English
072 Developmental
English (The STEPS Course)
Fall 2010 Item
#0922 Section B
Instructor: Nancy
Eichner
Office: R 230 Phone (message only): (425) 564-4185 Email: neichner@bellevuecollege.edu
Office Hours: By
appointment (usually available Mon. and Wed. before and after class)
Writing Lab: D
204 Reading Lab: D 204
(Free tutors are available at the Writing Lab.)
Weekly Writing Lab Reservation: Wednesday, 10:30 am to 12:20 pm (Bring a thumb drive on
which to save your work.)
Your goal
as a student in “STEPS” (English 071, 072, 073, 074) is to learn as much
English as you can to pass the tests
into English 092 or 093 at the end of the quarter. Don’t be frustrated if this
takes more than one quarter, or even several quarters.
You will not receive a letter grade for
STEPS—you only need a “Cr” (credit) to receive credit. That means you don’t have to worry about
grades. You can concentrate on learning
only. You may work as hard as you want,
and I will work with you as hard as you want me to.
There will be very little stress in
this class; the only pressure will come from within you to learn as quickly as
possible for your own improvement.
Books
and Materials
(Do
not buy your books until I tell you which ones to buy.)
·
All students: The
Impossible Will Take A Little While, edited by Paul Rogat Loeb
·
The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, by Sherman Alexie
·
Non-native speakers: Understanding
and Using English Grammar:Chartbook,
4th ed., by Betty Azar
·
Non-native speakers: Understanding
and Using English Grammar:Workbook,
4th ed., by Betty Azar (Be
sure the answers are at the back of the Workbook.)
·
Native speakers: Sentence
Skills: A Workbook for Writers, Form
A, 8th ed., by John Langan
·
All students: Collegiate dictionary (English/English)
·
Non-native speakers: Good
collegiate dictionary in your own
language/English (computer dictionaries are sometimes not complete enough,
but sometimes they are excellent).
·
1 soft folder with three metal brads
(for your portfolio)
·
Binder with 3 metal rings (to keep your
notes and work in)
Please
remember: Nothing we do in class will be
for a letter grade! Everything we do
will be simply to help you learn.
We will
read essays, stories, and reports, and, possibly, also poetry and songs. We might also attend lectures and watch
movies. We will discuss the readings,
lectures, and movies. We will respond in
writing to the readings, lectures, and movies.
We will do a lot of grammar exercises in class and
at home. We will write essays and
stories, as well as other kinds of assignments.
We will practice organizing, revising, and editing our writing.
·
To help you test your progress, we will
have in-class writing and editing exercises each week. You will retype
the part I correct and hand in that corrected
draft the following week at Lab.
·
You should complete at least one chapter in the grammar
workbook each week. Depending on the
needs of the class, I might ask you to hand in the grammar chapter at the
Writing Lab. People working in the Langan
book are encouraged to work through their entire self-generated program, which
will probably be more than one chapter a week.
You
will check your answers at home by looking them up at the back
of your book. Put a question mark next
to any unclear exercises to ask me questions in class. Asking me to explain what you did not
understand at home is a very important part of grammar learning in this
class.
If
you are working in the Langan book, you will check your Review Test answers
with a group in class. Ask me about
whatever is not clear. Then, take at
least one Mastery Test (in the Reinforcement of Skills part of the book). Check the answers. For a
chapter to be considered complete, you must complete all these steps.
·
You will write three formal
papers. Each paper will have three
drafts (first draft, revised draft and edited draft). You will work in small workshop groups to
help improve your composition and editing (grammar) skills. You will also have individual conferences
with me.
·
You will make 10 vocabulary cards each
week (using the format I give you) and hand them in to me at the Writing
Lab. Flag the words with a post-it note about whose definitions you are
unsure even after looking the words up in the dictionary. I will answer your questions during lab time.
·
You will complete all other assignments
I give you.
You will
not receive a letter grade for this course.
If your work is satisfactory, you will receive a Cr (Credit). If it is not satisfactory, you will receive
an NC (No Credit).
An NC will probably prevent you from
receiving financial aid next quarter.
If you are an international student, an NC will cause problems with
your immigration status.
To receive
a passing grade in the course, you must
1. Turn
in all required work (on time)
2. Receive
an OK or OK+ on all required work
3.
Attend class.
If you are absent more than 10 times,
you will not pass the course. If
you
arrive late or leave early, you will lose attendance credit for that day.
Your credit grade will be based on in-class
writing and editing, work in the grammar workbook, miscellaneous homework
assignments, and formal papers presented
in a portfolio.
