This is the Tentative Schedule of Activities
for Mahfood's 030 Developmental Writing Course

That means that it is subject to change depending upon how the course develops...so check it often.

I moved the first six weeks to the end of this file...scroll down to see them.               

Friday, 24 September—Discuss and collect journals. Discuss diagramming.

Assignment: Read Ch. 6—53-56. Do exercises. Read and work through Ch. 22—275-276, 8.  Read another 2 student's essays and submit comments.

Monday, 27 September—Read and discuss Ch. 22—274-8. Discuss exercises. Test over organizational skills and grammar.

Assignment: Prepare final draft to submit for a grade. Read Ch. 11—Classification. Hand out Comma Sutra.

Wednesday, 29 September—Collect first graded essay.  Final revisions due by noon.  Discuss Comma Sutra. Refer students to Ch. 36—commas—433-445. Go over exercises in class in conjunction with Comma Sutra.

Assignment: J7—Classification. Read Ch. 18—223-225. Read and work through Ch. 23—279-281.

Friday, 1 October—Return first graded essay with comments. Rewrites due Monday, 4 October. Discuss and collect journals. Discuss Ch. 23—Run-ons—279-281. Work through Ch. 23—283-287. Read and discuss Ch. 23—287-290.

Assignment: Read Ch. 15—179-185. Come up with a new topic for a definition paper. Read and work through Ch. 24—291-297.

Monday, 4 October—Discuss topics. Do exercise 2 pages 185-187 in class. Develop thesis statements in class and show how to write an intro paragraph for a definition paper. Discuss Ch. 24—291-97.

Assignment: Brainstorm 12 associated ideas. Read Ch. 15—187-190. Read and work through Ch. 24--bottom of 297-99.

Wednesday, 6 October— Discuss reading and narrow down the list of twelve to a list of six of the best associated ideas. Come up with 10 supporting ideas for each in class. Discuss Ch. 24—297-9.

Assignment: J8—"Section Two" Flowers for Algernon, pp. 54-115. Read and work through Ch. 24, p. 300.

Friday, 8 October—Discuss and collect journal. Narrow down list of ten to 3 supporting ideas for each associated idea. Discuss p. 300.

Assignment: Read Ch. 16—191-194. Do practice. Flesh out one of your body paragraphs. Read and work through Ch. 24—301-304.

Monday, 11 October—Discuss exercise. Read 195-199 in class and do exercises as a group. Peer review body paragraph and return to the writer for revision. Collect. Discuss Ch. 24-301-4.

Assignment: Read Ch. 12—Definition. Flesh out a second body paragraph. Read Ch. 25—307-9.

Wednesday, 13 October—Return Body 1. Peer review second body paragraph and return to the writer for revision. Collect. Work through Ch. 25—309-11 in class.

Assignment: J9—Definition. Flesh out third body paragraph.

Friday, 15 October—Discuss and collect journal. Return Body 2. Peer review third body paragraph and return to the writer for revision. Collect. Work through Ch. 25—312-3 in class.

Assignment: Flesh out fourth body paragraph. Read Ch. 17—200-203. Do exercises.

Monday, 18 October—Return third body paragraph. Discuss exercises. Peer review fourth body paragraph and return to the writer for revision. Collect. Work through Ch. 25—313-14 in class.

Assignment: Read Ch. 13—Comparison and Contrast. Flesh out fifth body paragraph.

Wednesday, 20 October—Review page 204 in class. Return fourth body paragraph. Peer review fifth body paragraph and return to the writer for revision. Collect. Work through Ch. 25—315-318 in class. Discuss irregular forms.

Assignment: J10—Comparison/Contrast. Read Ch. 17—205-209. Read Ch. 18—226-228. Flesh out sixth body paragraph.

Friday, 22 October—Return fifth body paragraph. Discuss and collect journals. Discuss readings. Peer review sixth body paragraph and return to the writer for revision. Collect. Work through Ch. 25—318-9 in class.

Assignment: Write conclusion—impact this issue has on society. Read Ch. 18—213-214.

Monday, 25 October—Return sixth body paragraph. Discuss and collect conclusions. Discuss Ch. 18. Work through Ch. 25—319-20, 24 in class.

                    Assignment: Assemble all those paragraphs together.

Wednesday, 27 October—Return conclusions. Have students add them on to their collected paragraphs and swap for peer review. Work through Ch. 25—320-22 in class.

