Winter 2010
Intructor: Carol McKee
Office: R 130 R Hours: 11:30-12:30 / T,W,TH & by Appt.
Phone: (425) 564-4038 Email: cmckee@bellevuecollege.edu
Text: TapestryReading 4, M.E. Sokolik, Heinle & Heinle
A 3-ring binder for keeping and organizing the materials for this class.
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.
One focus of this section of Read and React will be on outside readings of your choice.
These readings must be on the topic of “power”. There are many kinds of power: political power, personal power, physical power, mental power, military power, etc. We will do two readings together on this topic and have several in-depth discussions before you begin your independent reading.
You will do weekly summary reports on your outside reading with your group, and at the end of the quarter, you will write a final essay and make an oral presentation of your idea of power based on your readings and your class discussions. Every final presentation will answer the questions “What is power?” This will be your final exam.
Another focus will be readings in the Tapestry Reading 4 book. These readings are on a variety of topics and will be more skill focused. However, there will be a definite discussion component to these readings requiring critical thinking along with basic comprehension and vocabulary building.
LEARNING OUTCOMES:
When the course is finished, students will be able to:
Reading outcomes
• Confirm or revise predictions made prior to reading a passage
• Draw conclusions and make inferences from a reading
• Identify author’s point of view in a reading
• Analyze fiction through identification of plot, character, setting, theme, style, tone
And language
• Analyze non-fiction by recognizing rhetorical organization, types of support,
Style, tone, and language
Discussion and critical thinking outcomes
• Respond appropriately to questions about readings
• Express an opinion relevant to the content of a passage
• Support views with reasons and evidence
• Extend and/or apply the ideas expressed in a reading to other situations
• Summarize and paraphrase a reading
• Identify significant similarities and differences between situations, characters, and
outcomes
• Synthesize information to create ideas and opinions
• Recognize one’s own biases and values and acknowledge the perspectives of
others
• Use evidence and logic to question and analyze information
• Study skills outcomes
• Find specific materials in the library and on-line
• Evaluate the quality of internet resources for authority, objectivity, accuracy,
currency
Cite sources using an MLA format
EXPECTATIONS FOR CLASS CONDUCT
· You should plan to attend class every day and arrive on time. If you are absent 8 days, you will receive a “D.” More than 8 absences will mean an “F” grade and possible dismissal from the program.
· Three tardies (5 minutes late to class) equals one absence. Absences and tardies will be subtracted from your participation grade.
· You are expected to 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.
· Our classroom is an English-only environment.
· All out-of-class response writings must be typed and in the following format: double-spaced; size 12 font; 1 inch margins; centered title; full name, date, and assignment name in the upper right hand corner.
· Assignments lose 10% of their value per day late. No homework will be accepted more than two days after the due date. All assignments are due AT THE BEGINNING of the class period. All assignments must be in hard copy form. Print before coming to class. Always back up your work.
· Keep all assignments and written work well-organized in a three-ring binder. Keep track of your progress in each area of class.
· DO YOUR OWN WORK! If your instructor believes you have not written your assignment on your own, you will be asked to do it again. Do not have others do your editing for you. Any plagiarized work will be returned ungraded.
· Contact the instructor through phone or email when absent of if you have a question about an assignment.
· If you need extra help, talk to your instructors about coming in during office hours.
· Make-up tests are not given unless you have a note from the doctor or serious extenuating circumstances that prevented you from being present in class. Please talk to your instructor in advance if you know you are going to miss class for any reason.
· The ELI does not give early final exams. Please plan to stay until the last day of the quarter. Students who do not take the final exam will have their grade lowered by one full grade.
· Recommendations will be happily given to students receiving an A or B grade in this class. A three-day notice is needed.
· No cell phones, beepers, headphones, eating or gum chewing in class, please. When you enter the classroom, it is time to prepare your mind for learning. There should be no distractions from the learning environment. Thank you.
· Use college appropriate behavior in the classroom.
· Be positive. J
GRADED WORK AND FINAL GRADES
· 1 final presentation= 90 points
· 8 summary reports = 160 points (20 points each)
· 5 vocabulary and reading quizzes (Tapestry) =250 points (50 pts each)
A= 500-460
B= 459-400
C=399-350
D= below 350 not passing- but completed all assignments
F= below 350 not passing- not all assignments completed
Students with special needs:
If you require accommodation based on a documented disability, have emergency medical information to share, or need special arrangements in case of emergency evacuation, please make an appointment with me as soon as possible.
To inquire about becoming a DSS (Disability Support Services) student, call 425-564-2498 or go to the DSS office in B 132.
Plagiarism and cheating
Students are in ELI classes to learn English and ELI teachers are here to help them. Cheating makes that harder for both the students and the teachers. There are different kinds of cheating: plagiarism, “borrowing” a classmate’s homework (partially or wholly), using an essay or a presentation from a previous quarter, using “cheat notes”, and copying answers from classmates’ papers during tests.
Plagiarism is using someone else’s words or ideas as your own in both writing and oral presentations. It is cheating and is not acceptable in American classes.
Examples of plagiarism are:
·Copying from a Web page, book or article
·Buying papers
·Copying from another student
·Using a friend’s paper from a previous quarter
If you plagiarize:
·First time: your teacher will work with you so that you understand what not to do
·Second time: Fail the assignment
·Third time: Fail the class and be reported to the
Dean of Student Services. You will possibly be asked to leave the school