Copyright 2001 © Laraine Flemming.
1. Stress that recognizing patterns can aid remembering, and you give students the motivation to master Chapter 8. The more they can combine individual details into a pattern that links them together, the more likely they are to retain those details in long-term memory.
2. I have always found that teaching paragraph patterns is trickier than it seems. One reason for this is that paragraphs often combine more patterns than I expect. For example, a paragraph that, to me at least, is overtly comparison and contrast will have one sentence that describes a cause and effect relationship. Without fail, several students will focus on that one sentence and ignore the general pattern. For that reason, when I assign a pattern recognition exercise that asks students to locate one pattern per paragraph, I tell them to look for the “primary” or “major” pattern. I also tell them that one sentence does not a pattern make.
3. I like to introduce the notion of mixed patterns as quickly as possible. For those instructors who share that preference, I offer Quiz 2, which includes both single pattern and mixed pattern paragraphs.
4. Although the goal of pattern recognition is introduced on page 361—“The ability to recognize these organizational patterns will help you predict and identify an author’s key points”—this point needs to be heavily emphasized, lest students think that their work is done once they have identified the appropriate pattern.
5. An exercise that points out the value of headings in predicting patterns is useful when teaching this chapter.
6. To teach the elements of paragraph patterns, writing exercises are enormously useful; I always ask students to compose at least one paragraph per pattern.
Last change made to this page: August 13, 2001
Quiz 1: Predicting Patterns
Quiz 2: Looking for Patterns
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