Literacy Histories

Day 1

Personal introductions: pass out notecards and ask students to record their
names, pronouns, learning needs, etc. [10 mins.]
Ask students to introduce themselves to a few people near them (name, where
youre from, major, interest in the course, experience with writing) [5 mins.]
Introductions for the full class [10 mins.]
Course introduction: pass out copies of the syllabus, discuss it verbally, and go
over any questions students have about policies, calendar, etc. [15 mins.]
Discuss the concept of the portfolio and the portfolio assessment method by
displaying examples of artists portfolios (projected onscreen; also via Canvas link)
and asking students to discuss them [10 mins.]
[Break]
Discuss the UWP 1 learning outcomes and portfolio rubric: pass out print copies,
ask students to read/discuss them in small groups (encourage them to annotate),
and reconvene as a class [20 mins.]
Distribute printed copies of the guidelines for the writing/research journal and class
blog; review these verbally and field any questions [10 mins.]
Introduce the concept of writing process: define the freewrite; direct students to
freewrite about process (e.g. whats the first thing you do when writing?); lead
this to a group discussion of differing processes, media, genres, etc. [20 mins.]
Pass out print copies of the literacy profile; explain verbally and specify that this is
due the following class (in print or digital form) [5 mins.]

Day 2

Distribute print copies of anonymized class learning needs (also on Canvas);

introduce the concept of community guidelines [5 mins.]
Divide students into small groups and ask each group to come up with two ideas
for the classs community guidelines document [15 mins.]
Act as scribe and record students contributions onscreen during class discussion;
after all suggestions have been made, ask students to consolidate the guidelines
as much as possible [20 mins.]
[Edit the final draft of the community guidelines and post to Canvas]
[Break]
Direct students to discuss and compare their literacy profiles in pairs; later, ask
students to volunteer their thoughts on major similarities and differences [10
mins.]
Discuss as a class: what is literacy? (ask students to think about WIDE in their
responses)
Discuss Ahern: what is the relationship between reading and writing? how does
this connect to literacy? what is annotation? [30 mins. discussion]
Student freewrite on reading practices and class discussion: how do you read
texts for university contexts? (think about connections to todays course readings,
esp. Freire) [15 mins.]
Distribute hard copies of the literacy narrative assignment prompt; ask students to
read/annotate the prompt before the following class; remind students to look online
for literacy narratives to add to our class readings bank as they complete their
reading/assignment for the following class [5 mins.]

Day 3

Divide students into four groups (at random); assign each group a literacy
narrative from todays readings that they must teach the class about [5 mins.]
Questions for groups to consider: what are the components of this literacy
narrative? what topics does it cover? what counts as literacy for this author?
what are the tone and style? what is the medium? what is the authors goal?
Specify that each group must have a scribe and a presenter (these cannot be the
same person)
Group discussion [20 mins.]
Groups present [20 mins.]
Discussion of presentations: what do you know about the genre of the literacy
narrative from the readings weve discussed today? how might you use this
knowledge when you draft your own literacy narrative? (incorporate a discussion
of the literacy narrative assignment) [15 mins.]
[Break]
Invention activity and discussion: freewrite on student literacies (e.g. whats a
significant event in your own literacy history?) [15 mins.]
Active reading/annotation practice: watch an additional video narrative (TBD) as a
class and make annotations; compare annotations in small groups (e.g. what did
you mark, and why? how are you interacting with this digital text?) [20 mins.]
Remind students that I will not teach during our next meeting; our discussion of
literacies should be class-led and should abide by our community guidelines; direct
students to bring at least one question for discussion [5 mins.]

Day 4

After attendance, organize students into two concentric circles (pending classroom
restraints); students in the inner circle can speak to each other, and students in the
outer circle can only take notes on what is said (they will switch places after about
20 minutes) [5 mins.]
Lay out goals for today: to think about the relationship between reading and
writing, to think more about our own literacies, any other student goals [5 mins.]
Ask students to review their annotations and discussion questions; allow
discussion to happen with as little interference as possible [45 mins.]
When it seems that students are done with discussion, ask for permission to
assume the lead
[Break]
Pass out hard copies of a student literacy narrative (TBD); ask students to read/
annotate in groups (e.g. how is this literacy narrative successful? in what ways
could it be improved?) [20 mins.]
As groups share their responses with the class, ask a representative from each
group to make relevant annotations on a class copy of the document (displayed on
the projector) [15 mins.]
Remind students that the annotation assignment is due at our next class meeting;
pass out print copies of the assignment description and field questions [10 mins.]