Tim N. Taylor
Linda Copeland
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Tim
 Director of Comp at EIU
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Linda
 Assistant Professor of English
at St. Louis CC
 Developmental Reading
 Developmental Writing
 Studio Courses
 Stretch Programs
 Accelerated Learning Courses, Co-Req
Programs
 Integrated Reading-Writing Courses
State Government
Upper Administration
Common Core Standards
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“Why am I in this course?”
“How does this matter? I’m not going to have to
write in my job.”
“I’ve always been a bad writer.”
“I don’t like writing.”
“I do my best writing under pressure.”
“It was good.” [he didn’t do the reading]
“Why do I have to do all this reading?”
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Use a reading and writing tool to guide and
slow students down.
 Read these sample housing advertisements.
 Using the IDEAS template, analyze and vote
for which ad is the strongest and why.
How does the ad try to capture readers’
attention?
Does the writer use concrete details to
bring drama and clarity to the ad?
What facts and examples work to
persuade the readers?
What choices in language, details and
explanation show consideration of the
audience?
How does the writer use word choice,
sentence variety, and level of formality to
make the ad appealing?
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Quick! Stop the car and take a look! Located in the
Sunnyvale Retirement Community on a quiet cul-dusac, this freshly painted, clean ranch is in great movein condition. The large eat-in kitchen has been
updated with new appliances. For entertaining, there
is a spacious dining room area that opens up into the
formal living room. You will love the three spacious,
newly carpeted bedrooms, each with its own updated
bathroom. The master bedroom is majestic with
vaulted ceilings and lovely French doors that open out
to the back courtyard with its meticulous landscaping.
Don’t wait to see this fantastic home in a great
neighborhood!
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Retirement living is easy in this immaculate contemporary
ranch home. The home features three spacious bedrooms,
two luxurious bathrooms, and a stylish kitchen that flows
through to the dining room. On cold winter evenings gather
around the cozy warmth of the fireplace in the formal living
room. Enjoy summer bar-b-ques on the Arcadia stone patio
of your private courtyard with its professionally landscaped
flower beds. This home is ideally located on a tranquil cul-desac in the highly desirable Sunnyvale Retirement
Community, conveniently close to shops, restaurants, and
entertainment. Live the retirement you have always
dreamed in this beautiful home in a premier community.
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This delightful brick ranch with an updated kitchen, three
roomy bedrooms and two full baths is located in the
desirable Sunnyvale Retirement Community. Enjoy all the
benefits of this gated community with its pool, community
center, and easy access to shopping, restaurants, and
theaters. Entertain friends in the home’s spacious formal
living room or outside in your private courtyard. The low
maintenance yard has been professionally landscaped. The
oversized garage has an extra storage area. The seller is
motivated, so don’t wait, or you may lose your opportunity
to experience comfortable and carefree living at an
affordable price.
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Realtor A
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Realtor B
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Realtor C
Strengths
Weaknesses
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Use the IDEAS tool to generate ad copy.
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A real estate firm has recently hired
you as an advertising copywriter. Your
first assignment is to write a oneparagraph advertisement for this
home, which will be featured in a highend real estate magazine. This home
is in a new, upscale neighborhood of
single-family homes in a good school
district. Your target audience is young
families. Keep IDEAS in mind as you
write this paragraph.
How will I capture readers’ attention?
What concrete details will bring drama
and clarity to the ad?
What facts and examples will persuade
the readers?
What details and explanation do my
readers need? What level of formality do
they expect?
How can I improve word choice, sentence
variety, and the level of formality to
make the ad more appealing?
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Connections students can make in exercises
like this?
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Key: Use a reading and writing tool.
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Dweck on Fixed Mindset vs.
Growth Mindset
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Duckworth and Tough on Grit
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“People may start with different
temperaments and aptitudes, but it is clear
that experience, training, and personal
effort take them the rest of the way” (5).
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“This growth mindset is based on the belief
that your basic qualities are things you can
cultivate through your efforts” (7).
