What’s Really New? This semester I am working on selecting some new poetry to inspire my developing writers. I developed a good list of new poems to consider but selecting the perfect poem for our first week was quite a journey. What process do you use to select your open online texts?
What’s New? I’m teaching advanced expository writing this semester. Currently I plan to use Purdue Online Writing Lab, Writing Commons, The Centrality of Style, and The English Language: From Sound to Sense to support our work with readings from This I Believe and various online essay collections/publications as mentor texts (starting with Longreads). What are your favorite open online texts to teach advanced writers?
This semester my Writing II students have sharpened their rhetorical teeth on games and are now developing their good faith arguments with the help of the Solutions Story Tracker, the BBC Podcast The Inquiry, and TED Talks as well as traditional academic sources. I love how Solutions Story Tracker and the The Inquiry support the inquiry-based argumentation I teach and TED Talks demonstrate how inquiry can be both factual and interesting. I had forgotten how much I love The Inquiry until this week. What mentor texts do you use to support argument writing?
Original post: There are many reasons why instructors should go textbook-free and I share some of those reasons in my blog post Why I Made My Composition Classes Textbook-Free Zones. One year later I have also made my professional writing classes textbook-free and I am so happy with my choice. I teach at a regional state university in the heart of Appalachia so keeping things cost effective for my students is at the top of my list, but I also like how well online texts work with my #HyperDoc lessons and assignments. But perhaps the biggest benefit to me is that going textbook-free allows me to curate my students’ texts for theme and deliverable while still allowing room for student choice. arguments
Writing I
As an introductory writing course, I find the Purdue Online Writing Lab a tremendous resource for format information and general writing advice as well as specific tips for writing tasks. I also rely heavily on Writing Commons to provide both general and specific writing advice for my developing writers. Two sources offer a wide array of mentor texts for my American-Creed themed classes: This I Believe and the Solutions Story Tracker. And of course – there is the American Creed documentary and associated materials. American Creed, This I Believe, and Solutions mentor texts all support my students exploration of the personal values that matter most to them and provide examples of other humans on the same journey.
Writing II
As the second course in our dual introductory writing sequence, I continue to use the Purdue Online Writing Lab and Writing Commons to support writing instruction. I also continue to use This I Believe for mentor texts but shift my focus to include TED Talks and particularly the TED Radio Hour (because themes!). Often I use the audio/video files to introduce an expert or topic then shift to an article written by the expert. Previously I used long-form journalism (see Longform and Longreads) to inform and model students’ formal argument writing, but now I use the Solutions Story Tracker. I also like to use the BBC Podcast The Inquiry to model the conversational, multi-faceted approach to argument I like my students to take. Texts from TED and The Inquiry both offer students access to responsible research-based discussions and the Solutions Story Tracker provides many great mentor texts exploring how other humans are creating values-based solutions to problems. While we absolutely use our library database to locate peer-reviewed and reputable news articles, our thinking and writing always begins with TED, The Inquiry, and Solutions Story Tracker.
Professional Writing
We do not have a professional or technical writing program, so this is very much an introductory course at our institution, but I have found that Open Technical Communication and Technical Writing offer most of the foundational readings I need to support my students introduction to professional writing. I also use Purdue Online Writing Lab to guide students through the most appropriate documentation style for their project (which is tied with their professional and/or personal goals). I do supplement with some blog posts, articles, and videos from industry professionals and/or faculty. In the Fall 2023 class I also added readings from Open Technical Writing, Technical Writing Essentials, and Online Technical Writing.
Morehead Writing Project Institute
I do actually strongly suggest that participants buy one book: Writing Alone and With Others because it sets up the National Writing Project experience so well including advice and prompts for writers as well as tips and strategies for writing groups. However, the majority of our reading is generated by the participants or mined from the amazing array of teacher blogs available to us. One of my goals is always to help teachers develop their own resources and PLN to support their journey as professionals. As they develop their passion projects they may choose to purchase some books, but my hope is that they will develop relationships with others on the same journey. Engaging with teacher bloggers is a great way to find their people.
Poetry
In the Fall 2021 semester I added poetry to my composition classes and this has been so transformative experience for my students and myself that I continue the practice this semester. as I note in Poetry in Comp Class?: “Poetry inspired our thinking and writing. Poetry informed the shape of our narratives as well as the form and function of our language. Poetry inspired us to experiment and play as writers. That’s why I taught composition using poetry.” I lean heavily into the Academy of Poets collection for poems to support the themes and ideas I want my writers to explore but I am also a fan of many spoken word poets. There is a list of the poems I used with my students in the fall semester on the Poetry in Comp Class? blog post and the list is up-to-date into the Fall 2022 semester.
The truth is that I have always hated trying to build my course around a specific text and the older I get the less inclined I am to do so. I love that open source texts allow me to provide the support and inspiration that my students may need while allowing us choice so that each project and each semester is full of lovely new adventures. Can your traditional textbook deliver this much value? Pedagogically, using open source texts has been the right choice for my students and I, but I am also happy that my students don’t need to wait for a paycheck or grant in order to buy class materials. What open source texts do you use with your students? Do you have questions about using open source texts in your classroom?
Open Source by Nick Youngson CC BY-SA 3.0 Alpha Stock Images
