Course Outline
For
English 84 R
Instructor: Maria Elena Ramirez
Fall 2004
ramirez_maria@smc.edu
Course Title: Reading and Vocabulary III
English 84R serves as a bridge to English 21.
Course Objectives:
Upon completion of the course, students should be able to:
1. Employ literal and inferential comprehension skills beyond eighth grade reading
level.
2. Demonstrate inferential and critical thinking—with special focus on author’s
purpose and tone.
3. Demonstrate an increase in vocabulary of 1-2 years.
4. Enlarge reading and writing vocabulary.
5. Utilize comprehension and vocabulary strategies to improve reading rate.
6. Compose a summary of beginning high school level reading text that identifies
the thesis and key supporting details.
7. Summarize with 70% comprehension.
8. Develop metacognitive strategies.
9. Apply reading skills, including how to approach different types of literature.
Course Content
1. Review finding the main idea, patterns of organization and transitions.
2. Develop inferential skills
3. Recognition of irony.
4. Awareness of tone.
5. Ability to draw accurate conclusions.
6. Develop critical reading skills:
a. Recognition of author’s purpose
b. Awareness of stylistic differences
c. Discernment of fact and opinion
d. Evaluation of fact and opinion
e. Recognition of propaganda techniques
7. Present vocabulary building methods
8. Use comprehension and vocabulary strategies to raise reading rate.
Requirements:
Text: Ten Steps to Improving College Reading Skills, 4th ed. Langan & Langan,
Townsend Press: New Jersey. 2003
Improving Vocabulary Skills, 3rd ed. Nist, Sherrie and Carole Mohr. Townsend Press:
New Jersey. 2002
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Fallen Angel. Walter Dean Myers.
Portable Dictionary –
This course requires your active, dedicated participation. Schooling is often
seen as a passive process. Learning is an active process that results in
knowledge/understanding and skill.
You are not working for a grade or even “credit” in this class. You must put your
best effort into this project in order to strengthen your own skills---skills that you
will need in all of your other classes and everyday beyond the classroom.
Questioning is required. If something doesn’t make sense or you don’t understand
something, let’s clarify it right away. YOUR time is wasted if we do not.
Week 1
Course introduction
Standardized Assessment
Student Introductions
Writing Sample
Week2
Previewing, prediction, and metacognition in reading.
Being a College Student (brainstorm/group activity)
Time Management
Week3
Vocabulary Skills: Review Dictionary Use (practices and tests)
Introduction to Reading Lab and Lab Assignments
Week 4
Comprehension S kills: How to Find the Main Idea
Vocabulary Skills: Context clues
Introduction to note taking
Short Story/book introduction
Introduction to stylistic difference and irony
Week 5
Comprehension Skills: Implied Main Idea (practice and tests)
Vocabulary Skills: More context clues
Note taking
Book Discussion in a Longer Reading Selection (practices and tests)
Vocabulary Skills: Word Roots
2
Week 6
Comprehension Skills: Supporting Details (practices and tests)
Vocabulary skills: Word Roots
Note taking
Book discussion and quiz
Reading Lab
Week 7
Reading Lab Review
Comprehension Skills: Implied Main Idea and Main Idea in a longer Reading
selection (practices and tests)
Vocabulary skills: Word Roots
Note taking
Short Story/Book discussion and quiz
Reading Lab
Week 8
Comprehension Skills: Patterns of Organization and Transitions (practices and
tests)
Vocabulary skills: Word Roots
Note taking
Summarizing magazine/newspaper articles
Short Story/book discussion
Reading Lab
Week 9
Comprehension Skills: Fact and Opinion (practices and tests)
Vocabulary Skills: Word Roots
Note taking
Summarizing magazine/newspaper articles
Short Story/book discussion
Reading Lab
Week 10
Comprehension Skills: Inference Skills
Vocabulary Skills: Prefixes
Note taking
Summarizing magazine/newspaper articles
Short Story/book discussion
Reading Lab
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Week 11
Comprehension Skills: Purpose and Tone (practices and tests)
Vocabulary Skills: Prefixes
Summarizing magazine/newspaper articles
Short Story/book discussion
Reading Lab
Week 12
Comprehension Skills: Recognizing propaganda (practices and tests)
Vocabulary Skills: Suffixes
Note taking
Summarizing magazine/newspaper articles
Short Story/book discussion
Reading Lab
Week 13
Comprehension Skills: Argument (practices and tests)
Vocabulary Skills: Suffixes
Note taking
Summarizing magazine/newspaper articles
Short Story/book discussion
Reading Lab
Week 14
Comprehension Skills: Review
Vocabulary Skills: Review
Note taking
Summarizing magazine/newspaper articles
Short Story/book discussion
Reading Lab
Week 15
Reading Lab Folder due
Standardized Post Assessment
Review for final exam
Week 16
Conferencing, results of posttests and final exam.
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Methods of Evaluating:
1. Standardized Pretests and posttests to measure progress
2. Unit tests and quizzes for comprehension and vocabulary (at 70% or higher)
3. Student’s summaries of readings and/or a readers response journal
4. Successful completion of reading lab assignments (at 70% or higher)
5. Successful completion of homework (at 70% or higher)
6. Optional: rate tests
The course is offered credit/no credit. The student will maintain an average of 70% or
higher on all assignments and show progress.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
REQUIREMENTS:
Attend class and lab (a student with four unexcused absences will be
dropped from the course.)
REPEATEDLY ARRIVING MORE THAN 5 MIN. LATE AND/OR
LEAVING EARLY EXCEPT FOR EMERGENCIES WILL CAUSE YOU
TO BE CONSIDERED A DROP.
Complete all writing assignments. Tests and quizzes are mandatory.
Take and pass the two-hour mastery exam given as part of the final at the
end of the semester.
TWO hours of Lab attendance per week beginning week #5 (9/27/04).
LAB HOURS: [Unavailable: Tuesdays & Wednesdays 12:00 pm – 2:15]
TBA
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