Today Chimuanya and I reviewed the outline and annotated bibliography for her third essay. In the outline she had written two thesis statements (with different wordings) so we talked through each one and came up with a hybrid version. She was using a couple of vague phrases, so we worked on making them more specific so that her true meaning would be clear to the reader. Overall the outline was in good shape, but there were a few places where her evidence was sparse, so we talked about how she would defend her argument and what evidence she would use. She has found some good sources, and I’m impressed with how she plans to make a multi-faceted argument.
Then we reviewed over some grammar concepts (subject-verb agreement, singular vs. plural indefinite pronouns, and commas) and did some practice exercises that I had prepared in advance. These are all areas Chimuanya struggles with in her writing. The first few exercises I had to assist her with figuring out the correct answer, but by the end she was able to complete them independently. I think doing these grammar exercises will make her more aware of language mechanics as she writes. She said she found them very helpful, and wants to do more next class.