ENGLISH 10Essential Language Skills

WELCOME!

English 10: Essential Language SkillsMondays: 6-10:30 pmRoom 208

CLASSROOM RULES

Heald College has a policy of no food or drink in the classroom, other than bottled water. Please follow this policy.

Respect is the rule in my classroom. Please respect yourself, your classmates and your instructor.

Silence your cell phones. Be awake and attentive

during class times. Use computers only at

appropriate times and for classroom work/email only

Food and Drink Professional Behavior

Please see the syllabus for more of my policies

ABOUT ME

Melissa Gunby Bachelor of Arts: English, History, 2002 Master of Arts: English Composition, 2008 I have a cat named J.C. – just cat. I live in Woodland. I play the trumpet in the Woodland

Community Band I knit and crochet

INDEX CARD

Please give me the following information on the index card: Your Name Your academic program here at Heald Phone numbers (please indicate home, cell/text) Your email (any and/or all) A statement saying it’s okay for me to leave a

message if I call and am unable to reach you.

CONTACT INFORMATION

Melissa_Gunby@heald.edu ( _ between first and last names)

530-508-6501 (message or text) msgunby@gmail.com Facebook: msgunby@gmail.com Twitter: msgunby

Please call, text, or email if you will miss class.

ICEBREAKER!

Since we’re going to be together for an intense 10 weeks of learning, it’s important that we all get to know each other.

On the handout, there are two blank boxes near the center. Please fill them in with a question you want to know about your classmates.

Talk to every person in class and try to fill in as many names in each box as possible. You should get up and move around.

After you’ve filled in every box with at least one name, we’ll share the results with the class.

BREAK TIME!Please be back promptly in 10 minutes

WHAT TO EXPECT IN THIS CLASS

COURSE REQUIREMENTS

Minimum of 10 informal writing assignments, such as journals.

Minimum of 10 readings Minimum of 6 paragraphs and/or essays Self-edit work using conventional rules of

English punctuation, spelling, and grammar Give 1 oral presentation Expand vocabulary through a guided

assignment A final portfolio project Two chapter tests A final exam

JOURNALS Each week you will be assigned to complete a journal entry.

The topics will be up to you; some of the readings you will be assigned will have questions at the end for discussion or writing that you may use for that week’s journal. Alternatively, on the handout about the journals you received are a list of suggestions should you get stuck.

I would prefer not to read a list of things you did during a day or week, but rather see some reflection on a topic or idea.

You should expect to write at least 1 full page or 2 shorter entries every week.

Grammar and spelling will not effect your grade; however, I may make corrections to help you improve.

Journals will be turned in at the beginning of each class session.

I would prefer Journal entries to be typed, but I will accept hand-written submissions.

READINGS

There will be assigned readings for homework every week. Some of these may be handed out to you, some may be from the text book.

There will be discussion on the readings assigned for homework. Please be prepared.

We will be doing some reading in class. Please expect to read aloud in class.

We will more than likely read more than the required 10 assignments.

WRITING ASSIGNMENTS

We will write a minimum of 6 paragraphs and/or essays throughout the duration of this course. Each assignment will have a focus and/or genre.

Each assignment will be work-shopped in class if time permits. This means you will be sharing your writing with your classmates. One of the best ways to learn to improve in your writing is to get feedback from many other sources.

Through these assignments, you will develop skills to help you learn what to look for in self-editing, such as patterns of errors and rules of Standard Academic English.

We will be using MLA format. All formal assignments must be typed.

ORAL PRESENTATION

During week 9 (March 14), each student will be responsible for giving a presentation. Whatever topic you choose is up to you, but please choose a topic that is appropriate for the professional environment of Heald.

More details will be given on this assignment soon.

VOCABULARY ASSIGNMENT

Each week you will be assigned a selection of words from the Vocabulary Handout. You will be responsible for looking up the definitions of these words and using them correctly in a sentence.

We will do various activities with the vocabulary during class time.

FINAL PORTFOLIO PROJECT

One of the great ways to learn is to reflect on the process you’ve gone through to get to the end. At the culmination of this class, each student will submit a final portfolio of their work for the quarter.

The portfolio will include a statement of reflection that details the things that the student has learned about their writing skills, about themselves, etc., throughout the course.

More information will follow soon.

EXAMS AND QUIZZES

There will be two tests: Chapters 1-4 (Feb

14) Chapters 5-8 (March

14) There is no midterm

exam for this class.

There will be a quiz on the vocabulary packet on March 21.

There will be a final exam on March 28.

Chapter Exams Final Exam and Vocab

WHERE TO FIND COURSE MATERIALS I have set up a folder for this class on Google

Documents. This will allow you to access all paperwork for the class throughout the quarter in case you misplace anything or miss a handout in class. I will also email the link and post it to the facebook and twitter accounts. https://docs.google.com/leaf?

id=0B1z4e8V1Yo3UOTlkZTM4Y2EtY2FkOC00NjliLTgxMmMtN2Y2YTJhNDUxYmM1&hl=en

You will not need a gmail account to access this folder.

I will also post regular reminders from the twitter account I set up (@msgunby) and facebook. I will not follow you back on either of these accounts, but you can contact me through them.

ONE FINAL NOTE…

This class meets only once per week. One lecture per week is not going to be sufficient for you to retain all the material, though I try to do fun and interesting things with it. You must take some responsibility for studying outside of class time in order to be successful on the quizzes and exams.

