Winter 2005, Styling Sentences objectives

Unit objectives

Standards

Curriculum unit

Assessments

Rubrics

Project theme: Curriculum and instruction--Styling Sentences Purpose. The purpose of this project is to develop a supplemental unit on styling sentences. The unit is designed to be used in conjunction with traditional materials in college writing classes. Standards and outcomes are detailed in the standards link above. The intent is to move students toward more sophisticated writing, and the unit may be used in a variety of ways: as an integrated part of a writing class curriculum, as an individual remedial assignment, or as a review in cross-disciplinary studies where much writing is required. The unit assumes the student has had some review of the parts of speech and begins with a short assessment which is linked to a grammar help area. Learning perspective and pedagogy. An empiricist/behaviorist approach breaks down tasks into smaller components for mastery through drill or repetition (Mayes & de Frietas, 2004). Activities often focus on rote memorization; linear, line-upon-line skill building; and immediate feedback. All students move toward the same goal. Mayes & de Frietas characterize it as "learning as activity" (p. 7). In contrast, a cognitive/constructionist approach emphasizes process, and activities may involve experiential learning, modeling, and authentic contexts. Students have opportunities for reflection and feedback. Mayes & de Frietas characterize it as "learning as achieving understanding" (p. 7). This unit begins by emphasizing the components of sentence styling and includes short assessments that provide immediate feedback, characteristic of an empiricist approach. Expert examples provide models for students to imitate, and students move toward the same goal with skill-building exercises. The hypertext environment makes rules and resources available, but not prominent. At the end of each activity, a peer review section shifts to a framework more characteristic of a constructivist approach. The peer review section links to a discussion board, providing opportunities for original work, reflection, and feedback. In this forum, students use rubrics to evaluate their own work and the work of others, and through the comments of others, they gain a deeper understanding of process.

Time frame. The unit could be implemented at any point after a grammar review. The unit begins with a true-false quiz called Grammar check, which simulates the end of a grammar review and begins this unit. The quiz focuses the student on grammar topics relevant to the unit. This unit could be implemented as a stand-alone project, or integrated with other topics throughout a semester. For example, figurative language could be woven into other sections of the writing curriculum that discuss paragraph detail. The unit would also fit well in the writing lab environment. Students could work independently, guided by the writing lab instructor.

Navigation. The links located in the bar toward the top of this page access the following topics: Unit objectives: links to the current page. Standards: provides information on the standards/outcomes attached to the unit design. Curriculum unit: links to the sentence styling unit activities. Assessments: describes the various assessment rationales and techniques used throughout the unit. It also includes the final assessment. Rubrics: displays the rubrics used for the unit.

Bibliography

The bibliography for Styling Sentences lists the full citations for references consulted during the unit design process. References cited in text are linked to this page. Back to the top

Author: Jacalyn Watson, City Univeristy, December, 2004