English 85 Agenda, Day 1

Early Arrivals: Make a name placard and put it on the computer screen so I can learn your names (1)

Do you know your user name and log in?? Can you access the portal?? No worries!! The good people from Information Commons are here to help!

Orientation to Portal and Canvas (2)

Thinking Prompt: What brought you to TCC and this English class? What excites you about English? What scares you about English? (3)

30-Second Speed Dating Interviews: (4)

Ask people why they are here at TCC taking this course. Be sure to write down their names.
Ask them what excites them about English
…and what scares them about English

In groups of 4, write down common themes. Create a visual representation of those themes on chart paper. Gallery Walk (5)

Active reading of Assignment Sheet

Make connections and Talk to the Text (see handout) (6)
Generate questions about the assignment sheet and the course (7)
Taking turns in your group, explain your connections and interpretations to the group (8)

Reflection: (9)

After I read the assignment sheet on my own, my understanding of it and the course was ____________.
After comparing and contrasting my connections and interpretations of the assignment sheet with other people, my understanding of the syllabus and the course ____________________.

Closing – Weekly Routines (10)

Homework:

Complete Interests and Reading Survey – bring to class tomorrow (11)
Using the “Talk to the Text” handout as a guide, thoroughly read the Syllabus. When you are done, complete the Curriculum Embedded Reading Assessment worksheet for the syllabus. (12)

1) Personal Dimension - Names are part of identity

2) Social and Personal Dimensions - Students are working with each other during the orientation to unravel the mysteries of Canvas, and they are personalizing their settings in ways that align with their strengths and challenges, which connects to identity.

3) Personal Dimension - Building identity

4) Social Dimension - Students are working together to create and clarify meaning.

5) Social Dimension - Students are working together to create and clarify meaning.

6) Cognitive Dimension - "Talk to the Text" is a strategy designed to help students monitor their comprehension and question the text.

7) Social Dimension - Students are working together to create and clarify meaning.

8) Social Dimension - Students are working together to create and clarify meaning.

9) Social and Cognitive Dimensions - Students are asked to compare and contrast their understanding when they read the excerpt solo versus when they discussed it with peers. Those discussions fall under Social, while the reflection asks students to be aware of their own thinking, which is cognitive.

10) Knowledge Building Dimension - part of the Knowledge Building Dimension is supporting students in becoming facile with discipline-specific discourses and practices. Highlighting the routines of the class makes visible the practices of the discipline of literacy.

11) Personal Dimension - taking the survey helps students see how much they already know and bring to the table, which supports their identity as discipline readers and writers.

12) Cognitive Dimension - Curriculum Embedded Reading Assessment directs students to monitor their own comprehension while reading.