Syllabus for English 080 Reading Essentials, Winter 2009 Instructor: Dr. Ted Miller Office hours in BW 244 (2nd floor, Walker Hall) Email: [email protected] Mon. or Wed., after 3:00, by appointment only Phone: 796-8597 Tuesday, 1-2:30 in Walker Hall, 244 Fridays, by appointment only Textbook and Supplies (1) The Townsend Thematic Reader, by Hayes & McAlexander (2) Tuesdays with Morrie, by Mitch Albom. (3) Spiral notebook: single-subject, college rule, size 8” x 10½” (that’s important) (4) A folder for loose papers. (5) Packs of index cards for vocabulary study (6) Highlighters (7) Some books of your own choosing that you will read for pleasure and tell us about (8) Optional: Words Count, by Laraine Flemming (self-study vocabulary workbook) Course Objectives: In this course you will . . . 1. Improve your reading comprehension. (We’ll test you at beginning at end.) 2. Make connections between what you read and your own experiences. 3. Write clear summaries of what you read. 4. Expand your vocabulary. 5. Combine information from several reading sources. 6. Read for pleasure and for information. (personal reading, text) Associate Degree Outcomes: The JCC Board of Trustees has developed a list of essential skills that all graduates should develop. The Board has said: JCC’s goal is to prepare students to live productive and meaningful lives. Implicit in this goal are efforts to prepare students to: (a) live and work in the 21st century, (b) be employed in situations which will require retraining several times during a productive life, and (c) function in a rapidly changing international society. In support of these guidelines, ENG 080 students will develop critical thinking skills, including the ability to 1. Generate questions about text before and while reading. 2. Recognize bias in a piece of writing. 3. Incorporate new knowledge with old2 Keys to reading comprehension (1) The more you invest time and effort in reading, the more your reading skills will develop. (2) Skillful reading requires vigorous mental activity. Be alert and actively seek out what the author wants to say by asking questions, making guesses and predictions, reflecting on ideas, and drawing on your own knowledge and experience as you read. (3) Pay attention to how the author organizes ideas, noticing titles, headings, bold or italicized words, central themes, patterns, etc. (Doing this also make you a better writer!) Assignments and Time management You will receive a calendar of readings and assignments. You are expected to read the assigned materials and do journal writing and preparation for quizzes before class starts. Plan out your week, allotting enough time to complete the assigned work. You should spend about 4 hours preparing for each 2-hour class. This is how long it will take to read two essays, complete the vocabulary and reading checks, and write in your journal. READING JOURNAL: Townsend Thematic Reader (50% of grade) Your calendar tells you which essays to study for each class—usually two. You will read the assigned works and prepare for quizzes on them. For one of the two, you will also write in your reading journal, and you must do that before class on the date listed. In your 8‖ x 10½‖ spiral notebook, do the following kinds of writing, neatly and thoughtfully: 1. FI (First Impressions): Free write for ten minutes, responding to one of the questions in the text. 2. DQ (Discussion Questions): Respond to any three of the four questions in the text. Restate the question within your answer. Use evidence from the text to support your answer. 3. PA (Paragraph Assignment): Choose one of the Paragraph Assignments (or one of the Essay Assignments) and answer it. Dig deep and use plenty of details and examples. Start each day’s 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. Write your words, not the author’s words and not the words of a classmate. When we read Tuesdays with Morrie, you will have study guide questions to answer, and the same grading criteria will apply: The amount you write affects your grade. You will be graded on quality and also quantity—for the quality part, you’ll receive a 1.0 for writing ½ page; a 2.0 for 1 page; a 3.0 for 2 pages including the PA, and a 4.0 for 3 pages, including the PA.3 Vocabulary and Reading QUIZZES (20% of grade) You will be quizzed on your comprehension of assigned readings. Sometimes you will know about the quizzes in advance, and sometimes you won’t. I recommend that you read all materials twice. To do well on these quizzes, keep in mind the three keys to reading comprehension: (1) invest time and effort, (2) actively seek out what the author wants to say, and (3) pay attention to how the author organizes ideas. Don’t read just to get done, or even just to get a good grade. Read to explore ideas, to think about things in new ways, or even to change your life! Every essay in your text is followed by Vocabulary Check and Reading Check exercises. Part of your homework is to take time to go carefully through those exercises. At the beginning of class you will fill in bubbles on a machine scored answer sheet. Your grade on both comprehension and vocabulary quizzes will be determined by the percentage of correct answers, according to this chart: Total % of points Grade Total % of points Grade 90 – 100 4.0 70 – 74 2.0 85 - 89 3.5 65 – 69 1.5 80 – 84 3.0 60 – 64 1.0 75 – 79 2.5 50 – 59 0.5 PERSONAL READING (20% of grade) Using the online book catalog, or by browsing in the library, find a book that interests you. Read the book and tell us about it. If it is fiction, tell a little about the characters and the story, and why you do or don’t recommend that others read it. If it’s non-fiction, tell us some things you learned and why you do or don’t recommend that others read it. The more books you read and review, the better your grade: One book = 2.0; two books = 3.0; three books = 3.5; four books = 4.0. Based on your Nelson-Denny Reading Test results, I may recommend that you work every week with a reading coach. Working with a coach will help you become a stronger reader, so we will make a contract specifying how much time you’ll spend with a reading coach. This work will contribute to your