to your own analyses.

        Steps:
        1. Read this essay
        2. Fill in the pieces that ask for the function of each part
        3. Compare what you decide with this document
        4. Use these to create a document that will work as a general outline for your papers.
        5. The scribe should make sure each group member gets a copy of this final document
        4. [Remaining Time] Intro to Rhetorical Analysis Introductions
        What do you remember about introductions? How do you think an introduction to a rhetorical analysis paper would be any different than an introduction to a regular argumentative essay?

        1

        2

        3

        4

        5
        Homework:
        By Monday, have a rough draft of our rhetorical analyses:
        • Drafts of Introductions and Conclusions
        • Outlines of Body Paragraphs 
        By Friday, have an outline and thesis statement

        Attribution: This lesson is from Jin Kim's and Jeff Arrigo's 2013 original lessons. I have adapted them to fit my teaching style and classroom atmosphere.

        Sunday, November 2, 2014

        Day 30: Developing an Outline and Thesis Statement for Rhetorical Analyses

        Short List
        1. Attendance Check and Warm-up
        2. Example of Critical Thinking
        3. What We Are Doing and the Chess Example
        4. What the Author Did, What We Do, and Problems Along the Way
        5. Practice Outthinking the Author
        Homework:
        Add these analyses to your own articles. This is not something I am checking but will make the task easier when we are writing the essay.

        The Details
        Schedule of events:

        1. [10 minutes] Attendance Check and Warm-up:
        Before you sit down, please form groups with these criteria:
        • There will be 5 groups maximum 
        • Each group must have at least one person who speaks a different language from the majority (ex: 2 Chinese speakers and 1 Korean speaker; 2 Korean speakers and 1 Spanish speaker)
        • Each group must have at least one boy and at least one girl
        The groups must first complete these tasks:
        • Choose a team name
        • Elect a group leader who will keep your group on-task:
          • This does not mean that he or she makes the decisions or speaks for the group
          • It does mean that he or she will make sure that your group comes up with answers or conclusions for each step and then move on to the next step
        • Elect a scribe (someone who can do the typing for your group)
        • Elect someone to use the computer to research
        2. [10 minutes] Task 1: Answering Questions
        First, look at these questions, and discuss them as a group.  Where applicable (according to your group leader) write down notes for your answer.  Some of these do not require specific answers.
        1. When writing a paper, do you usually make an outline before writing the first draft?  
          • Why do you do this or why do you not do this? 
        2. When you make an outline (for any class or purpose), what kinds of structure and headings do you use? How do you divide different sections of the outline?  
          • If none of you have ever made an outline before, brainstorm what an outline for your Essay Basics essay would be like. 
        3. What are some essential details that should be included in an outline?  Do these things vary for different assignments? 
        4. What is reverse-engineering?  Have you ever reverse-engineered something?  Have you ever reverse-engineered someone's paper?  
          • Do you think reverse-engineering a good example paper would be useful?  Why or why not? 
        3. [5 minutes] Whole Group Briefing
        Before moving on to task 2, we'll stop for a minute and go over what we think, and I'll help you get the idea of our next steps and why we are doing what we are doing today.

        4. [10 minutes] Task 2: Writing the Thesis Statement
        What do you remember about thesis statements?
        1. Review what you know about thesis statements as a group using this document.  
        2. Individually or with group mates who chose the same option as you, complete step 3
        5. [15 minutes] Reverse-Engineering a Rhetorical Analysis Outline
        Now, you are equipped with a thesis for your rhetorical analysis essay, but you have not yet actually structured your outline.  Here, we are going to use a real student rhetorical analysis to try and learn the basic structure.  This is not a formula to follow, but a real example of a great essay that can guide you in making your own.  As you draft your outline guide, make sure that it is generic enough that you can apply it to your own analyses.

