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Context for this case:
Prerequisites:
Cognitive Apprenticeship Features:
Supporting References:
Relevant CA Content Standards |
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(C) Text Reconstruction (Process).
Below I provide a "segmented" version of the student description of the Post-it note. It has the same text (without the scaffolding) as before, but marks (---) divide it into 16 sentence- (or predicate-)sized chunks. The descriptive chunks omit the headings, which appear in a separate short list for you to use as the project outline. Although much shorter than in Exercise 3, the text chunks still contain important signals or rhetorical clues about each chunk's intended role in and contribution to the overall description.
- Print out
the segmented version of the Post-it description and cut it into pieces (of paper) along the marks (---) indicated.- Enlarge
each text chunk on a photocopy machine for easier in-class reading and sharing. Alternatively, use less enlargement and reassemble the description on a big table.- Scramble
the text pieces so that their original order is hidden.- Distribute
the (enlarged) text chunks randomly, one to each student (or perhaps to each pair of students).- Read each piece aloud
and try to find its best place. Use its internal rhetorical features (as mentioned on the guidelines) as clues and the list of headings as an organizing "target" framework, a broad outline of the intended result. Student discussion may perform most of this work in some classes; you will need to provide considerable leadership and encouragement in others since this is valuable but unfamiliar territory for many students. In some cases, even reading their text chunk aloud for classmates to consider may challenge the student who holds it.- Post
each text chunk on a wall or blackboard (with little pieces of tape or Post-it notes) as students decide on its preliminary role and place. But don't tape the paper sheets to each other unless you can easily undo them, because changing the order and grouping is a natural and appropriate part of reconstructing the whole description from its parts.- Adapt
the growing description as new pieces of the puzzle are read and reviewed. As in real life, first guesses may need to be revised to accommodate later arriving chunks of text that clarify the overall structure of the description that you are (re)building.- Review
the emerging whole as the last pieces fall into place, as you would with any puzzle. This approach enables students, cooperatively, to "write" a long, complex technical description using important, real-world design principles (the guidelines), without having to compose each separate piece of prose. It shows "actively" how the pieces of a good description have features that knit together to form a coherent pattern intended to help readers use the text well. Since the students must focus on those same text features to rebuild the description, they come to see why writers bother to deploy them.
Description Case 4: Post-it Note Overview The Paper The AdhesiveStudent version [with scaffolding]:
Description Case 4: Post-it Note
Description Analysis
Overview
A Post-it note is an easy way FEATURE:
to temporarily annotate a WHY:
document by applying a small
square of colorful, durable
paper using a strip of
repositionable adhesive on the
back of the note.
The Paper FEATURE:
WHY:
The most common Post-it notes
are 1.5-by-2-inch rectangles
of nonwhite (usually yellow)
paper available in pads of 100.
However, 55 larger sizes and
shapes (up to poster size) are
also available.
Post-it paper is well suited to FEATURE:
making reliable notes because it: WHY:
(1) does not tear or fray easily,
even after repeated uses,
(2) is highly opaque, resisting FEATURE:
bleed-through from ink or WHY:
felt-tip pens, and
(3) comes in 29 colors that
visually contrast with the
document pages to which the
notes are applied.
The Adhesive
The adhesive that holds the note
to its target page lies in a
half-inch strip along the top
edge of the back of each Post-it.
Post-it adhesive consists of FEATURE:
tiny sticky spheres that do not WHY:
easily dissolve or melt, and
that have about the same diameter
as the paper fibers they touch.
This adhesive therefore combines
several unusual properties.
First, the adhesive is clear and FEATURE:
thinner than standard plastic WHY:
mounting tape.
Second, unlike an adhesive FEATURE:
bandage, it leaves no residue on WHY:
the page to which the Post-it is
applied.
Third, the adhesive is long-
lasting while undisturbed;
Post-it notes will cling for
months (at room temperature)
before falling off their applied
surfaces.
And fourth, the adhesive is also
reusable.
A clean Post-it may be removed
and reapplied in the same or a
different location dozens of
times before the adhesive strip
fails to hold the note to its FEATURE:
target (unlike most tape). WHY:
Art Fry of 3M Corp. first FEATURE:
developed the Post-it note in WHY:
1980.
Student version [segmented, no scaffolding or headings]:
Description Case 4: Post-it Note
---
A Post-it note is an easy way
to temporarily annotate a
document by applying a small
square of colorful, durable
paper using a strip of
repositionable adhesive on the
back of the note.
