CSU's Expository Reading and Template

Throughout my reading of the California State Universities Expository Reading and Writing course Assignment Template, I could not help but notice the sidebar to the left with the blue writing. I noticed how they would tell you the common core state standard that each activity correlated to and met. For example, how "Surveying the Text" meets standard 5a. Analyze the use of text features. I liked how it showed the common core standards for each individual activity presented in this template. It helped to give a 'why' to the reason for each activity in the template. In class, our teacher went over the reasons and gave us the 'why' behind his discussion and the questions for the discussion we had. As teachers, we constantly have to keep in the back of our mind why we are giving a certain assignment, why we are reading a certain book, or why we are doing a certain activity in the classroom. If we can't completely explain in a logical manner why we are doing something then we should reconsider doing it.

There were a few things about the template that I did like. One being that in pre-reading students are to make predictions and ask questions and then in the actual reading they are to reflect on their predictions to see if anything turned out to be true. I also enjoyed the suggested questions to use in each sub-section. These questions that were suggested helped paint the picture of the actual assignment in class a little better for me. Another activity within the template I liked was "Considering the Structure of the Text" (pg.8). Thinking back on my time in grade school, I can't really remember times where we focused on the structure of the text. The visual they give with drawing lines where the introduction ends and where the conclusion begins. Having students decide this for themselves makes them have to look deeper into whatever they are reading. The visual could also help them later down the road when structuring their own writing.

When this template talked about revising and editing, it had an activity called "Rhetorical Analysis of a Draft" (pg.24) which I actually thought was different but could be very effective. "A rhetorical analysis of a rough draft requires the writer to assess writing based on the purpose of the writing, the message of the argument, the needs of the audience, and the ethos the writer adopts." (pg.24). I personally wish I would have started thinking more about my audience and my purpose back in high school. I noticed last quarter when I wrote a narrative paper after not writing one for like three years, it was so difficult for me. I had to take like four steps back and remember why I was writing and who I was writing for. If you don't have a purpose for whatever you are writing, then you should just stop right there because you will not get very far. You have to remember your audience and your purpose.