Reading Strategies and Skills

Have you ever read something and had no idea what you read? What was the main point? What was the author's opinion? This class will help you use reading strategies to better comprehend texts. You will also learn and use vocabulary that is commonly found in academic reading.

Writing Skills

Does academic writing seem like a mystery to you? Do you wonder how you can improve writing paragraphs and how to write different kinds of academic essays (a short piece of writing usually 5 or more paragraphs)? In this class, you will learn how to write in different academic genres. A genre is a style. You will learn to write:

• Compare/contrast body paragraphs

• Summaries

• Essay structure including

  • Introductory paragraphs with thesis statements

  • Body paragraphs with topic sentences and support

  • Concluding paragraphs

You will write two different complete essays:

• An effects essay

• A persuasive essay

You will also learn to use the writing process (see writing process below for details).

Pathways 3: Reading, Writing, and Critical Thinking (2nd edition); ISBN: 9781337407793.

You can borrow the book for free from the VC Library. You are also welcome to purchase the textbook from the VC bookstore.

• Class starts Monday, September 12 and ends Friday, December 2.

• This is a hybrid class, which means it is part in-person and part on-line. We use the LMS (Learning Management System) called Canvas for the on-line part.

• We will meet in person on Tuesdays and Thursdays, 2:30 - 3:45pm in Learning Resource Center (LRC) Room 129. On Tuesdays, we will focus on reading strategies, reading, and comprehension. On Thursdays, we will focus on writing skills and writing assignments.

• You will have about 4 hours of weekly work on Canvas. You will interact with your peers in a discussion, take reading comprehension and vocabulary building quizzes, submit writing assignments, watch presentations or interesting videos.

• This class does not meet on Zoom.

Each week is organized in a similar way. Understanding how the class is organized can help you plan your time and be successful. Items in red are due dates.

In-class

On Tuesdays : you will learn vocabulary for a reading, practice reading strategies, and read one of the readings from your text book. You will often work in a small group to process what you read.

On Thursdays: you will practice writing skills and work on writing assignments. You may do a peer review activity where you review your classmates' writing and give them feedback.

Canvas

Each week, you will have a new module in Canvas. You will interact with your peers in a discussion, take reading comprehension and vocabulary building quizzes, submit writing assignments, watch presentations or interesting videos. For each discussion, you will usually have to post a minimum of two times. The first post is called your initial post. This usually answers questions I posted. Then you read other classmates' posts and respond to them. These posts are called your response posts or reply posts.

Make time work on Canvas every week. You'll be learning at a fast pace in this class, so it's best to do the work every week to stay on top of assignments.

• Initial posts in a discussion are due Thursday by 11:59pm.

• All other assignments including first drafts, final drafts, and replies in a discussion are due Sunday by 11:59pm.

Canvas - 3 times a week

I recommend you do work on Canvas three times a week for 1 - 1.5 hours:

• Tuesdays after class or Wednesday: do the reading comprehension and vocabulary quizzes. Submit your initial post to a discussion. This is where you answer a prompt with your ideas.

• Thursdays after class or Fridays: Submit your response to a discussion. Complete writing assignments like first drafts or final drafts.

• Saturdays or Sundays: check for replies to you in the discussion.

Canvas - 2 times a week

If you aren't able to do work three times a week, plan on doing work two times a week for about 2.25 hours each session. The writing assignments generally take more time.

• Tuesdays after class, Wednesday, or Thursdays: do the reading comprehension and vocabulary quizzes. Submit your initial post to a discussion. This is where you answer a prompt with your ideas.

• Fridays, Saturdays, or Sundays: Check for replies to your initial post. Reply to someone in a discussion. Complete writing assignments like first drafts or final drafts.

It is helpful if you think of writing as a process (a series of steps) as opposed to writing as a product (the final paper). This will help you understand the amount of time you will put into strengthening each writing assignment. Each of these steps helps you succeed as a writer. They will help you have a lot of ideas, organize your ideas, have great support (details, examples, evidence) for your ideas, and finally, write a great essay!

PRE-WRITING

1. Brainstorming – thinking of as many ideas as you can about the given topic. Take a minimum of 10 minutes for this.

2. Planning/organizing – choosing an idea from your brainstorm to develop and organizing how you will develop this idea. This could take 10 minutes to several hours.

WRITING

3. Writing and submitting first draft of your paper. Use the planning/organizing and possibly input from peer review/feedback to write your first draft.

REVISING/EDITING

4. Use instructor feedback and/or peer feedback to revise your first draft and write a final draft.

5. Edit your final draft for clarity and grammar and submit assignment.