Introducing ERWC 12: Portfolios and Metacognition
Developed by Norman Unrau
Activity 1: Self-Portrait – Reflecting on What You Know About Yourself as a
Reader, Writer, and Learner
ERWC is designed to help you to strengthen your academic preparation for college. The
following questions will guide an initial personal investigation of the way you read and write.
Take three to five minutes per question to brainstorm and write responses to each of the
following six questions.
How do you feel about reading? Can you describe a time when you really enjoyed
something you were reading? What do you know about how you read?
(For example, complete the following sentences: “When I come across a passage that
leaves me puzzled, I usually _______________.” “I ask myself questions about what I’m
reading when _____________.” “I am more successful reading when _______________.”)
How do you feel about writing? Can you describe a time when you wrote something that
you enjoyed writing? What do you know about how you write?
(For example, complete the following sentences: “When I don’t know how to organize my
ideas for a writing assignment, I usually ________________.” “When I try to persuade my
reader to agree with my beliefs and opinions, I usually ________________.” “I am usually
more successful writing when ______________.”)
What would you like to learn about reading and writing? What reading and writing skills do
you feel less confident about and would like to develop?
CSU Expository Reading and Writing Cu
Describe a time when you set a goal for yourself and how you went about working toward
the attainment of that goal. What was the goal? How did you go about trying to achieve it?
What or who helped you to move toward the goal? What got in your way? Are there any
goals you are currently working to achieve? If you were to describe your degree of
confidence in your ability to set and achieve goals you create for yourself, how would you
describe your level of confidence in setting, undertaking, and achieving goals?
We know from research that people tend to prefer to learn in a particular style or mode.
Those learning styles include visual (by seeing), auditory (by hearing), or tactile (by doing).
From what you know of yourself, in which of these three modes do you think you prefer to
learn? Could you provide an example of your learning in that mode? Are there times when a
combination of styles serves your learning best? If so, what are these combinations?
When there’s a discussion in class about a book or topic, do you like to jump in and
participate? Or do you prefer to listen to the conversation and take it in? Are you
comfortable asking questions in class? Or do you prefer to figure things out on your own
even though you may be having trouble understanding a text or an issue? Would you
challenge someone’s opinion in class if you didn’t agree with it or saw the issue in a different
way? Your answers to these questions may help you understand the degree to which you
are the kind of person whose mental energy tends to be directed inward (introvert) or
outward (extrovert). Whether we tend to be more introverted or more extroverted can have a
profound influence on what we prefer to do with our time and how we learn. Given what you
know about yourself, how much of an introvert or an extrovert do you think you are? (It might
help to rate yourself on a scale of 1 to 10, first as an introvert and then as an extrovert, after
which you could explain why you gave yourself those ratings.)
Self-Portrait: Using the information you have gathered about yourself and organizing that
information into a coherent picture, compose a Self-Portrait that represents what kind of reader,
writer, and learner you think you are at this time in your life as a student. Where possible,
provide evidence, perhaps in the form of a remembrance or story from the past, to support
observations you make about yourself as a reader, writer, or learner. When you have completed
your Self-Portrait, share it with a classmate and seek some feedback about your portrait’s
strengths and features of the portrait that might be improved. You will be using this feedback in
Activity 3 to acquaint yourself with ways in which you can monitor your work and progress as a
writer and set goals for improvement throughout the year.
Sample Student Self-Portrait
I know I’m kind of a slow reader. Sometimes I have to re-read sections before I understand them. Quite
often I don’t understand. I can read through several pages without understanding. That’s when it
comes to me that I’ve got to go back and re-read like I’m swimming in some lake and I’ve gotten myself
out into the middle of it but don’t know where I am or where I’m going. When I come across a passage
that leaves me puzzled, I may have to re-read it a couple of times. Sometimes it’s because there are
words in the passage I don’t know, and I have to look them up. I like to learn new words, so it’s not a
grind to have to do that. I like to learn new things, too, and reading is a way of learning new stuff,
fictional or non-fictional. I’d like to learn something about reading that would help me notice when I’m
not following what’s going on sooner rather than later, like before I’m far from ground in the middle of
some lake.
As for writing, I’m an alright writer. Sort of like a frightened squirrel, I’ll dash out ahead of myself and
risk having my ideas run down by sentences that don’t make sense when I re-read them. Then I have to
go back and try to remember what I was trying to say. Sometimes I can’t untangle the words I’ve
written. Sometimes I can, especially if I’m interested in what I’m writing about. When I’m not too
interested in what I’m writing and don’t know how to organize my thoughts, I’ll jot down some ideas
and try to put them in some kind of order so they make sense. At least to me. I don’t feel at all confident
about writing an argument so I guess I’d like to learn more about how to do that.
When it comes to setting goals, I’m pretty terrible. I mean I’ll set a goal for myself, but pretty soon I’ve
lost track of it or become totally uninterested in it. I’ll sit there like Erica, my dog I’ve had since
forever, with no interest in anything but collapsing on the rug in my bedroom. Like one time I had this
goal of saving $400 for a winter skiing trip with some friends. My parents said if I saved that much,
they’d help with the rest. After three months, I saved $38 two weeks before we were supposed to go
skiing. Didn’t go.
CSU Expository Reading and Writing Curriculum 5
If someone asked me how confident I was at setting goals and keeping after them till I reached them,
I’d have to say I won’t put much money on it. I mean, if a bet was involved.
I usually learn best when I can see it in front of me. I mean if my dad is trying to teach me how to put
new bindings on my old skis, it’s probably going to be better if he shows me how to do it first. And then
if I try to do it, there’s a good chance I’ll get it right. Might misplace a screw or something, but I could
always get one of those at the ski shop.
I can be a big, big talker in class if I’m in the mood and interested. If not, I’m a clam. Sometimes I’ll
dive into a conversation, like about some book we’re reading, when the teacher asks us a question
about why some character did something, like why did Juliet fall for Romeo. She knew he was going to
be trouble. Star-crossed, they were. She was so over the top about him that she killed herself. And he
wasn’t even dead yet. I guess I’m a part-time extrovert. More than an introvert, that’s for sure. I’d
much rather go to a party or dance than sit home and read a book. That’s not to say I don’t like to
read. I do.
This isn’t really a self-portrait with lots of careful details. Like one of those Rembrandt self-portraits
we looked at in art class yesterday. There’s lots more to me than I’ve put in this paper, but I’ve only
got one page so it’s a one-page portrait of me at the beginning of the school year. Wow, there’s so
much to fill in.