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“The passion for stretching yourself and
sticking to it, even (or especially) when it’s
not going well, is the hallmark of a growth
mindset. This is a mindset that allows people
to thrive during some of the most
challenging times in their lives” (7).
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“You have a choice. Mindsets are just beliefs.
They’re powerful beliefs, but they’re just
something in your mind, and you can change
your mind” (16).
“Skills and achievement come through
commitment and effort” (179).
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Via various research studies, she’s
concluded that self-discipline is likely to
trump IQ and that “grit” is key to long-term
success.
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In other words, strength of character means
a lot.
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Duckworth and others’ research about
motivation and “character” is now reaching
a wider audience through Paul Tough’s How
Children Succeed: Grit, Curiosity, and the
Hidden Power of Character.
Tough provides seven character traits that are
“likely to predict life satisfaction and high
achievement” (76):
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Grit
Self-Control
Zest
Social Intelligence
Gratitude
Optimism
Curiosity
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Curiosity – the desire to know more about
the world.
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Openness – the willingness to consider new
ways of being and thinking in the world.
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Engagement – a sense of investment and
involvement in learning.
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Creativity – the ability to use novel
approaches for generating, investigating,
and representing ideas.
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Persistence – the ability to sustain interest in
and attention to short- and long-term
projects.
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Responsibility – the ability to take
ownership of one’s actions and understand
the consequences of those actions for
oneself and others
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Flexibility – the ability to adapt to
situations, expectations, or demands
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Metacognition – the ability to reflect on
one’s own thinking as well as on the
individual and cultural processes used to
structure knowledge.
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A Growth Mindset
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Hard Work
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Discipline
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They have to care.
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“We must teach students how to read model
texts in ways that will inform the eventual
writing that they will do and teach them to
read in ways that help them to develop their
understand of writerly strategies and
techniques and that help them to identify
genre conventions so they are better
prepared to write in those genres” (Bunn
512).
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Course design is key:
 “Design a course in which reading and writing
assignments build upon and reinforce each other”
(Bunn 512).
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Use a reading and writing tool in a consistent
way.
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Tie writing and reading to their
 Professional,
 Personal, and
 Civic lives.
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Have students consistently practice
metacognition—thinking about their
thinking, their rhetorical moves, and the
transfer value of their writing.
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Reader’s Guides
KWL Tool
Write, Pair, Share
Bring Their Own Discussion Questions
Presenter-Respondent Format
Discussion Leaders
In-class writing
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YouTube: Carol Dweck
Duckworth’s “Grit Scale”
YouTube: RSA Animate – Drive
Beaufort, Anne. College Writing and Beyond: A New Framework for
University Writing Instruction. Logan, UT: Utah State UP, 2007.
Print.
 Bunn, Michael. “Motivation and Connection: Teaching Reading
(and Writing) in the Composition Classroom.” College
Composition and Communication 64.3 (2013): 496-516. Print.
 Council of Writing Program Administrators, National Council of
Teachers of English, and The National Writing Project.
Framework for Success in Postsecondary Writing. Jan. 2011.
Web. 5 Feb. 2011.
 Duckworth, Angela A., Christopher Peterson, Michael D.
Matthews, and Dennis R. Kelly. “Grit Perseverance and
Passion for Long-Term Goals.” Journal of Personality and Social
Psychology 92.6 (2007): 1087-1101. Print.
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Duckworth, Angela L and Martin E. P. Seligman. “Self-Discipline
Outdoes IQ in Predicting Academic Performance of
Adolescents.” Psychological Science 16.12 (2005): 939-44.
Print.
Dweck, Carol S. Mindset: The New Psychology of Success. New York:
Ballantine, 2006. Print.
Shipka, Jody. Toward a Composition Made Whole. Pittsburgh: U of
Pittsburgh P, 2011. Print.
Sullivan, Patrick. “‘A Lifelong Aversion to Writing’: What If Writing
Courses Emphasized Motivation?” Teaching English in the
Two-Year College 39.2 (2011): 118-140. Print.
Tough, Paul. How Children Succeed: Grit, Curiosity, and the Hidden
Power of Character. New York: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt,
2012. Print.