BOROUGH OF MANHATTAN COMMUNITY COLLEGE City University of New York Department of Developmental Skills Title of Course: ACR 095: Academic and Critical Reading II Section: 985 Class hours: 10:00am-11:40am Mondays room M1415 Wednesdays - virtual Thursdays room M1415 Lab hours: as assigned Semester: Fall 2010 Credits: 0 Instructor Information Name: Michelle E. Martin Office Hour(s): Mondays 2pm-4pm, Thursdays 9:15am -9:45am, and 2:00pm-2:30pm and by appointment Office: N436 Email: mmartin@bmcc.cuny.edu Telephone: 212-346-8547 Fax: 212-748-7477 Course Description: This advanced level reading course is designed to help students master and apply a full range of college-level reading, and related skills, including critical comprehension, vocabulary, writing, flexible rates of reading, and study strategies. A variety of college-level materials are used. **Please note that this section of ACR095 is taught in a hybrid format of e-learning. This means that students meet in a physical classroom at the BMCC campus 2x a week (Mondays & Thursdays) and meet virtually (online) 1x a week (Wednesdays). ** Prerequisites/Co-requisites: ACR 094, ESL 062 Student Learning Outcomes: Students will be able to: master literal, inferential, and critical reading skills. integrate reading, writing and thinking. demonstrate competency on reading assessment instruments. analyze texts by breaking the information into its component parts and seeing the relationship among the parts. synthesize ideas in order to create an understanding of a whole text and to see its relation to other ideas and other texts. summarize and paraphrase details of text. evaluate texts using various criteria. apply reading strategies to academic courses across the curriculum. develop life-long reading habits and love of reading. Required Textbook(s): ** Please note that this section is being funded by a CUNY grant and as such, the required main textbook and will be provided free of charge to the students in this class** Flemming, L. (2009). Reading for thinking. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Co. 6th ed. ISBN-13: 9780618985821 (do not buy - will be provided as an electronic text) Olsen, A. (2010). Active vocabulary: general and academic words. Boston: Prentice Hall/ 4 th ed. ISBN-13: 9780205632732 (available at BMCC bookstore or http://www.mypearsonstore.com/bookstore/product.asp?isbn=0205632734&xid=psed)
*Steinbeck, J. Of mice and men (any edition) *Isay, D. ( 2007). Listening is an act of love. New York: Penguin Books. *1 choice novel (details on choice novel assignment sheet) *Novels may be obtained at BMCC bookstore, library, used bookstore, etc. They will be used in the order listed during the semester. Other Required Course Materials: Binder (notebook) for course materials BMCC Student Handbook Items necessary for participation in class pens (2 different colors), pencils, paper, highligher Access to a dictionary (electronic or hard copy) Computer with internet access (available in multiple locations on campus) BMCC id Other Resources: E-tutoring is available Reading Lab (S500R) Computer & Print resources for reading skills and test practice. Outline of Topics: SQ3R Vocabulary in Context Topic and Main Ideas Supporting Details Transitions/Patterns of Organization Inference Fact/Opinion Purpose/Tone Argument and Bias Reading Visuals and Analyzing Graphs Understanding and Synthesizing Longer readings Summarizing and Paraphrasing Evaluation & Requirements of Students: Students are evaluated in a variety of ways through the semester, some online and some in the classroom including: A departmental standardized diagnostic test Teacher made quizzes Classwork and Out of Class (home) assignments Departmental standardized midterm exam Departmental standardized final exam (ACT/COMPASS test online) Attendance/Participation in class discussions and small group work Some of those evaluations are graded and others are not. A minimum of 12 hours of homework will be assigned per week. Students who pass this course will be receive a letter grade of A, B, C, or D based on the points earned according to the grading given in this syllabus. All students begin the course with 1000 points, as detailed on the table below. It is up to you to keep your A in the course by losing as few points as possible during the semester. If you do not pass the course you will earn a grade of R. To pass this course, students must pass the final ACT/COMPASS exam in addition to other requirements.
Grades will be based on the following course components: Assignment Percentage of grade Total Points Possible Attendance & Participation (in the on campus classroom activities, including reading skill work, vocabulary exercises, novel discussions, and other small group work) Attendance & Participation (in the virtual class activities, including reading skill work, vocabulary exercises, novel discussions, and other small group work) 20% 233 28 class sessions (8.3 points each) 15% 117 14 class sessions (8.3 points each) Reading Notebook 5% 50 checked at midterm and last week (25 pts ea) Quizzes (some online & some in regular classroom) Out of Class Assignments (homework) vocabulary, reading skill work, novel reading responses - completed outside of class time) Reading Lab (completed outside of class time) 10% 100 10 quizzes (10 pts ea) 30% 300 Points vary on assignments see grade sheet 20% 200 4 lab sheets throughout semester (50 points each) Late Assignments: Assignments are due on the due date given (whether you are present or not). Assignments that are due electronically and labwork will be due by midnight, eastern time, on the due date. Other assignments, such as exercises completed in the reading text and the vocabulary text, as well as readings completed for class are due by the beginning of the class session on the due date, as they will be discussed in class. Assignments may be submitted up to a calendar week late for half credit. After that, no credit will be given. Other Assignment Details: Quizzes are not made up. The lowest quiz grade (or a missed quiz) will be dropped. The department diagnostic test (given the first day of class and the departmental midterm will not be available to make up.
