Each Flipped Learning Module (FLM) is a set of short videos and online activities that can be used (in whole or in part) to free up class time from content delivery for greater student interaction. At the end of the module, students are asked to fill out a brief survey, in which we adopt the minute paper strategy. In this approach, students are asked to submit their response to two brief questions regarding their knowledge of the module.
In this FLM, students are asked to complete a fill-in-the-blank outline which accompanies all four videos, covering the topics of why, when, and how to use templates in writing. The completed outline will enhance students’ note-taking skills and will serve as a summary of the FLM that they may refer to in the future.
Key Terms
writing as conversation, voice, templates, responding, cohesion, formal & informal discourse, metacommentary, revising, academic contexts
Module Overview
- The They Say/I Say Concept
- What Templates Are and Why It’s a Good Idea to Use Them
- Summarizing and Quoting the Words of Others
- Responding to the Words of other Authors
- Different Ways of Responding to What You Read and of Distinguishing Your Own Voice
from That of the Original Author
- Dealing with Counterarguments
- Explaining the Importance of the Discussion
- Making your Writing More Cohesive and Engaging
- Using Transitions to Connect Your Ideas
- Considering When to Use Formal and Informal Discourse
- Clarifying Your Ideas by Restating Them in Different Ways (Metacommentary)
- Applying TSIS Methods to Specific Academic Contexts
- Classroom Discussions, Digital Communication, and Critical Thinking
- Writing about Literature, the Sciences, and the Social Sciences
Download Video Transcripts
Worksheet: Integrating Ideas from They Say/I Say into your Writing
Please fill out the following outline while you are watching the videos, and bring a copy to class.
- Templates are: ___________________________________________________________________________
- You can use templates to:
- (1)____________________________________
- (2)____________________________________
- (3)____________________________________
- (4)____________________________________
- Using templates is not considered plagiarism because:
- (Reason 1)_________________________
- (Reason 2)_________________________
- A few characteristics of summaries are: __________________________________________________________
- It’s important to consider the following when quoting: ___________________________________________
- Once you have summarized the author’s ideas, your next goal is to: _______________________________
- Planting a naysayer in your text means to: _______________________________________________________
- You can use __________________________, to organize your ideas in a logical pattern that flows smoothly
and meaningfully from one sentence to the next, and that links one paragraph to the next.
- The term metacommentary means: __________________________________________________________________
Download Outline
Video 1: The They Say/I Say Concept
Integrating Ideas from They Say/I Say into your Writing Online Activity 1
Write a brief summary (5-6 sentences) of the following introductory paragraph to a student’s prize-winning essay. Include quotes from the text and use some of the verbs and quotation templates from TSIS. Please submit your response to your instructor.
Can a person have a harmonious multicultural identity? In her essay “A Gentle Madness,” Humera Afridi explores this question by reflecting on her childhood experience of leaving her homeland, Pakistan, at the age of twelve and how it affects her identity. She realizes that although she has moved to many places later in life, her early memories of Pakistan still follow her and shape who she is. Like Afridi, the García sisters in Julia Alvarez’s novel How the García Girls Lost Their Accents, also leave their homeland, the Dominican Republic, at a young age and struggle to find their true cultural identities. After immigrating to the U.S., the sisters undergo a series of transformations to assimilate into the new environment. Yolanda, especially, strives to be proficient in English and its cultural connotations so that she can fit into American society faster and establish a new “self.” However, her eagerness to consume American culture through English has trapped her between the two cultures. By examining the connection between language and identity, we can gain a bigger picture of the globalization of English and analyze its effects on non-English speakers. Learning English has helped Americanize Yolanda to some extent, but it fails to give her a sense of belonging in the U.S. because, like Afridi, she is unable to leave her roots behind.
“How the García Girls Lost Their Accents: Yolanda’s Struggle with Identity,” by Jiani Shen
WR Issue 8, 2015-2016 Prize Essay Award for WR112
Video 2: Responding to the Words of other Authors
Integrating Ideas from They Say/I Say into your Writing Online Activity 2
Choose 1-2 paragraph(s) from one of the readings in the back of They Say/I Say. Use templates to identify cases in which the author agrees or disagrees with others, as well as instances in which you agree/disagree/etc. Submit two of your examples to your instructor.
Video 3: Making your Writing More Cohesive and Engaging
Integrating Ideas from They Say/I Say into your Writing Online Activity 3
Complete each of the following metacommentary templates in any way that makes sense (Please number your responses and type the entire sentence for each. Submit your response to your instructor.
- In making a case for the medical use of marijuana, I am not saying that _________.
- But my argument will do more than prove that one particular industrial chemical has certain toxic
properties. In this article, I will also _________.
- My point about the national obsession with sports reinforces the belief held by many _________ that
_________.
- I believe, therefore, that the war is completely unjustified. But let me back up and explain how I arrived
at this conclusion: _________. In this way, I came to believe that this war is a big mistake.
Video 4: Applying TSIS Methods to Specific Academic Contexts
Integrating Ideas from They Say/I Say into your Writing Survey
Please answer the following two questions, and submit the responses to your instructor.
- What was the one most important thing you learned from this module?
- Do you have any unanswered questions for me?
Templates and Verbs for Introducing Summaries and Quotations
Here is the handout on “Templates and Verbs for Introducing Summaries and Quotations” that was referred to in the video for your reference.
Download Handout
Integrating Ideas from They Say/I Say into your Writing In-Class Activity
Divide into teams of 3 or 4 students. Apply the appropriate type of analysis to one of the readings at the end of
They Say/I Say, creating one written response per team. You will then project your response on the projector screen and explain how your team has applied the
They Say/I Say concepts and templates to your analysis.
Download Worksheet
Download Digital Implementation of the Activity
References
Graff, Gerald, and Cathy Birkenstein.
They Say/I Say: The Moves that Matter in Academic Writing, 3rd ed., W.W. Norton & Co., 2017.
