Massasoit Community College
Preparing for College Reading I
Spring 2006
Instructor: Professor Tracey Schaub, English Department
Office Hours: MWF 8:30 – 9:00
Office Phone: (508) 588-9100 Extension 1830
Office Location: Humanities 109
E-Mail Address: TSchaub@massasoit.mass.edu
Web Address: www.massasoit.mass.edu/faculty/tschaub/index/htm
Catalog Description for Preparing for College Reading I ENGL 091 04 :
This course is designed to provide students with an opportunity to improve their reading comprehension,
to increase their vocabulary, and to expand their general knowledge. An additional one-hour lab in the
Academic Resource Center may be a required part of the course.
NOTE: Credits earned in this course cannot be applied toward graduation.
PREREQUISITE: Reading for ESL students (ENSL 111) or waiver by placement testing results, or
departmental approval.
Required Texts:
1. Troyka, Lynn Quitman. Structured Reading. 6th ed. New Jersey: Prentice Hall, 2003.
2. College-Level Dictionary -- must contain at least 50,000 words
3. Additional readings as time allows
Course Goals:
This course will provide students the opportunity to learn and practice a variety of reading skills and
strategies. Emphasis will be placed on vocabulary, patterns of organization, dictionary and library skills,
skimming, scanning, and critical reading strategies. This course incorporates Massasoit’s Core
Competencies: reading, writing, oral communication, critical thinking, quantitative and computer skills.
Outcomes:
Students who successfully complete this course will be able to
 read on a regular basis with increased comprehension, speed, and confidence;
 apply various reading skills and strategies (previewing, detecting main ideas and related
details, summarizing, skimming, scanning, and reviewing) in order to comprehend oral and
written material presented in the various college disciplines;
 use word structures, word meanings, contextual clues, and dictionary skills in order to
expand vocabulary and improve reading comprehension;
 employ a variety of the college’s human, print, and electronic resources in order to meet
course expectations and meet academic challenges as confident, independent learners;
 strengthen Core Competencies* in order to increase academic and workplace success.
Teaching Procedures:
Students will be involved in discussions, cooperative group activities, guided practice, and individual
projects. Lecture will primarily be used to introduce new material. Audio-visual materials may also be
used.
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Course Requirements:
Attendance/Class Participation/Homework
Reading Journal
Quizzes
Library Projects
Midterm Exam
Final Exam
10%
20%
10%
10%
20%
20%
Grading:
A
93-100
C+
77-79
A90-92
C
73-76
B+
87-89
C70-72
B
83-87
D
66-69
B80-82
F
65 and below
Note: More specific grading criteria will be given with each assignment.
Attendance:
Attendance is required. After five absences (5 fifty minute periods or 3 seventy-five minute periods),
your grade will be reduced one-half letter grade per absence. Three late arrivals or early departures
constitute an absence. If you miss all or any part of the class, you are to arrange with a classmate to
review the material covered during your absence. You are also responsible to make up with me any
assignments missed. Quizzes cannot be made up, unless arrangements are made with me prior to the
scheduled quiz.
Late Work:
Work is due when assigned. Late assignments, as a general rule, are not acceptable. They will be
discounted one half letter grade for each late day. In no case may work be submitted for evaluation
more than one week after the due date. All out-of-class assignments must be word processed, doublespaced and on 8.5 x 11” paper. Late homework is not acceptable.
Plagiarism:
Plagiarism is presenting the work of others as if it is your own. It is a form of cheating and theft and
will result in failure.
Academic Resource Center:
Tutoring for this course and others is available without cost in the ARC. There is also space in the ARC
for individual or group study.
Students with Disabilities:
Students with disabilities who believe that they may need accommodations in the classroom are
encouraged to contact a disability counselor as soon as possible. Students with learning disabilities
should contact Andrea Henry, at extension 1805. Students with physical disabilities should contact Mary
Berg, at extension 1425. Students at the Canton Campus should contact Stan Oliver at extension 2468.
CELL PHONES MUST BE TURNED OFF DURING CLASS
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Tentative Schedule of Course Topics and Assignments
Below is a general listing of course work and assignments. Specific assignments, quizzes and due dates
will be given in class. Additional readings such as newspaper articles, magazine articles, and novels
may also be used in class as time permits.
