Expository Reading and Writing Course (ERWC)

1. Expository Reading and Writing Course(ERWC) The expository Reading and Writing Course (Erwc) was initially developed as an alternative curriculum for students in grade twelve who had not demonstrated readiness for college-level English courses. The reach of the curriculum, however, is now extending to the middle school grades. The Erwc played a significant role in the development of the writing portion of the common core.

2. Overview of the ERWC and EAP • The Goal: College Readiness • The EAP: Early Assessment Program • Remediation Data for Burbank Unified School District • The ERWC: Expository Reading and Writing Course • The ERWC and the Common Core

3. ERWC Template:Its Use and Creativity Tapping into the Flexibility and creativity of the ERWC Template Developing a Module Grade 10 “ The influence of Technology”

4. Structure of the Module • Reading Rhetorically • Pre- Reading • Reading • Post-Reading • Connecting Reading to Writing • Writing Rhetorically • Revising and Editing • Evaluating and Responding

5. Major Principles to Follow • The Interplay between the Reading of a text and the Writing of an essay • The Process of Writing as Recursive and Dynamic, not Linear Process which Consists of Distinct Units or Steps • The Texts as Research: The Discovery of the Voices of an Ongoing Discussion • The Development of the Habits of Mind which Lead to Complexity, i.e. Depth of Knowledge

6. Topic and Text Selection • Topic Appeal and Focus. Is it: • Appropriate and appealing to the students? • At grade level? • Flexible so that a prompt can be developed for either argumentative essay or expository essay? • Rigor of the Texts. Does they: • Have a reading level that is at grade level? • Provide a variety of perspectives?

7. Text Selection: The Bad Side Non-fiction Literary • “Friends Without Borders” • Facebook as Big Brother • “Obama Warns Teens” • Protecting Personal Info • “Almost Famous” • Acting Bad for Fame • “Teens and Online Privacy” • A Pew Survey • The Cold Equations • Technology’s Inhumanity • The Pedestrian • The Loss of Community • “Intelligent Car” • Evasiveness of Technology

8. Text Selection: The Good Side Non-Fiction • “HS Girls Embrace Tech” • Science Internships • “Teen Millionaire” • Selling a $30 Company • “Teens and the News” • A News Team • “The Good and Bad” • Opinion Piece

9. Key Concept and Vocabulary • Activity One: • From the provided text, select a “key concept” which is not simply a new vocabulary word. • Devise an activity to introduce the “key concept.” • Activity Two: • Select “new vocabulary” from the provided text. • Devise an activity to introduce the “key vocabulary”.

10. Reading and Rereading • Activity Three: • Pick a strategy to establish literal meaning. • Create an activity that makes use of the strategy. • Activity Four: • Create an activity to annotate a selected text. • Focus the annotation on exploring how the text works to inform or persuade: e.g. connotation.

11. Thinking Critically and Negotiating Voices • Activity Five: • Create an activity to annotate a selected text. • Focus the annotation on exploring how the text works to inform or persuade through Logos, Ethos, and Pathos. • Activity Six: • Complete “models of language” to integrate and situate other voices.

12. Concluding Thoughts: Some Tools • The PAPA Square • Editing Checklist • Holistic Scoring Guide • Depth of Knowledge