ESL 52B Intermediate Reading and Vocabulary Building Instructor: Jenny Simon, Ed.D.

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1 ESL 52B Intermediate Reading and Vocabulary Building Instructor: Jenny Simon, Ed.D. Instructor Information: Office: H-321 E Office Hours: Mondays,Wednesdays, and Fridays, 9:05-9:45am; Thursdays, 9:30am- 12pm; Fridays, 11:45-12:45pm Phone: (310) x jsimon@elcamino.edu Website: Course Information: Schedule: Monday, Wednesday, Friday, 9:45-11:20am (6628) Monday, Wednesday, 11:45-2:15pm (6635) Required Books and Materials: 1. Reader s Choice Fifth Edition by Sandra Silberstein, Barbara K. Dobson and Mark A. Clarke. 2. Animal Farm by George Orwell. 3. Four scantron forms (882-E, 100 answer spaces with letters a-e) for tests throughout the semester 4. Two or three packages of index cards to make vocabulary cards. 5. A spiral notebook or binder Course Website: General information about ESL 52B may be found at However, the most up-to-date information can be found by signing on to the ETUDES website. Get in the habit of signing onto this website (myetudes.org ) at least once a week. On this website, I will post important information and announcements that you will need to succeed in this course. Also, you may turn in some assignments electronically from here. Your login name is the same as your MyECC login name (first name_last name); your password is your birthday, month and day only (e.g. if your birthday is Feb. 11, your password is 0211). Catalog Description: This is an intermediate level course designed to teach appropriate reading skills, such as the ability to make inferences, draw conclusions, understand the meaning of vocabulary words in context through word analysis and contextual clues, and to determine the main idea from a passage. Students read from a variety of sources, including newspapers, essays, short stories, and novels. Students also increase their academic vocabulary through vocabulary building activities. 1

2 Course Objectives: Course objectives state the basic content of the course: 1. Apply basic reading skills such as skimming, scanning, reading for comprehension and critical reading in academic, personal, and professional situations. 2. Extrapolate the meaning of unfamiliar words from the context of an intermediate-level reading. 3. Employ word analysis skills such as recognizing prefixes, suffixes, synonyms and antonyms without the use of a dictionary. 4. Distinguish between main ideas, sub-ideas, and supporting details of reading passages by identifying and understanding transition/signal words and organizational patterns. 5. Select appropriate definitions of academic vocabulary. 6. Compose sentences utilizing academic vocabulary. 7. Demonstrate intermediate-level reading comprehension within a variety of time limitations. 8. Analyze plots, explore themes, describe settings, and examine characters within the context of fables, poems, short stories, essays, and novels of intermediate-level difficulty. 9. Predict outcomes, interpret events, identify and restate main ideas, and draw inferences in various readings of intermediate difficulty. 10. Evaluate a novel in terms of its literary and cultural values. Student Learning Outcomes: Student learning outcomes state what you will be able to do at the end of the course: Given a high intermediate level reading, students will be able to interpret the underlying meaning or intent of a phrase, sentence, or paragraph in which the meaning is not explicitly stated. Given a high-intermediate level short story or passage, students will be able to summarize the text to approx. 20% of its original length in their own words by including main ideas and support only, and respond to the ideas of the text by explaining their opinion or giving a parallel example. 2

3 Given an unfamiliar intermediate-high level article, students will be able to identify the main ideas, locate specific details, and choose the correct definition of unfamiliar words based on their context. Given a sentence with a missing word, students will be able to select the correct word based on their knowledge of word forms for different parts of speech. Course Work and Grading Tests: There will be a test after every two chapters of our textbook. The final exam will be about Animal Farm, the novel we will read for the course. Quizzes: There will be frequent quizzes about the readings and the vocabulary. Most classes will start with a quiz. You may not make up quizzes if you come late to class or miss a class, so please come on time and minimize the number of absences! (I will drop two of your lowest quiz scores, and there will be a few bonus quizzes throughout the semester to make up for missed quizzes.) Homework: I will assign homework at each class meeting to be completed for the next class meeting. In addition to regular homework, each student will be expected to make vocabulary cards. Reading Logs: A reading log will be due once every week. For your reading log, you will need to find an article (online or in a newspaper or magazine), print it out, read it, and fill out the reading log form. You will need to complete a total of 6 reading logs and one summary-response paper on 3 articles on a related topic. New Century Reading Program: Every student is required to take the New Century Reading Program diagnostic test in the Learning Resources Center of the library. Apart from the diagnostic test, any other lessons you complete are optional. However, if you complete six hours of lessons on this program, you may drop one test grade. You must inform the instructor before you begin the hours. After completing the hours, please bring a printout of the report from the library. You must complete the hours within three weeks of my returning the test. You may only do this for ONE test. This may not apply to the final exam for the class. You must still take all tests for the class. Your grade will break down as follows: Tests 60% Quizzes 20% Homework/Classwork 10% Reading Logs 10% Students Rights and Responsibilities: Responsibilities 1. Come to class on time and minimize the number of absences. In order to receive credit for the course, you cannot be absent for more than 10% of the class 3