        Resources:
        1. Essay
        2. Essay with guides for figuring out the outline
        Steps: 
        1. Read the essay (you can skip to resource 2 if this is the most useful)
        2. Fill in the pieces that ask for the function of each part
        3. Use these to create a document that will work as a general outline for your papers. 
        4. The scribe should make sure each group member gets a copy of this final document
        Homework:
        On Wednesday, bring to class (either printed, handwritten, or in your Google Drive folder) an outline with ideas for your specific rhetorical analysis essay and your thesis statement.

        Attribution: This lesson is from Jin Kim's 2013 original. I have adapted it to fit my teaching style and classroom atmosphere.

        Thursday, October 30, 2014

        Day 29: Critical and Logical Thinking

        Short List
        1. Attendance Check and Warm-up
        2. Example of Critical Thinking
        3. What We Are Doing and the Chess Example
        4. What the Author Did, What We Do, and Problems Along the Way
        5. Practice Outthinking the Author
        Homework:
        Add these analyses to your own articles.  This is not something I am checking but will make the task easier when we are writing the essay.

        The Details
        Schedule of events:

        1. [5 minutes] Attendance Check and Warm-up:
        Define "critical thinking" and say one reason why it is so important.

        2. [10 minutes] Example of Critical Thinking:
        First, we are going to start by looking at a video in which critical thinking happens.  What do you notice about their critical thinking; what process are they following.  

        3. [10 minutes] What We Are Doing and the Chess Example:
        We are writing a rhetorical analysis in which we will examine closely and critique.  We are trying to outthink the writers.

        Now, before continuing on, we will watch a short presentation on chess that will help us get a better understanding of the task that is before us.

        4. [5 minutes] What the Author Did, What We Do, and Problems Along the Way
        For just a few minutes, we will take a look at this short presentation about various arguments that authors might use, the critical thinking the author does, the critical thinking that we will do in analyzing, and problems that both the author and we might experience.

        5. [20 minutes] Practice Outthinking the Author
        Read this fun article asking these questions:
        1. What arguments does the author use?
          • Common sense? 
          • Solid outside sources?
          • Logic?
          • Something else?
        2. Are there logical fallacies? 
        3. What kind of logical fallacies? 
        Write your answers here:

        Homework:
        Add these analyses to your own articles.  This is not something I am checking but will make the task easier when we are writing the essay.

        Attribution: This lesson is from Mien-Jen Wu's 2014 original. I have adapted it to fit my teaching style and classroom atmosphere.

        Tuesday, October 28, 2014

        Day 28: How to Do a Rhetorical Analysis

        Short List
        1. Attendance Check and Warm-up
        2. Discovering 3 Rhetorical Appeals
        3. Proof that we know it!
        4. Explanation of the Homework 
        Homework:
        TONIGHT, the entire Unit 2, Essay Basics, essay will be due. Please do not forget the late policy and save your grade--turn it in by midnight on Compass2G.

        The Details
        Schedule of events:

        1. [10 minutes] Attendance Check and Warm-up:
        Here are two slides from a PowerPoint on Analysis.  We know that we are going to write a rhetorical analysis essay, and we even know what rhetoric and the rhetorical situation are.  But how do we analyze the rhetoric well?

        1. What is Analysis?



        2. What does analysis take?

        3. If you were a teacher assigning an analysis, what would you tell your students to do?

        2. [15-20 minutes] Good and Bad Analyses
        Look at these four analyses of the Mona Lisa.  Choose the best one and explain why it is the best here.  Please be as specific and as thorough as possible.

        Artwork being analyzed:


        Analysis 1:
        Leonardo used a pyramid design to place the woman simply and calmly in the space of the painting. Her folded hands form the front corner of the pyramid. Her breast, neck and face glow in the same light that models her hands. The light gives the variety of living surfaces an underlying geometry of spheres and circles. Leonardo referred to a seemingly simple formula for seated female figure: the images of seated Madonna, which were widespread at the time. This formula was modified in order to create the visual impression of distance between the sitter and the observer. The armrest of the chair functions as a dividing element between Mona Lisa and the viewer.
        Analysis 2:
        The Mona Lisa deserves to be in a great museum because the painting is beautiful and you can easily say this painting is very successful.
        Analysis 3:
        I find this artwork valuable because the artist put his feelings and emotions in to this portrait. He shows in this painting how dull, worried, or bothered he seems.
        Analysis 4:
        Painting the Mona Lisa, Leonardo elevated himself into another station of artist, those that create new forms and perspectives. The relatively small painting of Mona Lisa manages to craft one of the most intense and effective art experience into a compact 30" by 20 ½" frame. As for what kind of paint Mona Lisa was originally envisioned with, oils were used on poplar wood panel and have been restored numerous times. In recent years, curators at the Louvre have begun to worry that the painting appears to be breaking down more rapidly than in the past.

        Leonardo places his model in the midst of the painting, using a pyramid design to center her. The fold of her hands forms the front of the pyramid and he uses the same glowing light for her breast, neck and face. His lighting is important as he uses it to create many of the geometric shapes - circles and spheres - that compose the painting. The form of the painting itself is very simple, a modification of the Seated Madonna, a form very popular during the 15th and 16th centuries for portraits.
        When everyone has submitted what they said, we will discuss and look for trends.  What are things that make an analysis well done.

        3. [20 minutes] Preparing to Write our Own
        For the next step, we will need to break into small groups based on the set of articles that we read for today.  Then, once we are in small groups, we will need to:

        1. Open our homework document for today
        2. Compare with our group members:
          • What did we disagree on? 
            • Why?
          • What did we agree on?
            • Why?
          • Is there anything we can add or change based on what our partners observed? 
        3. Look at our documents compared to this document that adds some elements of what we learned on Monday and today.  
        4. Decide on some points that you might consider as strong points in these arguments and some points that you might consider as weak points in these arguments.  

        Homework:
        To be explained in person in class.

        Attribution: This lesson is from Jin Kim's 2013 original. I have adapted it to fit my teaching style and classroom atmosphere.

          Monday, October 27, 2014

          Day 27: Discovering Rhetorical Appeals

          Short List
          1. Attendance Check and Warm-up
          2. Discovering 3 Rhetorical Appeals
          3. Proof that we know it!
          4. Explanation of the Homework 
          Homework:TONIGHT, the entire Unit 2, Essay Basics, essay will be due. Please do not forget the late policy and save your grade--turn it in by midnight on Compass2G.

          The Details
          Schedule of events:

          1. [10 minutes] Attendance Check and Warm-up:
          Today, we're going to start class off with a little acting.  I know it's early on a Monday morning, but I need 4 people who can be loud and expressive in their acting.  Who knows?  This might be your Hollywood debut!

          Follow-up Question:
          Which "child" was more effective in getting what he or she wanted?
          Why?

          2. [20 minutes] Discovering 3 Rhetorical Appeals
          Who do think in the world is an expert at getting what they want--convincing people to do something?

          Let's look at what these "experts" do with these three examples:

          Example 1 Example 2 Example 3

          What do you think are the strengths of each kind of appeal?  When do you think each would be the most appropriate? Please share the strengths and 1 example of a good time to use these here:

          Example 1 Example 2 Example 3

          Then, we'll take a minute and read what everyone has posted and see more examples.

          3. [15 minutes] Proof that we know it!
          Sometimes, though, it's easy to understand something but hard to put it into practice.  Look at this document either independently or with a partner and try to decide which rhetorical appeal each is using most.  In addition to using the Lino It boards we just added to, you can use this resource to help you.

          Before moving on, we'll stop and review what our answers are and what the right answers should be.

          4. [5 minutes] Explanation of the Homework
          You will need this document.

          And, you have a choice about the reading:

          Option 1

          Option 2

          Single-Sex Schooling is Good for Girls

          Reality TV is Bad


          Pro- Article

          Pro- Article

          Anti- Article

          Anti- Article


          Homework:
          Please read the two articles of one of the options by Wednesday and fill out the Rhetorical Analysis Chart that I have provided.

