Teaching Freshman Composition

[DisneyLeith]

I know very little about teaching composition, and so I'm wondering if anyone can recommend books that will help a newbie gain some knowledge about navigating this world. Thanks!

[runonsentence]

I've found perusing top-notch textbooks themselves to be very useful, myself. A few that especially come to mind: They Say/I Say, the Allyn & Bacon Guide to Writing (our req'd textbook, but a useful one) add Rewriting (Joe Harris).

The Writing Teacher's Sourcebook is an edited compilation that might help orient you in the field of comp/rhet pedagogy.

[HyacinthMacaw]

Sounds like a fun gig--really! I found Writing with Style by Trimble to be an indispensable resource during my freshman writing class. It is essentially an update of Elements of Style by Strunk & White. All the best!

[RockDenali]

They Say/I Say is awesome. Student's Book of College English is great for grammar and basic organizational skills. If you want to challenge your students, check out Corbett's Classical Rhetoric for the Modern Student. It would probably need to be supplemented with newer readings, but it's a great resource for teaching writing the way the ancient Greeks and Romans taught public speaking and debate. I used it for a year, with good feedback.

Good luck!

[RockDenali]

Oh, and don't introduce too much (or, ideally, any) literature. This will just alienate half of your students. Use non-fiction, business writing, technical writing, scientific articles, public documents, political tracts, et cetera.

[DisneyLeith]

Thanks to everyone who has responded so far! Does anyone have experience with Gary Tate (et al.)'s The Writing Teacher's Sourcebook or The St. Martin's Guide to Teaching Writing?

[runonsentence]

Thanks to everyone who has responded so far! Does anyone have experience with Gary Tate (et al.)'s The Writing Teacher's Sourcebook or The St. Martin's Guide to Teaching Writing?

Yep, I reccommended Tate et al. in my original post!

It's got a really nice overview of comp/rhet pedagogy. I've only read selectively from it so far, but it's a nice introduction to the field.

[DisneyLeith]

Ah, so you did! I quickly got overwhelmed with all the titles I've been sifting through and forgot you had mentioned it already. I just ordered it for $0.01 on Amazon!

Yep, I reccommended Tate et al. in my original post!

It's got a really nice overview of comp/rhet pedagogy. I've only read selectively from it so far, but it's a nice introduction to the field.

[stillthisappeal]

I agree with They Say/ I Say as a choice. In my experience, it's hard to get freshmen to read and apply Graff and Birkenstein's concepts; however, I've had a lot of success adapting their ideas into lesson plans of my own. The Bedford St. Martin's Guide to Teaching Writing is a handy reference, but my version was rather slight on lesson plans. Still, as a new instructor, there is a lot of valuable information on setting up your syllabus, preparing for the first day, introducing basic rhetorical strategies, etc. I believe my version also had a short anthology of readings.

Two additional books to consider: William Zinsser's On Writing Well and Anne Lammot's Bird by Bird.

[stillthisappeal]

If you are responsible for supplying a textbook for your course, you might look at Robert K. Miller's The Informed Argument if you are planning to stress argumentative research writing. The Norton Reader is a good reader for a composition course that stresses narrative and descriptive writing. Both books have supplementary teacher's guides.

[runonsentence]

Lammott is great. Students really respond to (and are comforted by) her candid assessment of her own writing process. If nothing else, a PDF excerpt of "Shitty First Drafts" is a must. I use it almost every term and the majority of my students have responded positively.

[redread]

I also agree with using They Say/I Say--it's probably well worth your while to read this book even if you decide not to teach with it. I wish I'd had it as a first semester instructor, but I only came across it for the first time a few weeks ago. And about introducing literature, I've had great luck thrusting David Sedaris upon my students, and his writing is especially helpful for an example of humorous expository/personal narrative writing. Some students do still balk, but they will do so regardless of how interesting a text may be.

[DisneyLeith]

I think I'm definitely going to pick up a copy of They Say/I Say, and using David Sedaris sounds like a great idea. Does anyone else have any books on teaching writing they really wish they'd discovered earlier?

I also agree with using They Say/I Say--it's probably well worth your while to read this book even if you decide not to teach with it. I wish I'd had it as a first semester instructor, but I only came across it for the first time a few weeks ago. And about introducing literature, I've had great luck thrusting David Sedaris upon my students, and his writing is especially helpful for an example of humorous expository/personal narrative writing. Some students do still balk, but they will do so regardless of how interesting a text may be.

[runonsentence]

I think I'm definitely going to pick up a copy of They Say/I Say, and using David Sedaris sounds like a great idea. Does anyone else have any books on teaching writing they really wish they'd discovered earlier?

Norton gives out TS/IS like candy at conferences, and I got one without even having requested it last year (I think our rep just sent a bunch out, since Russel Durst is in my department). Even though you're not yet matriculated, see if you can get a free desk copy somehow. You shouldn't have to pay for it.

[RockDenali]

I also agree with using They Say/I Say--it's probably well worth your while to read this book even if you decide not to teach with it. I wish I'd had it as a first semester instructor, but I only came across it for the first time a few weeks ago. And about introducing literature, I've had great luck thrusting David Sedaris upon my students, and his writing is especially helpful for an example of humorous expository/personal narrative writing. Some students do still balk, but they will do so regardless of how interesting a text may be.

I'd put Sedaris somewhere in the "non-fiction" category. He's definitely not whom I had in mind when I warned against literature. But you're right: some students will always balk regardless of the readings.

Also, as far as readings go, I had decent success telling students, for on assignment, to find texts related to their major or intended major, then asking them to do presentations about their field to the class, a non-specialist audience: a pseudo tech writing assignment. It worked okay, but it definitely precluded any bitching about readings.

[runonsentence]

I agree on avoiding a literature-heavy reading list, though for me, the biggest concern I have with the readings is whether they make the class more about a topic instead of the actual content (writing). I used writing-related texts last quarter I taught (particularly Lamott, Murray, Susan Wyche). Got some of the most thoughtful end-of-quarter reflections I've ever seen in terms of what the student discovered about writing, and what writing means to the student. They weren't as popular as pop culture reading modules I've used, but you're never going to find universally beloved readings, anyway.

To that end, Writing About Writing is also a great new student text (Doug Downs and Elizabeth Wardle) published by Bedford/St. Martin's. Focuses on genre, discourse communities, and transferrable skills. For us at my institution it's more useful for intermediate composition than first-year comp, but it's something to put on the back burner or to page through and get ideas for readings.

[runonsentence]

Also, as far as readings go, I had decent success telling students, for on assignment, to find texts related to their major or intended major, then asking them to do presentations about their field to the class, a non-specialist audience: a pseudo tech writing assignment. It worked okay, but it definitely precluded any bitching about readings.

I like that idea. Sounds like the kind of work we encourage in our intermediate comp course, where we start talking about discourse communities.