I highly recommend putting together a study group for the quizzes and exams, especially if you have classmates that share other classes with you.

ONE MORE NOTE

Because of the two holidays that fall on Mondays this quarter (MLK day on the 17th of January and President’s day on 21 February), this class meets for 4.5 hours, from 6:00 pm to 10:30 pm.

Please be aware of this change and make appropriate arrangements for transportation and/or child care. If you leave before class is dismissed at 10:30, you will be marked as a “leave early,” which will affect your attendance record.

BREAK TIME!Please be back promptly in 10 minutes.

CHAPTER 1: AN INVITATION TO WRITING

THE WRITING PROCESS

Brainstorm/Plan Draft/Write Revise Edit

BRAINSTORMING

SAMPLE ESSAY TOPIC

Should students at Heald have to perform community service as part of a graduation requirement? Please develop an argument to support your opinion, and be prepared to supply a counter-argument.

For this exercise, we will pretend that the school does not already have this requirement.

TYPES OF BRAINSTORMING

Listing Free writing Discussion Mapping/Diagramming Clustering Outlining

LIS

TIN

G

Listing does exactly what it sounds like; a writer can list all the ideas or responses they have to a general topic.

Yes No

Play an active role in community

Don’t have the time

Opportunity for networking in a career field

Not what college is for

Looks good on resumes

Should be able to choose and not forced on.

Exposure to different people

Seems like a HS or MS type requirement

Work experience Money’s too tight to give up work hours

Already do as part of job

FR

EE W

RIT

ING

Free writing is a stream of consciousness exercise. It’s useful to get the ideas flowing without thinking about organization or mechanics.

Should community college students have to do community service to graduate? Didn’t we have to do it for high school? What’s the point, anyway? I don’t pay to go to college just so I can do volunteer work for someone, and it’s not like I have the time for it between work and school and the kids. Hell, I need someone to volunteer for ME so I can get stuff done around the house But I guess maybe it wouldn’t be bad if I could help in an office where I could make connections in my major field, like nurses or something. OH, I need to make that appointment for my son. I just don’t’ feel like I can handle anything else on top of all the homework and tests and work and everything else that I already have to do. It might be good for students without family or work obligations but I just don’t see how I could do it.

MA

PP

ING

/DIA

GR

AM

MIN

G

Mapping/diagramming and clustering are very similar. Starting with a central idea, branches are added as new ideas, branch off. Related ideas are attached by branches. New ideas start a new branch.

No community

service requirement

Can’t afford itDay

care

Can’

t mis

s an

ymor

e w

ork

Alrea

dy p

ayin

g tu

itio

n

Kid

s have b

een s

ick

I don’t pay to volunteer

CLU

STER

ING

Rather than using the more linear format of mapping, clustering uses bubbles and lines to connect ideas based on a main topic or idea.

Meet new/different

people

Looks good on resume

networking

Active role in

community

Better chances of getting a

job

Make more

money

Work experience

Yes, community service

Graduation requirement

Want to live/work

here

OU

TLIN

ING

Outlining might not be the most effective way to start brainstorming without doing something beforehand.

It may be more effective to outline once the ideas have been generated using another form of brainstorming. This can help more when a writer has an idea of what they want to say without knowing exactly how to organize her thoughts.

This may seem very formulaic; it is. It’s a good way to get started and think about the relationships between sentences in terms of organization.

Topic Sentence: A community service requirement could greatly benefit students at a 2-year college.

Primary Support: It could provide students with valuable experience that would make them a more desirable employee.

Secondary Support a (explain): Many employers want to hire workers that already have some experience.

SSb(example): Volunteering at a retirement community could help a nursing student get a job more easily by showing he already has experience in the field.

SSc(effect/result/analysis): Through the volunteer experience, students can also get valuable work experience that could make them a better candidate for a job in the future.

ACTIVITY!

Everyone free-write for 3 minutes on “The First Day of School.”

Group 1: create a list of ideas to use in a paragraph for “The First Day of School.”

Group 2: Create a cluster or map for “The First Day of School.”

Group 3: Create an Outline for “The First Day of School.”

After you finish brainstorming, as a group, try to write a short paragraph about “The First Day of School.”

Please turn in your brainstorm and paragraph with the names of all group members

ANOTHER ACTIVITY!

Another great way to get information for writing is through interviews and surveys. Step 1: Complete the survey on page 19 (you

may write the answers on another sheet of paper if you don’t want to tear the page from your book). I will tabulate the surveys and share the results with the class next week.

Step 2: Find a partner and complete the Interviews and Introductions worksheet (I will hand it out).

BREAK TIME!Please be back promptly in 10 minutes.

THE ACTIVE READERPages 614-616

READ “WHAT IS INTELLIGENCE, ANYWAY?” (PG. 669-70)Consider the Questions for Critical Thinking. When finished, we will discuss this as a class

HO

MEW

OR

K!

Have a great week.

Contact information:

Melissa_gunby@heald.edu

msgunby@gmail.com

Facebook: msgunby@gmail.com

Twitter: @msgunby

530-508-6501

Office hour: half-hour before class, in this room.

Vocabulary words 1-10 Read “Homemade Education”

and “Freewriting” handouts Journal 1: choose a prompt from

the list or create your own. Either write 1 full page or do 2 small entries this week.