          Attribution: This lesson is from Jin Kim's 2013 original, with parts from Cassandra Rosado's from 2010.  I have adapted it to fit my teaching style and classroom atmosphere.

            Thursday, October 23, 2014

            Day 26: Understanding Rhetorical Situations

            Short List
            1. Attendance Check and Warm-up
            2. Rhetorical Situations and the Rhetorical Triangle
            3. Presentations of What You've Learned
            4. You're a Rhetorical Analyzer Now!
            5. Last minute explanation of Essay Basics 
            Homework:
            TONIGHT, the entire Unit 2, Essay Basics, essay will be due. Please do not forget the late policy and save your grade--turn it in by midnight on Compass2G.

            The Details
            Schedule of events:

            1. [10 minutes] Attendance Check and Warm-up: 
            In pairs (that I will describe in class) look at these work at these online stations together:

            Pair 1 Pair 2 Pair 3 Pair 4 Pair 5 Pair 6
            1. List three different examples of your own writing,
            2. List all of the reasons why they are similar and all of the reasons why they are different,
            3. and
            4. Compare with your partner: did they not think of some reasons, were you inspired of some that you had not thought of until looking at theirs? Tell them.

            2. [15 minutes] Rhetorical Situations and the Rhetorical Triangle
            We understand the idea of different writing serving different purposes and, therefore, working in different ways.  It is obvious that a text to our boyfriend, girlfriend, or, for me, my wife, is very different in format, style, content, and vocabulary than an academic research paper in chemistry.  But what about the details?


            Look at this triangle.  This triangle attempts to explain how text and the writers/speakers influence and affect one another.  You are writing to affect other people.  If it doesn't affect them, it is probably boring them (which is affecting them negatively).
            Retrieved from: http://blogs.longwood.edu/jeb27/2013/02/04/communication-reasons-to-write-telling-our-own-stories/  

            Pair 1 Pair 2 Pair 3 Pair 4 Pair 5 Pair 6
            Context Purpose Audience Topic Writer
            1. Study this PPT from the Purdue OWL,
            2. Try to define and be able to present/teach this to the rest of the class,
            3. and
            4. Understand (and be able to explain) how it relates to the rest of the triangle.
            5. Please take notes on what you guys discover and plan on your pair's Lino It board linked above.

            3. [10 minutes] Presentations of What You've Learned.  
            Now, it's time for you to be the teachers.  Divvy up who will talk about which part, and then stand up and show us! :)

            4. [10 minutes] You're a Rhetorical Analyzer Now! 
            Now, you are about ready to actually begin doing rhetorical analysis.

            You will need this document.

            And, you have a choice:

            Option 1

            Option 2

            Single-Sex Schooling is Good for Girls

            Reality TV is Bad


            Pro- Article

            Pro- Article

            Anti- Article

            Anti- Article

            5. [Remaining Time] Last minute explanation of Essay Basics

            Homework:
            TONIGHT, the entire Unit 2, Essay Basics, essay will be due. Please do not forget the late policy and save your grade--turn it in by midnight on Compass2G.

            Please read the two articles of one of the options by Wednesday and fill out the Rhetorical Analysis Chart that I have provided.

            Attribution: Sections 3 and 4 have been based and adapted on Jin Kim's 2013 lesson, making use of her ideas and materials, but also adapting it to fit my own class schedule and teaching style.

              Tuesday, October 21, 2014

              Day 25: Introduction to Rhetorical Situations

              Short List
              1. Attendance Check
              2. Community Circle
              3. Overview of Unit 3
              4. Rhetoric--What is it?
              5. Final Thoughts
              Homework:
              This Friday, the entire Unit 2, Essay Basics, essay will be due. Please look at this prompt and grading rubric

              The Details
              Schedule of events:

              1. Attendance Check

              2. [10-15 minutes] Community Circle
              This time of the semester, especially for brand-new freshmen, I like to stop and see how everyone is doing.

