English 101: Introduction to College Writing (3 credits)
Concurrent Credit English
Boise State University – Parma High School
2014-2015
Instructor: Paula Leppert
Email: pleppert@paramaschools.org
Office Hours: before and after school
Course Syllabus
Texts: McQuade, Donald. The Writer’s Presence.
Ballenger, Bruce. The Curious Researcher.
The Curious Writer
Course Overview:
Welcome to BSU’s English 101. This class is designed to challenge students to increase their reading and
writing capabilities and explore their thinking and discussion practices. It is an intense college level course,
which will require readings, writings, and discussions inside and outside of class. Students will need to be
prepared when they walk through the doors to read, respond, and write
Required Materials: Writer’s Notebook; paper; pens, pencils; flash drive; 2 inch binder.
Writings:
Informal Writings:
Writer Notebook, reflections, explorations
dialogues, Multi-genre Projects, Poetry
Cumulative Writing Projects:
Narrative, Scholarship, Argumentative, Reflective
Expository, Research, Oral Histories, Persuasive
Four Main Units:
Unit 1: I write…right?
Unit 2: Oh the Places You’ll Go
Unit 3: Research…search and rescue
Unit 4: Me The Writer! My Evolution
Final Writing Portfolio: Minimum of 20 typed, revised pages of evaluated work.
(Continually worked on through the duration of the course.)
Cover Letter
Narrative—Am I a Writer?
Scholarship Essay
Expository Essays
Persuasive Essay
Research Essay
Oral Histories
Argumentative Essay
5-7 pg.
5-7 pg.
5-7 pg.
5-7 pg.
5-7 pg.
4-5 pg.
5-7 pg.
Course Objectives:
By the end of English 101, students will be able to
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apply strategies for generating ideas for writing, for planning and organizing material, for identifying
purpose and audience, and for revising intentionally;
produce writing in non-fiction, inquiry-based genres appropriate to the subject, context, purpose, and
audience;
integrate evidence gathered from experience, reading, observations, and/or other forms of research into
their own writing in a way that begins to complicate their own understanding;
use a variety of strategies for reading and engaging with a range of material;
use an academic documentation style, even though they may not show mastery;
revise to extend their thinking about a topic, not just to rearrange material or “fix” mechanical errors;
articulate the rhetorical choices they have made, illustrating their awareness of a writer’s relationship to the
subject, context, purpose, and audience;
provide appropriate, engaged feedback to peers throughout the writing process;
produce prose without surface-level convention errors that distract readers from attending to the meaning
and purpose of the writing.
Assignments:
English 101 is an intensive year long course. We will spend time writing, reading, thinking, discussing,
and sharing learning experiences. We will be working in writing groups as well as reading groups to
further discussions and work through the writing process in workshop formats. We will be doing informal
and formal writings for inclusion in a portfolio, which will showcase writings across the four units of study
taken through the writing and revision processes throughout the course of the year.
Leppert’s Expectations and Grading:
Success in this course requires learners to take on roles of personal responsibility as you engage in pursuing
greater levels of thought, taking risks as writers, and expressing thoughts amongst your peers. I expect you
to be active learners, prepared each day to participate, engage, and contemplate. This will be a challenge
for each of you in different ways. You will be asked to participate in class in whole and small group
discussions, complete projects with partners and individually, as well as writing and rewriting multiple
times. Active participation in all aspects of the class are required for earning credit for the course.
Grading:
I will try to be as clear as possible about grades, points possible, and expectations for each assignment as it
is assigned. It will also be your responsibility to ask questions for clarification if something is unclear or
confusing. Essays will be worth 100 points, typically, with the final portfolio being worth more as it
showcases the culmination of your work and revisions throughout the year. I will provide specific
guidelines, rubrics, and information as need for each project.
Late Work:
If an emergency arises, and you are having a problem meeting a deadline for course work, please talk with
me in advance of the due date.
