Pedagogy Recommendations
- First-Year Composition by Deborah Coxwell-Teague and Ronald F. Lunsford
- How to Teach Adults: Plan Your Class, Teach Your Students, Change the World by Dan Spalding
- Performing Antiracist Pedagogy in Rhetoric, Writing, and Communication edited by Condon and Vershawn Ashanti Young
- Teaching to Transgress: Education as the Practice of Freedom by bell hooks
- The Anti-Racist Writing Workshop by Felicia Rose Chavez
- The Sense of Style: The Thinking Person's Guide to Writing in the 21st Century by Steven Pinker
- Writing Fiction: A Guide to Narrative Craft, Tenth Edition by Janet Burroway
Supplemental Readings
Here are some supplemental readings to recommend to your students or utilize in your class:
- Concise Guide to APA Style, Seventh Edition
- Elements of Style by William Strunk Jr. and E.B. White
- Gwynne's Grammar: The Ultimate Introduction to Grammar and the Writing of Good English by N.M. Gwynne
- MLA Handbook, 9th Edition
- Writing in Nursing: A Brief Guide, 1st Edition by Thomas Lawrence Long and Cheryl Tatano Beck
- You, Writing! A Guide to College Composition by Alexandra Glynn, Kelli Hallsten-Erickson, and Amy Jo Swing
Fun Prompts
Sometimes, it’s difficult to get students engaged with their writing. Here is a list of interesting prompts for freewrites and assignments:
Narrative
- Write a narrative essay about your favorite color.
- Write about a gift you will never forget.
- Write about a particularly painful injury.
- Who is your family?
Descriptive
- Describe a favorite room from your childhood.
- Describe your first memory.
- Describe one of your cultural traditions.
- Describe a game close to your heart.
Persuasive
- Should students utilize technology in the classroom?
- Should it be okay to keep wild animals as pets?
- Should sports teams be co-ed?
- What is the best book or movie ever written?
Argumentative
- Should healthcare be universal?
- Do you think that people have the right to own a gun?
- Has technology changed our definition of magic?
- Should school lunches be free for all children?
Expository
- If you had to be an animal, which would you be and why?
- Explain the impact of different music genres on society.
- Explain the impact of social media on society.
- Explain how colorism affects certain cultures.
Definition
- What is horror?
- What is a sandwich? What qualifies as a sandwich?
- What is multiculturalism?
- What does it mean to be an American?
Process
- Write an essay teaching an alien from Mars to make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich.
- How do you bathe a (name an odd animal to bate such as a cat or wolf)?
- How do you fight biases and/or stereotypes?
- How do you buy things from the internet without being scammed?
Compare and Contrast
- What are the differences and similarities between communism and capitalism?
- Compare and contrast two different cultures.
- Compare and contrast virtual and face-to-face learning.
- Compare and contrast a book and its movie version.
Cause and Effect
- What are the causes and effects of post-traumatic stress disorder?
- What are the causes of the (current war)?
- What is the impact of online dating on an individual’s life?
- Why did you choose your major?
Creative Writing
Fiction
- For once, the villain doesn’t monologue. After their death, the heroes must figure out the villain’s plans.
- There is a door. What is behind it? Why is it closed?
- A person is brought to a conference with their other selves from alternate universes. Unfortunately, they are faced with the realization that they are the least accomplished version of themselves.
- Start your story with someone breaking an awkward silence at a family dinner.
Non-Fiction
- Everyone’s addicted to something in some shape or form. What is something you can’t go without?
- Write about numbers or colors that have special meaning to you.
- Write about doing something you don’t want to do.
- Everyone’s family has different experiences. What is one memory you have of your family that might be considered abnormal?