Integrated Skills 5A

Fall Quarter 2009

Bellevue College

Days: Monday-Friday Office Phone: (425) 564-3404

Time: 1:30 – 3:20 Desk: C-227

Room: C-155 Mailbox: R-230

Instructor: Jay Aller Office Hours: 11:00 – 12:00, M – F

Email: jaller@bellevuecollege.edu or by appointment

Course Description:

This class will help you read and write better. You will read, write about, and talk about a variety of essays and articles. You will also review the grammar and writing skills you already know, learn new grammar and writing skills, and improve them through frequent practice. You’ll also work on developing stronger support for your ideas. The goal is to learn how to use good grammar, good organization, and good ideas to write good essays and summaries in English. Writing assignments will be both homework and timed tests in class.

Materials:

College Writing Skills with Readings, 7^th Edition, by Langan

a 3-ring binder OR a spiral notebook with pockets for organizing your papers

8 1/2 x 11 – inch lined paper for your homework

a memory stick to save your writing

a pen or pencil

a dictionary

Course Goals:

Grammar

• write essays that have almost no errors

Writing

• use the writing process to produce a polished essay, including

- effective introductions and conclusions

- strong thesis statements and topic sentences

- well-developed ideas with ample examples and details

- coherence and unity

- a variety of sentence types

• understand and use various rhetorical styles (comparison, persuasion, etc.)

• paraphrase a difficult passage

• summarize a long passage

• answer essay questions in paragraph form

• edit and proofread

Reading

• increase reading speed and understanding

• read texts of a variety of lengths, styles, and levels or difficulty, and identify:

- main ideas

- a writer’s point of view

- the method of organization

- coherence signals

• respond critically to readings, both in writing and in speaking

• take complete and accurate notes from readings and discussions

Lateness & Absence:

Come to class on time. Students who miss class 12 times will receive a grade of F. Students who miss class 10 or 11 times will receive a grade of D. If you are late more than 5 minutes three times, it will count as one absence.

Homework:

Please turn in your homework on the day it is due. If you are absent, turn it in on your first day back, and it will not be late. If you turn in homework late, the grade will drop 10% each day. Homework is not accepted more than one week late.

Grading:

In order to pass this class, you must receive an average of 75 percent on all the regular class work plus the midterm and final exams. You must show you can write and read well. For your regular class work and midterm, I will add up your scores in these areas:

Timed Essay Tests 50%

Essay Homework 20%

Grammar Homework and Tests 20%

Participation*, Effort, Attendance 10%

* Participation, in this class, means that you ask questions, volunteer answers (not only when I call on you), and share your ideas with me and with your classmates. Don’t be shy about asking questions. If you have a question, your classmates probably don’t understand either, but they are afraid to show it. Be brave and ask. I love questions! It shows you’re thinking.

Your final letter grade will come from this scale:

93 – 100% = A (excellent)

84 – 92 % = B (good)

75 – 83% = C (satisfactory)

0 – 74% = D (repeat class, good effort)

0 – 74% = F (repeat class, unsatisfactory effort)

Tips for Success:

Come to class on time.

Tell me immediately if you don’t understand something.

Ask me for help outside class (how to use a computer, organization, grammar).

Do you homework before class.

Turn in your homework when it is due.

Choose topics that you are interested in.

Write your own essays; DON'T plagiarize (copy) from other writers.

Special Needs:

If you require accommodation (special help) based on a documented disability, have emergency medical information to share (tell me about), or need special arrangements in case of emergency evacuation, please make an appointment with DRC (the Disability Resource Center.) If you would like to ask about becoming a DRC student, you may call 425-564-2498 or go in person to the DRC Program 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 presentation from a previous quarter, using “cheat notes,” and copying answers from classmates’ papers during tests

Plagiarism means using someone else’s words or ideas as your own in writing or 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 another quarter

If you plagiarize:

• the first time, your teacher will work with you so that you understand what not to do

• the second time, you fail the assignment

• the third time, you fail the class and you are reported to the Associate Dean of Student Services. You might be asked to leave the school.

Finally:

I hope that you will learn a lot, make good friends, and enjoy this class. Good luck.

Reading Assignments

Read each article before class on this date, and answer the Reading Comprehension questions.

(The 9/23 assignment doesn’t have questions with it.)

9/23	Introduction to the Readings, 634-640	9/25	How to Make It in College, 734-739
9/29	Three Passions, 641-642	10/2	Shame, 645-649
10/6	I Became Her Target, 653-654	10/9	Smash Thy Neighbor, 660-664
10/13	A Hanging 669-672	10/16	A Legendary Moment, 678-679
10/20	The Professor is a Dropout, 683-689	10/23	The Monster, 693-696
10/27	What’s Wrong with Schools? 700-702	10/30	Propaganda Techniques, 706-711
11/3	Bombs Bursting in Air, 715-718	11/6	Here’s to Your Health, 723-725
11/10	Sleeping Your Way to the Top, 729-731	11/13	College Lectures, 743-746
11/17	Seven Ways to Keep the Peace, 750-757	11/20	In Praise of the F Word, 761-763
11/24	Is Sex All That Matters? 767-770	Thanksgiving—NO SCHOOL
11/30	A Scary Time . . . Daughter, 775-777

Fall 2009 Schedule (Dates might change.)

Mon.

Tues.

Wed.

Thurs.

Fri.

Week 1

sent types

3 clauses

Sept. 21

Reading Assmt.

Week 2

red. clauses

start comb.

Reading Assmt.

Start HW Esy 1

Oct. 1

Reading Assmt.

Essay Test 0

Week 3

NO CLASS

Reading Assmt.

Grammar Quiz 1

Essay Test 1

Reading Assmt.

Due: HW Esy 1

Week 4

Start HW Esy 2

Reading Assmt.

Week 5

Reading Assmt.

Midterm Test 2

Due: HW Esy 2

Grammar Quiz 2

Reading Assmt.

Mid Eval to ISP

Week 6

Reading Assmt.

Week 7

Nov. 2

Start HW Esy 3

Reading Assmt.

Essay Test 3

Reading Assmt.

Week 8

Grammar Quiz 3

Reading Assmt.

NO CLASS

Due: HW Esy 3

Reading Assmt.

Week 9

Start HW Esy 4

Reading Assmt.

Essay Test 4

Reading Assmt.

Week 10

Reading Assmt.

Grammar Quiz 4

Due: HW Esy 4

NO CLASS

Week 11

Reading Assmt.

Dec. 1

Final Test 5

NO CLASS

other final exam