Link to course grades

Link to Book Report Example

ESOL 840 Syllabus for Spring 2010
Teacher: Daniel O'Connell Course: ESOL840 English For Speakers of Other Languages IV Section: AB CRN: 35152 Room: PH-402 Time: 8:10-9:50 MWF 8:10-9:25 TTH   Units: 6.0 (non-transferable and not applicable to AA degree)   Office: 8215  Office Hours: 10:00-11:00 M,W,F, 9:30-10:30 TTh or by appt. E-Mail: oconnelld@smccd.edu Website : www.smccd.net/accounts/oconnelld/

Catalogue Course Description: ESOL 840 ENGLISH FOR SPEAKERS OF OTHER LANGUAGES IV (6)  Nine lecture hours per week plus one lab hour per week by arrangement. Recommended: Satisfactory completion of ESOL 830, or 831 and 832, or 863 and 873, or appropriate skill level as indicated by ESL placement test and other measures as necessary.
For high-intermediate students who have studied the grammatical structures, reading skills, and elements of paragraph writing in ESOL 830, or 831 and 832, or 863 and 873, or equivalent. Emphasis is on thematic reading, discussion, and writing from paragraphs to essays, supplemented by exercises in proofreading. (Units do not count toward the Associate Degree.)

Student Learning Outcomes: ESOL 840 is a 4-skills class with instruction and practice in listening, speaking, reading, and writing.  Upon completion of ESOL 840, you will be able to:
 1.For listening, identify and understand new information in lectures on academic topics, especially when prepared with class activities.
 2. For speaking, make yourself understood in discussion with attentive listeners about academic topics, sometimes adding details or rephrasing to increase understanding.
 3. For reading, apply reading strategies to unabridged academic texts and demonstrate critical thinking in summaries and comprehension questions
 4. For writing, demonstrate an ability to make a point supported by comprehensible, organized, developed text.

Placement: Students adding the class will need to show proof of placement, either with advisory placement by COMPASS placement test  or completion of ESOL 830 with a C or better or completion of both ESOL 831 and 832 or 863 and 973 with a C or better.

Grades: Grading will be: A (89.5-100%), B (79.5-89.9%), C (69.5-80%), or D (below 69.5%), which is not passing, based on in-class work, quizzes, writing assignments, and other graded assignments such as homework.    20% of the final grade will be based on the in-class final. In general, for this level the department writing standard for a B grade is "Organization but some grammar errors."  To earn an A grade, your work must show "Fluency, control in organization, few grammar errors."  This is what we aim for in this class.  It may have distracting grammar but not so severe as to interfere with content.  See grading rubric below.
  Grades for all coursework will be provided online at the instructor's website-- www.smccd.net/accounts/oconnelld/. Students will have access to their grades as they develop.   Please use this website to keep track of your progress.  No extra credit will be available.   Regardless of the coursework posted online, students who fail the in-class writing final will not pass this class (see below).

Coursework: There will be 30-60 minutes of daily homework. Also, every two weeks there will be a composition assignment, usually assigned over the weekend, plus one week of grammar study per week, assigned independently.  Please be sure to make room in your busy schedules to develop a habit of daily study.  Students are expected to take all tests and hand in all the homework for the class.   Contacting the teacher about missing class work is each student's responsibility.   Please contact me in class, through e-mail, or call a classmate if you miss a class.  Missing class work without notifying the teacher will result in a zero grade for the assignment. No late papers will be accepted after the essays have been graded and returned to students.

IMPORTANT DATES – SPRING 2010 

Support Services: The Learning Center (building5) provides support for ESOL, writing, math, and other subjects, but you must sign up for ESOL 655, or LSKL 853—if you also need help in classes outside ESOL. 
            It is highly advised to use the tutors at the Writing and Reading Lab and/or ESL lab as you work on your papers.  We also have ESL specialists in The Learning Center that can help you with ESL grammar.  If you have grammar issues that you want help on, go to the TLC and sign up for a ESOL 655 class, even after the end of registration. Librarians, on the 2nd floor of building 5, can assist with research projects and library questions.  Academic counselors, health services, and other student support services are available in the Student Services Center in building 2.

Discipline And Academic Integrity:  You are responsible for adhering to the Code of Student Conduct outlined in the Skyline College Catalog and the Skyline Student Handbook, available online.  Behavior is not a problem in this class.  Please don't talk when someone else has the floor, since the sound echoes and you make hearing impossible for your classmates.  Please limit your eating to foods so small and quiet that no one can notice.   And never talk on a cell phone in the classroom!
         In college essays, we are interested in your ideas.  You must never copy some other person's ideas --out of a book or the Internet, for example-- and present them as if the ideas were yours.  This is called plagiarism.  The work you submit/present must be your own.  All paraphrases and quotations must be cited appropriately. Three words or more copied from a source without citation is plagiarism, The Skyline College Catalog has a complete statement defining cheating and plagiarism as does the Student Handbook, available online.  If you are caught cheating or plagiarizing another person’s work, you may be disciplined in one or more of the following ways:

• You may be given an F on the assignment and will have to make it up to avoid a 0.
• You will be be given an F on the assignment and not be able to make it up. You will be referred to the College Disciplinarian for further sanctions, which range from a warning to expulsion from Skyline College.

In-Class Writing and Grammar Final Exam: Instead of the day scheduled in the time schedule, your final exam will be given early in the last week of regular classes.   This semester the writing exam will be Wednesday May 19th.  During our scheduled final exam time, 8:10am on Friday May 28th, we may have a class party.

Attendance: Coming to class every day and on time is necessary for this class.   Missing more than 10 classes, or 10% of the total, your grade will have a negative effect on your grade.  Two late arrivals are counted as an absence. 

Course Description : Students will be working on all of the English skills: reading, writing, speaking, listening, and grammar.  We have organized your classes this way to increase your learning by taking the grammar and vocabulary you use in one skill, such as reading, and reusing the same vocabulary and grammar in other skill areas, such as listening or writing.
            One difference between ESOL 830 and ESOL 840 is that instead of a grammar book we will use a writing book.  This reflects the increasing importance of the skill of composition as you get closer to the native-speaker English classes required of college graduates in California.
             Reading is an important part of this class.  In addition to the reading exercises and tests, we will read three novels together. 

New Smoking Policy: Smoking is now only permitted in designated areas in parking lots around campus. Areas are clearly marked and equipped with ashtrays.  Please don’t smoke outside designated areas.

Disability: In coordination with the DSPS office, reasonable accommodation will be provided for eligible students with disabilities.  If you do not have an accommodation letter, please contact the DSPS Office at 650-738-4280.

A Sample Grading Rubric for ESOL 840 :  (Each essay will have its own rubric specific to that essay)