ENGLISH 1010 Lesson Plans 

In 2005, we worked with five Information Literacy Fellows* to develop joint learning goals and lessons, based on our conception of Writing Information Literacy and our 2004 English Composition Needs Assessment

The following activities were designed to be fully integrated with the English 1010 curriculum and the required text, Bruce Ballenger, The Curious Writer (Pearson Longman).

1. Students will define their information needs in order to anticipate what they and their audience need to know and to focus, shape, and organize their ideas and writing. Students will develop and demonstrate these skills by:

• Asking specific questions about their topic of research.
• Exploring and summarizing general information sources on a topic so that they can provide necessary background information and develop a more focused inquiry.
• Revising their research questions based upon the information found throughout the research process.

2. Students will use a variety of sources to explore a topic in order to develop an appreciation of different types of information and their purposes. Students will develop and demonstrate these skills by:

• Identifying the value of different types of information sources for various purposes in their own writing, such as providing background, clarifying questions and issues, and presenting evidence.
• Identifying the differences between primary and secondary sources.
• Using an appropriate range of sources in their writing.

3. Students will evaluate information for its value, relevance, and accuracy in order to develop the critical thinking skills of analysis and self-reflection. Students will develop and demonstrate their evaluation skills by:

• Actively engaging with and questioning the texts they read.
• Identifying the purpose and audience of different information sources.
• Determining whether information is useful for their purpose.
• Selecting information that provides evidence for the topic and using that information for support in their writing.

4. Students will recognize problems in their own research and writing in order to get assistance and further develop their writing and information literacy skills. Students will demonstrate this by:

• Engaging in peer review and participating in class discussions.
• Seeking the help of a librarian, instructor, the Writing Center, and/or their peers.