English 490/899
Teaching Writing
in the Secondary School
English 490/899: Teaching Writing in the Secondary School will engage students in exploring
techniques and strategies in becoming a more effective writing teacher in the
junior high/middle school and secondary classrooms. Writing is a complex
process, and students will examine the essentials for creating a positive
writing environment, investigate workshop techniques, survey the writing
process and various genres, and appraise response and evaluation
methods. Students will be evaluated on
journal responses, discussion leadership and class participation, and final
projects/papers.
Tentative
texts for the course will include Inside Out: Strategies for Teaching
Writing (3rd edition) by Dan Kirby, Dawn Latta Kirby, and Tom
Liner, Portfolios in the Classroom by Beth Schipper and Joanne Rossi,
and The Writing Circle by Sylvia Gunnery. The course will be taught onsite at the University
of Nebraska at Kearney and concurrently through Distance Videoconference for
both undergraduate and graduate levels.
1. Journal responses (30 points)
2.
Discussion Leadership and Class Participation (20 points)
3.
Final Project (50 points)
Points
will be translated to the following letter grades: A+ = 99; A = 96; A- =9 2; B+
= 88; B = 85; B = 82; C+ = 78; C = 75; C- =7 2; D+ = 68; D = 64; D- = 60; F =
50.
Attendance is important. Since
each class period is the equivalent of one week of classes, after ONE
ABSENCE, grades WILL
be lowered accordingly, usually at 1/3 of a grade increments for each additional
absence (A=A-, A-=B+, B+=B, etc.). Only under exceptional circumstances will
modifications be made. Please speak to me if conflicts arise and we will try to
work something out. Three absences (three weeks) are grounds for failing the
course.
Every week, students will respond
to the reading. The final journal will be evaluated at the end of the semester.
2. Discussion Leadership and
Class Participation (20 points)
Each student pairs will be
responsible for leading a 30 minute discussion of the selected topic for a
particular class period. These will be chosen and assigned the first night of
class. For the discussion, the leader will not only need to be familiar with
the assigned reading, but should add something beyond that which is presented
in the text. Creativity is encouraged and leaders may engage students in
participating in activities if they so desire.
3. Final
Project
Each student will choose for his or
her final project one that best suits student’s the student’s needs; it could
be practical, scholarly, or creative. Perhaps a student wants to develop a unit
on memoir or develop a curriculum overview that incorporates writing throughout
the year. Thus, a set of lessons or unit plans would be valuable. Others
students may be interested in doing more scholarly research in a particular
area, perhaps in revision, evaluation, or teaching memoir, to add to their
knowledge base. Still others may have a creative idea that would encompass what
we have learned in class and would be appropriate for their own classrooms.
Each student should consult with me regarding the approval of the project plan.
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My
office is 109D Thomas Hall, and this semester my office hours will be from 12:30-2:00
on Mondays and Wednesdays and from 4:00-5:00 on Mondays. If you cannot meet
with me during this time period, I will be happy to make special
arrangements. My office telephone number
is 308-865-8867, but I have no voice mail; my office e-mail is bloomfields@unk.edu and my home e-mail is
stbloomfield@hughes.net. For
emergencies (scholarly or personal), my home telephone number is 308-995-8547
with voice mail. Do not hesitate to call.
My Home
Page is http://www.lopers.net/faculty/b/bloomfields/. To access the English 4909/899
Home Page, go to this site and click on English
490/899: Teaching Writing in the Secondary School. Copies of all handouts
as well as other useful information and internet links are available on this
Internet Class Home Page.
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Any student who feels s/he may need an accommodation
based on the impact of a disability should contact me privately to discuss specific
needs. I will contact Academic Success at 308 865-8214,