Plagiarism and Cheating:
Intentional plagiarism and cheating have no place in this classroom. Turning in someone else’s work,
copying work, or using pieces of other people’s work are not appropriate or acceptable practices. Violating
this policy will result in a failure of the assignment or even failure of the course.
See also BSU code of conduct: http://ecampus.boisestate.edu/faculty/guidelines/honesty/
Student Code of Conduct – Please note that high school students are held
to the same student standards found in the Boise State University Student Code of Conduct
http://www.boisestate.edu/osrr/ Definitions of cheating, plagiarism, and other forms of academic
dishonesty aswell as policies and procedures for handling such cases are included.
Writing Community:
As members of this class, we will be sharing ideas, discussions, and writings. It is crucial that we work
with respect toward one another in all of our dealings. We show respect by arriving to class prepared,
listening when other speak, even if you don’t agree with them, refraining from interrupting others, not
using derogatory set down or comments, not using cell phones during class times, and acting with kindness
in all our interactions.
Computer Access:
Students must have reasonable access to a computer beyond class time.
Guidelines for Writing Workshop
1. Save EVERYTHING!!
2. Date and label everything you write to help you keep track.
3. When a piece is finished, clip everything together, including drafts, notes, lists, editing sheets, peer
conference forms, and reflection letters, and file it in your permanent writing folder.
4.
Draft your prose writing in sentences and paragraphs. Draft your poems in lines and stanzas. Format as
you go.
5. Get into the habit of punctuating and spelling as conventionally as you can
WHILE you are composing: this is what writers do.
6.
Read what you have written. It puts you in the piece and tells you where to go.
7.
Understand that writing is thinking.
8. Use conferencing time wisely. Stay on task and work to help each other become aware of
the words and voices we use.
9. Self-edit in a color different from the print of your text.
10. Write as well as you can as much as you can.
Reading WP: James Thurber, University Days pg.
266
Writing Focus: Audience and Purpose
Recommendation Letters
October
Week 7
Writing Groups: Am I a Writer Draft 2 and
Scholarship Essay
Writing Focus: Audience and Purpose
Writing Notebooks
Conventions: Commas
Week 8
Conferencing on Scholarship Essays
Drafting and Revising
Writing Groups: Continue to Focus on Audience and
Purpose
Reading Handouts; scholarship essay examples—
strengths and weaknesses
Writing Focus: Introductions and Conclusions
Expository Essays
Reading WP: Amy Cunningham, Why Women Smile
pg. 335
James Fallows, Throwing Like a Girl
pg. 378
Writing Notebooks
Intro Scholarhip Essay
Poetry Day: Mirror Image?
Writing Notebooks
Conventions Focus: Sentence Structure and fluency
Snapshots and Thoughtshots
Week 5
Conferences on Am I a Writer Revision and
Scholarship Essay
Writing Groups: Mirror Image Poem and Am I a
Writer
T2T, T2W, T2S, TWT selected quotes
Reading WP: Amy Tan, Mother Tongue pg. 260
Conventions Focus: commas, and more punctuation
Writing Notebooks
More on Snapshots and Thoughtshots
Explode the Moment
Conventions: punctuation
Week 6
Writing Groups: 2nd draft of Am I a writer and
Scholarship Essays
Sharing Mirror Poem
Week 9
Writing Groups: Scholarship Essay Revised;
Expository Essay—gender issues
Reading WP: Flannery O’Conner, A Good Man is
Hard to Find, pg. 854
Letters to Self
Drafting
Week 10
Writing Groups: Expository Essay
Reading WP: Stephen King, Everything you need to
know about writing successfully—in
Ten Minutes pg. 427
Poetry: Color Poem
Writing Notebooks
Letters to Self
Conferencing
Week 11
Writing Groups: Color Poems and Expository Essays
Intro: Resumes, Cover Letters, etc.
