Students as Scribes: Responding to Literature and Society through Writing
Sample Assignments
I Wish My Instructor Knew
Purpose: The purpose of this assignment is to learn more about you and your experiences that you are willing to share with your instructor. This assignment is inspired by Ms. Kyle Schwartz, a third-grade teacher in Denver, Colorado. Ms. Schwartz developed a lesson plan called “I Wish My Teacher Knew.”
Instructions: Jot down a thought for your instructor that you would like for her or him to know about you. Feel free to submit your statement without a name. The writing prompt is below.
Writing Prompt
If you could share something with your instructor, what would that be? Begin with the following prompt: I wish my teacher knew that . . .
Ask a Professor
Purpose: The purpose of this assignment is to gain knowledge about your instructor of professor. This assignment is inspired by Ms. Kyle Schwartz, a third-grade teacher in Denver, Colorado. Ms. Schwartz developed a lesson plan called “I Wish My Teacher Knew.”
Instructions: Jot down a question that you would like your professor to answer about herself or himself. Feel free to submit your statement without a name. The writing prompt is below.
In a variation from Ms. Schwartz original assignment, answer the following question: What have you always wanted to ask a professor? Write a question that you’d like answered.
Some of the sample questions students posed to me are as follows:
1. What inspired you to become an instructor, professor, or literacy coach?
2. Tell me your salary. How much money do you make by the hour?
3. What do you appreciate most about your students?
4. What and when was your “defining moment” that you wanted to be an instructor?
5. What made you decide to teach? Why did you choose to become an instructor or professor?
6. Other than what you teach, have you ever thought about changing your career to something else? How much do you love your job?
7. How do you make teaching seem so easy?
8. Do you choose how to run your classes 100 percent of the time, or is some of it mandated by the university?
9. How did you get involved in composition and literature?
10. Why did you choose the books you chose for our class?
11. What is your favorite food?
12. What do you do for fun?
What Do You Do as a Scribe?
Purpose: The purpose of this assignment is to learn more about your habits and practices that reflect literacy in your everyday life.
Instructions: Respond to the following questions and share your most recent experiences within your response.
1. List the name of the most recent book you read and/or periodical (magazine, journal, newspaper) you read and enjoyed.
2. List the name of the most recent film you viewed and enjoyed.
3. List your favorite board games and card games you enjoy.
4. Share your most recent use of technologies to communicate.
5. In addition to your university studies, share some of your responsibilities (include employment).
6. How do you learn best? What conditions are the most favorable for you to learn in and out of classroom?
7. What does the phrase “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness” mean to you?
8. Share something unique about yourself. (Do NOT leave this blank.)
Meaning and Purpose
Purpose: The purpose of READING LOG is to respond, via email message, to a key question about yourself and your life’s meaning and purpose by making a connection to two YA characters we read in a recent autobiography (memoir) and novel (fiction).
Instructions: In an email message addressed to Dr. Rodríguez (between 450 to 500 words), respond to the question posed to the young Francisco Jiménez in the autobiography Reaching Out (2008): What is the meaning and purpose of my life? (See page 117). Keep the following in mind:
1. Notice that Jiménez, who responded to the question in #1, chose “Allegory of the Cave” from Plato’s Republic. The discussion appears in the ending of the chapter named “Crossroads,” which is found on pages 120 – 121.
2. Be sure to mention TWO characters whose experience in the autobiography Reaching Out (2008) by Francisco Jiménez AND the novel A Long Way Home (2010) by René Saldaña, Jr. resonated with you. First-person point of view is required in your response about your life.
3. Draft your response in an email as a draft. Revise and edit your draft as much as possible. This assignment will be revised later with a peer toward a final version.
4. Submit your email by pressing SEND before the due date and time.
Write a Letter to the Author
Purpose: The purpose of this assignment is to communicate, via a friendly business letter, with an author whose work of fiction (novel) we have read in the course. Moreover, we are focusing on the guiding question under study this week: “In a culture in which we are bombarded with other people trying to define us, how do we make informed decisions for ourselves?”
