Next Monday I will be giving an Oral Report as my final in Writing 150. I want to be really prepared and do a good job, so I'll start by just brainstorming a few ideas here. The idea that seems the most promising is the one I will work the hardest on and present to the class. This will also be a good way to reflect on what I have learned throughout the semester.
Cite as You Write
This is one of the most important little phrases I will take with me from Writing 150. This made all the difference in my research paper. I found all these wonderful sources, included them, and then closed the tab before taking note of the page number. When it came time to turn in our final drafts, I had no clue how to go back to my original sources and actually put them in my final bibliography. Even though I had RefWorks as a great tool, if I had just made my bibliography as I wrote it would have been a million times easier. To teach the class about this, I could share my experience in writing my research paper, and we could work on writing a mock research paper. I could have a few sources prepared and we could create a bibliography on the board. A good zinger would be to start with a catchy well known acronym like "CTR" and "WWJD." Then write on the board, "CWYW." And ask the class what it could stand for. (Cite While You Write.) This will give them a catchy, memorable acronym to help them remember and keep this principle with them long after this class.
Zingers: Description Exercise
The personal narrative taught me the importance of using good details. They can really make or break a story, because they create the interest. To start off this lesson, I would bring in the actual Hostess Zinger treats and pass them out to the class. This would just be as a bit of a joke to catch attention and provide the "zinger" that is so important to oral presentations. Then we could practice describing the zingers. How do the taste? Smell? Sound? Look? By pushing creativity in this exercise, I could teach the class about the writing skill of using good detail words. I could also use examples from the textbook to provide some examples and create a really good lesson.
Audience
One of the very first things we learned about in this class is audience. We went through the music of different decades and discussed what an audience in each time period would have expected in writing and how they would react to different things. This activity was really memorable and proved the point well. To teach the class about audience again, I could provide examples of different audiences and we could practice writing the same prompt but adapt it for each audience. I could use, a four-year old girl, a teenage boy, and a magazine for elderly people. Something that provides a lot of variety and could spark creativity in the class. The example of how Elder Oaks adapts his writing would be really good to use too, just to remind them of what we have already learned.
Mindful Writing
I think this could be a really good topic for an oral presentation. The textbook is witty, conversational, and I learned a lot from reading it. By discussing it with the class, I will have plenty of material to share and a topic that can actually help them in their future writing. I would specifically cover one skill from the textbook and share how it can help make us more mindful writers. A zinger could be an object lesson where everyone passes a paper around and writes the first word that comes to their head. It will be nonsense! This will show what un-mindful writing looks like. When we are unfocused and unorganized, our papers can be a mess. By taking a little time to add direction, our thoughts can become much more coherent.
I'm excited to give this presentation! I want to do my best, and be entertaining and informative. I think these ideas give me a few good places to start, and we'll see what I actually end up presenting!
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