Syllabus for English 1

Western Career College
General Education Department
Carolyn Alm, Instructor

COURSE OUTLINE

Course Name: English 1: College Writing and Composition
Units: 3.0 units
Hours: 5:00pm -7:00pm (Mon-Thurs)
Prerequisites: none
Catalog Course Description:
This course involves writing skills useful for communicating in one’s personal life as well as in working relationships. Emphasis is on the expository essay written with a clear purpose appropriate to an intended. Topic areas include the writing process, i.e., exploring, developing, revising, and editing. Other topics include identifying the audience, developing the paragraph and the topic sentence using brainstorming and outlining techniques, identifying the different types of essays by reading various examples, and identifying the appropriate writing patterns for the selected topic.

COURSE LEARNING OBJECTIVES:

The learning objectives of this course are to:
Examine and understand how to identify ideas for topics.
Expand, organize, and present ideas in a written format
Develop techniques for revising and editing an expository essay
Provide students with the opportunity to develop and demonstrate competency and practice writing skills in a supportive environment.
Develop complete sentences and identify and correct incomplete sentences, run-on sentences, and sentence fragments.
Explore and use different sentence types, lengths, and complexities.
Successfully pass the SLO (Student Learning Outcome) assessment at the end of the class.

COURSE GOAL:
The underlying goal of this course is to help students become better writers and understand the relevancy of such skills in a personal and professional context. Students will explore a variety of writing patterns and develop an understanding of the writing process and the different techniques available to them to organize and to structure their writing.

TEXT: Gaetz, Lynne, and Phadke, Suneeti. (2009). The Writer’s World: Paragraphs and Essays (Second Ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education, Inc.




GRADING SCALE
100-90 = A
89-80 = B
79-70 = C
69-60 = D
59-0 = F

** Please note . . . grades are not GIVEN, they are EARNED.

COURSE POLICIES
Course policies are set so that the rules are clear and fair to everyone. Please read these policies CAREFULLY so that you know the expectations that I have.

First and foremost, I understand life happens. I am a flexible and understanding teacher when you are upfront and honest with me. If you are having a problem or need assistance, PLEASE come to me as I am here to help and want to help you attain success. Yet, it is also VITAL that you understand that YOU ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR YOU! Poor planning on your part does not entail an emergency situation on my part!

Attendance: There is a formal attendance policy for this course. In the General Education Department, an instructor reserves the right to fail a student if he/she has FIVE or more absences. You are expected to be in class everyday and there are consequences for not coming. First, students who come to class tend to do much better than those who do not come. The information provided during lectures will help you better understand the concepts, which will appear on exams. Also, there is information included in the exam that does not come directly from the book. Secondly, you cannot receive points for class activities and class participation if you miss the activity due to missing class. Third, it is YOUR RESPONSIBILITY to find out what information was missed (including announcements) and obtain notes from fellow students if you miss class. I do not have notes to give students. An attendance sheet will be passed at the start of each class.

Tardy Policy: Arriving late to class is a blatant disrespect for the class, fellow students and the instructor. If, for some reason, you do arrive late, it is within your best interests to enter the class without the instructor knowing. This means, QUIETLY slip into the classroom. Tardy arrivals are disruptive and annoying to students and instructors alike. Every four tardies equates to one absence and again, five absences can result in a failing grade. Also, participation points will be docked meaning that a tardy can negatively affect your final grade.

Missed Activities: There numerous in-class activities for this course throughout the semester. You earn ten points toward your participation grade by coming to class, engaging in the activity, and turning in the necessary paperwork connected to the activity. You are allowed to make up ONE (and ONLY ONE) of the activities by turning in a “Spotlight on Scholarship” summary. The summary should be modeled after those in your textbook. You will need to find an article (no later than 2002) from one of the journals: Communication Monographs, Human Communication Research, Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, or Western Journal of Communication. If you have problems accessing one of the aforementioned journals, I will provide you with a variety of acceptable articles to choose from. In a 1½ to 2 page paper, summarize the method the author used to collect data (i.e., questionnaires, experiment, etc.), the main findings from the study, and the application those finding from the study have to everyday life, or how are the findings relevant in your world and your relationships. You must then prepare a SHORT, 2-3 minute speech outlining the findings and everyday life application to be presented to the class on a day I specify. This paper must be turned in ONE (1) WEEK from the date of the missed activity. Your topic and article must be approved by me. If you miss more than one activity, you will not have the opportunity to make up the missed points, unless there are extenuating circumstances.