              3. [10-15 minutes] Overview of Unit 3
              We have made it.  Unit 1... check.  Unit 2... check.  Now, onto Unit 3.

              So, it's time to stop, slow down, and figure out where we have been and where we are going.

              1. Where we have been. 
              2. Where we are going: 
              Look at this Unit 3 Assignment Prompt and Rubric.

              4. [15-20 minutes] Rhetoric--what is it? 
              Does anyone know what rhetoric is? **Hint: This is what we haven't really talked about much in this class so far but is what we will talk about soon!**

              Check this out and this one and this one too

              If we know __________________ from studying in ESL 111 so far, and we know that we will study ________________ /rhetoric and do rhetorical analysis in the rest of the class, what do you think constitutes rhetoric?  What things would you look for in writing if you were to analyze it and its rhetorical elements?  

              Maybe looking at this sample will help.  As you look at this set of real language use, what do you notice:

              • What kinds of differences do you notice in terms of language (and formatting)?
              • Why do you think there are such differences?  

              5. Final Thoughts
              Today, is just an introduction to the Rhetorical Analysis Unit, and with that in mind, we just want to start training our minds to think in a new way.  As you go, think about what types of writing you have done.  What writing have you commonly or frequently done over the course of your life or your career learning English and what have you rarely or never done?

               This Friday, the entire Unit 2, Essay Basics, essay will be due. Please look at this prompt and grading rubric.

              Attribution: Sections 3 and 4 have been based and adapted on Jin Kim's 2013 lesson, making use of her ideas and materials, but also adapting it to fit my own class schedule and teaching style.  


              Sunday, October 19, 2014

              Day 24: Peer Review

              Where are you at in the essay-writing process? 
              Short List

              1. Attendance Check
              2. The Assignment
              3. Self-Review/Independent Work
              4. Peer Review
              Homework:
              This Friday, the entire Unit 2, Essay Basics essay will be due.  Please look at this prompt and grading rubric.

              The Details
              Schedule of events:

              1. Attendance Check

              2. [10 minutes] The Assignment
              We have talked a lot about this essay, but we have not talked about the details of what you should be doing enough for my own satisfaction.

              You will respond to this prompt:
              Should schools monitor student activities on the Internet at all times, even outside of school? What are the potential beneficial or negative effects that would be caused by monitoring student activities?
              • At least 5 paragraphs
              • 1 Microsoft Word Document
              • Margins = 1 inch (2.5cm) on all sides
              • 1 References Page
              • 1 Title Page
              • All sources used must appear correctly cited on the References Page
              • Font = Times New Roman, size 12
              • Double spaced
              Don't forget to use the resources we made on Friday! :) 

              3. [25-30 minutes] Self-Review
              You are going to (1) analyze your work--you know what is good and you know what could be better if you are honest about it, (2) compare and contrast what you have written with what is expected of you and your work, and (3) document your observations all before helping your partner do the same.

              Before we start the real "steps" of this activity, think very, very carefully about who you want to partner with. I will not assign partners, because I want you to choose for yourself who would be the best partner for you. This is something that you should not feel offended by or be afraid of offending someone else based on who you choose or do not choose; instead, this is all about choosing to make a partnership that will result in the best work done by both people in the partnership. You grade literally depends on it!

              Step 1:
              Get out (1) your drafts of your paragraph portfolio if you have them and (2) your current draft for the essay.  If you do not, try and remember what comments I made.  What things did you not do as well on according to my comments and your grade on the rubric?  Have you improved those things in this writing assignment?