Instructions: Be sure to:
1. Submit your letter via Turnitin before 11:59 PM (MT) (500 to 550 words).
2. Inform the author if you would like a response by including your email address.
3. Use the template provided (see page 2) and submit your letter via Turnitin. The header of the page must have your name and mailing and email address with a current date.
4. Let your professor know if you’d like your letter sent to the author (see the attached page).
REMEMBER:
1. Friendly/business letters are organized and purposeful. Follow the template on page 2.
2. Please edit your spelling, grammar, and English-language use on Microsoft Word before submitting your thoughts via Turnitin.
3. Academic, formal writing and complete sentences are required for this assignment. Use spelling and grammar tools before submitting your post.
4. Use academic English language reading and writing conventions that include the use of capital and lower-case letters, punctuation, grammar, and spacing.
5. Venting and raging are NOT part of this letter; please be courteous and polite.
Writing Prompt
Write a letter of 500–550 words addressed to the author Isabel Quintero with your interpretation of and response to her novel titled Gabi, a Girl in Pieces. Include your observations about the novel and include one or two questions you have for the author as a reader.
Lastly, state what the novel meant to you and what you learned. Feel free to be creative, but remember to be succinct and economical with words.
Frank N. Stein
500 West Horror Avenue
El Paso, TX 79968-0526
911-747-6258
6 September 2015
Ms. Isabel Quintero
c/o Cinco Puntos Press
701 Texas Avenue
El Paso, TX 79901-1421
Dear Ms. Quintero: (Notice the standard use of a colon after the greeting, title, and surname.)
Introductory Paragraph: Use this paragraph to explain your purpose for writing the author and indicate a brief background. Please do not write “My name is . . .” (It is unnecessary to state that this is a class assignment.) This paragraph should probably include 4–5 sentences.
Second Paragraph: Notice the spacing and lack of indentations in this format. This modern business letter style is called block format, or justified. Use single-spacing for paragraphs, and leave an extra space between paragraphs. This second paragraph can include supporting details or additional information about why you are writing to the author. A length of 6–7 sentences is a good guide for a second paragraph.
Third Paragraph: Notice the spacing and lack of indentations in this format. This modern business letter style is called block format, or justified. Use single-spacing for paragraphs, and leave an extra space between paragraphs. This third paragraph can include a specific passage from the novel that was most relevant to you that you’d like to highlight to the author. A length of 6–7 sentences is a good guide for a third paragraph.
Concluding Paragraph: Summarize your earlier statements. Provide any additional contact information. Thank the recipient for his or her time. A good length for a concluding paragraph can be 3–4 sentences.
Sincerely, (Other possible closings include “Respectfully” or “Truly Yours”) (Leave 3–4 spaces so you have room to sign your name if possible.)
Frank N. Stein (Type your name)
[As the letter scribe, answer the question on page 3 about this assignment.]
6 September 2015
Dear Dr. Rodríguez:
I grant permission for you to (please MARK with an X):
___ MAIL this letter to Ms. Quintero after the Fall 2015 course grades are submitted.
___ NOT mail this letter to Ms. Quintero after the Fall 2015 course grades are submitted.
Thank you,
[type your name here]
Digital Literacy Narrative
Guiding Quote
Artifacts, or objects,[. . .]are present in everyone’s life. Memories of objects are powerful pulls on identity. [. . .] Objects are handed down, over generations, some brought from foreign trips as mementos.
These objects are special, and they tell stories. [. . .] Artifacts bring in everyday life. They are material, and they represent culture. (Pahl and Rowsell 1-2)
What is a Digital Literacy Narrative (DLN)?
A digital literacy narrative is a reflective story about the elements of literacy in connection with adolescence and young adulthood. The narrative focuses on a particular artifact such as an event, object, or text as well as a personal influence on literacy interests, practices, and habits.
Purpose: The purpose of this assignment is to share and understand perspectives about your literacy life with the elements of literacy, which are: listening, memorizing, noticing, observing, performing, questioning, reading, speaking, thinking (metacognition), YOU, viewing, and writing/wonderment.
Instructions: Your assignment is to create a digital literacy narrative video that provides perspective about a literacy artifact or moment. Include a critical reflection about how your attitudes on literacy or literature have changed to the present.
