Because it is all too easy to (accidentally) make assumptions about what first-year students know about language, in 2019-2020 my lit and comp type courses will begin with a segment on language, before moving on to sentences, paragraphs, and essays.

Our exploration of language will start by jumping into a story, to help us identify the 8 parts of speech. These parts of speech are the building blocks of —
a. every sentence we think, speak, and write
b. the stories we read and watch
c. the way we describe how stories impact us
d. the critical thinking we do about stories and their impacts

The day 1 prep sheet story is the film Hidden Figures. Maybe we need to help students visualize the ways that language moves through stories like Hidden Figures?