              Step 2:
              Look at all three of your drafts and compare them with these resources while taking notes (see Step 3 directions):

              Resource 1 Resource 2 Resource 3Resource 4
              This is the unit prompt and grading rubric. One of the wisest things to do when preparing for a large, important assignment is to compare what you have done against the "standard" that the instructor is grading your work against. This resource is simpler and more straight-forward, but not as complete as Resource 3 On the homepage, once you log in, you should see some useful "Assigned Links" in yellow on the middle of the page. Some of these are the same as for paper 1, but that is because they are still just as useful. While this resource from the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill is long and wordy, it provides a great set of questions to use when proofreading your own work. If you do not really know where to start in looking at your writing, this is a great resource to help you make the most of this time.

              Ask yourself about these key points:

              • If I have body paragraphs, can I identify PIE in each body paragraph?
              • Is my thesis clear, concise, but specific enough, giving a preview of the main points?
              • Do the body paragraphs support the thesis? 
              • Is the Point clear?
              • Are there Illustrations that support the Point?
              • Are the Illustrations clearly connected to the Point by Explanations?
              • Did I do an adequate job avoiding plagiarism?
              • Are all of my quotations appropriately marked with quotation marks, in-text citation, and signal phrases?
              • Are all of my paraphrases and summaries appropriately marked with in-text citation and signal phrases?
              Step 3:
              I would recommend doing steps 2 and 3 simultaneously, writing your observations as you make them.

              Write down your observations clearly and with enough explanation for your partner to understand. If possible, write them down as "Action Steps," or things that you can "assign" for yourself to do between now and Friday to fix and better your essay.

              Partnership 1 Partnership 2 Partnership 3 Partnership 4 Partnership 5 Partnership 6
              Your self-assessment Your self-assessment Your self-assessment Your self-assessment Your self-assessment Your self-assessment

              Now, you will (1) read your partner's observations, (2) read your partner's papers, and (3) give them your feedback and comments.

              Steps 1 and 2 are understandable enough from the sentence before, so I will only explain Step 3:

              • Tell them some of their strengths and some of the things you like about their essay draft.
              • Comment on some of their observations, agreeing with what they said, disagreeing with what they said, etc.
              • Offer some ways they could make their essay and the parts of the essay even better that they had not already thought of.
              • Offer some practical ways they could implement some changes based on both their own and your observations.
              • Answer any questions your partner might have.

              5. [no time--only an option for partners who may finish early] Make the Changes
              If you and your partners are especially fast, use the remaining time to implement the changes that you and your partner have agreed upon for your paper.

              Homework:
              This Friday, revisions of all three paragraphs will be due. Take a look at this prompt and grading rubric.

              Attribution: This lesson is entirely my own creation, but some of the material has been borrowed from other lessons by other instructors. Their attribution is on each piece of borrowed material.

              For further resources:
              Our class is very short.  All there is to know about writing is very large.  And on top of that, actually being a good writer takes even longer than learning all there is to know.  I try to pick the most important and useful things within the context of the ESL 111 curriculum so that we make the most of our time.  However, I understand that you might want to learn more than I can teach in the class time, especially if you find challenges as you work on your assignments.  

              Please come to my office hours.  I will be in FLB 3050 (my office) today from 10-11 and on Thursdays  from 2-3.  I am actually in there much more often than just those times.  Please set up times to come in, and you will find that I will work with you one-on-one, answering questions, reading your paper, and giving you feedback and suggestions.  

              For those of you wanting to learn about integrating opposing arguments and ideas, here is a lesson I taught last spring in ESL 112 that walks through some ways and reasons why bringing in opposing ideas to support your point.  I will also gladly walk through this with you.  (Please be aware that my site was much less complete in the past than it is now!)