The video should be between 2 and 4 minutes in length. Be sure to incorporate the following: footage, still or scanned images (photos of book covers, papers, report cards, or other artifacts), voiceover, music, AND text into the video.
The Use of Technology
· Video camera / digital camera / cell phone for shooting footage and photos
· Photoshop for editing images
· iMovie for editing videos
· Additional tools for storytelling
· Vimeo for publishing videos
· Text boxes with details
Evaluation Criteria [15 points total]
1. GUIDING QUESTION: Awareness of purpose and audience for narrative
2. CONTENT: A well-told story with a sufficient amount of reflection on literacy
3. MECHANICS: An application of academic and technical writing standards
4. PRESENTAION APPEAL: Use of Aristotlean ethos, logos, and pathos with technology
5. CITATION AND CREDITS: Use of MLA-style documentation and provides a credits list
Reminder
Your literacy narrative will be evaluated by your professor. It will be uploaded to Vimeo, so please do not share personal information that you do not want to be made public for our course or the general public. Technical assistance is available through the learning technologies team.
Guiding Questions for Your Narrative (choose ONE only)
1. Did your parents and/or teachers read to you when you were young? What kinds of literature did they read to you? What is your earliest memory of this?
2. Which literary character resonates with you and your life? How?
3. Is there an autobiography, novel, poem, play, or story that influenced you in a positive way?
4. Does one person stand out as your literacy sponsor—the person who guided you and encouraged you in your efforts to learn and practice the elements of literacy? Who?
5. When did you begin to read on your own? What sorts of books did you read as an adolescent or young adult?
6. Currently, do you have sufficient access to the print and digital books you want to read?
7. How often do you engage in literacy today? Which literacy practices have you adopted?
8. How did you learn to practice one of the elements of literacy? Do you enjoy it?
9. When did you use the elements of literacy to achieve something significant?
10. How important are your literacy abilities to your life?
11. Do you think your literacy skills, practices, and habit will develop or change in the future? Which ones do you think in particular?
12. Which artifact in particular serves as a symbol of your adolescence or young adulthood?
Work Cited
Pahl, Kate, and Jennifer Rowsell. Artifactual Literacies: Every Object Tells a Story. New York: Teachers College Press, Columbia University, 2010. Print.
A special thanks is offered to the Digital Archives of Literacy Narratives (DALN) at The Ohio State University for their project innovation and for the advancement of literacies.
DIGITAL LITERACY NARRATIVE (DLN): SCORING GUIDE (RUBRIC)
0 Point / ACCEPTABLE
1 Point / GOOD
2 Points / EXCELLENT
3 Points
1
GUIDING, OR ESSENTIAL, QUESTION / The guiding question is not addressed. / The guiding question was not completely addressed. / The guiding question is addressed. / The guiding question is addressed and exceeds expectations.
2
CONTENT / Content is minimal OR there are several literacy-based errors. / Includes essential information about literacy, but there are 1–2 literacy-based errors. / Includes essential knowledge about literacy. Subject knowledge is relevant. / Covers literacy in-depth with details and examples. Literacy-based knowledge is exemplary.
3
MECHANICS / More than four errors in spelling or grammar in the narrative. / Four misspellings and/or grammatical errors appear in the narrative. / Three or fewer misspellings and/or mechanical errors appear in the narrative. / No misspellings or grammatical errors appear in the narrative.
4 PRESENTATION AND APPEAL / Uses font, color, graphics, and effects, but these often distract from the presentation of the content. / Makes use of font, color, graphics, and effects, but occasionally these detract from the presentation of the content. / Makes use of font, color, graphics, and effects to enhance to presentation of the content. / Makes excellent use of font, color, graphics, and effects, to enhance the presentation of the content.
5
CITATIONS AND CREDITS / The information is often incorrect OR there are major errors in formatting, MLA-style guide, and credits list. / Information in almost all MLA-style source citations is correct, and there are minor errors in formatting and the credits list. / Information in all MLA-style source citations is correct, but there are minor errors in formatting and the credits list. / Information in all MLA-style source citations and the formatting is correct with an inclusive credits list.
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