Course Description
This course is tailored to meet the needs of English education majors who will be teaching 9-12 th grade composition. Along with working on the skills required to write an interesting, unified, organized, coherent essay of substance, you will learn techniques to respond to student essays and facilitate successful writing. Although the course readings vary in subject matter and style, each one invites us to investigate the ways we see, think, and write about the world.
Examines stages of composition process and strategies for teaching and evaluating modes of discourse specified by secondary school curriculum. We will do my best to try and make this an enjoyable and worthwhile course for you, but you should know from the start that writing—or at least writing well—is hard work. There is simply no short cut or magic formula that will reduce the amount of time needed to do well in this course. It’s the nature of the course, I’m afraid. To learn how to write more effectively you will have to write often and revise often. You will almost always be working on a paper for this course each week of the semester and you may think I’m determined to ruin your social life, but that’s not my intention. If it makes you feel better, keep in mind that each set of papers takes roughly 16 hours to read and respond to. We’re in this together!
Practice in application of strategies through tutorial work with secondary students. 2 lecture and 1 practicum hour per week. This course follows principles articulated in the College of Education’s Conceptual Framework. Students are encouraged to adhere to the dispositions standards.
Contact Information
Todd Finley, PhD
Bate #2120
East Carolina University
Greenville, NC 27858
252.328.6695 [o]
252.717.9286 [c]
finleyt@mail.ecu.edu [e]
toddfinley@gmail.com [e]
Assignment Calendar & Office Hours
Meeting Times & Place
Wed 6-9:30 Room #312 Speight Hall
Required Readings
Focus Lessons
Grading on a 7 Point Scale (% of Total Points)
- A: 93-100% (A- = 93; A = 96; A+ = 100)
- B: 85-92 (B- = 85, B = 88, B+ = 91)
- C: 77-84 (C- =77, C=80, C+ = 83)
- D: 70-76 (D- = 70, D = 73, D+ = 75)
All assignments have description and rubric handouts. Please turn in the rubric with your assignment. For extra copies, look in your “handouts” folder on your class CD.
Technical Support
Call the CU help desk at (252) 328-6866 or visit the ECU tech support website.There are two other sites for technical support. The College of Education also maintains a Virtual Help Desk.
ADA Compliance
East Carolina University seeks to comply fully with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). Students requesting accommodations based on a disability must be registered with the Department for Disability Support Services located in Brewster A-117 (252-328-6799).
Credit Hours: 3
Estimated amount of reading, assessment work, and writing homework: 10-15 hours per week. You must receive a C or better in this course to begin your internship. No incompletes will be given.
Assignments
| Assignments |
POINTS POSSIBLE |
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| Manifesto Essay |
50 |
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| Elder Wisdom Essay : http://www.educationworld.com/a_tsl/archives/04-1/lesson011.shtml |
100 |
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| Description Essay – Describe Your Writing Process + Include a Visual Map |
100 |
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Creativity Essay
Use these creativity generators to start writing a narrative. Turn in what was generated, your freewrite, and your timeline.
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100 |
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| Critique of Important Research Article in Research in the Teaching of English or English Education Essay |
100 |
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| Time Log Essay |
100 |
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| Dialogue Journal |
100 |
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| Participation |
100 |
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| Conference with Instructor |
0 |
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| Response to H.S. Writing |
100 |
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| Hot Idea Buffet (Up to 3) |
3 x 3 |
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| Miscellaneous Assignments |
? |
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| Pink Contract |
2 |
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| Peer Review of Fellow Students’ Essays |
100 |
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| Graduate Student Presentation (TBA) |
P/F |
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Portfolio
- Cover Letter
- Final Revision of 3 Essays
- Your Permanent Proofreading Checklist
- Clear Labels of Each Section and Document
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10 |
Academic Integrity
I strongly uphold East Carolina University’s Academic Integrity Policy. Please make sure you are familiar with the specific behaviors that constitute violations of this policy.
Academically violating the Honor Code consists of the following:
A. Cheating -Unauthorized aid or assistance or the giving or receiving of unfair advantage on any form of academic work.
B. Plagiarism -Copying the language, structure, ideas, and/or thoughts of another and adopting same as one's original work.
C. Falsification -Statement of any untruth, either spoken or written, regarding any circumstances relative to academic work.
D. Attempts -Attempting any act which if completed would constitute an academic integrity violation as defined herein.
The policy, including both a definition of violations and a description of procedures followed in the case of alleged violations, may be found at: http://www.ecu.edu/fsonline/FacultyManual2/Part4/part4.htm.
We don’t see things as they are. We see things as we are. - Anis Nin.
Semester's Theme: Pandas!
Attendance
Attendance is considered a critical hands-on learning activity essential for successful completion of the course. While coming to class is not used in directly determining points earned during the course, experience has shown that students who regularly attend do much better on assignments. The course reserves the right to lower grades for poor attendance and to balance your overall performance in light of your exhibited effort. Furthermore, if a student who has regularly attended is borderline for a letter grade, that student will be given the benefit of the doubt and assigned the higher grade. It is important that essays and responses are turned in on time, so that the “workshop approach” benefits all class participants. In this course, there is no such thing as shortcuts.
Typical Class Agenda
- Questions & Check In
- In Class Free-Writing Warm Up & Read-Aloud
- Discussion of Readings
- Break
- Group Feedback
- Writing Mini-Lesson or Activity
What to Put in the Portfolio
- Cover Letter
- Final Revision of 3 Essays
- Your Permanent Proofreading Checklist
- Clear Labels of Each Section and Document
Class# and Date |
Topics & Assignments |
1. Tues Jan 11 |
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2. Tues Jan 18 |
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3. Tues Jan 25 |
- Due Manifesto Draft 2
- Due: Bring to class an example of an excellent non-fiction opening. Be ready to describe why you think this opening is exemplary.
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4. Tues Feb 1 |
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5. Tues Feb 8 |
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6. Tues Feb 15 |
- Read Focus Lesson #4
- Due Creativity Essay Draft 1 - Bring Enough Copies for Small Group / Instructor
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7. Tues Feb 22 |
- Read Focus Lesson #5
- Due Creativity Essay Draft 2
- Due: Bring to class an example paragraph from your favorite writer.
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8. Tues Mar 1 |
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9. Tues Mar 8 |
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Mar 15 th Holiday |
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10. Tues Mar 22 |
- Read Focus Lesson #8
- Due: Time Log Essay Draft 1 - - Bring Enough Copies for Small Group / Instructor
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11. Tues Mar 29 |
- Read Focus Lesson #9
- Due: Time Log Essay Draft 2
- Due: Bring to class an example of bad writing. It has to be something that was published.
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12. Tues Apr 5 |
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13. Tues Apr 12 |
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14. Tues April 19 |
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May 3 |
- Due: Portfolios 7:30 (Bate 2120) (Sample Portfolio)
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