Eng. 250 Practical Writing

with Eng. 260 Prep. for College Reading

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Instructor : Karen Warren   Email: kwarren@gavilan.edu

Phone: (408) 848-4850

Office: SS109   
Office hours: MW 9:30-11, TTh 10-11, & by arrangement

Course hours, units, & location:

Eng. 250: Sec. 40103, 3.0 units, SS203, TTh 12:50-2:10

    plus lab: Li 120, T 2:30-3:20

Eng. 250: Sec. 40104, 3.0 units, SS203, TTh 12:50-2:10

    plus lab: Li 120, Th 2:30-3:20

Eng. 260: Sec. 40126, 3.0 units, SS203, TTh 11:20-12:40

Eng. 260: Sec. 40127, 3.0 units, SS203, TTh 11:20-12:40

Eng. 22: Sec. 41008, 1.0, time arranged

Prerequisite: Satisfactory score on the English placement exam or successful completion of Eng. 440/420.

Required: Concurrent enrollment in Eng. 250, 260, & 22, plus lab

Required Texts: Silverman, Rules of Thumb

Goleman, Emotional Intelligence (10th Anniv. Ed., 2005)

Hoerr, A Student's Guide to Succeeding in Community College

Salzman, True Notebooks

American Heritage or any college-level pocket dictionary

Additional readings as assigned

Supplies: access to a word processor or typewriter, academic calendar to note due dates & exams, 3-ring binder and lined paper, highlighter, spiral notebook for journal, and a manila folder (not plastic!) for submitting essays

English 250 Practical Writing: Course Description and Objectives

This course covers writing clear, correct, effective essays and learning preliminary research skills.

English 260 Preparation for College Reading: Course Description and Objectives

This is a course presenting strategies in the technique and practice of college-level critical reading and thinking skills.

Course Learning Outcomes: Eng. 250

1. Demonstrate the ability to write clear, coherent essays in standard English.

2. Apply research techniques to finding and evaluating sources and writing college-level research papers.

3. Analyze essay writing in terms of message, form, effectiveness.

4. Utilize reading and writing skills to effectively complete a timed argument essay (department final), thus demonstrating the ability to proceed to English 1A or receive an AA degree.

5. Evaluate texts to determine an author's purpose and argument and assess its validity and relevance to the student's own life and values.

6. Apply effective reading strategies to read a book-length work and write a cogent analysis and response.

Course Learning Outcomes: English 260

1.  Students will use critical thinking skills, such as deciphering fact and opinion, bias, and logical fallacies.

2.  Students will develop and engage in higher order thinking skills, including analysis, comparison/contrast, synthesis, inference, and classification

3.  Students will recognize, utilize, and differentiate between abstract concepts and concrete examples.

4.  Students will formulate and practice successful approaches to learning college-level vocabulary, including identifying meaning through context, differentiating connotation and denotation, and dictionary skills.

5.  Students will demonstrate the ability to respond to college-level reading through paraphrase, summary, and responses to questions about reading selections.

6.  Students will decipher and explain main idea, supporting points, tone, purpose, figure of speech, and point of view.

7.  Students will distinguish the link between rate and comprehension and demonstrate rate flexibility by practicing techniques for faster reading and adjusting rate for purpose.

8.  Students will apply research skills to enhance reading comprehension, such as finding background information on a given text, which may include evaluating sources and basic internet skills.

9.  Students will distinguish components of a variety of college-level reading material, including textbooks, scholarly journal articles, newspaper articles, essays, and works of fiction and poetry.

10.  Students will utilize a variety of tools for reading comprehension, which may include graphic organizers such as KWL+ charts.

First-Year Experience

Since these linked classes are part of Gavilan's learning community program, we will be working with counselors, tutors, and other staff to help you develop strategies for succeeding in college. We'll talk about the resources available to you on campus, such as financial aid and the Career Center, and the ways you can become part of the larger campus community. We'll also examine how strong reading and writing skills will help you succeed in all of your college classes. Also, since these classes are linked, you cannot drop one course without dropping the other. To put your new reading and writing skills into practice, we will be tutoring English students at Gilroy High School.

