Teaching Strategies
Annotation
Annotating and questioning the text enables readers to explore more deeply how a text works to inform or persuade its readers. Students read the text multiple time, with the first being “with the grain” or “playing the believing game” wherein they just define vocabulary and write marginal notations as a sort of outline that identifies the introduction, author’s main idea/stance, arguments, examples, and conclusion. A second reading is done “against the grain” or “playing the doubting game” wherein they use marginal notation to ask questions, note unsupported assertions, logical fallacies, etc.
Critical Thinking/Rhetorical Analysis
Students learn the basic tools of rhetoric: logos, ethos, pathos, and kairos. They use critical thinking skills to conduct thorough analysis of texts by questioning and analyzing the rhetorical choices of the author. They must evaluate the major claims or assertions made by the author as well as the evidence used to support those claims and how they address counterarguments. Students also consider their own reaction to those claims and if obvious content has been omitted. An examination of the author’s background and ability to speak to the topic with authority as well as their use of language and style is evaluated. The tone and trustworthiness of the author is also actively analyzed. The emotional impact of the piece is also explored with a focus on the exact word choices and use of strategies such as humor to determine how they are attempting to affect the reader’s emotions. Lastly students engage in a consideration of the tone and structure of a text’s relationship to the time and place in which the audience receives the message.
Rhetorical Précis
A highly structured paragraph that requires very specific information to convey the author’s thesis, evidence, purpose, and tone or voice. It is written in present tense verbs and requires identification of aspects of the text such as genre, audience, and method of supporting the stance. Both the content and the delivery are forcibly examined by the fill-in-the-blank format that requires careful selection of appropriate verbs and is designed to aid in reading comprehension.
SCARF
Brain based strategies will be employed and David Rock’s SCARF strategy about social domains will inform many of the activities in my learning environment. SCARF is an acronym to remind us that status, certainty, autonomy, relatedness, and fairness are all considerations before your learning environment can be considered emotionally safe and create a sense of connections between my students. Hence, I will strive to avoid unclear lessons which fail to link to learning goals. I will provide clear rubrics of my expectations, but allow for a degree of autonomy and self expression.
SOAPSTONE
This is an acronym to help students conduct a rhetorical analysis of the text wherein they must identify the Subject (topic), Occasion (immediate and larger occasion), Audience (to whom is the text directed), Purpose (speaker’s reason for writing the text), Speaker (assumptions about the character of the speaker as opposed to the author), Tone (attitude of speaker as demonstrated by syntax, language, literary devices, etc.), Organization (how the content is arranged), Narrative Style (how language, diction, etc. are used), and Evidence (source of the imagery). By explicitly identifying and answering questions about each of these categories, students are led to a deeper understanding of the text.
Comments: