DWRL Lesson Plans - In-class Writing

Using Prezi for Outlining Papers

Plourde — Wed, 01 Oct 2014 22:53:58 +0000

Author:

Image Credit:

Aubri Plourde

Brief Assignment Overview:

Students will synthesize their own rhetorical analysis with background research on their selected controversies using the visual-spatial format mimicked by Prezi's software.

Type of Assignment:

In-class Exercise

Homework Assignment

Assignment Length:

Single Class Period

Pedagogical Goals - Rhetoric:

Style

Pedagogical Goals - Writing:

Annotated Bibliography

Pedagogical Goals - Digital Literacy:

Additional Pedagogical Goals:

This assignment is a precursor to Essay 2, Rhetorical Analysis. At this point, they have gathered data on the contexts of their controversy, made observations and intepretive claims about their chosen text, and articulated their own opinions. This outlining process is meant to help students who have a particularly hard time with organization or who are strongly visual learners.

Media Requirements:

Technology-Based Classroom (computers for each student)

Required Materials:

Each student needs a computer, but they could also bring in laptops for the same activity in a standard classroom. Each student needs to have an free account with Prezi.

Timeline for Optimal Use:

Mid-Semester

Full Assignment Description:

Before class, students were asked to pull out their notes from each source and to write down their thoughts in list-form. I asked students to create Prezi accounts by inviting them with a link.

Students read through their notes, labeling each with a major idea or point of argument as they go. They can have as many labels as they need, but they should be alert to group notes under the same label. For example, a student writing about the US's involvement with Mexico's drug culture might have separate labels for "Military Involvement," "Police Corruption," and "Imports."

Once this task is complete (about fifteen minutes with the size of the paper these students were drafting), ask students were list each of their major categories (these will also signpost topic sentences later).

As a group, log into Prezi and chose basic layouts. The students generally like choosing visually-pleasing platforms. Ask them to spread out the categories they’ve come up with over the space so that each label takes up its own visual area.

Next, ask students to group their notes--which in this case include quotations from sources, their own commentary on their chosen texts, and any synthesis or transition statements--around each of the categories/points of argument. This can take a while if students do not have their notes in digital form, so it may help to ask that they bring in Word documents with their notes typed up. Basically, they will copy/paste their notes around each of the clustered headings.

When students finish, they end up with wide mind-map. Ask them to spend some time resizing. Which categories are most important? Which seem to be floating out there with only one note or so? This is a way for them to visualize the strongest points of their argument, to cut pieces that might seem interesting but aren't pulling their weight, or to recognize where further research could be done at home.

For the rest of class, I asked students then to zoom out of Prezi and to add large numbers next to each category and subcategory. That’s their outline, in visual form. Some of them will probably want to animate the Prezi so that they can see how they will jump from idea to idea, but I will allow mine to keep it two-dimensional, if they choose.

Once they review each of the steps to their analysis (including context and controversy), students should able to see which transition statements topic sentences, and so on would connect each of their points.

The first time I did this exercise, since I wasn't interested in using Prezi for presentation purposes but rather as a freer-form mind-map, I just had students do this labeling visually. But when we finished, I thought I probably should have asked them not to just label the sections with numbers, but actually to then add the presentation steps into the prezi and just gone ahead with presentation. Sort of a writing-workshop in digital form.

Those that prefer to then reverse-outline from the Prezi can do so in Word; those who are okay with only the visual guide can use it while they write their first drafts.

Suggestions for Instructor Preparation:

Make sure you are familiar with Prezi's interface, including the zoom in/zoom out functions.

It would also help to have done this exercize personally.

Instructions For Students:

1. Read through every line of your notes. As you do this, label the topic or category of each one. You will probably end up with multiple labels; this is a good thing!

2. Once you've read through all of your notes, including your own analyses, list each of your labels/categories/topics on a separate sheet of paper.

3. Sign in to your Prezi account and choose a new template. You may choose one that thematically matches your analysis or one you just find pretty/elegant/cool-looking.

4. Create new text boxes for each of your labels, spacing them out accross the canvas. Try to make them the same size.

5. Going back to your notes, copy/paste them into the categories you labeled. You should see your notes arranged visually next to their topics. Guess what will become your paragraphs?

6. Spend some time resizing your topics and your notes. Make the more important topics or points larger. Which categories are the most important? Which seem to be floating out there with only one note or so? (This might be an indication that you should do more research).

7. Look through all of your topics, and try to determine an order for them. What kind of logic connects each of these ideas? Do certain clusters of topics/notes have to come before others?

8. Label each cluster of data/analysis with a number. This is your outline. Now that you can see all of your notes at once, you should be able to determine the best order in which to present them.

9. If you want, animate the outline so that Prezi zooms in on each cluster individually, in order. If you'd rather just have the visual, go for it. You may reverse-outline into a more standard form if you prefer, or you may write your first draft using this guide.

Evaluation Suggestions:

I like asking students to screen-shot their Prezi and hand it in with their assignment, but I grade this only on participation.

Notes on Reception, Execution, etc.:

It's important to ask students to sign up for Prezi and perhaps even to watch the introductory video before this class; otherwise, you'll end up spending half the class teaching the software.

