Composing a Class for Freshmen (Rather Than the Teacher)
These main principles are fundamental to the Freshman Composition course I teach: learner-centeredness, high expectations, flexibility, and, most importantly, authentic audience and purpose....
View Article“You’re Sick!” Says the Diagnostic Essay
“You’re sick!” says the diagnostic essay, and students hear the message plainly enough. In classes on connotation, I ask students what the associations of “diagnostic” are. Normally, I don’t need to...
View ArticleIntensity and Sophistication: Basic Skills versus Transfer Level Composition
Students in pre-transfer and transfer-level classes need to develop similar skills: studying, reading, thinking, and writing. The principal distinctions are intensity and sophistication. Basic skills...
View ArticleLanguage, Education and Identity: Writing Assignment for Pre-Transfer Level
Background: We spent the first half of the semester exploring our “hidden intellectualism,” the academic skills we use in non-academic pursuits, then turned to questions of language and identity. We...
View ArticleHelping Students Become Their Own Teachers: Teaching Philosophy for English 848
Teachers should help students become their own teachers. With that goal in mind, I have designed my English 848 course around two principles: learner-centeredness and bridges between everyday and...
View ArticleWriting Assignment: The Changing Genre of Romance
Background: After an introduction to writing, literature and poetry, we turned to the genre of romance, whose definition has morphed from chivalric romance (such as Sir Gawain and the Green Knight)...
View ArticleWriting Assignment: Reading as a Detective
Background: After an introduction to literature, poetry, and the evolving genre of romance, we began following the development of mystery from the folktale “Three Princes of Seredip” and Voltaire’s...
View ArticleThe Right Word Activity
The Goal: To learn the importance of exact wording. The team with the longest list of correct names for things in the classroom after five minutes wins. When the teacher says “Go,” groups of three or...
View ArticleWorksheet for a Research Paper
I. Thesis: A. State your central issue as a question, for example, “Should smoking in certain bars be legal?” B. Answer that question; be as specific as possible: “Smoking should be allowed in...
View ArticleRevision Checklist for Research Paper
1. Is your title engaging? Does it suggest the approach you are taking in your paper? 2. Does your first paragraph introduce the main issue, name the writer and the work you are responding to, and end...
View ArticleWriting Assignment: Research Project
Background: This semester, the class has explored forms of “hidden intellectualism,” which are academic skills demonstrated in non-academic pursuits, then examined issues of language, education and...
View ArticleDiversity: The Fountain of Life, a Source of Education
Diversity is the fountain of life. Without it, eubacteria would still stain the oceans a uniform rust color. Diversity makes change, experimentation, adaptation and evolution possible. When ecosystems...
View ArticleMaking Vague Words Specific: Activity
Which is Better? In small groups of two or three students, examine the sets of sentences below and decide which version you like better under each number. Explain why. 1. It is a way of managing them...
View ArticleChecklist for “Finding Your Hidden Intellectualism” Paper
Please answer the questions and add a brief comment. Important Note: If any answer is “No,” you must revise the paper until it is “Yes”! (If not, I won’t read the paper. Feel free to contact or visit...
View ArticleWriting Assignment: Exploring Complexity in Issues of Economic Inequality
Writing Assignments 3 and 4: Exploring Complexity in Issues of Economic Inequality Background After a unit on “hidden intellectualism” and on staying in college, the class turned to the question posed...
View ArticleSyllabus for English 93: Developmental Composition Class
The Power of Word ENGLISH 93-05: Introduction to Academic Reading and Writing City College of San Francisco CRN: 34503, Spring 2014 Instructor: Ronald B. Richardson Required Texts Graff, Gerald, and...
View ArticleConnecting Word Matching Exercise: Coordinating Conjunctions, Subordinating...
To get students to think about the logical relationships of connecting words, print out these cards and paste them onto index cards cut in half. In class, pass the cards out, then have students look...
View ArticleReading Papers Takes Too Long? Don’t Read Them (Straight Through)
So, you teach composition, and it takes much, much, much, much, much too long to read papers? You spend your mornings, afternoons, evenings, and weekends slogging through essays until you are...
View ArticleConnective Writing: A Video by Prof Ron
A video I made on connective writing, which means that our writings should be connected to the writings of others. New technologies make connective writing easier and more authentic than ever before.
View ArticleIntroduction to Argumentation: A Video by Prof Ron
What is argumentation? What are the basic steps?
View Article
More Pages to Explore .....