Lesson Materials: PowerPoint Presentation
Lesson Objectives: 1) Understand how to address grammar and convention issues in writing and provide feedback for a teammate; 2) understand a selection of sentence structure issues and how they could be addressed; 3) learn new academic and domain-specific vocabulary items and their collocates, interactively employing gaming pedagogy
Connection to Major Paper/Project: Today’s lesson helps improve the first draft of the analysis project, further practicing the kinds of skills required in future classes and workplace writing. Specifically, you work on three different areas assessed by the grading rubric: grammar (specifically sentence structure), vocabulary, and conventions (e.g. citation). Working on these areas also meets the course goal about using conventions appropriate to audience, genre, and purpose. Receiving and providing feedback is intended to assist you as a writer to further improve your writing before you receive instructor feedback.
Connection to Course Goals: Today’s lesson reinforces the notion that writing is a process, which is a goal of the course. Because writers are encouraged to provide and receive feedback, and make revisions using that feedback, you are expected to develop the attitude that revising is an integral component of writing. Practicing this will ideally transfer into your other writing situations. Another course goal this lesson is connected to is that of conventions since you are asked to review your use of action verbs and citations, for example, which are important in an analysis report.
Activities:
- Sentence Structure Activity: With this activity, we will review sentence structure issues/examples. You will then be asked to find an example of a given sentence structure issue in your own writing and discuss ways to revise in a way that meets your target audience expectations. Through this activity, we want to approach grammar, not as a boring mechanical drill, but a dynamic and interactive process that’s tied with the audience and context of your individualized writing.
- Vocab Game: We will play a game that aims at assisting you to identify and reinforce the learning of key academic vocabulary you learned throughout your research. You will also learn new items from fellow student writers. Follow instructions in the handout, reading them ahead of playing.
- Draft Review Handout: You will be asked to review this handout and perform a peer review targeting grammar, vocabulary, and citations using the handout in the course materials above. This handout must also be used as a guide for you when you review your own draft ahead of submitting the final draft.
- Implement changes as needed and get a chance to work on your own writing, addressing your peer’s suggestions and making notes of anything you will need to address later on in your writing.