Syllabus

Teacher Education
07S:155 Approaches to Teaching Writing
Fall, 2009

Instructors: Sunstein, Sonnek, Reimer, Van Horne

Emails: bonnie-sunstein@uiowa.edu

Course Web Site: http:/www.uiowa.edu/~c08n141

Course Description

This course is designed in three layers--the practice of writing itself, the theory and pedagogy of the teaching of writing, and the understanding of how to watch both. One half of our class time will be a collaborative workshop configuration. We will draft, read, share drafts in conferences and response groups, and "publish" the pieces we write in formal "read-arounds." During the other half, we will respond to the readings, the theory, and learn how to work in the classroom with the techniques we are using in the "practice" layer. In short, I hope this course will give you "praxis," theory applied to practice. The two are inextricably tied. One of my teachers, Donald Graves, liked to say, "There is nothing so practical as a good theory." I hope you’ll agree. We try to find opportunities to work with local student writers through the public schools and here at the University. I’ve always maintained that the best way to learn to teach writing is to “go head to head” with another student writer.

Required Readings

A required coursepack of articles, available at the IMU Bookstore--as well as:

Fletcher, Ralph. What a Writer Needs. Portsmouth: Heinemann. 1992.
King, Stephen. On Writing. New York: Scribner: 2000.
Murray, Donald M. The Craft of Revision. fifth edition, Holt, Rinehart and Winston. 2002.
Newkirk, Thomas. The Performance of Self in Student Writing. Portsmouth: Boynton/Cook. 1998.
Strong, William. Coaching Writing. Portsmouth: Heinemann. 2001
Sunstein, Bonnie and Lovell, Jonathan, Eds. The Portfolio Standard. Portsmouth: Heinemann. 2000.
Zinsser, William. Inventing the Truth: The Art and Craft of Memoir. Houghton-Mifflin. 1998.

Focus Standards and Student Assignments

Standards	Student Assignments
C: Planning Instruction	Major Assignment 3: The Praxis "Letter". Students compose an essay synthesizing theory and practice which describes selected feature (s) of a writing curriculum (7-9 pages, with references and acknowledgements). The essay is in the form of a letter to a new English teacher.
D: Instructional Strategies	One-Pagers. Throughout the semester, students write one-page critical analyses of an assigned course reading in which they explore, in depth, an aspect of the teaching of English. Once during the semester each student photocopies the one-pager for the entire class, reads it aloud, and begins the class discussion.
E: Learning Environment	Major Assignment 1: The Reflexive Paper. Students read a variety of theories of the writing process and the teaching of writing and synthesize their knowledge in an essay in which they describe how they can apply certain theories in their classrooms. Students must draw specific connections between theories and strategies and explain why they adhere to the theory (or theories) they have chosen to explore.
G: Assessment	Major Assignment 2: Designing a Writing Assignment. Students work in small groups to design writing assignments that they present to other students in the class. As instructors, these students give feedback to writers throughout the writing process, develop a plan for assessing the assignments that they create, and provide detailed assessments to the students they work with.