English 5 – Preparing for Reading II
Jeddy

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 Class website:  http://www.learn.vccs.edu (Blackboard)

 Course Description
Eng 5 is a five-credit course which will help you improve your basic reading skills. Your improved ability to make inferences, draw conclusions, and detect relationships between ideas will help you read critically. This critical reading ability will be applied to graphic aids, a novel, and the Internet.

 Objectives
Successful completion of this course should improve your reading skills as follows:
·   identify the main ideas of texts from a variety of subject areas and formats
·   paraphrase and summarize
·   distinguish fact from opinion and recognize bias
·   distinguish conclusion from supporting material
·   conclude from observation of evidence and inferences
·   identify common writing patterns including illustration, chronological, comparison/contrast, definition, cause/effect and classification
·   recognize connotative and denotative meanings
·   distinguish between intensive and extensive reading
·   employ linear and divergent reading strategies

Course Materials
You are required to obtain the following materials and bring them to each class session.
Ten Steps to Advancing College Reading Skills, 5th edition, Langan
Advancing Vocabulary Skills, Nist and Mohr, 4th edition, short version
And Then There Were None, a novel by Agatha Christie
USB key/flashdrive
 one notebook to hold your coursework

Overview
 This class is scheduled as a HYBRID course.  A hybrid combines traditional classroom work with independent online assignments.  This course includes face to face instruction in the classroom on Mondays and online assignments completed through Blackboard at a location convenient to you during the week.  Each week, the textbook homework and online writing assignment will be posted on the Blackboard website for the course.  You will need to complete the online assignment by the following Monday.  You will also have online reading skills and vocabulary assessments that need to be completed according to the week each chapter is scheduled.  Be sure to check the Blackboard website daily for homework information and special updates.

To complete independent online assignments outside of class, you must have direct access to a reliable computer with Internet Explorer and MS Word.  If you do not have easy access to a computer outside of school, you need to come to campus and use the open computer lab in Waddell to complete your work. Since NOVA uses MS Word as the standard word processing software, you must type your papers in Word so that you can work easily on these papers during class time in the computer lab.
 

Attendance
 ·   Attend all class meetings.

·   Email your instructor before class if you have an emergency.

·   Get information about assignments through Blackboard if you’re absent.

·   If you do not attend class for two consecutive weeks and/or do not submit any assignments for two consecutive weeks, you may be withdrawn from the course.

·   Last day to withdraw without grade penalty is during Week 10.

Participation
·   Actively take part in classwork, group work and class discussions.
·   Complete assigned activities by due dates.
·   Act like a college student.
·   Use computers for classwork only.
·   Don’t use cell phones or any other type of electronic communication devices in class.

Writing Assignments
 You must complete six writing assignments about specific articles from the textbook and the novel.  The names and due dates for each assignment are listed on the schedule and details about each writing assignment can be found on Blackboard.  If you are late turning in assignments, you may not turn in more than two writing assignments per week.  Late first drafts of assignments will not be accepted after Week 11.  All papers must have proper formatting:
·   typed in Word
·   double-spaced
·   an appropriate heading
·   a centered title
·   1 ½ to 2 pages long
 All prewriting and rough drafts must be stapled behind your finished paper for each assignment.

Submitting Papers
 You must follow these steps for completing writing assignments:

1)    First draft:  Submit it to Blackboard by the due date.

2)    Second draft:  Get your paper back during the next class. Revise your paper according to revision comments.  Submit a second draft with all rough drafts and prewriting attached behind the newest draft by the end of class.

3)    Third draft:  Get back your paper again at the next class. Revise your paper according to editing suggestions marked on the paper.  Submit a final copy with all drafts and prewriting attached by the end of class.

Your paper is not complete until you have finished the three drafts, possibly more.

The status of your paper will be recorded on your grade list on Blackboard.

Revise =  a draft that needs revision
 P =   a completed paper

Class Notebook
 Since the class meets only half the time of a typical class, you will need good organization and self-discipline to keep on top of your assignments.  Therefore, you should have a binder to keep all your course materials in.  You will be responsible for keeping track of all your papers until they are completed.  You must save hard copies of all rough drafts, review sheets, outlines, and prewriting for each assignment.  These must be attached in chronological order below the final copy.

Novel
During the semester, we will read the novel And Then There Were None.  The reading will be done over six weeks and you should carefully note the three specific dates when portions of the novel reading are due.  You will complete study questions to help you understand the plot and important points of the story.  On the day when a reading section is due, we will discuss the study questions and other key elements in class.  You will have a short comprehension quiz based on the study questions.  The class discussion and quiz will help you prepare the novel writing assignment that is due for each reading section.  If you have not completed the assigned reading section by the due date, you will not be allowed to participate in the class discussion.  Complete information about the novel can be found on Blackboard.

Tests
Each week you are assigned a reading skill chapter and/or 1-2 vocabulary chapters that you must complete independently outside of class.
·   Do the exercises.
·   Check your work with the answers in the back of the textbook.
·   Complete Review Tests at the end of the chapter.
·   Have trouble? Ask/email questions to your instructor or get help from a tutor in the Writing Center.
·   Review chapter(s) in class.
·   Take a Mastery Test on Blackboard and score 70% or better.
·   Restudy the material, ask questions and retake the test if you score less than 70%.

Portfolio Assessment
In addition to completing all the weekly assignments, your reading skills will be assessed through a written portfolio.  There will be a mid-term grading of two papers and a final grading of the entire portfolio.  To pass the course, you must submit a midterm portfolio by the due date and receive a passing grade on the final portfolio.  One main feature of the portfolio concept is choice.  You will be assigned several papers to write during the semester, some of which you will choose to include in your final portfolio which should contain one response, one summary, one novel assignment, the library project, and a reflective letter.  Papers which do not have rough drafts attached may not be chosen for the portfolio.

How to Pass the Course
You must complete the following course requirements in order to receive a passing grade of “S”:

1)      attend and participate in class

2)      complete all writing assignments with a grade of “P”

3)      score 70% or higher on all tests

4)      submit a midterm portfolio on time

5)      submit on time and pass the final portfolio

Any assignment which is not sufficiently revised must be redone until a passing grade is achieved.  If you do not attend all required classes, cannot keep up with the due dates and continually submit late papers, you will have to repeat the course.  Plagiarized work is unacceptable and may result in a grade of “U” for the course.

Final Grading

S = Satisfactory.  Student has met the course requirements.

R = Re-enroll.  Student is making satisfactory progress towards meeting the course requirements but needs more time to complete them.  Student must register for ENG 5 again to complete the course.

U = Unsatisfactory.  Student has excessive absences and/or work is unacceptable or incomplete.  Student must take ENG 5 again.

W = Withdrawn.

Writing Center
The Writing Center is located in LR, right outside the library and provides free trained tutors to assist with English assignments (understanding reading topics or writing/revising papers).  Hours are posted on the door of the center.

Early Registration
Instead of providing early registration notes for the next semester, it is Loudoun's policy to post grades to Novaconnect as students complete their developmental English course requirements.  Therefore, if you'd like to register early for the next semester, you will need to finish the course requirements early.

Inclement Weather Policy:  In the event of bad weather, you should login to the class website on Blackboard and check the Announcements page for information about school closing or class cancellation. 

If you have a disability of which the instructor needs to be aware (for class and/or testing accommodations), please meet with me privately to discuss it.

Last revised:  Wednesday, September 01, 2010
email:  Heather Jeddy