Assignment: J11—Cause and Effect. Revise those definition essays. Read Ch. 18—228-232.

Friday, 29 October—Collect 2nd graded essay. Discuss and collect journal. Introduce argumentation.

Assignment: Read Ch. 19—235-240. Choose a topic for your argumentative paper. Read and work through Ch. 26—327-330.

Monday, 1 November—Return 2nd graded essay. Rewrites due on Monday, 8 November. Discuss readings and chosen topics. What is arguable about them. Who is the audience for whom or against whom we are arguing. Write intro paragraphs in class. Collect. Discuss Ch. 26.

Assignment: Brainstorm 12 associated ideas. Read and work through Ch. 26—330-3.

Wednesday, 3 November—Narrow those ideas down to six and come up with a dozen supporting ideas for each associated idea. Collect list. Discuss Ch. 26—330-3. Work through Ch. 26—333-5.

Assignment: J12—"Section Three" Flowers for Algernon, pp. 116-154.

Friday, 5 November—Discuss and collect journal. Return list. Ask students to circle the best three in each category. Discuss outlining.

Assignment: Write an outline for the next paper. Rewrites due of definition. Read and work through Ch. 26—335-40.

                Monday, 8 November—Collect rewrites. Flesh out the first body paragraph in class and peer review.                   Collect. Discuss Ch. 26—335-40.

Assignment: Read Ch. 14—Argument. Flesh out the second body paragraph. Read and work through Ch. 27—341-343.

Wednesday, 10 November—Return rewrites. Return body 1. Peer review Body 2 and rewrite in class. Collect. Discuss Ch. 27—341-43. Work through 343-45 in class.

                    Assignment: J13—Argument. Flesh out the third body paragraph. Read and work through Ch.                       27—345-48.

Friday, 12 November— Collect and discuss journal. Peer review Body 3 and rewrite in class. Collect. Discuss 345-49 in class.

Assignment: Flesh out the fourth body paragraph. Work through all of Ch. 28.

Monday, 15 November— Peer review Body 4 and rewrite in class. Collect. Discuss Ch. 28.

                    Assignment: Flesh out fifth body paragraph. Work through all of Ch. 29.

                Wednesday, 17 November— Peer review Body 5 and rewrite in class. Collect. Discuss Ch. 29.

                    Assignment: J14—"Section Four" Flowers for Algernon, pp. 154-216. Flesh out sixth body                       paragraph.

                Friday, 19 November—Discuss and collect journal. Discuss Academic Book Report. Peer review Body 6                   and rewrite in class. Collect.

Assignment: Develop conclusion showing impact issue may have on society. Work through all of Ch. 30.

Monday, 22 November—Peer review conclusion in class and rewrite. Discuss Ch. 30 in class.

Assignment: Finish argumentative paper by Monday, 29 November.

Wednesday, 24 November—THANKSGIVING HOLIDAY

Friday, 26 November—THANKGIVING HOLIDAY

Monday, 29 November—Collect 3rd graded essay. Show movie Flowers for Algernon.

Assignment: Work on Book Report.

Wednesday, 1 December—Return 3rd graded essay. Rewrites due Friday. Continue movie.

Assignment: Work on Book Report.

Friday, 3 December— Collect rewrites. Finish movie. Collect Book report.

Assignment: Read Chapter 20—The Essay Exam.

Monday, 6 December— Return rewrites. Return Book report. Discuss the essay exam. Hand out list of possible questions. Wrap up grammar—Ch. 37.—Apostrophes—446-453.

Assignment: Prepare for mock exam.

Wednesday, 8 December—Take mock essay exam. Collect. Ch. 38—454-461—brief introduction.

                    Assignment: J15—Write final journal…what grade should I receive in this class and why.

Friday, 10 December—Return exams. Discuss common problems. Ch. 39—462-467 & Ch. 40—468-74.

Assignment: Prepare for Final Examination.

Final Examination: Contextual grammar based.

Monday, 23 August— Introduction to course, pass out syllabus, explain how the computers work, ask each student to identify himself and state one interesting thing about his life—Diagnostic essay J1 "What is the most interesting thing I have ever done and why?" Tour of Writing Center.

Assignment: Read Ch. 1—3-7. Read Chapter 7—Illustration.

Wednesday, 25 August— Discuss paragraph formation. Play idea game and have students brainstorm illustration topics, pick a few supporting ideas and then write a paragraph on the topic.

