READ & REACT 5 (ELIUP 073)

Fall 2004

DOUG CLARK                                 Office:  C230

Office phone:  (425) 564-3067           Email:  dclark@bcc.ctc.edu

Office hours:  Monday – Friday 9:30-11:30 and by appointment

Read & React emphasizes the kind of sustained or focused reading that you could encounter in academic classes at an American college or university.  The intent of the class is to bridge the kind of skill building you did in the lower levels on a variety of subjects with longer readings and more in-depth treatment of a single broad subject.  The class will have a strong discussion component. 

· This section of Read & React will focus on When the Emperor Was Divine, a novel about U.S. government treatment of Japanese Americans during World War II.  This novel was chosen as the 2004/05 BCC Reads selection, and, as a result, there will be numerous campus activities to aid involvement in and comprehension of this bitter/sweet story.   

· We will examine both the novel itself and its social and historical context.  You will utilize the library and internet to research one or more components of that context and make reports to the class.

· The core of the class will be the reading you do in When the Emperor Was Divine  and teacher-provided support materials.  Skill building will center on vocabulary development, basic comprehension, and related critical thinking activities. 

LEARNING OUTCOMES:

When the course is finished, students will be able to:

     Skim and scan to quickly locate specific vocabulary, information, main ideas, and organizational elements in a passage.

     Comprehend the details of a passage, understand figurative language, understand the author’s point of view, and think critically about those elements.

· Formulate opinions, make predictions, and draw conclusions about a reading passage and support those positions with information from the readings.

     Independently develop vocabulary, take notes, summarize, and use reference materials.

TEXT

When the Emperor Was Divine  by Julie Otsuka

SUCCESSFUL STUDENTS IN THIS CLASS WILL:

     Plan to attend class every day and arrive on time.  Regular absence or lateness is seen as a sign of a bad attitude.  If you are absent 20% of the time, you cannot pass the class.  If you are absent 25% of the time, you may be dismissed from the program.

     Come to class adequately prepared and participate in class discussions and activities. If you are absent you are still responsible for homework and material covered.    

     Respect the classroom as an English-only environment.

     Ask questions.  The teacher is not a mind reader.

GRADED WORK AND FINAL GRADES

     You will have a midterm examination in week five and a final examination in week eleven.  The final examination will not be given early and students who do not take it will lose one full letter in their final grades.

· You will have weekly vocabulary and reading quizzes and paragraph response writing

· You will have a research project which you will present orally to the class in week 8.

You will receive grades both at mid-term and at the end of the quarter.  Your grade will depend on the quality of your work and your effort.  Your grade will be based on scores on quizzes and tests, quality of your presentations, and the effort you make in participation.

Students With Special Needs:

Students with disabilities who have accommodation needs are required to meet with the Disability Support Services (DSS) office, room B233-G (telephone 425.564.2498 or TTY 425.564.4110), to establish their eligibility for accommodation.  The DSS office will provide each eligible student with an accommodation letter. Students who require accommodation in class must review the DSS accommodation letter with each instructor during the first week of the quarter.