Out of Class Assignments are due at the beginning of class on the due date given (whether you are present or not). If you are not present, you may submit your assignment electronically via email (but I will not print it out). All out of class assignments should be word processed, unless they are completed in the text itself. See the course calendar and class session powerpoints for specifics and due dates. 50 points of assignments may be dropped at the end of the semester. Grading Scale: Grades Numerical Equivalent Point Equivalent A 93-100% 930-1000 A- 90-92% 900-920 B+ 87-89% 870-890 B 83-86% 830-860 B- 80-82% 800-820 C+ 77-79% 770-790 C 73-76% 730-760 C- 70-72% 700-720 D+ 67-69% 670-690 D 63-66% 630-660 D- 60-62% 600-620 F 59% and below 590 or less R Course must be repeated W Withdrawal Instructional Techniques: This course will be interactive, and will combine elements of lecture, large class work, small group work, and individual work. Additionally, part of this section of ACR095 is taught online, and these parts are also interactive. Students should expect that in class and out of class each week, they will read, write, speak, listen and view materials to complete the coursework. Electronic Devices: Please turn off or to silent all cell-phones, beepers and other electronic devices. The use of cell phones is prohibited in classrooms, labs, the library, all theatres, and any other areas where instruction or an organized function is taking place. In addition, students are prohibited from playing radios on college premises. A personal walkman (i.e. an mp3 device) is permitted in public areas, but not in any classrooms. College Attendance Policy At BMCC, the maximum number of absences is limited to one more hour than the number of hours a class meets in one week. For example, you may be enrolled in a three-hour class. In that class, you would be allowed 4 hours of absence (not 4 days). In this 6 hour class, you are allowed 7 hours of absence (not 7 days). In the case of excessive absences, the instructor has the option to lower the grade or assign an F or WU grade. Absences are not differentiated as excused or unexcused. To be eligible for exit testing, a student must have met the departmental attendance requirements. If these are not met, the student will be barred from taking the ACT/COMPASS exit test that serves as the final exam. Face-to-face classes begin promptly at the times indicated in the schedule of classes. Arrival in class (physically present) after the scheduled starting time constitutes lateness (i.e. if the class starts at 10:00am, if you arrive at 10:01am, you are late). Latecomers may, at the discretion of the instructor, incur an official absence. Also, classes meet until the designated ending time. Early departures may also, at the discretion of the instructor, incur an absence. If you arrive late, leave and return during class, and/or leave early please do so in a quiet and non-intrusive manner.
Attendance/participation points will reflect any time missed from the beginning, during, or end of class. So, if you leave class for 15 minutes and come back, you will lose points. Additionally, if you are not participating during class (i.e. you are texting, sleeping, listening to earphones, just sitting but not actively engaging in what the rest of the class is doing, etc.) you will also lose points and may be asked to leave. If you miss a class session, it is your responsibility to contact the instructor to find out what was missed and to receive handouts and/or other materials from class. You are still also responsible for turning in any out-of-class assignments due on the due date they are still due even if you are not physically and/or virtually present. Most course materials can be found on the course Blackboard site. Attendance/Participation is a part of your grade. We will do many interactive activities during class and in the virtual class. You will not be able to make up your attendance/participation points from the missed class session, and absences will not be differentiated as excused or unexcused absent means not physically present during a class session. However, you will be able to drop 7 hours of attendance/participation points at the end of the semester. Children on Campus: Young children who are not registered in the child care center should not be brought to campus, and, of course, may not attend classes with their parent or guardian. BMCC Policy Statement on Plagiarism Plagiarism is the presentation of someone else s ideas, words, or artistic, scientific, or technical work as one s own creation. Using the idea or work of another is permissible only when the original author is identified. Paraphrasing and summarizing, as well as direct quotations require citations to the original source. Plagiarism may be intentional or unintentional. Lack of dishonest intent does not necessarily absolve a student of responsibility for plagiarism. The determination of whether the alleged act of plagiarism involves the presentation of another person s words or work as one s own is a factual determination. In such instances, the Dean of Students may refer the allegation to the Faculty-Student Disciplinary committee (see Article 15.4 of the Bylaws of the Board of Trustees). The determination of whether the alleged act of plagiarism involves the presentation of another person s ideas as one s own is an academic judgment. In such instances, the Dean of Students will refer the matter to the appropriate academic department for review. If the department determines that plagiarism has occurred, the department s regular procedures in terms of grading and grade appeals should be followed. Students who are unsure how and when to provide documentation are advised to consult with their instructors. The library has guides designed to help students to appropriately identify a cited work. A copy of this policy is available online, also. Please be aware that any written assignments may be checked with plagiarism checking (using safe assignment or turnitin.com) software to ensure that it is your original work. BMCC Disability Statement In keeping with the college s policy of equal access for students with disabilities, any student with a disability who requires reasonable academic accommodations is welcome to meet with me privately. All conversations will be kept confidential. Students requesting accommodations will also need to go to the offices of Services for Students with Disabilities, N320. The office will supply you, if appropriate, with an academic accommodation letter for you to show to professors. BMCC is committed to providing equal access to all programs and curricula to all students.