Assignment: J2—Illustration. Read Ch. 2—8-14.

Friday, 27 August— Discuss and collect journal. Peer review and rewrite someone else's paragraph from Wednesday.  Go over pages 14-18 in class. Do assignment on the bottom of page 16--esubmit it.

                    Assignment: Read Ch. 3—18-25. Do exercises for discussion Monday.

                Monday, 30 August—Discuss online paragraphs.  Discuss exercises in Ch. 3. Introduce intro paragraph writing.    Read through and discuss Ch. 33—Word Choice.

                   
                    Assignment: Choose a topic for the first short essay and brainstorm 20 associated ideas.
                   Just pick any topic on which you can find 20 ideas concerning it (which is ANY topic,  trust me).  Some suggestions: television, cinema, sports, education, music, family, love,
cars, yadi, yada...Now, with, say, television, you should be able to find twenty associated
ideas concerning it--commercials, news, sitcoms...etc.  Just make a list.  You need at least
twenty so that you'll be able to eliminate two-thirds of them and still have half a dozen.

Wednesday, 1 September—Discuss topics and associated ideas. Write intro paragraphs in class using the best six of those associated ideas. Be able to explain why those six are better than the others. Develop a thesis statement. Divide into groups geographically and discuss. Collect these paragraphs.

Assignment: J3—Narration (supplementary info on this in Ch. 8—narration). Read Ch. 18—215-216.

Friday, 3 September—Discuss Journal over Narration and collect.  Discuss pp. 215-6, Ch. 18.  Discuss paper format and direction we want to go with it.
     
                    Assignment: Read Ch. 4—26-33. Brainstorm 10 supporting ideas for each associated idea.  Ch. 21—258-61—do exercises on verbs.

Monday, 6 September—LABOR DAY HOLIDAY—NO CLASS

Wednesday, 8 September— Go over lists of supporting ideas. Narrow each list of ten down to two and explain why those are the two best choices. Write one body paragraph in class and esubmit it.   Discuss Ch. 21—Grammar Overview—255-8. Do practice 1 in class.

                    Assignment: J4—"Section One"—Flowers for Algernon, pp. 1-53.   Write second body                       paragraph and esubmit it.

Friday, 10 September— Read and discuss Ch. 34—Commonly Confused Words.Discuss and collect journals. Return first body paragraph. Rewrite it according to my comments. Peer review again. Write a third body paragraph in class. Collect. Ch. 21—258-61—action, linking, and helping verbs. Do Ch. 21—261-2 over complete thoughts in class.

Assignment: Read Ch. 5—34-36. Do the first practice exercise. Ch. 21—262-66. Read and do Exer.  Write fourth body paragraph.

Monday, 13 September— Rewrite it according to my comments. Peer review again. Write a fifth body paragraph in class. Give it a title. Collect. Discuss Exercise 1-Ch.5 . Discuss grammar Ch. 21—261-6.

Assignment: Read Ch. 5—37-9. Do exercise 2. Read Ch. 9—Description.  Write sixth body paragraph.

Wednesday, 15 September—Discuss Exercise 2-Ch.5. Discuss Ch. 22—Fragments—267-269. Discuss Ch. 9--95-100.

Assignment: J5—Description. Read Ch. 5—39-40. Do exercise 3. Read Ch. 18—217-220.

Friday, 17 September—Discuss and collect journal. Online Peer Reviews.

Assignment: Read Ch. 5—41-45. Online review two other papers and submit your comments to the authors.

Monday, 20 September—Discuss exercise 3-Ch.5. Read and discuss Ch. 22—269-271.Discuss 41-45. Discuss concluding paragraphs. Have students write one in class.  Read and discuss Ch. 22—271-2.

Assignment: Read Ch. 6—46-49. Do exercise. Rework draft and bring a fresh copy to class. Read Chapter 10—Process analysis.

Wednesday, 22 September—[explain the More focused peer review--specifics to look for.]   Have students go over the paragraphs of their peers to see whether each paragraph has a conclusion that explains its significance to the thesis. If not, then they have to think up one of their own. Then, check to make sure each paragraph begins with a transition from the previous one. Refer to page 52. If not, then they have to develop it.Read and discuss Ch. 22—273-4.

Assignment: J6—Process Analysis. Read Ch. 6—50-51. Read Ch. 18—220-223.

End of the Semester J J J J J J J J J J J J J   J J J J J J J J J J J J J J

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