Fifty & Fifty-First Class Periods: Notetaking

Students used class time to complete note cards for their research paper.

Homework: Students should have completed a total of thirty-five note cards by the beginning of class time on Wednesday.

Forty-Ninth Class Period: Conducting an Interview

Students submitted fifteen potential questions to use either for their interview(s) or their questionnaire.

Mr. Stone discussed tips for interviewing using a handout from Ms. Taylor-Johnston.

Homework: Schedule an interview for your research paper.

Forty-Seventy & Forty-Eighth Class Periods: Research, Interviews, and Questionnaires

Students met on Monday in the library for a final day of gathering sources. They completed their working bibliography of at least ten sources (not including interviews or questionnaires).

In class on Tuesday, Mr. Stone had students define their selected campus problem in one sentence. The majority of the students had the opportunity to read their sentence to the class and receive feedback.

Homework: Prepare a list of fifteen questions for either your questionnaire or an interview.

Forty-Fifth & Forty-Sixth Class Periods: Library Research

The class met in the library to locate ten sources for their research papers. A working bibliography of these sources in MLA format is due on Tuesday, December 6th.

Students will need to conduct an interview, create an questionnaire and conduct a survey in addition. These should be conducted after December 6th.

Forty-Forth Class Period: Proposing A Solution

Mr. Stone shared a packet on proposing a solution including examples. Students will conduct extensive research to write their proposals for solving campus problems.
Homework: Finish reading the first twenty-four pages of the packet. Meet in the library tomorrow.

Forty-Third Class Period

Mr. Stone was absent. Students received two handouts on research and corresponding study guides.

Homework: Finish reading the packets and completing the corresponding study guide questions.

Forty-Second Class Period: Argumentative Essay Rough Draft

Students submitted the rough draft of their argumentative essay.

No Homework: Happy Thanksgiving!

Forty-First Class Period: Strategies in Persuasive Writing

Mr. Stone checked for students completion of their prewriting: line of argument and opposing viewpoint comparison chart. Students were to read a handout on strategies in persuasive writing.

Homework: Complete rough draft of argumentative essay.

Fortieth Class Period: Preparing a Line of Argument

Sensing a need for more instruction on line of argument, Mr. Stone spent more time discussing how to prepare a line of argument. He went over again the difference between a statement of purpose (goal + strategy) and a thesis (topic + viewpoint). Students began creating T-charts to help them to see the similarities and differences between their positions and the opposing viewpoint(s) they are arguing against. Mr. Stone used several students topics as examples, focusing on the student who is arguing that traditional print books are preferable to e-books.

Homework: Finish preparing your line of argument. Include your purpose statement, your thesis, and the aspects you intend to address (at least five). Make clear the order you plan to address these aspects. Identify a concession you will make. Think of your line of argument as an outline for your argumentative essay. Re-examine the annotated sample essays you were to have previously read. Note the comments made in the margins of these essays. Decide which of these moves might be useful to you in your essay.

Thirty-Ninth Class Period: Preparing to Influence Another's Position

Students shared their top topic choice for the argumentative essay (influencing another's position). Mr. Stone provided feedback about their choices and approved or disapproved.

Homework: Outline your line of argument for the argumentative essay. Be sure to your thesis with a debatable argumentative claim, the kinds of appeals you plan on using (logical, emotional, character), the types of evidence, stated and unstated assumptions, etc.

Thirty-Eigth Class Period: Campus Problems

Mr. Stone checked for the students' completion of a prewriting list of campus problem and argument essay topics. A volunteer scribe wrote on the classroom's front board a list of the campus problems students had included on their lists. He tallied the results. Mr. Stone began discussing the list with the class.

Homework: Read "Credit Cars: Leave Home Without Them" in preparation for a quiz on Monday.

Thirty-Seventh Class Period: More on Argumentation

Mr. Stone shared an argumentation checklist and Bob Swift's "On Reading Trash."

The class also discussed researching solutions to school problems for the class' research papers.

Homework: Bring a list of ten school problems that you would be interested in researching.

La Sierra Experience

Students toured La Sierra University today. No class. Read yesterday's post for homework.

Thirty-Sixth Class Period: Argumentation

Mr. Stone discussed debatable claims, reading examples of debatable and non-debatable claims. He shared four goals/levels of argument/persuasion:

1. Influence people's opinions
2. Gain people's support
3. Get people to take a specific action
4. Change people's behavior

The class reviewed the classic appeals (reason/logic, emotion/feelings, values/character) and a sample argumentative essay, noting its strengths and weaknesses.

