Read & React 4A
Winter Quarter 2008
Bellevue Community College
Days: Monday – Friday Office: C-227
Time/Place: 2:30 – 3:20/L-215 Office phone: (425) 564-3404
Instructor: Jay Aller Office hours: 11:30 – 12:00 Mon. – Fri.
E-mail: jaller@bcc.ctc.edu and other times by appt.
Books: Concepts for Today, Second Edition, by Lorraine C. Smith and Nancy Nici Mare
Holes, by Louis Sachar
Other Materials: a dictionary, a 3-ring binder, and 8 1/2 x 11-inch paper.
Purpose: The aim of this class is to prepare you to be successful in regular college classes, which include a lot of reading, with thinking, writing and discussion about what you’ve read. In this class, you will improve your ability to read, and develop your discussion and critical thinking skills by reading, analyzing, and discussing a large amount of material, including both literary fiction (a novel and stories) and nonfiction (newspaper and magazine articles). Activities will include reading, group discussions, studying vocabulary, research, and writing summaries and responses.
Course Objectives: At the end of this course, students should be able to do these things.
Reading Skills
· Read, understand, and interpret 10-25 pages a week.
· Read to confirm or revise predictions.
· Draw conclusions and make inferences.
· Identify the author’s point of view.
Discussion Skills
· Respond appropriately to questions about readings.
· Clearly express an opinion related to the ideas in a reading.
· Support views with reasons and evidence.
· Expand on ideas in a reading.
· Summarize a reading.
Critical Thinking Skills
· Use inductive and deductive reasoning.
· Identify important similarities and differences in two readings.
· Synthesize information to create ideas and opinions.
Attendance: A large part of this class is discussion, so it is important that you be here. Please come every day, and come on time. Repeated absence or lateness will hurt your grade. If you are absent, call a classmate to find out what you missed and what the homework is. If you are 10 minutes late 3 times, it counts as one absence. If you are absent 10 times, you will receive a D. If you are absent 12 times, you will receive an F. Lateness counts.
Course Assignments and Activities:
1. The most important part of this class is to do all the reading. To make sure this is happening, I will give reading-check quizzes. These will be easy if you have done the reading. Sometimes I will tell you about a quiz the day before, but sometimes it will be a surprise!
2. The second most important part is preparation and participation, which includes not only doing the reading, but also thinking about the reading so that you can discuss it. Being prepared also means doing your homework, including vocabulary study and writing summaries and responses.
Homework: You must turn homework in on time in order for it to be considered for a full grade. Late homework will be marked down 10% for each day late.
Grades: Your grade for the class will be based on the following.
Attendance 10%
Reading-check Quizzes 5%
Reading Tests 25% 93-100 = A
Vocabulary Tests 20% 83-92 = B
Literary Circle HW 10% 75-82 = C
Summaries and other writing 10% 0-74 = D (good effort)
Reading Midterm Exam 10% 0-74 = F (poor effort)
Reading Final Exam 10%
Classroom Conduct: Please turn off cell phones in class. Behave appropriately for a college class. Respect other students and the teacher by paying attention when someone else is talking.
Special Needs: If you require accommodations [special help] because of a documented disability, have emergency medical information to share, or need assistance in case of emergency evacuation; please make an appointment with me as soon as possible. If you would like to inquire about becoming a DSS (Disability Support Services) student, please call 425-564-2498 or go in person to the DSS office in B-132..
How
to Pass the Class: (1.) Do all
the reading. (2.)Ask me for help immediately if you don’t understand
something. Don’t wait. I am happy to meet you outside class. (3.) Keep an
organized notebook so that you can find things and more easily remember to do
your homework. (4.) Participate actively. If you’re quiet and shy in an
American classroom, the teacher may think you don’t understand. (5.) Have fun!
Winter 2008 Calendar
|
|
Mon |
Tue |
Wed |
Thu |
Fri |
|
0 |
Dec. 31
|
Jan. 1 |
2 |
3 Placement Tests |
4 Campus Tours |
|
1 Ch. 1-5 |
7 First Day of Class
|
8 Practice Reading Test |
9 |
10 |
11 Literary Circle |
|
2 Ch. 6-8 |
14
|
15 Reading Test 1 |
16 |
17 |
18 Literary Circle |
|
3 Ch. 9-13 |
21 NO CLASS Martin Luther King, Jr. Day |
22 Vocab. Test 1 |
23 |
24 Reading Test 2 |
25 Literary Circle |
|
4 Ch. 14-20 |
28
|
29 |
30 |
31 |
Feb. 1 Literary Circle |
|
5 Ch. 21-27 |
4 Vocab. Test 2
|
5 Midterm Exam— Reading Test 3 |
6 |
7 |
8 Literary Circle |
|
6 Ch. 28-31 |
11
|
12 |
13 |
14 Reading Test 4 |
15 Literary Circle |
|
7 Ch. 32-36 |
18 NO CLASS President’s Day
|
19 Vocab. Test 3 |
20 |
21
|
22 Literary Circle |
|
8 Ch. 37-42 |
25
|
26 Reading Test 5 |
27 |
28 Literary Circle |
29 NO CLASS BCC Professional Development Day |
|
9 Ch. 43-46 |
Mar. 3
|
4 |
5 |
6 Reading Test 6 |
7 Literary Circle |
|
10 Ch. 47-50 |
10
|
11 Vocab. Test 4 |
12 |
13 |
14 Literary Circle |
|
11 |
17 Final Exam—Reading Test 7
|
18 No Reading Class |
19 |
20 |
21 |