Recommended additional courses:

CSIS122: Computer Keyboarding and CSIS 126: Word Processing (as needed)

Gavilan ILearn:

Part of our course will be delivered through the computer at http://ilearn.gavilan.edu/

Course Attendance

Students must attend class regularly, be on time, prepare all assignments in advance, and participate in all class discussions and other group activities, such as free-writes, peer editing workshops, seminar discussions, web postings, and panels. Attendance is crucial. If you miss more than one class meeting, please meet with me to make a plan for your continued presence the class. Missing more than two class meetings could result in your being dropped from the class. However, it is your responsibility to officially drop the course through admissions. Students arriving late are subject to being marked absent for the day, and being late twice may be considered a full absence. Since these courses are linked, being absent (or late) counts as an absence in both courses.

English 250 Requirements

Papers/projects                                 65%

Department portfolio                        25%

Lab                                                  10%

English 260 Requirements

Quizzes (Vocabulary, reading) = 20%

Assignments and projects = 60%

Exams = 10%

Final = 10%

A = 90-100%; B = 80-89%; C = 70-79%; D = 60-69%; F= 0-59 %. Pluses and minuses may be used when assigning final grades.

Writing Center

Eng. 250 Lab: Once weekly you will meet in the Writing Center with your instructor and tutors to work on your writing for this class. To receive full credit for the lab, you must attend at least 13 full lab sessions. Come prepared by bringing writing assignments and a floppy disk or flash-drive to save your work on the lab computers.

The Writing Center, which is in the library building, room Li 120, serves the campus community by fostering, celebrating and encouraging writers and the varied and multiple purposes and audiences that writing serves.

Specially trained student Writing Assistants offer free one-on-one consultations about all kinds of writing assignments (including the essays you’ll write for this class) on a drop-in and by appointment basis. In the center you can also find computers and free printing.

Respect for differences: Learning occurs most productively in a safe, respectful environment. Differences of viewpoints, orientation, and experience are expected and welcomed in class discussions. If you don't feel safe or respected, please talk to your instructors or to Dean Fran Lozano at (408) 848-4702 or at flozano@gavilan.edu.

You are expected to respect other people's opinions even if you don't agree with them. Please respect our efforts to run a thought-provoking class by holding up your end of the bargain and participating in a positive manner. Remember that we are in an academic environment and comments should be appropriate for that audience. Individuals who repeatedly behave inappropriately or unprofessionally will be warned, may be asked to drop, or may be dropped from the course.

Advisory: Students requiring special services or arrangements because of hearing, visual or other disability should contact their instructor, counselor, advisor, or the Disabled Students Services Office. Occupational/Vocational Students: Limited English language skills will not be a barrier to admittance to and participation in vocational education programs.

Academic Honesty: Students are expected to exercise academic honesty and integrity. Violations such as cheating and plagiarism will result in disciplinary action, which may include recommendation for dismissal. See pages 40-44 of the college catalog for more information. Respect includes giving credit when credit is due. Just as we like to receive credit for the work we do, others deserve the same. Using someone's ideas and/or words without acknowledgment is plagiarism! Plagiarism can result in a failing grade on an assignment or in the class.

Class Conduct: We want the classroom to be a fun and safe place for everyone. We also have high expectations for students in this class, so common courtesy and professional conduct is expected at all times. Examples of unacceptable classroom behavior include cheating, plagiarism, private conversations, uncooperativeness, continually leaving seat, and the display of electronics – especially cell phones and headphones. Each is grounds for removal from the classroom. If you need to display or consult a cell phone, discuss it with me BEFORE class begins. For more on student conduct, student rights, and school policies, please see the Gavilan College Catalog.

Please note: This class moves quickly to meet all its goals, assignments are based on previous assignments, and we do a lot of group work. It is therefore crucial for you to be prepared and to attend class every day. Late work including missed in-class and homework assignments is not accepted. Quizzes and tests cannot be made up, but if you have a real hardship and contact me beforehand, I will try to accommodate an alternative date.

Please view the class as a place to share your enjoyment, questions, curiosity, and creativity!

Department portfolio due: Tues., May 11, in class

Final exams: Eng. 260--Tues., May 25, 10:30-12:30

Eng. 250--Thurs., May 27, 10:30-12:30

         Page last modified 1/16/10