4 meetings. (For classes that meet two days a week, 3 days is the most you can miss; for classes that meet 3 days a week, 5 days is the most you can miss). If you accumulate an unreasonable number of absences or tardies, you may be dropped from the class. 2. Come to class prepared even if you were absent the class before. Being absent is not an excuse for coming to class unprepared. Please log on to the ETUDES site to see what the homework is for the next day. 3. Do not participate in behavior that disrupts the learning of others. If you need to leave the classroom during class, please do so quietly and respectfully. Don t use cell phones in class. Don t speak to your classmates while the teacher or another student is speaking. 4. Turn in assignments on time. Assignments will only be accepted on the day they are due and one class after that for half credit. You may use your coupon (found at the end of the syllabus) to turn in one late assignment with no penalty. 5. Don t cheat. If we are taking a test or quiz, please keep your eyes on your own paper, and don t use a dictionary or notes. Also, don t use your cell phone, computer, or any other electronic device; please do not leave the room during a test. For homework assignments or other out-of-class assignments, please do your own work, and don t copy the homework from someone else. If you are caught cheating, you will receive a 0 on the assignment or test. 6. Take responsibility for making the class a good one. Come to class prepared. Participate in class discussions. Help others if they need help. The class cannot be good without your help!! Rights 1. You may ask the instructor about how you were graded or dispute your grade. Your grade is your responsibility!! Take this responsibility seriously by asking the instructor about grades or scores that confuse or upset you. Please approach the instructor calmly and respectfully don t come ready for a fight. 2. You may come to the instructor s office hours to ask questions or receive extra help. I will always be in my office during my scheduled office hours. If I need to step out for a moment, I will always post a note on the door which states when I expect to come back. It s always helpful if you tell me you would like to come to my office hours. 3. You may approach the instructor with any problem you encounter and expect her to resolve it as best she can. Most problems have a solution; therefore, if you encounter a problem with the course work, another student, or even the instructor herself, please don t hesitate to talk to me about it!! I will try my best to resolve the problem quickly. That is my job. 4. You may make up tests (not quizzes) if you have a valid excuse for missing it. If you miss one of the five big tests in the semester, and you have a valid excuse for missing the test, you may make arrangements with the instructor to take the test outside of class time. Please speak with the instructor as soon as possible so that the make-up test may be scheduled quickly. You may not make up quizzes, but I will drop two of your lowest scores, and there will be a few bonus quizzes throughout the semester to make up for missed quizzes or low quiz scores. 4

5 Students with Disabilities: If you have a documented disability and wish to discuss academic accommodations, please let me know. You may speak to me after class, during my office hours, or by phone or . Your privacy will be protected. You are also encouraged to contact the Special Resource Center on campus ( ) to discuss what accommodations and services are available. Calendar (This calendar is subject to change.) Week 1 Introduction to the course, syllabus Aug Introduction to reading skills: skimming and scanning, context clues, dictionary use, stems and affixes, reading paragraphs for the main idea (RC, Ch. 1) Week 2 Sept. 2-6 Week 3 Sept Week 4 Sept Complete reading log #1 in class Monday, Sept. 2 is the Labor Day holiday Discuss language policy articles (Can English Be Dethroned?; English Seen as Co-Star among Global Languages) Finish language policy articles Go to library basic skills lab Test #1 (RC, Ch. 1 & 2) Continue practicing reading skills: stems and affixes, dictionary use Week 5 Sept Week 6 Sept. 30-Oct. 4 Week 7 Oct Week 8 Oct Week 9 Oct Week 10 Oct. 28-Nov. 1 Week 11 Nov. 4-8 Reading Skills: Introduction to sentence study; paragraph reading Discuss educational policy articles (The Creative Spirit; American Values in Education; School Violated Student s Rights) Continue discussing educational policy articles Discuss psychology article (The Stereotypes of Stereotypes) Prepare for Test #2 Reading skills: context clues; stems and affixes; sentence comprehension; introduction to restatement and inference Test #2 (RC, Ch. 3&4) Reading skills: context clues; stems and affixes; restatement and inference; reading paragraphs for full understanding Discuss economics article (The World Turns Grey) Prepare for Test #3 Test #3 (RC, Ch. 5 & 6) Discuss The Milgram Experiment and The Lottery Prepare for Test #4 5

6 Week 12 Nov Week 13 Nov Week 14 Nov Week 15 Dec. 2-6 Week 16 Dec Mon., Nov. 11 is the Veteran s Day holiday Test #4 (RC, Ch. 7 & 8) Animal Farm Animal Farm Nov., are the Thanksgiving Day holiday Animal Farm Monday, May 27 is the Memorial Day Holiday. Animal Farm Animal Farm Test (Test #5) Important Dates: Last day to add classes; last day to drop and be eligible for a refund Fri., Sept. 6 Last day to drop without a W Fri., Sept. 6 Last day to drop with a W Fri., Nov. 15 Last day of Fall Semester Fri., Dec. 13 Holidays: Labor Day Mon., Sept. 2 Veterans Day Mon., Nov. 11 Thanksgiving Th-F, Nov Coupon This coupon entitles the bearer to turn in one assignment late without penalty (please see bottom of coupon for rules). On the day the assignment is due, clip this coupon, fill in the following information, and turn it in instead of the completed assignment. Then at the next class meeting, turn in the late assignment. Student Name: Date: Name/Description of Assignment: 1. This coupon may only be used one time! 2. In order to receive credit for the assignment, the assignment must be turned by the next class period. After the next class period, the normal rules for late assignments apply (i.e. no credit for homework assignment after the next class period, or 10% penalty for each day an essay is turned in late after the next class period). 3. This coupon can only be used for homework assignments or reading logs; it may not be used for quizzes or tests. 6