Reading in WP: Martin Luther King, Jr. Letter from
Birmingham Jail pg. 692
Writing Notebooks
Letters to Self
Conferencing
November
Week12
Writing Groups: Senior Project
Reading in WP: Henry Louis Gates, Jr., In the
Kitchen pg. 125
Langston Hughes, Salvation and
“How to be a Bad Writer” pg. 146
Zora Neale Hurston, How It Feels
to Be Colored Me pg. 150
Langston Hughes assorted poems: Mother to
Son; A Negro Speaks of Rivers;
Paul Laurence Dunbar The Mask We Wear
Poetry: Emulation
Writing Notebooks
Week 13
Writing Groups: Emulation and Senior Project
Researching Harlem Renaissance—Power point
assignment
MLA—The Curious Researcher pg. 115-130
Plagiarism
Writing Notebooks
Conferencing
Week 14 (2-3 days)
Lit. Circle Presentations
Intro: Oral Histories
Reading about interviews and interview questions
Reading: The Curious Researcher pg. 97-106
Senior Project
Conferencing
Week 15
Writing Groups: Oral Histories
Finding topics and people to interview
Senior Project
Conferencing
December
Week 16
Writing Groups: Oral Histories and Memoirs
Poem: Winter/December/Holidays
Writing Notebooks
Senior Project
Conferencing
Week 17
Revision of Portfolio
Conferencing
Writing Groups Portfolio Revision
Week 18
Revision of Portfolio
Conferencing
Writing Groups Portfolio Revision
Semester 2
January
Week 1
Reading WP: Thomas Jefferson, The Declaration of
Independence, pg. 674
Writing Groups: Writing A Declaration of
Independence
Writing Notebooks
Poetry: New Year’s Resolution Poems
Conventions: subject-verb agreement
Week 2
Writing Groups: New Years Resolution Poems and
Drafting D of Independence
Review MLA format
Research: Seeking Independence. What is it? What
is dependence?
Intro Research Essay—Asking the questions
Reading: The Curious Researcher pg. 27-38
Drafting Research Essay
Week 3
Writing Groups: Research Essay
Reading: The Curious Researcher pg. 55-69
Conferencing and Drafting
Avoiding Plagiarism
Week 4
Writing Groups: Research Essay
Reading: The Curious Researcher pg. 133-163
Conferencing and Drafting
February
Week 5
Writing Groups: Research Essay
Internal Dialogue Writing in Notebook and
classroom dialogue
T2T, T2S, T2W, TWT Responses
Week 6
Poetry: Two Voice Poem
Writing Focus: Research Essay and Argumentative
Essay: War a solution for peace?
Writer’s Notebooks
Week 7
Writing Notebook
Writing Groups: Argument Essay
Drafting and Conferencing on Essay
Week 8
Writing Notebook
Writing Groups: Argument Essay
Drafting and Conferencing on Essay
March
Week 9
Writing Groups: Argument Essay
Informal Writing: Take the opposite side of your
argument
Writer’s Notebooks
Week 10
Poetry: Spring fever/Twitterpation
Reflective:
A digital World: research and surveys—what
kind of world do we live in? How is the net
affecting life? Cell phones? Ipods? Youtube?
Instagram? Snapchat? Twitter? Facebook?
How do they personally communicate with
the world, family, and friends?
Week 11
Digital World Project
Creating Surveys
Reading: The Curious Researcher, pg. 106-113
Conferencing
April
Week 12
Multigenre Project
Writer’s Notebooks
Looking at different projects
Conferencing
Editing
Writing Groups: Digital World; multi-genre project
Week 13
Writing Groups: Projects
Writing Notebooks
Conferencing
Week 14
Writing groups: Projects
Writing Notebooks
Conferencing
Week 15
Revising Portfolios
Writer’s Notebooks
Week 16
Revising Portfolios
Drafting a cover letter
Reflecting on the Portfolio
Writer’s Notebooks
Poetry: The Empty Room
May
Week 17
Writing Groups: The Empty Room; Revising
Portfolios
Letters to next year’s group
Writer’s Notebooks
Week 18
Revising Portfolios
Writing Notebooks
Week 19
Testing