English 085 Calendar: Winter2006what can we learn about racism, discrimination, responding to oppression? Level 3: your experiences with any kind of discrimination—as the one with either more or less power.Poetry Unit Test/Vocab TestMid Semester BreakShort Stories Unit /Vocab TestEssays Unit Test /Vocab TestPersonal Reading Project PresentationsVocabulary Log TestPersonal Reading Project PresentationsEnglish 085, College ReadingWinter 2006Instructor: Ann IsedaEmail: [email protected] and Wednesdays, 12:00 – 2:55 JCC VoTech Center rm.Dear Student,Welcome to college Reading Essentials. This introduction to reading course is a four credit hour course that emphasizes reading comprehension and study strategies to help you prepare for college level classes. This class is set up as a workshop instead of as a lecture class. This means that we will work collaboratively to increase reading comprehension, as well as, strengthen study strategies. By the end of the term, it is my hope that you will read intelligently forinformation gathering and understanding, as well as, for pleasure. Please feel free to contact me with any questions, comments or concerns you mayhave during the term. I’m looking forward to working with you.Respectfully,Ann IsedaTextbooks:1. Introduction to Critical Reading, 5th edition by Barnwell and McCraney2. Cornerstone: Building on Your Best, 4th edition by Sherfield, Montgomery, and Moody3. A small portable dictionarySupplies:1. 1- 3 ring binder w/pockets, loose leaf paper and separators1 section for a syllabus and calendar of assignments1 section for a Critical Reading Journal1 section for a Cornerstone Journal 1 section for a Vocabulary Log1 section for a Personal Reading Project.2. Twenty-five 3 x 5 index cards. (suggested)Course Objectives: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. Increase your vocabulary.5. Read for pleasure and information.6. Develop critical thinking, effective study skills, and strategies.These course components address and/or measure achievement of the above objectives:1. Nelson-Denny Reading Test, given at the beginning and end of the course.2. Reading journals—writing summaries about texts.3. Reading journals—writing about connections between texts and your life.4. Vocabulary logs and test.5. Working through the study skills text, Cornerstone.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 other work before class begins. I suggest that you plan out your week, allotting enough time to complete the assigned work. Generally, you should plan to spend three or four hours preparing for every two hour class. If you have any questions about an assignment, please ask me about them immediately. 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.Specific Course Assignments1) Reading Journal for Introduction to Critical Reading: 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 the reading schedule. In your notebook, you will focus on three levels of meaning:a) 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.b) Interpretive Level: Read between the lines. What are the author’s intentions 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.c) 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.For non-fiction readings, you will be assigned specific writing assignments related to the readings.Works of Fiction should include: Who was the main character? What happened to them or how did they change inthe story? What was 1 main event that occurred? Where did the story take place? The Essays should include:What was the topic and position of the essay? Were you persuaded by the author? Share one argument by the author that you found compelling and why. If the author did not gain your support tell me why not. These will be graded on a 1-4 scale. I will be looking at how well you answered each point (A, B, C), as well as, minor grammar and effort. You are to write a journal entry for every reading assignment unless instructed otherwise. This will constitute 20% of your final grade.2) Journal for Cornerstone: This study skills textbook has a lot 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. One advantage to keeping the book is that you can highlight key parts, which is a powerful reading strategy. If you don’t want to write in your text, you may do the exercises on paper. I would like you to complete the items in your assignments calendar by the dates listed. You will turn in the book at the end ofeach chapter for the written exercises to be graded. There will be a quiz on each chapter that will be included in the comprehensive tests. This will constitute 20% of your final grade.3) Vocabulary Logs: Keeping a vocabulary log is one way to learn new words, which in turn makes you a stronger reader. As you read the selections from your texts, you are to compile a listing of words that you are learning about. Comprehensive Tests will include testing of vocabulary from both books. The more you develop your vocabulary; the easier it will be to advance in college. We will also study pre-fixes and suffixes. You will also self-collect a total of 47 words that are important to you. As you go about your day, collect words that you do not understand. The words might come from a media source, a conversation, a class, or your reading. Do not just copy words from a dictionary of the textbook glossary. For each word, write your guess of the definition based on the context, where you found the word, and the definition in the dictionary. It is best to select words you have heard of before but do not understand and words that you think will be useful for you to know in the future. There will be more