Week 1
Introduction and Syllabus
Goals
Reading: Chapter 1 ”What is the Reading Process?” p. 3
“A Real Loss” p. 85
Reading Journal Entry
Week 2
Reading: Chapter 2 “What is Your Personal Reading History?”
“Tyranny of Weakness” p. 103
Reading Journal Entry
Vocabulary Quiz
Week3
Reading: Chapter 3 ”What is the Role of Speed During Reading?”
“My Mother’s Blue Bowl” p. 127
Reading Journal Entry
Week 4
Library Assignment # 1
Reading: Chapter 4 “How Do Eye Movements Affect Reading?”
“Darkness at Noon” p. 109
Reading Journal Entry
Vocabulary Quiz
Week 5
Main Ideas and Supporting Details
Reading: Chapter 10 “What are ‘Central Theme’ and ‘Main Ideas’?”
“You are What You Eat” p.155
Reading Journal Entry
Week 6
Context Clues, Word Parts
Reading: Chapter 5 “How Can I Improve My Vocabulary”
“Escaping the Daily Grind for Life as a House Father” p. 227
Reading Journal
Vocabulary Quiz
Week 7
Major Details, Minor Details
Reading: Chapter 6 “What is the Role of Prediction During Reading?”
“Richard Cory, All Over Again” p.217
Reading Journal Entry
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Week 8
Summary Writing
Reading: Chapter 7 “What is the Role of SQ3R When Reading to Study?”
“A Personal Stress Survival Guide?” p. 369
Reading Journal Entry
Mid-Term
Week 9
Patterns of Organization
Reading: Chapter 8 “How Can Maps and Outlines Help with Reading?”
“Long-Term Memory” p.355
Reading Journal Entry
Week 10
Distinguishing Between Fact and Opinion
Reading: Chapter 9 “ What is Reading On, Between, and Beyond the Lines?”
“Houses to Save the Earth” p. 333
Reading Journal Entry
Vocabulary Quiz
Week 11
Major and Minor Details
Reading: Chapter 11 “What are ‘Major Details’?”
“The Chaser” p. 385
Reading Journal Entry
Week 12
Library Assignment #2
Reading: Chapter 12 “What Are ‘Inferences’?”
“I Became Her Target” p.293
Reading Journal Entry
Vocabulary Quiz
Week 13
Reading: Chapter 13 “What is ‘Critical Reading’?”
“How to Stay Alive” p. 327
Reading Journal Entry
Week 14
Reading: Chapter 14 “What is ‘Reader Response’?”
“Should a Wife Keep Her Name?” p.273
Reading Journal Entry
Vocabulary Quiz
Week 15
Review
Final Exam to Be Announced
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Reading Journal:
Purpose: To practice reading strategies, develop the habit of reading, increase reading stamina, and
improve reading comprehension. The reading journal is designed to allow students to customize and to
think more deeply about their reading. The journal will help students to remember what they have read,
highlight important moments from the reading, think through the reading and to find their interest in the
reading. In order to be successful in this endeavor, students must spend time with their reading. They
must be able to remember what they have read and think critically about the reading. Critical reading
means you are able to synthesize, evaluate, analyze, apply, interpret, and translate your reading. See
attached sheet for more information.
Directions:
On your outside reading journal recording sheet:
1. State the name of the book and the author you are reading.
2. Every time you read write down the date, number of pages read, and the amount of time you spent
reading e.g. 11/27/01, 10 minutes, 6 pages.
3. At the end of the week, total the number of pages you have read. You should be reading a minimum
of 30 pages a week.
4. Write a summary of what you read. Your summary should include major events and characters.
Summaries do not contain opinion and should be written in complete sentences. Reread you summary
to make sure it makes sense.