Your placement into English 092 or 093 will be based on two skills: writing and reading. You will take a writing test at the end of
the quarter; you will demonstrate your reading level by your Reading Lab work
as well as by reading assignments and your in-class discussion of readings.
If a
special problem causes you to miss class or be late for class, please feel free
to explain the situation to me.
Format
for Written Work
1. Type: Please word process (use a computer to type) all formal papers. If you don’t know how to word process, don’t worry. Go to the Writing Lab (D204) and teachers there will show you how. If you don’t have access to a personal computer at home, you may use the computers in the Writing Lab and Computer Lab (N Building) outside of class time.
2.
Label:
Please put a label in the upper left-hand
corner of an assignment (called the MLA label).
Write the following information on the first page:
Your First and Last Name
STEPs
Eichner
Kind of Assignment (for example, ESSAY
1, First Draft; or, Response to
Ackerman's
"A Slender Thread" in Impossible, p. 22)
Date
·
On the second page and all ensuing
pages, put the following label in the upper right-
hand corner:
Last
Name Page Number [Example:
Tran 2]
3. Staple: Staple
all your papers together BEFORE you get to class. I will not accept unstapled
work.
4. Title: Give each essay or story a title. Center the title. Capitalize the first letter of the first
word and all
important words. Do not use any
punctuation.
5. Margins: Leave margins of about 1 ½ inches on the
sides and at the top and bottom. Most
computer word processors do this automatically when they print, even if the
margins don’t show on the screen.
6. Font
and Size: Use a clear font (Arial, for
example) and size 12 print.
7. Spell
Checker: Use the spell-checker to help
check your spelling. However, don’t rely
on the spell-checker to find all your mistakes.
Proofread all your writing.
8. Grammar
Checker: Do not use the grammar checker on a computer. It is often wrong.
9. Last-Minute
Corrections: If you need to make minor changes after you have printed your
work, make them neatly by hand. Use dark
ink, not pencil.
Because I
have a part-time contract at Bellevue College and must also work elsewhere,
please make an appointment with me if you need to ask questions or need some
extra help outside of class time.
Although my schedule is very full, I will try hard to accommodate your
needs. We might both have to be creative
in order to find an appointment time that will work for both of us. My office address is R 230. If you need to reach me quickly by phone,
please call the English Department secretary (425-564-2341) and ask her to
leave a message for me in my mailbox. If
your message is not urgent, you may leave a message on my machine at (425)
564-2341 or e-mail me at neichner@bellevuecollege.edu
.
Content
Focus
The content of our essay collection, The Impossible Will Take A Little While,
by Paul Rogat Loeb, is the topic of hope in hard times. This author lives in Seattle.
The content of our novel is a young
Native American man finding confidence in his identity in a non-Native
American-dominated world.
ABOUT WORK IN
THE GRAMMAR BOOKS
SENTENCE SKILLS, by John Langan (Native Speakers)
You learn the
concepts by reading the information in a chapter. Do one exercise. Immediately check the answers at the
back of the book. Put a question mark next to whatever you get wrong. Ask me or your study group for an
explanation.
Take the
Review Tests at the end of the chapter.
Check your answers with your study group. Ask me for the correct answers.
Take at
least one Mastery Test for the chapter.
Check your answers by asking me for the answer sheet. Put an X next to whatever you get wrong. Ask me to explain the correct answer.
UNDERSTANDING AND USING ENGLISH GRAMMAR,
by Betty Azar (Non-Native Speakers)
You need two books
by Betty Azar:
1. the
CHARTBOOK
2. the
WORKBOOK
These two books go together. The CHARTBOOK contains all of the rules,
examples and
explanations of the grammar which you practice in the
WORKBOOK.
Read the
rules in the CHARTBOOK. Then, do the
corresponding exercises in the WORKBOOK.
Next, check the answers at the back of the book immediately after each
exercise. Put an X next to whatever you
get wrong. Ask me or your study group to
explain.
A chapter
is complete only after you have followed all these steps: read the rules, do the exercises, check the
answers, ask me for explanations.
ABOUT THE
At the end
of the quarter, you will submit three essays in your Portfolio.
You should
be working all quarter on improving your essays. You will have the opportunity to receive
feedback and help from your writing workshop group during class. Also during class, I will work with you in
individual conferences.
Please use
the tutors at the Writing Lab (D204) for additional assistance:
Making an appointment is a good idea (although not a
requirement).
The FIRST DRAFT of an essay is to be
written as well as you can, but without worrying about grammar
corrections. You will read your first
draft out loud two times to your writing workshop group. Your classmates will give you feedback on the
content (NOT the grammar) of your writing.