Course Type:

Introductory Writing Course

Course Description:

Rhetoric 306 is a course designed to introduce students to the fundamentals of research and argumentation. They are asked to research a controversy, summarize and analyze the arguments of the major stakeholders in that controversy, and then develop their own arguments.

Tags:

In-Class Writing / Digital Midterm

Rosen — Mon, 12 Mar 2012 02:08:09 +0000

Image Credit:

Cover of Against Health, NYU Press 2010

Brief Assignment Overview:

Give an essay exam as a midterm — using classroom computers — so students can synthesize course content, advocate a position, and revise as they write.

Type of Assignment:

In-class Exercise

Assignment Length:

Single Class Period

Additional Pedagogical Goals:

This assignment allows students to synthesize course content and employ rhetorical strategies, and it gives instructors a way to check in and monitor progress through the course.

Media Requirements:

Technology-Based Classroom (computers for each student)

Required Materials:

Individual copies of assigned reading. Individual computers.

Timeline for Optimal Use:

Mid-Semester

Full Assignment Description:

This assignment uses the occasion of an in-class midterm to prompt students to synthesize course content, and to give them a chance to make an original argument. As a midterm, this assignment is indicated and scheduled on the course syllabus. However, the assignment could be used on shorter notice as an extra-credit assignment, or as a lower stakes writing assignment to be assessed by peers.

Students are given an assignment prompt (see below) that asks them to take and argue a position in relation to formative article for our class. Students are permitted to prepare outside of class and to use the primary source(s) in class for reference. They are required to compose their essay on word-processing software on a class computer, and to use that software to proofread and revise their writing on the fly.

Suggestions for Instructor Preparation:

This assignment should be introduced at least one week before it will take place. The instructor should answer student questions and be aware that if this is the first formal assignment in which students are asked to make an original argument and employ the rhetorical stratgies they have previously analyzed, students will need help understanding that this assignment focuses on making, rather than analyzing or summarizing, an argument.

Instructions For Students:

Midterm: “Against Health?”

[The following prompt appeared in our course syllabus and on our class website.]

You have one class period to write an essay responding to the assigned article, “Why ‘Against Health.’” [We read this article in the second week of our course, and all students were required to summarize it in their first writing assignment. In the article, Jonathan Metzl argues that health has become a "new morality" and that the term distracts from and conceals logics of sexism, racism, and capitalism when used in argument. The article was foundational for our course.]

Your essay must take a position in relation to Metzl’s position and must make a convincing argument using the rhetorical strategies you have learned and using at least 3 assigned readings. Your essay could potentially

agree with Metzl’s position and extend it using the 3 sources as further evidence;
complicate Metzl’s position (that is, begin by agreeing with Metzl’s position but modify it to make it more complex) and introduce the 3 sources as new evidence which your more complex position accounts for;
take issue with Metzl’s position or one of his claims, develop an alternative position or claim, and show how your alternative is supported by evidence in the 3 sources, while Metzl’s is not.

No matter the relationship between your position and Metzl’s, your essay must fairly and accurately summarize Metzl’s position (this should be easy, since you already did it in your first essay) and must argue a position that is as sophisticated and as convincing as the one in the original article.

For this in-class writing assignment, you may use the 4 sources (Metzl’s article and the other 3 sources you choose) for reference. You are welcome to prepare outside of class, but the midterm you submit must be written inside of class during the allotted time period. To receive a passing grade, your midterm must include the required sources, cite them properly, and include your name and class information. You have 1 hour, 15 minutes to write the midterm during the class period.

Evaluation Suggestions:

I scored the midterm using the rubric below. If not used a s a midterm, this assignement could be evaluated through peer review, with this rubric as a guide.

Midterm Rubric

The midterm is scored from 0 to 2 on each of the five criteria below. This adds up to 10 possible points.

1. Rhetoric

How well does the student make use of rhetorical strategies we have learned? Does the student go beyond logos? Is there a credible ethos? Is pathos used appropriately?

2. Summary / Counterargument

How well does the student engage Metzl’s argument? Is it fairly and accurately summarized?

3. Use of Sources

How well does student make use of the three required sources? Are they used to support the student’s argument? Are the quotations appropriate and correct?

4. Organization / Editing / Persuasiveness

How well is the essay organized? Is it free of errors? Is the student’s argument persuasive overall?

5. Requirements

Did the student include name, date, and course? Is there complete citation information? Does the student use Metzl’s article and at least three other sources?

Notes on Reception, Execution, etc.:

This assignment was a success. It foramlized the kind of in-class writing I often use to encourage student synthesis of material — and actually gave me a chance to read that writing. The assignment's status as "midterm" gave it a lot of weight in students' mind and they took it very seriously. The use of classroom computers resulted in polished essays and word-processed documents that students printed at the end of class and I could grade without the usual bias introduced in written exams by messy handwriting.

Course Type:

Intermediate Writing Course

Course Description:

Health Rhetoric

What is “health”? The goal of this course is not to answer this question (you probably already have an answer), but to understand the available answers. You will enrich your understanding of “health” by expanding your understanding of health rhetoric, that is, the different answers people have, or the different arguments people make about health. You will find that the complex concept of “health” takes on very different meanings in different contexts, for different audiences, at different times, and within different communities. We aim not to decide the ultimate meaning of health, but to pay attention to the different ways the concept is employed in argument.

Tags:

Midterm

In-class Writing

Exam