              Thursday, October 16, 2014

              Day 23: Cohesive Devices

              Short List
              1. Attendance Check and Warm-up
              2. Review from Friday
              3. Introduction to Thesis Statements
              4. Testing Out What You Think Know About Thesis Statements
              5. Review of the "Rules" of Thesis Statements
              6. Returning Paragraph Portfolios and Midterm Grade Reports
              Homework:
              By TONIGHT AT MIDNIGHT, write a 300-word self-reflective paragraph/essay responding to one of these prompts. Please do not rush through it, but take your time to write something thoughtful to help yourself grow in your writing and learning:
              • How you have seen areas needing improvement that you did not previously know you had. 
              • How you have seen specifically seen yourself grow as a writer in ESL 111. 
              • The most useful assignment/project/lesson/activity to you personally and why it was so useful. 
              • A review of the goals you set at the beginning of the semester and your progress on meeting them--both your successes and failures. 
              • The most important thing to know about ESL 111 and academic writing and why it is the most important. 
              • Advice you would give a new student about to come to the U.S. for the first time from your country who is going to take my section of ESL 111. 
              Please leave these in your Google Drive folder and name them anything you like so long as the word "Reflection" is somewhere in the title.

              Looking ahead: Your essay is due, next Friday, 24 October. I would start thinking ahead on this so that your weekend and next week won't be as full. Here's a guide (the required dates are in red):

              Today, 17 October -- Rough draft of introduction and conclusion, outline of body paragraphs
              Monday, 20 October -- Rough draft of the entire essay
              Monday, 20 October -- Rough draft of introduction and conclusion, outline of body paragraphs

              The Details
              Schedule of events:

              1. Attendance Check 

              2. [5 minutes] 3 Puzzles
              Let's look at these three pictures together.

              What are we looking at here?
              And how about this one? 
              Sometimes, you have really great ideas, but your ideas are like the first picture--we can't tell what your ideas are because they aren't in the right places and aren't cohesive.

              3. [15 minutes] Identifying Cohesive Devices
              What cohesive devices do you already know? (I won't give you any hints if you are right or wrong--I can't give away the answers yet!)

              In this class, we are going to learn just six cohesive devices.  Be careful not to overuse any nor to neglect any.  They will dramatically improve your writing if they are used tastefully.

              Look at this document and try to figure out what the six are.
              *Lately, we've been finishing things at different times, and that is completely fine.  Different people work at different speeds.  But we are also a team of learners in here.  When you are done, please get up and help another person who has not yet finished, but help them--don't do it for them!

              When everyone's done, we'll briefly review what we've learned.  :)

              4. [15 minutes] Applying these Cohesive Devices
              None of this matters if you cannot apply these cohesive devices to your writing.  Again, either independently or with classmates, try working on this sample paragraph.

              First, you will need to identify 4 different cohesive devices, and then you will need to revise and add cohesive devices to this paragraph or your own.

              5. [10 minutes] Review
              What about Conclusions?  How do we write a successful conclusion?  What goes into a good conclusion paragraph.

              Jot down your answers here.  The more you can say and the more detailed, the better.

              Homework:
              By TONIGHT AT MIDNIGHT, write a 300-word self-reflective paragraph/essay responding to one of these prompts. Please do not rush through it, but take your time to write something thoughtful to help yourself grow in your writing and learning:
              • How you have seen areas needing improvement that you did not previously know you had. 
              • How you have seen specifically seen yourself grow as a writer in ESL 111. 
              • The most useful assignment/project/lesson/activity to you personally and why it was so useful. 
              • A review of the goals you set at the beginning of the semester and your progress on meeting them--both your successes and failures. 
              • The most important thing to know about ESL 111 and academic writing and why it is the most important. 
              • Advice you would give a new student about to come to the U.S. for the first time from your country who is going to take my section of ESL 111. 
              Please leave these in your Google Drive folder and name them anything you like so long as the word "Reflection" is somewhere in the title.

              Looking ahead: Your essay is due, next Friday, 24 October. I would start thinking ahead on this so that your weekend and next week won't be as full. Here's a guide (the required dates are in red): 

              Today, 17 October -- Rough draft of introduction and conclusion, outline of body paragraphs
              Monday, 20 October -- Rough draft of the entire essay 
              Monday, 20 October -- Rough draft of introduction and conclusion, outline of body paragraphs