Friday, March 6, 2009

Today, you are going to fill in a marking sheet on your essay, hand in the revised essay (with the rough copy, essay question sheet, short answers to your essay questions and a self marking sheet all stapled behind it: The instructor will hand this self-marking sheet out to you when you have completed today’s assignment), and work on a reading entitled “Parents as People with Children”.

In order to read a piece of literature successfully, one must do the following steps:

1. Look at the title and brainstorm and write down possible meanings of the story you get
from it (right on the page).

2. Using a highlighter (you may borrow from my desk), begin reading, highlighting key
information (5 w’s), words you don’t understand, and putting question marks beside any
“changes” in direction or meaning that seem odd.

3. AFTER EACH PARAGRAPH pause, see if you can remember what you read and, on the
page, paraphrase the paragraph based on what you remember (if you can’t remember, you
were NOT reading actively… read the paragraph over and attempt this again). PAUSING
AND PARAPHRASING AFTER EACH PARAGRAPH GUARANTEES THAT YOU ARE
NOT WASTING TIME…. ALL OF US HAVE READ SOMETHING IN ITS ENTIRETY
AND ENDED UP ON AUTOMATIC PILOT (remembering nothing). This way, you catch
yourself before you REALLY lose time!

4. ON THE PAGE define the words you have highlighted that you do not understand.

5. Once you have finished all of this, summarize in a paragraph on the second page of the
reading, what the essay is about.

6. Also on the page, write down the number of paragraphs in this essay (ie: “4 paragraph
essay”)

7. Now, bring this essay up to the instructor, show that you have done the steps, and ask for
the first set of questions. These, like the reading, are to be completed on your own. It
MUST be handed in by the end of class – whether you are finished or not.

If you have time after completing these steps, you may read or work on that essay that also must be handed in today to avoid late marks. The instructor will have self-marking rubrics (on mustard yellow paper) for you to fill out and attach to the essay.