Darliin Khahaifa CO#1

My first class observation was with Ms. Sana McHarek’s group 3A composition class. Students spent the class period reading and analyzing a former student's composition in small groups. They also created outlines for their own future compositions. Although the focus of the class was development of writing skills, Ms. McHarek made sure to incorporate reading and speaking practice throughout the period. After reading the sample composition, the class discussed its strengths and weaknesses. Everyone was given an opportunity to share their opinions. Ms. McHarek also explained to me her process for assessing her students' writing assignments. When evaluating first drafts, she focuses her critiques and corrections on content-based problems such as organization of ideas or relevance to the prompt. After these mistakes are corrected, she focuses her assessment of the second draft on their grammar use. This method allows students to improve their writing without being overwhelmed or discouraged by seeing too many mistakes to correct on their paper at one time.