Homework: Annotate (write notes on) Toni Morrison's "Cinderella's Stepsisters." Identify her basic claim. Which of the four levels of argumentation is she is attempting? Write notes in the margin of each paragraph of the essay describing her line of argument: the kinds of appeals, the types of evidence, stated and unstated assumptions, and rhetorical devices (rhetorical questions, grammatical parallelism, repetition, restatement, etc.). Be prepared to participate in a discussion of Morrison's essay.

Thirty-Fifth Class Period: Final Draft of Causal Essay

On Thursday, students submitted the final draft of their causal essays and received an introductory packet on argumentation.

Homework: Read argumentation packet.

Thirty-Fourth Class Period: Editing Causal Essay

Mr. Stone checked if each student had completed his/her revised draft of his/her causal essay.

Students received a table for tracking their editing errors and a list of editing marks and their meaning. Mr. Stone asked students to complete the table before they edited their causal paper to attempt to prevent them from making the same mistakes repeatedly. He encouraged students to seek further explanation from him for any concepts that they still did not understand.

Students critiqued a peer's causal essay.

Homework: Complete final draft of causal essay and process journal entry. Remember that your process journal entry needs to be at least one page long, double-spaced, typed.

Thirty-Third Peer Critiquing Causal Essays

Mr. Stone distributed a peer critique check list and verbally discussed special additions to the checklist to address the specific characteristics of the students' causal essays. He then checked for the students' completion of the rough draft of their causal essays.

Homework: Complete a revised draft of the causal essay. Be sure your draft contains significant changes and is between two-and-a-half and three-and-a-half pages long.

Thirty-Second Class Period: Cause and Effect Essay

Mr. Stone distributed the graded midterm exams to the class to give them a chance to review their results. The class discussed the organizational pattern of their third essay: cause and effect. Mr. Stone shared an illustration of why he's an extrovert. He suggested students might enjoy reflecting on the cause of personal character trait, passion, or aversion (strong dislike). About of a third of the class shared the idea they were considering for the cause-and-effect essay. Mr. Stone distributed an essay planning guide. Students should complete as much of the planning guide as possible for tomorrow, but the they should complete all of the table included in this link: Cause and Effect Prewriting Table.

Thirty-First Class Period: Midterm Exam

Students took a hundred-question true-and-false exam. Homework: Read Lewis Thomas' "On Warts."

Thirtieth Class Period: Midterm Review

Mr. Stone finished reviewing for the midterm exam. The material from the following They Say/I Say study guides may be covered on the test: Chapter 1 questions 1 and 3 to 13. Chapter 2 questions 1-10 Homework: Study for tomorrow's midterm exam.

Twenty-Ninth Class Period: Definition and Midterm Review

Quiz: Maurice Shadbolt's "Who Killed the Bog Men of Denmark? And Why?" Mr. Stone continued to discuss patterns of thought. He discussed types of definition today. Mr. Stone began reviewing for Thursday's midterm exam. The exam will be primarily true and false questions. Homework: Review notes for midterm exam.

Twenty-Eigth Class Period: Classical Patterns of Thought

Mr. Stone reviewed three classical patterns of thought that writer's use to analyze but to organize their writing: comparison and contrast, classification, and definition. Students submitted their analysis of a local news story for Swales' moves before leaving class. Homework: Read Maurice Shadbolt's "Who Killed the Bog Men of Denmark? And Why?"

Twenty-Seventh Class Period: Swales' Moves and the Local News Story

Students spent the class period examining local newspapers in search of examples of a local news story that follows Swales' moves. Homework: Highlight and annotate your selected news article as directed in class.

Twenty-Sixth Class Period: Swales's Moves

Mr. Stone collected the study guide for final two chapters of They Say/I Say, chapters nine and ten. He distributed copies of Brian Sutton's "Swales's 'Moves' and the Research Paper Assignment." The class began reading the article and discussing it. Homework: Finish reading Sutton's article for tomorrow's quiz. Be able to list Swale's Moves.

Twenty-Fifth Class Period: Final Chapters of They Say/I Say

The study guide for chapter eight of They Say/I Say was collected. Mr. Stone shared Robert Lane Greene's "The Rise of 'Awesome'" and discussed writing research papers about slang words. Homework: Finish reading chapters nine and ten of They Say/I Say and completing the corresponding study guide questions.

Twenty-Fourth Class Period: They Say/I Say Chapters 7 & 8

Students submitted their completed study guides for Chapter 6 of They Say/I Say. They spent the class period completing the study guide for Chapters 7. Homework: Complete the study guide for Chapter 8 of They Say/I Say.

