Things That Work: Final Draft Day

What To Do on Final Draft Days
I like to use final draft days to work on reading comprehension skills, "strong reading," and, time permitting, framing work. I use several different "exercises" to accomplish these goals, though I always begin by having the students proofread the final draft of one of their classmate's papers. This is done with proofreading guide in hand, allowing students to correct typos and grammatical errors. (This takes about 20 minutes.) I then have each student write on the back of the title page of their own paper either what they did to revise their paper or what they think are the strengths and weaknesses of their paper. (5 minutes.) I ask this latter question for the first time about halfway through the semester when the students are more familiar with the language of strong reading and writing and are better able to assess their own work. I've also found that by the fifth paper they are quite astute at identifying their strengths and weaknesses, often anticipating the comments I eventually make. These comments, which I read at some point while grading the paper, give me a sense of what the student thinks they are or should be doing with their writing.

After the students turn in the final paper, I have them turn to the new reading. Together we read a passage or a series of passages from the essay. For example, we might work on the paragraph on "re-vision" in Rich, or we might work on connecting several sections of the Pratt essay. (I've found that students often have trouble following an author's argument as it moves throughout an essay--for example, they don't see Tompkins' argument shift or they cannot connect the various parts of Pratt or Williams. Therefore, if we're reading an essay that has these shifts, I work with the students on recognizing them and making connections within an essay.) After we've read aloud, I have the students spend some time (5 minutes or so) writing down what they think is going on in the reading. They're to put Rich in their own words or make connections between Pratt's discussion of her son's education and the Guaman Poma story. We then spend 15-20 minutes discussing the meaning of the passage(s). I usually prepare a series of questions in case I need to direct the flow of the discussion. For example, I may push them to identity places in the text which support their interpretations or to define a term or phrase more clearly. If need be, I may direct them to other parts of the text. (I spend a total of 30-45 minutes on this exercise.)

Depending on where we are in the semester, I may also spend about 10 minutes working on reading the next assignment --what I call "mapping the assignment." We'll read the assignment together and then I'll have them write for a few minutes on what they think the theme of the assignment is and what they would do to answer it. (I give writing time to assist those students who aren't quick to raise their hands or need more time to think things through as well as to force each student to do some independent analysis.) During this exercise, they're not only practicing textual interpretation (with the assignments text) but also discussing the different steps they'll take In completing the assignment--from rereading an essay to finding and Interpreting citations which support a point. This seems to help them to focus their reading and writing and to feel less overwhelmed by the assignment. I usually only do this mapping once, twice if I find that they're having trouble making sense of the assignments. Later in the semester, then, I spend the extra class time on brainstorming connections between what they've read in class and the essays they've already read. That is, I'll have them individually write down a series of connections they can make between texts, noting where in the text they can find support for these connections. Then I'll put them in groups and they'll choose one or two of the connections and work on paragraph development. That is, as a group, they'll write a paragraph which includes 1) a framing sentence, 2) appropriate citations, and 3) interpretations of the citations used. I might then ask them to brainstorm about the main focus of the paper which would include this paragraph. Finally, I have them share their paragraphs with the class to see if similar connections were made using different textual support or different interpretations. We also might analyze the strengths and weaknesses of the "argument" presented by each group. I'll end final draft days with a reminder that they'll need to come to the next class prepared to discuss the new reading and assignment.

--Karen Zivi