5. Respond to what you have read. You may respond in a variety of ways but do not simply summarize
what you have read. You may tell why you liked the reading or why you didn’t like it. You can tell
what you are learning about the characters in the novel. You can make a connection between this
section of the reading and something else that you noticed in the novel. You may make predictions
based on the ideas in the selection. You may ask questions about parts that you don’t understand or
about why characters are acting in a certain way. You can tell how the passage made you feel. Or you
may relate a story in your life that is similar to something from that section. Remember: comment,
predict, relate, question, but don’t summarize.
Good ways to begin your response are
I think
I like
I don’t like
I wonder
This passage is
This seems
I guess
This shows that
I remember
This passage reminds me
I don’t understand
I am surprised
I agree
I don’t agree
I predict
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Rubric for Reading Journal:
Excellent
Satisfactory
Unsatisfactory
All parts of reading log are complete.
A minimum of 30 pages read every week.
Log is turned in on time.
The summary is thorough, well written, and is written in the students own
words.
Reaction is thoughtful and contains evidence of critical reading.
All parts of reading log are complete.
A minimum of 30 pages read every week.
Log is turned in on time.
The summary is essentially correct but is not entirely stated in the student’s
own words.
Reaction is thoughtful and contains some evidence of critical reading.
All parts of reading log are not complete.
Fewer than 30 pages have been read.
Log is not turned in on time.
The summary does not follow the rules of summary writing: e.g. in your own
words and contains most important information.
Reaction is too brief, superficial, and does not contain evidence of critical
reading.
Library Project #1: Boston Globe/New York Times Summary
Find The Boston Globe or The New York Times for the day you were born. Read and then write three
paragraphs that summarize three different articles in the newspaper. Please include the articles.
As your syllabus states, plagiarism is presenting the work of others as if it is your own. It is a form of
cheating and of theft and will result in failure with no opportunity to rewrite the assignment.
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Rubric for Summary Library Project #1:
“A” Range
“B-C” Range
“D-F” Range
Summary demonstrates comprehension of passage.
All unknown words are researched through word structures, context clues,
decoding or dictionary usage.
Main ideas and major details of the reading selection are identified by
marking the text.
The main ideas and major details marked in the text are rewritten in the
students’ own words and depict the relationship between facts and ideas.
The main idea of the selection is the most important sentence of the
summary.
Important words are emphasized and unimportant words are omitted.
The summary uses connecting words that bring together related ideas,
facts, or examples in an organized manner that follows the meaning of the
original.
Summary essentially demonstrates comprehension of passage.
Most unknown words are researched through word structures, context
clues, and decoding or dictionary usage.
Main ideas and major details of the reading selection are essentially
identified by marking the text.
The main ideas and major details marked in the text are essentially
rewritten in the students’ own words and depict the relationship between
facts and ideas.
The main idea of the selection is one of the most important sentences of
the summary.
Most important words are emphasized and most unimportant words are
omitted.
The summary essentially uses connecting words that bring together
related ideas, facts, or examples in an organized manner that follows the
meaning of the original.
Summary does not demonstrate comprehension of passage.
All unknown words are not researched through word structures, context
clues, decoding or dictionary usage.
Main ideas and major details of the reading selection are not identified by
marking the text.
The main ideas and major details marked in the text are not rewritten in
the students’ own words and depict the relationship between facts and
ideas.
The main idea of the selection is not the most important sentence of the
summary.
Important words are not emphasized and unimportant words are not
omitted.
The summary does not use connecting words that bring together related
ideas, facts, or examples in an organized manner that follows the meaning
of the original.
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Internet Career Library Project #2:
Select three careers that appeal to you and research them on the Internet for the following information:
skills and education requirements, current entry salary ranges, and projected five-year salary ranges.
Find and print three appropriate job ads for each career choice in classified sections of newspapers
located on the Internet. Finally, summarize each career you selected. As your syllabus states,
plagiarism is presenting the work of others as if it is your own. It is a form of cheating and of theft and
will result in failure with no opportunity to rewrite the assignment.
Rubric for Internet Library Project #2:
“A” Range
“B” Range
“C” Range
“D” Range
The directions for the assignment were followed.
The assignment is written in the student’s own words.
The assignment is well organized.
The assignment demonstrates critical reading.
The assignment is carefully proofread.
The directions for the assignment were essentially followed.