Twenty-Third Class Period: Classification Essay Submitted

Students submitted the final draft of their classification essays along with all the other documents created in the process in their English folders. Mr. Stone demonstrated for each row how to set up a turnitin.com account. Students worked on reading chapters five and six of They Say/I Say and completing corresponding study guide questions. The chapter five study guide questions were collected at the end of class. Homework: Complete the chapter six study guide for They Say/I Say and submit the final draft of the classification essay to turnit.com

Change in ID and password

4437431 rice

Twenty-Second Class Period: Peer Edit of Classification Essay

Devotional Text: Proverbs 6:6-8 Mr. Stone collected the They Say/I Say Chapter Three and Four study guides. He distributed peer editing check sheets and reviewed key concepts. Students completed a peer edit of a classmate's classification essay. They were directed to check their partner's paper for the presence of one of the writing tricks discussed previously in class. Students should highlight the trick they have included in their final drafts. Homework: Complete final draft of classification essay. Hard copy due at class time tomorrow. Electronic copy submitted to turnitin.com by 11:59 p.m. Wednesday, October 5th.

Twenty-First Class Period: They Say/I Say Chapters 3 & 4

Mr. Stone announced that he would not quiz future chapters of They Say/I Say; rather, he will rely on the students' completion of the study guides for evaluation/evidence of reading. Students began reading chapters three and four of They Say/I Say and completing corresponding study guide questions. Homework: Finish reading chapters three and four of They Say/I Say and completing corresponding study guide questions.

Twentieth Class Period: Writing Tricks

Students took a quiz over Ch. 1 of They Say/I Say. The class swapped papers and corrected the quiz, discussing the correct answers during the process. Mr. Stone distributed a handout on methods/writing tricks for elaboration. Most students indicated that they remembered theses methods from their Freshman year. Homework: Complete Ch. 2 study guide for They Say/I Say.

Nineteenth Class Period: August Reading Test

Students completed a test with short answer and a short essay question. Homework: Complete Chapter 1 study guide for They Say/I Say in preparation for a quiz tomorrow.

Eighteenth Class Period: They Say/I Say Ch. 1

Students submitted the revised draft of their classification essay. They worked on reading chapter one of They Say/I Say and completing corresponding study guide questions.

Homework for Wednesday, September 28th: Study for August Reading test: Outliers.

Homework for Thursday, September 29th: Complete They Say/I Say Ch. 1 study guide and review for quiz.

Seventeenth Class: Classification Paper Peer Critique

Mr. Stone collected the sentence combining assignment from the last class period at the beginning of class.

Mr. Stone went over the peer critique sheet for the classification paper and students peer critiqued a classmates paper.

Homework: Complete a revision plan and a revised draft for tomorrow. Don't forget Wednesday is the test over the August Reading: Outliers.

Sixteenth Class: Sentence Combining

Mr. Stone returned students remembering an event essays. Students practiced sentence combining.

Fifteenth Class: More Classification

Students discussed classification more with a second handout on classification. They further explored their paper topics with the instructor.

Homework: Write rough draft of classification paper for Monday.

Fourteenth Class: Classification Paper Prewriting

Classification Quiz

Mr. Stone distributed a planning guide and discussed how to complete it with the class. He also discussed the prewriting technique of webbing/clustering/bubbling.

Mr. Stone reminded students that a purpose statement includes a goal plus a strategy. A thesis statement includes a limited topic and a viewpoint.

Common purposes/goals for a writer include to inform, to instruct/explain, to offer an opinion/take a position, to persuade, to entertain, to narrate, to explore.

Common strategies for achieving one or more of these goals include definition, classification/division, analysis, process analysis, cause/effect analysis, illustration and example, comparison and contrast, description, and narration.

The assigned classification essay must include classification as the primary organization/thinking strategy. Additional strategies may be used.

Classification is most often used for the purpose of explaining, informing, or persuading.

Be sure the categories you develop are mutually exclusive, i.e. an item in the group under discussion should fit into only one category.

Be sure the categories you develop are complete, i.e. all items in the group under discussion must fit into one of the categories created.

A tree diagram or a table might be useful graphic organizers for prewriting for classification.

Homework: Complete the planning guide and two additional pages of prewriting for the classification essay.

You might find some of the prewriting suggestions from OWL helpful.

Thirteenth Class: Classification and Division

Students created a list of at least ten areas of interest.

The class began to read and discuss a handout on Classification and Division. Mr. Stone discussed how five students' interests might provide a topic for an essay using classification as an organizational strategy.

Homework: Finish reading the classification and division handout and read Eric Berne's "Can People Be Judged by Their Appearance."

Twelfth Class: August Reading (9/15)

Students were given class time to read/review Malcolm Gladwell's Outliers for their Wednesday, September, 28th test.

