Reading Project Guidelines for ENG 085Phase 1: Take time to find a fascinating, personally relevant topicPhase 2: Read six sources about that topic and jot notesPhrase 3: Hand in your Reading Project Notebook and give an oral reportEnglish 085, College Reading, Fall 2006 Instructor: Dr. Ted Miller Office hours:Office: Walker Hall, Room 241 Monday - Thursday, 3~5, or by appointmentPhone: 796-8597Email: [email protected] Textbooks and supplies:1. Introduction to Critical Reading, 6th edition, by Barnwell and McCraney.2. Cornerstone: Building on Your Best for Career Success, Sherfield, Montgomery, Moody.3. Two spiral notebooks: single–subject, college rule, size 8 inches x 10½ inches4. A folder for loose papers.5. Fifty 3x5 index cards for vocabulary study* You may also want to purchase a portable dictionary—recommended but not required.Course Objectives: In this course you will:1. Improve your reading comprehension.2. Write clear summaries of what you read.3. Make connections between what you read and your own experiences.4. Combine information from several reading sources.5. Read for pleasure and for information.6. Identify and apply a range of study skills and strategiesAssociate Degree Outcomes: The Board of Trustees has determined that al JCC graduates should develop or enhance certain essential skills while enrolled in the college. Several of these Associate Degree Outcomes (ADOs) are addressed in this class, including the ability to: - communicate clearly, concisely, and intelligibly using writing skills - communicate clearly, concisely, and intelligibly using oral skills - comprehend and use information including written and oral forms - think critically- value diversity, and work productively in groupsAssignments and Time managementYou will receive a calendar of readings and assignments. You must do assigned reading and written work before class begins. I strongly suggest you use a planner to map out your week, including when you will do your ENG 085 work. This 4-credit-hour class requires 8 hours of Page 1study time per week. If you have any questions about an assignment, please call me, e-mail me, or visit my office. Please don’t wait until it is time to hand in the assignment to tell me you did not understand it or for some other reason could not complete it.JOURNAL for Introduction to Critical Reading (40% of grade)You are expected to read the assigned works and also to write about them in your reading journal before class on the date listed on your reading schedule. In an 8” x 10½” spiral notebook, write about the works, focusing on three levels of meaning:1. Literal level: Summarize, in your own words, what the words on the pages are saying. Here the focus is on the words of the text. Paraphrase the most important information. A good summary will not leave out leave out any key parts or important ideas. [Example: A tortoise and hare ran a race. The hare started fast but then stopped to rest and fell asleep. The tortoise went slowly but won the race.]2. Interpretive level: Do not continue your summary! For this level, you review the piece of writing and make a guess about what the author’s intentions were in writing this? What lessons is she/he trying to convey? Quote from the text to support your interpretations. Here the focus is on the author’s ideas. The only way to guess what the author’s purpose was is to read between the lines. [Example: The author wanted to teach people the value of steady efforts and the danger of being arrogant and lazy.] 3. Applied level: Relate this piece to your own experience, your own thinking, or other things you’ve read. What does this writing say to you personally? Tell your related stories. Here the focus is on you, your experiences, your ideas. [Example: From 1992to 1998, I was working toward my doctorate degree, a major life goal. I had classmates who were smarter than I, and sometimes that made me lose confidence. However, I completed one assignment at a time, one or two courses at a time, and finally my 200-page dissertation that took two years to write. I won! Some of my smarter classmates did not get the degree.]Start each assignment on the top line of the right-hand page of your notebook. Write to the end of each line and do not skip any lines. Do not copy the questions or long quotes from the book. Hand in the journal at the beginning of class to have your grade recorded. (You will receive a 1.0 for writing ½ page; a 2.0 for writing 1 page; a 3.0 for 2 pages; a 3.5 for 2½ pages; and a 4.0 for 3 pages.) Journals will be collected from time to time. Cornerstone: Building on Your Best (30% of grade)This study skills textbook has lots of questionnaires and written exercises that you can do right in the book. I suggest you do that and keep the book to use as a reference in the future. Besides highlighting key ideas and doing the exercises, you will use your 2nd notebook (not the Introduction to Critical Reading journal) to take notes on the book. Write brief summaries, putting valuable ideas of each section in your own words. This notebook will be a great source of key study tips for you when you take future courses. The 3 components (highlights, exercises, notes) count as 20% of your grade.Toward the end of the semester, you will give a presentation that draws on two of the Cornerstone chapters. Imagine that the audience for your presentation is students getting ready Page 2for college. The purpose is to provide suggestions that will help them be successful. Go online to http://davede70.tripod.com for guidelines and links that will help you complete this project. This project will count as 10% of your grade. PERSONAL READING PROJECT (20% of grade)In addition to the assigned reading, you are to find and read materials on topics of interest to you personally. Locate at least one book, two magazine or newspaper articles, and three web sites. Write down interesting things you learned in the Reading Project section of your notebook. Finally, give an oral presentation. Tell us what you read, what you learned, and what impact this reading may have on your life. This will count as 20% of your grade.VOCABULARY LOG (10% of grade)Keeping a vocabulary log is one way to learn new words, which in turn makes you a strongerreader. You will self-collect a total of 45 words (5 lists of 9 words) that are important to you. As you go about your day, collect words that you do not understand. The