Reading 3A        Winter 2012

 

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

Time:                12:30 – 1:20                                   Desk:                        C-227

Room:              L-222                                            Mailbox:                    R-230

Instructor:         Jay Aller                                         Office Hours:             11:00 – 12:00, Mon.- Fri.

Email:               jaller@bellevuecollege.edu                                               or by appointment

Course Description:

      This class will help you read and understand better by working on specific reading skills in a textbook, by building your vocabulary, and by reading for fun.

Materials:

      • More Reading Power, 2nd Edition, by Mikulecky and Jeffries (ISBN 0-13-061199-9)

      • Penguin Readers:  Love Actually, by Richard Curtis (ISBN 978-1-4058-8226-2)

      • a dictionary (NOT your cell phone)

      • 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 pen or pencil

Course Goals:

      In this class, you will work on these skills:

 

      Scanning     – find specific vocabulary or information in a passage.

      Skimming   – read to get the main idea

                  – read faster

      Comprehensive and Critical Reading

                  – locate answers to specific questions

                  – express an opinion about a passage

                  – identify the author’s point of view

                  – make and confirm or revise predictions

                  – draw conclusions and make inferences

                  – guess vocabulary from context

Study Skills

                  – keep a list of new words to build your vocabulary

                  – use a dictionary to find correct parts of speech, meanings, and usage

                  – use a dictionary to identify syllables for pronunciation and writing

                  – summarize main points from a passage

                  – read and interpret graphs, tables, and charts

Lateness & Absence:

      Please 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.  Being late 5 minutes or more, three times, will equal one absence.

Classroom Behavior:

      I want the classroom to be a nice place to work, think, and speak.  Please respect the other students:  turn off and put away your cell phone in class—no phone calls, no texting, no games.  Don’t talk when someone else is talking.  However, if no one is talking, you may talk to your classmates.

Homework:

      Please turn in your homework or give your presentation on the day it is due.  If you are absent that day, please turn it in on your first day back.  If your homework or presentation is late, the grade will be 10% lower each day.

Vacation Days:

There will be no class on January 16th and 31st, February 20th, and March 1st.

Grading:  In order to pass this class, you must do two things.

      First, you must receive an overall grade of 75 percent or higher.

      Second, you must receive a grade of 75 percent or higher on the Final Exam.  If you don’t pass the final exam, you don’t pass the class.  For your overall grade, I will add up your scores in these areas:

      Participation/attendance/small HW     10%                 Grading Scale:

      Vocabulary journal                            10%                 93-100       A

      Literary circle HW and discussion      10%                 84-92         B

      Chapter quizzes                                 30%                 75-83         C

      Midterm exam                                   20%                 0-74           D (good effort)

      Final exam                                         20%                 0-74           F (unsatisfactory effort)

Special Needs:

If you require accommodation (special help) 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 DRC (Disability Resource Center.)   If you would like to inquire about becoming a DRC student, you may call 564-2498 or go in person to the DRC program office in B132.

Finally, I hope that you will enjoy the class.  I think that if you read, think, talk, ask questions, and share ideas, you will learn a lot and have a good time.  Good luck.  J

                                                                                                                                                           

Vocabulary Journal Homework

Each week, on 8 ½ by 11-inch lined paper, write 20 new words that you learned.  For each word, write

* the sentence (or part of a sentence) where you saw or heard it

* the word

* the part of speech (noun, verb, adjective, etc.), and

* the one correct meaning.

 

Here are some examples.

1   who has also worked on other very successful films like Bridget Jones’s Diary

     successful (adj.)— a successful business, film, product etc. makes a lot of money

 

2   and I would take my father’s twenty-two rifle with me and hide it

     rifle (noun) — a long gun which you hold up to your shoulder to shoot

These are due every week, usually on Monday.

Winter 2012 Calendar (This may change.)

I will announce chapter quizzes a day or two in advance.

 

MONDAY

TUESDAY

WEDNESDAY

THURSDAY

FRIDAY

WEEK 1

Previewing

1/9

1/10

1/11

Late placement & challenge test

Class change deadline

1/12

1/13

Lit. Circle Intro.

WEEK 2

Scanning

 

1/16

Holiday

NO CLASSES

1/17

VJ 1

1/18

1/19

1/20

Lit. Circle 1

p. 1-11

WEEK 3

Skimming

1/23

VJ 2

1/24

1/25

1/26

1/27

Lit. Circle 2

p. 12-23

WEEK 4

Using Vocabulary

1/30

VJ 3

1/31

Prof Dev Day

NO CLASSES

2/1

2/2

2/3

Lit. Circle 3

p. 23-33

WEEK 5

Making Inferences

 

2/6

VJ 4

2/7

2/8

Midterm Exam

2/9

2/10

Lit. Circle 4

p. 34-43

Midterm Grades

WEEK 6

Finding Topics

 

2/13

VJ 5

2/14

2/15

2/16

2/17

Lit. Circle 5

p. 44-53

BC TOEFL

WEEK 7

Discovering Topics of Paragraphs

 

2/20

Holiday

NO CLASSES

2/21

VJ 6

2/22

2/23

2/24

Reading Report 1

WEEK 8

Main Ideas

 

2/27

VJ 7

2/28

2/29

3/1

College Issues Day

NO CLASSES

3/2

Reading Report 2

WEEK 9

Patterns of Organization

 

3/5

VJ 8

3/6

3/7

Practice Final Exam 1

3/8

3/9

Reading Report 3

WEEK 10

Summarizing

3/12

VJ 9

3/13

3/14

Practice Final Exam 2

3/15

3/16

Reading Report 4

WEEK 11

Final Exams

3/19

VJ 10

3/20

Final exams

Writing 1:30

S/L 3:30

3/21

Final exam

Electives

Reading 12:30

EOQ party 1:30

3/22

3/23

Here’s the usual weekly schedule:

Monday (or Tuesday)   Vocabulary Journal is due

Thursday                      Reading Faster Practice

Friday                          Literary Circle/Reading Report

Syllabus Quiz    Just for your information, read the syllabus and find the answers.

1.      Where is Jay's office?

2.      When can you visit him?  (When are his office hours?)

3.      Where is Jay’s mailbox?

4.      Who is the author of Love Actually?

5.      What happens if you are absent 5 times?

6.      What happens if your homework is late?

7.      What happens on January 31st?

8.      What happens on February 8th?

9.      Will you pass the class if your overall grade is 83% and your final exam grade is 73%?

10.    What day is the final exam?