Syllabus

COURSE OVERVIEW:

Welcome to our reading skills class, a community of learners at Foothill College.  You are part of a learning community using written texts to gather information, express ideas and master strategies of learning.  Your success in this class is dependent on your determination to succeed, your daily choices and your preparation of work assigned.  If you make good choices you will succeed in this class as well as in life.

Your Daily Choices:

§  Deciding this class is a learning opportunity      

§  Coming to class each day

§  Coming to class on time (plan time to find a parking place)

§  Preparing your assignments (reading/ making marginal notes)

§  Contributing to class discussions

§  Turning in your assignments ON the dates due

Note that this class is intended to prepare you for the type of reading that you will be doing in this academic setting.  We call it “investment reading”---the sort of reading that requires an upfront investment of time that will “pay-off” later at exam time. Your goal in this kind of reading is to get information and organize it so it will be useful to you later.

TEXT:

Our text is a reader available from the University Readers website.  You will be given the link and ordering instructions in class. 

We may also use articles available from the ASFC Smart Shop so stay tuned for more details.

This reader provides insights into popular culture and strategies for “reading” the variety of “texts” you will find in our world today. For example, you will learn how to decode visual images and analyze displays of information.  You will also learn to recognize the subtexts in a variety of media that are calculated to grab your attention.  You’ll explore print, web, and video news, note the differences in succeeding generations, and broaden your definitions of work. You’ll be involved in individual inquiry, group discussion, fieldwork, and web research---in short, all the media you will encounter when you are "reading college" level material.

GRADING:

Your grade will depend on your timely completion of assignments, your class participation, and your preparation of the readings. Your graded work will include:

§  Vocabulary Work

§  Homework Assignments

§  Reading Preparation (marginal notes/concept maps)

§  Mastery Assessments (quizzes, essays, etc)

§  Midterm

§  WRAP (Writing Reading Analysis Papers)

§  Final Exam

§  Class Discussion and Active Participation

You will master the following skills in this class--finding the main idea, recognizing supporting details, developing vocabulary, drawing reasonable inferences, recognizing organizational patterns, and writing summaries and developing syntheses of diverse material. You will also hone critical thinking skills and student habits that create success in college and in life. Grades are determined by a qualitative analysis of your work.  See the Grading Policy handout for details. Note that +/- grades are NOT given as final grades in this class.

IF your grade in the class is an “A” at Week 11, then you do NOT need to take the final!

Alternate Credit:

You must pass English 100 with a grade of "C" to move to the next class.  Students with grades of "D" will re-enroll in English 100. Students who have not demonstrated mastery of the reading skills required in English 100 will receive an alternate credit grade in English 205 and will need to re-enroll in English 100.

ATTENDANCE AND PARTICIPATION:

Your regular and timely attendance in class is also essential to your success.  After TWO absences you may be automatically dropped from the class; with fewer than two absences you will automatically earn an "A" in class participation.  If you are habitually tardy to class, you will also be dropped from the class after five tardies.

Note that if YOU decide to drop the class, then YOU should officially drop via phone or online.  Failure to do so will result in an “F” in the class.  Drops after Friday of Week 8 automatically earn an “F” grade.

SUBMITTING COURSEWORK:

Please follow this Paper Format: All assignment must be titled as assigned (e.g. Inference Scenario) and dated.

Regular assignments can be handwritten but typing is preferred.

WRAPs and other formal writings (e.g. summaries) must be typed, double-spaced.

§  Use 12 pt. font

§  staple your papers in the left-hand corner

§  Do NOT use a plastic report folder.

§  As a header, type your name, class period, and the assignment # and title in the upper right corner of your paper.

§  You must include a header on your papers when you submit them online because the website does NOT label the paper with your name.

LATE PAPERS/ ONE TIME USE No Questions Asked SLIP (NQA)

NO LATE homework is accepted after 11:45 PM of the day the assignment was due.  If you are submitting your paper online you must use the following subject header OR the paper will not be accepted.  Subject Header: LATE type title of the assignment

You have ONE opportunity to turn in graded assignment after the due date.  Use this opportunity with care.  Here are the rules governing this NQA Slip.  Failure to observe these rules will result in failure in the assignment:

§  You must turn in the NQA slip in class or online by 11:45 PM ON THE DAY the assignment is due.

§  If you submit the NQA slip online please send an email to me at arcarosemary@foothill.edu using the Subject Header:  NQA Slip

In any event-----All NQA work MUST be turned in by 11:45 PM by the Friday of Week 10.  This quarter that date is_________________

One Time Only: The NQA SLIP

Copy and paste the following statement into an email to me as specified above.  Remember if you do not follow the directions, your late slip is invalidated.

I am using this slip to turn in the following assignment past the due date.

My name

Name of the assignment

I realize that I must turn in this assignment by 11:45 PM on Friday of Week 10 of this quarter. This quarter that date is_______________.

VOCABULARY WORK

In this class, you are required to learn and will be tested on your knowledge of 24 words taken from our class readings.  You will submit your word entries on the forms provided. Directions will be given in class.

These entries will be checked in the last class of Week 5, Week 7 and Week 11.  You will be tested on those words during the Final.

Entries will be graded for content as well as number.

1.   You must collect 4-5words/ week from the assigned reading for a maximum of 24 words.

2.   Submit each entry in the form given in class.

3.   Note the source of the word—the sentence it is in, the article, author, and page number.

4.   Define it in your own words.

5.   Name the vocabulary strategy that enabled you to understand the meaning of the word and explain how it helped you define the word.

6.   Use the word effectively in a sentence that comments on the source reading.

7.   Be prepared to use your vocabulary collection in your final exam.

The Glossary has an explanation of the assignment and a model of an effective entry for your information.

Practice Entry: 

Word

Source Sentence

Definition

Vocabulary Strategy

Sentence

GRADING RUBRICS

Homework and Website Postings

§  The student will:

·         Complete the assignment or posting by the due date

·         Demonstrate thoughtful analysis of the text or task in the assignment

·         Respond to classmate postings in using the conversacolor strategies

Reading Preparation (Investment Reading Worksheets/IRW)

§  The student will:

·         Cite bibliographic information

·         Apply previewing strategies to text reading

·         Establish a mindset or “schema connection” to the text

·         Annotate the text to demonstrate active reading

·         Identify vocabulary words needing definition and apply context clues

·         Section the text to show development of ideas (content/function)

·         Organize text information in a visual format

·         Complete all of the above by the date due

WRAP (Writing Reading Analysis Paper)

§  The student will:

·         Supply relevant citation information.

·         Capture all main ideas within the reading.

·         Differentiate between major and minor supporting details

·         Paraphrase the text efficiently using correct style

·         Respond to the text with a relevant application or evaluation supported by text references.

Mastery Assessments (tests on the essential skills of the class)

§  The student will:

·         Define the skill to be assessed and describe its application

·         Apply the skill taught to several other texts/situations

Vocabulary Work

§  The student will:

·         Identify 4-5 words unknown to them, from each assigned reading on a weekly basis

·         Submit words as directed ON TIME.

·         Use the assigned format for each posting

·         Demonstrate mastery of those words by using the words appropriately in sentences of commentary about the text.