And then I pop quizzed them.
Aw...but I seemed so nice on the first day!
I am nice. I am letting them know what to expect and reinforcing what I said on Day 1: that the success of this class is contingent on their preparation and willingness to engage with the texts and with each other. Going over the quiz allowed me to clarify the readings, particularly how we define argument in this course and what the differences are between "truth-seeking" (or inquiry) and persuasion. Next, they did Bruce Ballenger's "Beliefs about Reading" exercise. Individually, they picked two skills out of a list of twelve that they believed "good readers" have, i.e. "Take notes while reading" or "Read with specific goals or questions in mind." Next, they wrote for five minutes about the skills they had picked and whether or not they thought that they were "good readers." Doing this exercise right after a reading quiz works well.
Then, they got into groups, discussed what they'd written, and came up with a group consensus on two qualities for them to share with the class when we shifted into the class discussion. This worked in all three sections. In my first section, we had time to talk about the Tannen essay in groups; in my second two sections, I had to cut that and give them the nitty gritty on the board, the foreshadowing for their homework on Rhetorical Context. This tied back very nicely to the "questions to ask before you start reading" skill from the activity. What is the genre? Who is the author? What is the author's purpose? Main claim or idea? Who is the intended audience? When was it published? Where was it published--something I push incessantly in an age in which we articles are often read without knowing where they were first published.
Tomorrow: summarizing by paying attention to what the author is doing as well as saying...
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