WIReD
Writing Instructor Research and Development

Best Practices--Exercises for Students

The following links offer a variety of exercises to peruse. The exercises listed below are grouped thematically. There is some repetition among the offerings; examine the different choices instructors make when constructing response sheets, etc., to guide your own exercises. For privacy's sake, the documents below are password protected. If you need the password, contact Jennifer Stewart.

Getting to Know One Another

Shopping for Questions--a first day exercise

Drafting

Applied Creativity--a critical thinking exercise
Conclusions--describing how to compose an effective conclusion
Developing Thinking--developing a student's critical thinking
Integrating Quotes--detailing different ways to integrate quotes into text--exercise included
I-Search Example Draft--rough draft of one type of I-Search paper--used to discuss revision and development
Leads--offering a variety of ways to begin paragraphs
Paragraphing Exercise--honing students' paragraphing abilities
Song Analysis--using music to teach analysis
Topic Sentences--PowerPoint presentation and assignment

Grammar

Apostrophes--rules and exercises
Comma Usage--rules and exercises
Dashes, Colons, and Semicolons--rules and exercises
Fragments--rules and exercises
Fragments and Runons--PowerPoint presentation and assignment
Fragments and Runons--sentence correction
Pronoun/Antecedent Agreement--PowerPoint presentation and assignment
Pronoun Antecedent Agreement--rules and exercises
Pronoun as Object and Subject--rules and exercises
Runons--PowerPoint presentation and assignment
Runons--rules and exercises
Sentence Combining--rules and exercises
Subject/Verb Agreement--PowerPoint presentation and assignment
Subject Verb Agreement--rules and exercises
Subject/Verb Agreement and Pronoun/Antecedent Agreement--PowerPoint presentation and assignment
Verb Tense and Active/Passive Voice--PowerPoint presentation and assignment

Midterms and Finals

Final Exam--multiple choice exam for W130
Final Exam--reflective in-class essay focusing on student writing
Final Exam--reflective letter to future W233 students
Final Questionnaire Version 2--reflective journal entry focusing on the course as a whole
Midterm Version 2--persuasive response essay--responding to a variety of quotes
Midterm Self Evaluation--reflecting on a student's progress throughout the course

Organization

Argument Outline--detailing the basic components of the argument paper
Handbook Organization Exercise--examining the organizational structure of the student's text on the first day

Peer Response Sheets

Thesis Peer Response--workshop geared specifically toward thesis statements
Title Exercise--helping students generate stronger titles

Research

Annotated Bibliography Handout--detailing and offering an example of the annotated bibliography
Authority List--generating research material from a student's own authority
Exploring a Topic--generating research material for a chosen topic
Paraphrasing--practicing proper use of the paraphrase
Research Plan Sheet--considering audience, purpose, thesis, organization, etc.--can be used for a planning conference

Self Evaluation Sheets

Collaborative Brainstorming--offering students brainstorming opportunities with their classmates
Conference Memo--helping students to attend conferences prepared
Reflective Response--P131--used to tailor the final weeks of P131 to meet students' needs

Style

Candy Day Exercise--highlighting how to make stylistic choices
Conciseness Exercise--offering students the opportunity to revise sentences, passages, and paragraphs for conciseness
Conciseness Exercise (short)--shorter version of exercise above
Impartiality--focusing on helping students become more impartial, academic writers
Passive Voice Exercise--creating more effective detail and stronger essays with active voice
Position Exercise--forcing students to acknowledge and consider their opposition
Clarity Excercise--An excercise to develop businesslike clarity at the paragraph level.
Clarity Excercise 2--An excercise to develop businesslike clarity at the sentence and paragraph level.
Correctness Excercise--An excercise to help students identify the major sentence level errors.

 

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