Obtaining Information on a Missed Class Day: If you miss a class, it is NOT my responsibility to ensure you get the information you missed. Please take responsibility to obtain missed information, projects, handout, etc. from a generous and understanding classmate.

Missed Exams: Make-up exams are only given under extenuating circumstances and when you can provide DOCUMENTATION of these circumstances. For example, if you are ill, you must have documentation to support your claim that you were not able to take the exam at the given time. If possible, you mist notify me PRIOR to the exam to secure permission to take the exam at a later date. If you miss a class due to a religious holiday, please notify me by the end of the first week of classes regarding the dates you will be absent. If you need special accommodations, please inform me as soon as possible so we can make arrangements.

Late Assignments: All assignments are due at the beginning of class on the designated day. Assignments that are due and turned in at the END of class on the day they are due will automatically be lowered 5%. Assignments turned in after the due date will receive a 10% deduction for every day (NOT EVERY CLASS DAY – I COUNT WEEKENDS AND HOLIDAYS) they are late. I will not accept assignments more than 4 days late. PLEASE NOTE: Computer problems are NOT a valid excuse for turning in an assignment late. Technology fails on occasion, so plan accordingly and finish and print assignments early. Please turn in all assignments to me. Do not email, fax, mail, slip under my door, place on my car windshield, leave for me at reception, and so forth. Assignments get lost easily this way and I claim NO responsibility.

The Communication Blog must meet all class requirements since it serves as the central repository for all in-class assignments. In addition, you are required to post comments to other students’ blogs as assigned in class.

Participation and Confidentiality: This course is much more interesting, fun and beneficial when students participate in the discussion. Active participation also helps students develop and refine their communication skills. To be prepared to participate effectively, you should read chapters PRIOR to the day we talk about them in class. Students should also feel that our classroom is a SAFE environment for discussing sensitive or personal issues that are related to the concepts we are studying in class. Therefore, please keep all personal information shared in this class to your self; such information should not be used to gossip or in any way harm fellow students.

Consideration: Please be considerate to your fellow students and my by observing the following guidelines for classroom conduct. First, when entering the classroom, please be sure to turn off any cell phones, PDAs, pagers, iPods, or any other electronic devices you are carrying. NO CELL PHONES! I do not want to see a phone sitting on your desk. I do not want to hear a cell phone. TURN THEM OFF!!! They are a complete distraction to the class when they go off. They are also distracting to you as a student as we all have a tendency to check for messages, texts, etc.
Second, please refrain from engaging in distracting activities, such as carrying on private conversations with a neighbor, passing notes, reading the newspaper or any extra-curricular materials, or working on something else NOT related to the class. Such behaviors are noticed make it really difficult for both students and me to concentrate on the class.

Grievance Procedure/Grade Challenges: I am more than willing to discuss challenges to grades. Any grievances you have with a grade on assignments for this course MUST be presented to me in a WRITTEN format. This means, you need to present me with a typed explanation of why you are not happy with your grade and why you deserve a higher grade. You must also attach a copy of the assignment with the letter. This MUST be turned in by the next class meeting or it will be disregarded. I will not accept letters via email. Please understand, upon reviewing assignments I reserve the right to change grades in both positive and negative directions.

Extra- Credit: Extra-credit will not be offered. Instructor reserves the right to offer extra-credit throughout the course of the module if deemed appropriate.

Academic Integrity: As a learning community of scholars, Western Career College emphasizes the ethical responsibility of all its members to seek knowledge honestly and in good faith. Students are responsible for doing their own work, and academic dishonesty of any kind will not be tolerated. Violations of academic integrity include, but are not limited to, cheating, plagiarism, or misrepresentation of information in oral or written forms. Such violations will be dealt with severely by the instructor and the dean. Plagiarism means presenting someone else’s ideas or writing as if it were your own. IF you use someone else’s idea or writing, be sure the source is clearly documented.