---
The most common Post-it notes
are 1.5-by-2-inch rectangles
of nonwhite (usually yellow)
paper available in pads of 100.
---
However, 55 larger sizes and
shapes (up to poster size) are
also available.
---
Post-it paper is well suited to
making reliable notes because it:
---
(1) does not tear or fray easily,
even after repeated uses,
---
(2) is highly opaque, resisting
bleed-through from ink or
felt-tip pens, and
---
(3) comes in 29 colors that
visually contrast with the
document pages to which the
notes are applied.
---
The adhesive that holds the note
to its target page lies in a
half-inch strip along the top
edge of the back of each Post-it.
---
Post-it adhesive consists of
tiny sticky spheres that do not
easily dissolve or melt, and
that have about the same diameter
as the paper fibers they touch.
---
This adhesive therefore combines
several unusual properties.
---
First, the adhesive is clear and
thinner than standard plastic
mounting tape.
---
Second, unlike an adhesive
bandage, it leaves no residue on
the page to which the Post-it is
applied.
---
Third, the adhesive is long-
lasting while undisturbed;
Post-it notes will cling for
months (at room temperature)
before falling off their applied
surfaces.
---
And fourth, the adhesive is also
reusable.
---
A clean Post-it may be removed
and reapplied in the same or a
different location dozens of
times before the adhesive strip
fails to hold the note to its
target (unlike most tape).
---
Art Fry of 3M Corp. first
developed the Post-it note in
1980.
---
Annotated version:
Description Case 4: Post-it Note
Description Analysis
Overview
A Post-it note is an easy way FEATURE: overview
to temporarily annotate a WHY: show role
document by applying a small
square of colorful, durable
paper using a strip of
repositionable adhesive on the
back of the note.
The Paper FEATURE: parts
WHY: show role(s), relations
The most common Post-it notes
are 1.5-by-2-inch rectangles
of nonwhite (usually yellow)
paper available in pads of 100.
However, 55 larger sizes and
shapes (up to poster size) are
also available.
Post-it paper is well suited to FEATURE: specifics
making reliable notes because it: WHY: relevant to use
(1) does not tear or fray easily,
even after repeated uses,
(2) is highly opaque, resisting FEATURE: comparison (implicit)
bleed-through from ink or WHY: show role(s)
felt-tip pens, and
(3) comes in 29 colors that
visually contrast with the
document pages to which the
notes are applied.
The Adhesive
The adhesive that holds the note
to its target page lies in a
half-inch strip along the top
edge of the back of each Post-it.
Post-it adhesive consists of FEATURE: specifics
tiny sticky spheres that do not WHY: relevant to making
easily dissolve or melt, and
that have about the same diameter
as the paper fibers they touch.
This adhesive therefore combines
several unusual properties.
First, the adhesive is clear and FEATURE: comparison (overt)
thinner than standard plastic WHY: relevant to use
mounting tape.
Second, unlike an adhesive FEATURE: contrast
bandage, it leaves no residue on WHY: relevant to use
the page to which the Post-it is
applied.
Third, the adhesive is long-
lasting while undisturbed;
Post-it notes will cling for
months (at room temperature)
before falling off their applied
surfaces.
And fourth, the adhesive is also
reusable.
A clean Post-it may be removed
and reapplied in the same or a
different location dozens of
times before the adhesive strip
fails to hold the note to its FEATURE: contrast
target (unlike most tape). WHY: relevant to use
Art Fry of 3M Corp. first FEATURE: omit this!
developed the Post-it note in WHY: irrelevant
1980.
POSSIBLE FIGURES.
Because Exercise 4 has no supporting illustration, you can have students explore text-graphics integration by asking them to:
(A) develop (sketch) one or more possible figures for this description, or
(B) compare the relative merits of several possible figures that you offer for this description.
Because Post-it notes are so visually simple, mere photographs or drawings of the product (as for advertising) add little or no value to the descriptive text. (See the comments about drawn technical art near the start of the Strategy notes for Exercise 2.) Explanatory diagrams are what we need. Consider a drawing that shows the adhesive strip limited to the top back portion of each Post-it sheet (this explains why you can easily remove Post-its: they only stick along one edge, by design). Or consider a drawing that shows the spheres of adhesive clinging to gaps in criss-crossed paper fibers about as big as the adhesive particles (this shows how the repositionable adhesive works). If you or a colleague (or a student) can sketch and share such possible supporting figures, you can focus student attention on why technical art, like technical text, needs careful design to really help readers.
Contact: T. R. Girill trgirill@acm.org