What was interesting, touching, pleasing, important? What was NOT clear? Where would you need some more examples or
information? What was confusing? What was effective, and why? What was not effective, and why?
The REVISED DRAFT of an essay is an
improved version of its contents.
Consider the feedback your workshop group and I have given you; use your
own imagination and rethinking of your ideas to help you improve the
writing. This is also the stage of the
writing process in which you work on correct word usage and enrichment of your
written expression.
The EDITED DRAFT is written when you
are satisfied with the content of the essay and want to correct the mechanical
language problems, such as sentence structure, punctuation, and spelling. Try to find your mistakes yourself on your
final revised draft. Then, bring it to
your workshop group and ask for editing feedback. Work together to find and correct mistakes.
Ask me for help in class when necessary.
The edited draft should, then, be the draft you present for grading in
your Portfolio. It is the final draft of
an essay.
Note: Bring 3 copies of a draft on WRITING WORKSHOP
days. The members of
your writing group need to be able to read along as you read your essay out
loud.
If members
of your group are not working seriously enough to satisfy your needs, change
groups! It is your responsibility to get
as much as possible from the feedback opportunities offered you in this
class. If you need help in joining a new
group, come see me.
Essay Format
Each draft
of your essay MUST have a label in the upper left hand corner:
First
and Last Name
STEPS
Instructor: N. Eichner
Essay
#____: FIRST DRAFT
(or—Revised
Draft
or—Edited Draft)
Date
Each essay
draft must be typed, preferably on a computer (word processor), and
double-spaced. The margins should be
about 1 ½ inches all around. (Usually the default margins on a computer
are about this size.) Use size 12
print. Please use a clear print style,
such as Arial.
Also, an
essay or a story always has a title,
which is centered above the first line.
There is no extra space between the title and the first line--it is
double-spaced like the rest of the essay.
Only the first letter of the first word and all the first letters of all
important words of a title are capitalized.
A title is NOT written in all capital letters. There is no underline or other punctuation
marking a title.
ABOUT THE
You will
give me a portfolio of your writing at the end of the quarter. A portfolio is a collection of your work
presented in a formal way.
Here are
the requirements for your portfolio presentation:
1. Use
a soft folder with three fasteners.
Please,
do not put your writing in plastic
envelopes.
Also, do not use a binder with metal
rings, or a folder with a compression strip (they fall apart too easily).
2. On
the cover, print
Writing Portfolio
Student: First and Last Name
STEPS
Quarter and Year
Instructor: Nancy Eichner
College
Name
3. Make
the portfolio easy for me to read through.
·
Put a divider with a tab in front of
each essay.
·
Make the first page a Table of
Contents, giving the titles of your essays in the order you present them.
4. Put
into the portfolio the two essays on which I have given placement
comments
and the third essay, which serves as a kind of test and will have
no
placement comments from me.
DUE DATES
FOR
ESSAY DRAFTS, EXAM, and PLACEMENT
NOTE: Writing Lab
(D204) standing class reservation--Fridays, 10:30 am - 12:20 pm
Essay 1
First Draft
Tues., Oct. 12 Bring 3 copies--Workshops and Conferences
Wed.,
Oct. 13 Conferences continue at
Lab. Work on revising.
Revised
Draft Mon., Oct. 18 Give Nancy a copy.
Tue.,
Oct. 19 Error Analysis
Wed.,
Oct. 20 Editing Workshop at Lab
Edited
Draft Mon., Oct. 25 DUE for placement feedback
Essay 2
First Draft Tue., Nov. 2 Bring 3 copies--Workshops and Conferences
Wed., Nov. 3 Conferences continue at Lab.
Work on revising.
Revised
Draft Mon., Nov. 8 Give Nancy a copy.
Tue.,
Nov. 9 Error Analysis
Wed.,
Nov. 10 Editing Workshop at Lab
Edited
Draft Mon., Nov. 15 DUE for placement feedback
Essay 3
First Draft Tue., Nov. 23 Workshops (no conferences with Nancy)
Revised
Draft Mon., Nov. 29 Editing Workshop
Edited
Draft Thurs., Dec. 2 Due in your Portfolio before the exam
starts
Portfolio
Due Thurs., Dec. 2 Before the exam starts
STEPS Challenge Exam
Thurs.,
Dec. 2 At the Writing Lab--10:30 am -
12:20 pm.
Bring dictionaries and grammar books--use
them.
Placement Fri.,
Dec. 3 Discussed in the
classroom. This is the last class
meeting.