The assignment is written in the student’s own words.
The assignment is organized.
The assignment demonstrates critical reading.
The assignment is proofread.
The directions for the assignment were not followed carefully.
The assignment is written mostly in the student’s own words.
The assignment is not well organized.
The assignment does not clearly demonstrate critical reading.
The assignment is not carefully proofread.
The directions for the assignment were not followed.
The assignment is not written in the student’s own words.
The assignment is not organized.
The assignment does not demonstrate critical reading.
The assignment is not proofread.
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Reading Comprehension Guide
Pre Reading
Discuss purpose of reading
assignment
Preview
Activate prior knowledge
Generate or review focus
questions
Discuss text patterns
Review study guide
Review difficult vocabulary
Group discussions/ build
background
Brainstorming
Group mapping
Anticipation/reaction guide
SQ3R
During Reading
Take notes
Post Reading
Discussion
Answer focus questions
Annotate
Work on focus questions
Complete and review notes
Summarize
Complete focus questions
Work on Outline
Work on study guide
Work on vocabulary log
Work on Venn diagrams
Complete outline
Complete study guide
Review new vocabulary
Complete Venn diagrams
Work on semantic feature
analysis
Work on mapping
Work on anticipation/reaction
guide
SQ3R
Compare and contrast
Work on concept circles
Work on timeline
Mark text
Complete semantic feature
analysis
Complete mapping
Complete anticipation/
reaction guide
SQ3R
Compare and contrast
Complete concept circles
Complete timeline
Review new information or
concepts
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1. Anticipation/Reaction Guide: These guides test prior and post knowledge. Students mark a series of
questions “true” or “false” prior to reading the assignment and repeat the exercise after reading the
assignment.
2. Compare and Contrast: This strategy organizes and assimilates knowledge by forcing students to
make judgments about concepts in text and the application of those concepts.
3. Concept Circles: This strategy promotes brainstorming. Students fill in a circle labeled with a
specific topic with pertinent ideas and information relative to that topic.
4. Define Purpose for Reading: Readers need to be able to explicitly state the purpose for reading.
Students are more likely to pick out and retain important information if they are clear about the purpose
for the assignment.
5. Graphic Organizers: These are effective tools for understanding the relationships between events or
ideas (e.g. anticipation/reaction guides. concept circles, Venn diagrams).
6. Marking Text: Marking text is an interactive reading activity useful when dealing with texts. It
requires students to analyze while they read and make some immediate decisions about the importance
of what they are reading. This technique is most effective when students return to the marked section
and study it.
7. Identifying Text Pattern: Knowing the format of a text can help students to analyze it. There are five
predominant text patterns: description, sequence, comparison-contrast, cause-effect, and problemsolution.
8. Modeling particular strategies by thinking aloud allows students to see the thought process necessary
for particular skills. There are five basic steps to modeling: (1) make predictions; (2) visualize those
predictions; (2) link new information to prior knowledge by using analogies; (4) monitor comprehension
by verbalizing a confusing point; and (5) regulate comprehension by demonstrating fix-up strategies.
9. Note Taking: Students should take enough notes so that they can formulate a useful summary for
review purposes. Too many notes will hide important information and too few notes may not be enough
to make sense of or trigger information previously read. It is also important to recognize when details
are important enough to include in the summary or when they are inconsequential to the overall
message.
10. Outlining: This strategy generally consists of using Roman numerals for main concepts, letters for
subordinate concepts and numbers for details. Outlining requires students to be able to analyze the
structure of the text. Outlining usually requires initial teacher direction.
11. Semantic Feature Analysis: SFA establishes a meaningful link between students’ prior knowledge
and words that are conceptually related to one another. The strategy requires students to develop a chart
or grid to help analyze similarities and differences among the related concepts. Words related to the
category are listed in a column down on the left side of the grid. Features or properties shared by some
of the words in the column are spaced across the top of the grid.
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12. Mapping: This strategy can be used by a group as an interactive way of obtaining and reviewing
information related (indirectly and directly to the text. Semantic maps are created by brainstorming,
writing ideas, details down, then connecting them as they relate by drawing lines between them.
