Susan Todd
P r o f e s s o r o f E n g l i s h , J e f f e r s o n C o l l e g e , H i l l s b o r o , M i s s o u r i
A u t h o r o f t h e f o r t h c o m i n g P e a r s o n T i t l e Links to Literacy s t o d d w o r d p l a y @ g m a i l . c o m

Stack of papers I couldn’t face
Uninspired assignment and results
Some poorly written but emotionally wrenching papers
Occasional gems
Too many clichéd topics
Repetition
Repetition
Repetition

Typical Personal Writing Assignments
 Narrative
 Description
 Non-researched mode-based writing
 Example: Compare and contrast online classes and face-to-face classes.
 Example: Discuss the causes of the popularity of a current trend (tattoos, reality TV, social media, etc.).

I was asking and expecting too little from the students.
I had eliminated narrative and descriptive writing from my Comp. I classes.
Why was I still using it in my developmental writing classes?

Pitfalls of Personal Writing Assignments
Affective
 Students may be uncomfortable sharing experiences
 Students may not have distance or maturity to reflect
 They’ve already done it for years
 Grade seems to reflect the experience, not the writing

Pitfalls of Personal Writing Assignments
Practical
 Students have difficulty with switch to expository
 Assignments don’t prepare for those in other classes
 Models don’t fit standards we profess
 Conventions are not clearly defined

Solution: Integrating Writing with
Academic Reading
 Reading and writing are interrelated skills
 Improving one helps the other
 Academic readings are key
 Provide content
 Provide models

How to Provide Academic Content
If not personal writing, then what?
What sources are appropriate and accessible?
How should we handle citations, quotations, paraphrases, plagiarism and other material usually introduced in Comp. I?

News articles
Pros
•
Easy to find and accessible to all
• Can be fact and opinion – good for summary and response
• Generally credible
• Demonstrate sentence variety
Cons
• Journalistic style (one sentence paragraphs, contractions, second person)
• Bloggish informality (slang, profanity, bias)

 Explain conventions of journalistic writing
 Compare and contrast with standards of academic writing
 Differentiate between fact and opinion in news and editorial writing

Library Databases
Pros
 Teach library skills; get them used to research
 Move them beyond Google for searching
 Can be scholarly in addition to popular media
Cons
 Some are just journalistic articles and popular press
 May be hard to search
 Access can be difficult off campus
 Not all libraries have extensive database collections

 Discuss popular press vs. scholarly journals
 Provide library use instruction
 Offer class time for students who lack off-campus access

TED Talks
Pros
 Interesting and fun
 Easy to find and access
 Professional
Cons
 Oral, not written
 Doesn’t model academic style
 Often narrative and first person

TED
 Choose short speeches
 Discuss oral vs. written conventions
 Focus on response, rather than summary

Textbooks from Other Disciplines
Pros
 Academic style
 Practical application for students
 Professional and credible
Cons
 Harder to access
 Not relevant to all students
 May have advanced vocabulary and style

 Provide context
 Discuss discipline-specific conventions
 Wait for Links to Literacy

Introducing Citations, Quoting, Paraphrasing
 Provide extensive in-class modeling
 Supply templates for in-text source use
 Use small group practice
 Limit sources and source types
 Make consequences lower than in Comp. I
 Focus on in-text citations rather than works cited
Author says, "Quotation.”

Summary
Summary and
Response
Comparison/Contrast Cause and Effect

 Puts clear focus on text
 Creates distance between writer and content
 Helps students read and study for other classes
 Introduces quotations and paraphrases in a controlled manner

 Limit source possibilities (student success or other practical info)
 Model and practice paraphrases and quotations
 Provide templates and frameworks
 For sample documents, open the pdf
Handouts file that accompanies this presentation.

 Shows clear separation between objective and subjective approaches
 Introduces academic content but also allows students to include their own ideas
 Prepares students for argumentative writing

 Assign separate paragraphs for summary and response, at least early on
 Provide opinion pieces to generate deep responses
 Model responding through class discussions of readings
 Focus on the article, not the surrounding issues or preconceived ideas
 For sample documents, open the pdf Handouts file that accompanies this presentation.

 Introduces common academic writing situation for other classes
 Can be combined with summary and response or stand alone
 Puts focus on organization; moves source use to background

 Connect back to summary/response by assigning comparison of two articles
 Focus on organization and transitions
 Specify using research to back up students’ views
 Treat paragraphs as building blocks for essays rather than stand alone works
 For sample documents, open the pdf Handouts file that accompanies this presentation.

 Introduces common academic writing situation for other classes
 Requires critical thinking
 Lets students use research to supplement own ideas

 Focus on cause or effect, not both
 Specify using research to back up students’ views
 Example topic: popularity of tattoos
 Research statistics about percentages of people with tattoos

Treat paragraphs as building blocks for essays rather than stand alone works
 For sample documents, open the pdf Handouts file that accompanies this presentation.

Suggestions?
Concerns?
Questions?

Feel free to e-mail me at stoddwordplay@gmail.com.
Watch for Links to Literacy in Pearson’s
Integrated Reading and Writing Catalog.