Eleventh Class: Academic Discussion

Mr. Stone distributed a handout on academic conversations and discussed the parallels to the concepts presented in They Say/I Say. The class had a circle conversation practicing the moves of an academic conversation. The discussion focused on Martin Luther King, Jr.'s "Three Types of Resistance to Oppression."

Homework: Bring August Reading selection to the next class to read.

Tenth Class: Decisions in Planning

Quiz: Introduction to They Say/I Say

Lecture: Decisions in Planning

Homework: Read Martin Luther King, Jr.'s "Three Types of Resistance to Oprression" from Stride toward Freedom. (See link to the right.)

Ninth Class: They Say/I Say Intro

Students worked to finish reading the introduction to They Say/I Say and complete the corresponding study guide questions.

Homework: Study for quiz over the introduction at the beginning of tomorrow's class.

Ninth Class: Final Drafts Submitted

Students organized their classification folders, wrote a one-page process journal entry about the writing of their remembering an event essays describing what what worked well for them and what was difficult for them as writers.

Students submitted their papers and continued working on reading the Introduction to They Say/I Say.

No homework! Enjoy your Labor Day weekend!

Seventh Class: Peer Edit of Remembering an Event Essay

Mr. Stone shared Psalms 42:1 and a story for devotional time.

Students used a peer edit checklist to help them review a classmates revised draft. Mr. Stone worked on checking revised drafts, peer critiques, and revision plan sheets.

Students were directed to begin reading the introduction to Gerald Graff and Cathy Birkenstein's They Say/I Say: The Moves That Matter in Persuasive Writing when they completed their peer editing. They need to complete a study guide for the introduction as they read it. This is currently not a homework assignment.

Homework: Prepare a final draft of the remembering an event essay for tomorrow.

Sixth Class: Classification Folders & Syllabus

Devotional Thought: "If you want a quality, act as if you already have it." William James

Mr. Stone distributed a blue classification folder to each student with their name on it. He explained how the six-flaps of the folder keep the student's writing organized. Students hole-punched their prewriting and the rough draft of their remembering an event essay and placed them in their folders.

Mr. Stone distributed class syllabii and emphasized its most important content and the students' responsibility to read the document.

Students received questions to help them process their reading of the dialogue handout.

Homework: Complete dialogue worksheet.

Fifth Class: Discussion of SAT Essay Grading Rubric

After prayer, Mr. Stone discussed the SAT essay grading rubric with the class and returned their essays from last week with marks for their review.

Students submitted the rough draft of their remembering an event essay.

Homework: Read the dialogue handout passed out in class for a quiz on Monday.

Fourth Class--Evaluating Remembering an Event Prewriting

After a prayer, students took a quiz over yesterday's description lecture (Notes Quiz 2).

Students worked with a partner to evaluate their selection of a topic for their remembering an event essays.

Students received a handout listing the basic features needed for their remembering an event essay. Their final essay needs to be 2 1/2 to 3 pages long.

Students finished taking notes on how college writing looks and how does writing make a difference.

Homework: Write the rough draft of your remembering an event essay. The rough draft must be at least two double-spaced pages to receive full credit.

Third Class

Mr. Stone shared Proverbs 15:1 with the class and prayed before a quiz over the previous day's notes. Students graded a peers quiz in class and reviewed their own scores.

The class read and discussed Jay Allison's "Back at the Ranch."

Students took notes on description.

Mr. Stone checked the students the topic invention list and gave them a series of questions to help them evaluate their topic options.

Homework: Review class notes for a quiz and using the evaluative questions provided in class, determine which personal narrative you wish to use for your essay.

The Second Class: The Writing Process--An Introductory Review

Mr. Stone prayed after sharing a personal experience he would have chosen to discuss in response to last week's SAT essay practice prompt.

Students had five minutes to review "God in the Doorway" and "Calling Home" and then completed two corresponding quizzes.

Mr. Stone lectured on the writing process. Students were instructed to take notes.

Homework: Complete the prewriting topic invention sheet for the remembering an event essay and review today's lecture notes for a quiz tomorrow.

First Class

Devotional Text: John 1:1

Students spent 25 minutes writing an essay in response to a practice SAT prompt.

Mr. Stone shared the address for the class blog and announced the second essay the students will write will be a narrative essay/remembering-an-event essay. In preparation for this essay, he read aloud Annie Dillard's "God in the Doorway" and the first part of "Writing God in the Doorway." The class briefly discussed Dillard's "God in the Doorway." The students noted the multiple narratives contained in the essay and its moral ending.

Mr. Stone talked about his own college English composition teacher and her emphasis on the use of "concrete and specific" details.

Homework: Finish reading Dillard's "Writing God in the Doorway" and Jean Brandt's "Calling Home." There will be a quiz on Monday.