13. SQ3R or variant: here are a variety of reading strategies represented by acronyms. One of the most
popular is SQ3R. It includes five different steps: (1) survey the text heading quickly to acquire an
overview material to be read; (2) ask questions about the text by turning each heading into a question;
(3) read the text with purpose to answer the question; (4) recite by making brief notes about the text or
using self-recitation or both; and (5) review by re-reading notes and by generating and asking questions.
14. Study Guides: Study guides keep students on track. Students are able to look more closely at the
material while focusing on specific items of importance, i.e. genre, style, author’s assumptions,
foreshadowing clues etc. Study guides establish a reading plan for students to focus on while reading -it gives them a clear purpose for reading.
15. Summary: Summarizing involves reducing a text to its main points. To become adept at summary
writing, students must be able to discern and analyze text structure. Some basic rules of summarization
are do not include minor details, collapse lists, use topic sentences, and integrate information.
16. Story Mapping: This is one way of bringing key elements to the surface. Story mapping is a process
of separating parts of a story to organize and understand how they interrelate. Students break the story
down into setting, theme, plot and resolution.
17. Timeline: Students can write down sequences of events in an effort to visualize material and
distinguish between important and inconsequential facts. A timeline should be one of the first steps in
organizing materials, but it is not enough for students to know the sequence of events by they must also
be able to recognize the relationships between events.
18. Venn Diagrams: These diagrams are constructed using two overlapping circles to compare and
contrast two items. Each circle is labeled with a character or topic. The student lists details, facts or
characteristics specific to the topic in the non-overlapping portion of the circles. Information that is
pertinent to both topics is listed in the overlapping section. This is especially useful when you are
dealing with a lot of complicated interrelated material.
19. Vocabulary Exercises: Pre-reading vocabulary exercises can help alleviate comprehension
difficulties due to a lack of vocabulary knowledge. The teacher or student (via skimming the reading
assignment) can construct flash cards of key vocabulary words. These words should be discussed
immediately prior to reading so they are fresh in the minds of the reader and the reader can visualize
these words in context. There a re a variety of ways to enhance vocabulary.
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Suggested Reading for PCR I Students
Author
XXXX
XXXX
Abbott, Jennie
Achebe, Chinua
Alireza, Marianne
Armstrong, William
Ba, Mariama
Babbitt, Natalie
Baker, Elizabeth
Ballard, Robert
Beattie, Owen and John Geiger
Betancourt, Jeanne
Bosley, Judith
Bradbury, Ray
Byers, Betsy
Canfield, Jack
Cather, Willa
Connolly, Miles
Cole, Sheila
Cooper, J.
Cooper, Susan
Coret, Harriete
Cormier, Robert
Couch, Dick
Cowan, Philip
Cisneros, Sandra
Craven, Margaret
Crutcher, Chris
Cushman, Karen
Dailey, Janet
Danticat, Edwidge
Danticat, Edwidge
Dickens, Charles
Dickens, Charles
Donahure, John
Donahure, John
Donnelly, Judy
Durant, Michael
Ende, Michael
Evans, Nicholas
Frank, Anne
George, Jean Craighead
Gibbons, Kaye
Title
A Taste of Salt
The Night of Wishes
Good-bye and Hello
Things Fall Apart
At the Drop of a Veil
Sounder
So Long a Letter
Tuck Everlasting
This Stranger, My Son
The Lost Wreck of the Isis
Buried in Ice
My Name is Brian
Don’t Sell Me Short
Fahrenheit 451
The Summer of the Swans
Chickensoup for the Baseball Fan’s Soul
My Antonia
Mr. Blue
The Dragon in the Cliff
Family
Dawn of Fear
Love Letters
The Chocoloate War
The Warrier Elite
Family, Self and Society
The House on Mango Street
I Heard the Owl Call My Name
Ironman
The Midwife’s Apprentice
The Healing Touch
Krik! Krik!