HELPFUL HINTS FOR SUCCESS IN English 1:

READ THE BOOK!!!!!!
Prepare for class, complete assignments early, PARTICIPATE in class
COME TO CLASS ON TIME!!!
If you have a question . . . ASK!!!!

Check the class blog if you have a questions at http://writeandspeakblog.blogspot.com/




















WEEK Class Overview Topics
Interpersonal Communications Syllabus




Week 1




Day 1
Monday
Intro and Class Syllabus
Introductions from classmates

The Writing Process: Exploring, Developing, and Revising and Editing

List options for final essay
Set up groups for Peer review

Select topic for final paper

Day 2
Tuesday
Read Part 1, Chapters 1 through 3
Writing Blog
Class lecture and Group review of material
Writing practice
Day 3
Wednesday
Class lecture
Peer Review and Rewrite
Writing practice
Day 4
Thursday
First written assignment due
Writing review




Week 2




Day 1
Monday
Read Part 2, chapters 1 through 12
Paragraph Patterns
Group review of material
Writing practice
Write thesis statement for final paper
Day 2
Tuesday
Writing Blog
Class lecture and group participation
Writing practice
Day 3
Wednesday
Group review of material
Peer Review and Rewrite

Writing review
Day 4
Thursday
Second written assignment due
Writing practice




Week 3




Day 1
Monday
Read Part 3, chapters 13, 14, and 15
The Essay
Class lecture and
Group review of material/
Writing practice
Write introduction and conclusion for final paper
Day 2
Tuesday
Writing Blog
Class lecture and group participation
Writing practice
Day 3
Wednesday
Group review of material Peer Review and Rewrite

Writing review
Day 4
Thursday
Third written assignment due
Writing practice




Week 4




Day 1
Monday
Read Part 4, chapters 16 through 24
The Editing Handbook
Peer Review of writing (Use form at end this syllabus)
Review Information on Class Blog and complete assignments
Writing practice
Write body of paper for SLO
Day 2
Tuesday
Rewrite based on Peer Review
Writing Blog
Continue to complete Class Blog assignments
Writing practice
Day 3
Wednesday
Continue to complete Class Blog assignments
Writing review
Day 4
Thursday
THANKSGIVING

THANKSGIVING


HOLIDAY

Eat lots of Thanksgiving Dinner




Week 5



Writing practice
Day 1
Monday
Read Part 4, chapters 16 through 24
The Editing Handbook
Class lecture and
Group review of material/
Writing practice
Peer Review SLO paper this week
Day 2
Tuesday
Writing Blog
Class lecture and group participation
Writing practice
Day 3
Wednesday
Group review of material
Peer Review and Rewrite

Writing review
Rewrite SLO essay
Day 4
Thursday
Fifth written assignment due
Writing practice
Week 6




Day 1
Monday
Part 5, Reading Strategies and Selections
Writing practice
Polish and finalize SLO paper
Day 2
Tuesday
Peer Review and Analyze
Writing practice
Day 3
Wednesday
SLO Written Essay Final Draft

Day 4
Thursday
POTLUCK


Weekly Essays – 40 points
Grammatical assignments – 10 points
Writing Blog – 10 points
Class participation – 10 points
Exam—10 points
SLO Essay – 20 points

Peer Review Checklist*
Name of Reviewer:_____________________________________________________________

Name of Writer:________________________________________________________________

Assignment Date:______________________________________________________________

What is the main point of this essay?





Is there a thesis statement? What is it? If it is missing, indicate that it is not in the essay.

What is the greatest strength of this essay?





Does the introduction grab your interest and make you want to read on? Explain your answer.





What material does not seem to fit the main point of the essay or does not seem to be appropriate for the audience?





Where should the author add more details or examples? Explain your answer.





Where is the writing unclear or vague?





What is your favorite part or parts of this piece of writing?






. Were there incomplete sentences and misspellings? Underline any incomplete sentences and circle misspelled words.

What other comments can you provide for the author?






*Adapted from Reinking, J. A., Hart, A. W., & Von der Osten, R. (2003). Strategies for successful
writing: A rhetoric, research guide, reader, and handbook (6th ed.). Boston: Prentice-Hall/Pearson Custom Publishing.