ACHIEVE with Hello, Writer promotes equity and engagement. Achieve puts student writing and revision at the core of your course, with a dedicated composition space that guides and engages students through drafting, peer review, source check, reflection, and revision. Developed to increase student engagement and to support best practices in commenting on drafts, Achieve is a flexible, integrated suite of tools for designing and facilitating writing assignments, paired with actionable insights that make students’ progress towards outcomes clear and measurable—all in a powerful, easy-to-use platform that works for in-person, remote, and hybrid learning scenarios.
- Diagnostics generate personalized study plans that enable students to improve and succeed through targeted instruction, regardless of skill level.
- A series of 4 surveys (one information-gathering survey and 3 checkpoint surveys) aimed at promoting goal-setting and self-reflection at key points across the semester prompt students to be explicit about their study strategies along with their goals, intentions, and confidence—and encourage them to reflect and refine those as needed. Throughout the semester, reports providing key insights into your students’ study strategies, progress towards personal and professional goals, and confidence levels are shared with you via a visual dashboard.
- Fully editable pre-built assignments support the book’s approach, and an e-book version of Hello, Writer is included for convenience.
- Achieve also includes a wide range of activities—all designed to deliver a coherent learning experience and to make prep, practice, and review easy.
Comprehensive coverage of composition topics provides support for students as they complete common assignments such as analyzing a text, arguing a position, and presenting research; as they build rhetorical awareness and develop strategies around writing and revision; as they develop skills as reviewers and editors of their own work and that of others; as they read college-level texts actively and critically; and as they develop useful habits of mind that will transfer to the writing and reading they do in other courses and contexts. The instruction is example driven, relevant, and class tested. Part One, Becoming a College Reader and Writer, introduces the book’s approach and teaches core skills, Part Two, Strategies for Academic Writing, focuses on common assignments students are asked to complete in composition and beyond, and Part Three, Writing with Research, supports students in both Composition I and II by offering an overview of the research process as well as specific advice for developing a research strategy, setting goals, finding sources, evaluating sources, integrating sources, and using the latest MLA (2021) or APA (2020) style.
Flexible, scaffolded instruction allows instructors to tailor support to fit students’ needs. Within each chapter, students progress from basic understanding to gradually more sophisticated understanding of the material with a combination of instruction, examples, readings, and practice. Structured and intentional prompts provide frequent opportunities for discussion, collaboration, and writing practice. Chapters feature the following elements:
- Chapter-opening reflection prompts The book encourages students to activate prior knowledge and reflect on prior reading and writing experiences in “Write Before You Read” prompts. These low-stakes reflections get students thinking about the chapter content in the context of their own experience.
- Invitations to read Most chapters include challenging high-interest and diverse readings, made accessible with apparatus that facilitates understanding and critical thinking. The topics are relevant (e-cigarettes, sex trafficking, voter apathy), and the readings act as writing models, discussion motivators, and opportunities to apply reading strategies.
- DIY prompts Since apprentice writers benefit from hands-on activities, every chapter features 6-10 “Do-it-yourself” activities that reinforce the chapter concepts and, in the case of the chapters in Part 2, help students make progress through a specific assignment. DIY prompts can be completed individually or collaboratively and are designed with learning science in mind--designed to provide an immediate, just-in-time scenario to test a skill or apply a strategy so that the learning sticks.
- Chapter checklists offer quick tools for students to manage their efforts and recall important chapter information.
- “Making it stick” chapter activities Each chapter ends with a collection of optional prompts and practices that teachers can choose to assign to help students apply new learning and make the most of the material.
Substantial reading strategies and practice are integrated throughout the text. In addition to a full chapter on college reading (Ch 2, Becoming a College Reader), Hello, Writer includes readings, reading instruction, and reading activities throughout. The text fosters proficiency in reading nonfiction selections for discussion and analysis, source material for research, peers’ drafts, and students’ own drafts. Diagnostic tests and personalized study plans in Achieve help students establish a baseline and build skills in reading comprehension and critical reading strategies. Twenty-two reading selections in the book, a combination of professional and student-written essays deliver opportunities for students to get inspired, get fired-up, and get thoughtful.
Diversity and inclusion from cover to cover helps students see themselves represented in the writers, ideas, and imagery throughout Hello, Writer. Of the readings and model student writing, ten of the twenty-two are by authors of color; and coverage of visual argument features Oreos "Pride" campaign and the notion that advertisements can sell ideas as well as products. The editing chapter, too, acknowledges that students will come from a range of linguistic backgrounds and will speak and write in many Englishes. Finally, the instructors manual offers support for teaching with a pedagogy tuned in to diversity, equity, and inclusion.
Attention to noncognitive skills helps students become independent learners and adapt to college expectations. Coverage of time management, growth mindset, classroom etiquette, interacting with peers and professors, managing anxiety, and more rests on the assumption that when students fail or give up, it can be for reasons unrelated to academic performance. Hello, Writer acknowledges that fear of failure is real and encourages students to commit themselves to a set of habits that will help them to succeed in an academic environment.
A student-friendly tone and relatable narrative grow out of a veteran classroom teacher’s desire to respect the varied life experiences of the individuals in his class, to make learning challenging yet achievable, and to encourage students’ curiosity, creativity, and commitment in the writing course. David Starkey writes with patience, clarity, and humor--even as he challenges students to adjust their habits, achieve outcomes, produce college-level writing, and--occasionally--surprise themselves.