Breath, Eyes, Memory
David Copperfield
Oliver Twist
An Islang Far from Home
Till Tomorrow
Who Shot the President:
The Death of JFK
In the Company of Heroes
The Night of the Wished
The Horse Whisperer
Diary of Anne Frank
My Side of the Mountain
A Virtuous Woman
Reading Level
5
5.7
4.7
6
4.7
5
2.5
5.4
8
7
6.9
7
5.8
3.5
8
5.9
4.4
4
4
4.9
5
7
13
Gibson, William
Glancy, Diane
Greene, Graham
Grisham, John
Hagen, Agnes
Hersey, John
Holm, Jennifer
Hurston, Zora Neale
Jacobs, Harriet
Juster, Norton
Knight, Michael
Lardner, Ring
Lee, Harper
LeGuin, Ursula
Lessing, Doris
London, Jack
Lowry, Lois
Lowry, Lois
MacDonald, Michael Patrick
Markandaya, Kamala
Marsden, John
Martin, Ann
Menchu, Rogoberta
Merriwether, Louise
Morrison, Toni
Murphy, Jim
Myers, Walter Dean
Narayan, R.K.
O’Dell, Scott
Orwell, George
Paulsen, Gary
Pelzer, Dave
Pelzer, Dave
Pelzer, Dave
Potok, Chaim
Preston, Richard
Rawls, Wilson
Rodman, Dennis
Rosemary, Harris
Salinger, J.D.
Santiago, Esmeralda
Shafton, Anthony
Miracle Worker
Flutie
Our Man in Havana
The Runaway Jury
Justice on Horseback
A Single Pebble
Our Only May Amelia
Their Eyes Were Watching God
Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl:
Writeen by Herself
The Phanton Tollbooth
In Chains to Louisiana:
Solomon Northrup’s Story
You Know Me Al:
Bush’s Letters
To Kill a Mockingbird
Tombs of Atuan
The Grass is Singing
The Call of the Wild
Gathering Blue
The Giver
All Souls
Nector in a Sieve
Letters from Inside
The Babysitter’s Club
I. Rigobera Menchu, an Indian Woman in Guatemala
Daddy was a Number Runner
Sula
My Face to the Wind:
The Diary of Sarah Jane Price
The Journal of Biddy Owen:
The Negro Leagues
A Tiger for Malgudi
Island of the Blue Dolphins
Animal Farm
Night John
A Child Called It
A Man Named Dave
The Lost Boy
The Chosen
The Hot Zone
Where the Red Fern Grows
Bad As I Wanna Be
Zed
Catcher in the Rye
When I was Puerto Rican
Dream-Singers
6
3.5
5.6
7
6.7
5
7
8
8
5
4.7
7
8
4
5.9
9.8
14
Shakespeare, William
Shakespeare, William
Shakespeare, William
Silvia, Matilda
Souljah, Sister
Steele, Danielle
Steele, Danielle
Steinbeck, John
Steinbeck, John
Steinbeck, John
Strasser, Todd
Tolkein, J.R.
Wartski, Maureen
Waters, Frank
Weisel, Elie
Wibberly, Leonard
Wilde, Stuart
Wilder, Thorton
Wisler, G. Clifton
Woods, Teri
Yep, Laurence
Zane
Zane
Zemser, Amy Bronwen
Zindel, Paul
Zongren, Liu
Zumwalt, Elmo
A Midsummer Night’s Dream
Hamlet
Othello
Once Upon an Island
The Coldest Winter Ever
Five Days in Paris
The Ring
Of Mice and Men
The Pearl
The Short Reigh of Pippin IV:
A Fabrication
The Wave
The Hobbit
A Boat to Nowhere
The Man Who Killed the Deer
Night
The Mouse that Roared
Miracles
The Bridge of San Luis Rey
Red Cap
True to the Game
The Serpent’s Children
Sham On It All
True to the Game
Beyond the Mango Tree
Pig-Man
Ten Years in the Melting Pot
My Father, My Son
5.5
5.6
15
Outside Reading Journal
Name:_________________________
Class:_________________________(Day and Time)
Book:_________________________
Author:________________________
Date
Minutes
# of Pages
Total for the Week= ______________________
16
Summary:_____________________________________________________
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Reaction:______________________________________________________
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Evaluation: Excellent____Satisfactory____Unsatisfactory____