Exercises & Handouts

Five Things Every College Student Should Know About AI-assisted Writing

Five Things Every College Student Should Know About AI-assisted Writing How is AI-generated text produced? Natural language generators like ChatGPT analyze patterns, language structures, and contextual information using complex algorithms and extensive datasets. Based on this information, they make predictions to generate human-like text based on specific input or prompts, going beyond simple error detection […]

Reflective Writing Activities

All WR courses should offer students regular and varied opportunities for reflection, including personal, metacognitive, and social/systemic reflections that instructors assign as in-class activities and/or for homework throughout the term. Each semester, WR students will choose three of these reflections for inclusion in their cumulative portfolios. Below you will find ideas and examples that can […]

WR 111 Language Presentations

In this activity, WR 111 students work in teams to review a language topic at the intersection of language and power, share it with the class, and practice their oral presentation skills at the same time. Instructors should make sure they have read the Faculty Guide to WR 111.  Objective To work together to review […]

WR 111 Rotating Team Presentations

In this activity, WR 111 students work in teams to explore an assigned course reading in greater depth and practice their oral presentation skills at the same time. Instructors should make sure they have read the Faculty Guide to WR 111 and understand the positioning of this assignment in the semester.  Objective To work together […]

Composing a Multimodal Reflection

Prior to this activity, students need to have some form of written reflections, perhaps looking back at prior writing instruction, looking ahead and setting personal goals for themselves for this course, or otherwise considering their strengths and needs as writers. For this activity, they practice the act of remediation by translating their reflections into the […]

Critical Conversations

In this activity, students work in pairs to create and stage critical interview-style conversations about their research and perform them in front of their classmates. This assignment works especially well near the end of a WR 151 class. Objectives To engage in a vital conversation about our course topic and your research interests; to converse […]

WR 112: Intercultural Literacy, Race, Racism, and Antiracism

Students, thank you for attending the WR 112 Spring 2021 discussion about race, racism, and antiracism! This page contains a series of follow-up activities for you to continue learning more about and reflecting on these important topics. Objective To be more aware of and take more steps toward intercultural literacy (our WR 112 Hub unit), […]

Teaching with Student Journals in WR 111 or WR 112

In this activity, students will examine and analyze prize-winning papers written in WR 111 or WR 112 (or the equivalent) and published in the WR Journal. You might consider doing a shorter, more focused version of this activity in WR 111 when introducing key features of the academic essay, and a longer, more expansive, student-driven […]

Picture Prompts for Online Classes

Instructors may want to use visual prompts to foster discussion, help unify remote and on-campus students, and create a classroom community. Picture prompts can be varied to connect with the course theme. Activity Review the New York Times Learning Network’s “Picture Prompts” series, “144 Picture Prompts to Inspire Student Writing.” On the landing page, there’s […]

Remote Learning Expectations & Etiquette

Overview In our class this semester, we will be using various technologies, including the Zoom video-conferencing platform. Zoom is designed to enhance our educational experience and to help us meet our course goals. However, as with any other tool, technologies like Zoom can also be misused and become a distraction or even an obstacle to […]