Unit 1 Plans

Below you will find a detailed breakdown of our schedule for unit one, with class goals,
activities, and homework listed week by week and day by day. Pay especially close
attention to deadlines for submitting the various steps for our major project.

Week 1

M:

Class goals – Introduce class, build awareness of linguistic diversity in rhetorical

situations

Activities – Breakout group introductions and notes (10 min); Introducing each other to
class (20 min); Kahoot intro activity surveying on language, education, and writing
background and discussion (20 min)

HW – Reading the syllabus; Watch “In Defense of Rhetoric”

(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BYMUCz9bHAs)

W:

Class goals – Introduce awareness and use of strategic rhetorical situations in media

Activities – Syllabus discussion (10 min); divide into groups of 3-4 to discuss the role of
media in their lives emphasizing linguistic differences (15 min); group presentations (20
min); Go over homework assignment for next class (5 min)

HW – Reflection journal on language, education, and writing background due Friday

F:

Class goals – Interpret and evaluate how information is produced and consumed in
specific rhetorical contexts, including networked environments

Activities – Class discussion of homework assignment (10 min); brief lecture on

rhetorical situations using examples from social media (10 min); discuss how to assess
literacy and break into groups of 3-4 to find a social media post to create assessment
(15 min) ; present assessments (10 min); assign SHEG and readings (5 min)

HW – SHEG Study Google Forms Assignment due Monday; Readings from Becoming
A College Writer, Lesson 3, pg. 27-40
Week 2

M:

Class goals – Self-assess real media literacy in students’ everyday lives

Activities – Discuss personal anecdotes from SHEG study as a class (5 min); go over
Unit 1 assignment sheet in detail, allowing room for questions (15 min); assign each
group one of the Google Forms to categorize anonymous student responses as
mastery, proficient, or emerging according to the SHEG rubric (20 min); review
discussion (10 min)

HW – Pick one social media post and analyze rhetorical situation; 300 words due Wed

W:

Class goals – Examine the role of media literacy in public discourse

Activities – Short review of textbook lessons (5 min); discussion about social media from
the news/the news in social media (10 min); breakout group for Unit 1 proposal writing
session (20 min); volunteer/solicited presentation + class wide peer-review of proposal
drafts (15 min)

HW – Proposal due Friday; Read article on fake news and media literacy in the 2016
election - https://www.wired.com/2017/02/veles-macedonia-fake-news/

F:

Class goals – Introduce the concept of credibility; introduce conferencing

Activities – Divide students into groups of 3-4 and provide examples of media sources
of the kinds they might use for their unit 1 project and have them analyze the credibility
of each (15 min); while students work, call individuals up to privately discuss their
proposals and either approve or help them amend (20 min); go over group activity as a
class (15 min).

HW – Readings from Becoming A College Writer, Lesson 9 (media), pg. 120-144, write
reflective memo on reading, post, and respond to a classmate’s post
Week 3

M:

Class goals – Explore the importance of the drafting and planning process in written
composition

Activities – Reading quiz (5 min); drafting and review process lecture and discussion (15
min); assignment homework review (5 min); breakout groups to discuss source
possibilities (15 min); discuss homework, unit project, reading (10 min)

HW – Draft of sources 1 and 2 due Wed; Readings from Becoming A College Writer,
Lesson 10 (process), pg. 147-157

W:

Class goals – Understand the importance of credibility in public discourse; understand

the interaction of credibility and literacy

Activities – Open with minute write, “What does it mean to be a credible source?”; share
responses (10 min); Lecture + discussion on credibility including different platforms and
among informal personal interactions (10 min); breakout groups incorporating credibility
analysis into unit assignment (15 min); discussion and questions (10 min); Reading
review (5 min)

HW – Complete first draft of project due Friday; Readings from Becoming A College
Writer, Lesson 19 (Thesis), pg. 264-277, write reflective memo on reading, post, and
respond to a classmate’s post

F:

Class goals – Explore different stages of the writing process, discover why organization
and revision are necessary parts of achieving credibility in our own writing

Activities – Read Shitty 1st Drafts by Anne Lamott (10 min); Discussion of drafting
process (10 min); Presentation/demonstration of drafts (5 min); Discussion of plagiarism
(15 min); Questions about assignment/conference sign-up (10 min)

HW – Draft a list of questions for conference

Week 4

M:

Conferences

HW: Conference reflection due Friday; complete revision checklist

http://writingcenter.byu.edu/files/2016/07/Revision-Strategies-and-Checklist1.pdf

W:

Conferences

HW: Conference reflection due Friday; complete revision checklist

http://writingcenter.byu.edu/files/2016/07/Revision-Strategies-and-Checklist1.pdf

F:

Class goals – Develop and use effective invention, composing, and revision processes.

Activities – Unit 1 project peer review

HW – Begin unit 2 reading; final unit 1 project due Monday