Welcome To Unit 2 - Introduction to Writing Skills and Strategies Professor: Darlene L. Pomponio, PhD KU121 Introduction to Writing Skills and Strategies

Tonight we will…  Take a field trip to the KU Writing Center  Reflect on the resources in the Center  Discover how the Center can support your success at KU  Discuss the final project  Understand the difference between formal and informal writing

Case Study Reading  Case Study: Leeza is a new student at Kaplan University. All through high school, Leeza struggled with her writing skills.  She knew what she wanted to say, but she could not put her ideas on paper. Because writing frustrated her, Leeza would not complete writing assignments in many of her classes and that severely hurt her grades...

Case Study Continued  Now that Leeza is in college, she wants to improve her writing skills. We will take Leeza on a virtual tour of the Kaplan University Writing Center and show her the different ways that the tools from the Writing Center can help her improve her writing skills in KU 121 and future classes.

10 minute pause  At this time I will pause class for 10 minutes. Please take this time to visit the Writing Center Quickly and to a look around if you haven’t already.  When you return be ready to share how the Writing Center can be useful to you  Here’s how to visit the KU Writing Center…

10 minute pause  At this time I will pause class for 10 minutes. Please take this time to visit the Writing Center Quickly and to a look around if you haven’t already.  When you return be ready to share how the Writing Center can be useful to you

Reflection on the Center 1. Explain how to find the Writing Center using step by step instructions 2. List five topics covered in the materials found in the Writing Center. 3. Describe in detail how tutoring and essay review differ. 4. Identify 2-3 questions you want to ask about the Writing Center and their answers.

Writing Center Definitions  Support – different services offered by the writing center, including the Question and Answer Center, Writing Reference Library, Paper Review Service, and Live Tutoring.  Question and Answer Center – Writing Center service that allows you to ask a writing-related question 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

Writing Center Definitions  Writing Reference Library – An online writing guide with over 250 pages of tutorials that provide help with things like grammar, punctuation, prewriting, and help with all stages of the writing process.  Paper Review Service - – The asynchronous, free process where students submit drafts to the Writing Center and receive feedback from a tutor; this process IS required in Unit 8.

Writing Center Definitions  Live Tutoring – The process of working one on one with a virtual tutor from the KU Writing Center. This process is NOT required in but it is suggested throughout the course  Tutor – A Kaplan University instructor (but not necessarily YOUR instructor) employed by the Writing Center to work with students and provide essay reviews free of charge.  Feedback – Information given by a tutor that will help you improve your writing.

Think-Share Answer the following question: Which tools are you most interested in using and why?

The Final Project – Due in Unit 9  Describe the project  Reviewing the timeline  What happens during Unit 2?

Writing Style: Formal vs. Informal Writing 1. In your opinion, what makes this piece of writing bad writing? 2. How would you improve it? 3. Is an to a friend informal or formal? Why? 4. Is an to a prospective employer informal or formal ? Why?

Tips for Formal Writing  Avoid texting slang (e.g. lol, omg, btw, da)  Avoid emoticons :-p   Use I and not i  USE SPELL CHECK IN MICROSOFT WORD

Tonight we…  Took a field trip to the KU Writing Center  Reflected on the resources in the Center  Discovered how the Center can support your success at KU  Discussed the final project  Demonstrated understanding of the difference between formal and informal writing

Q&A  Any questions? I’ll see you on the Discussion Board. Have a great week!