English 03: Basic English Composition
Fall 2008
M-F 9:30- 10:20
Instructor: Sarah Boggs
Course Name: English 03: Basic Composition
Control Number: 71964
Course Meeting Locations:
Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday: Bldg.3-TR Rm:2
Thursday and Friday: LRC Rm: C
Office: LRC 347
Office Hours: M-F 11:30-12:30 and by appointment
Phone: 654-6400 ext: 1266
Email: sarah_boggs@vcccd.edu
Course Website: http://english03930.blogspot.com/ OR http://english031030.blogspot.com/
Course Description:
English 03 is designed to help you develop as a writer and to prepare you for future college and university courses that require writing. After you take this course you will be prepared to take English 02, and then, English 1A. We will be doing a lot of reading and writing! Students will write multiple paragraphs, essays, and one research paper. One of the most important things this course is designed to do is to give you the confidence to be a better writer. If you work hard your writing is sure to improve!
Student Learning Outcomes:
(There are the objectives that the college has for students in this course)
Student will write 1-2 page essays that contain clear thesis statements and topic sentences that relate to the thesis.
Students will be able to successfully create well developed and unified paragraphs that support topic sentences.
Students will be able to compose two reasonably well-organized 200-250 word essays in timed situations with errors that do not distract from readability.
Required Texts:
The two required texts are available for purchase at the campus bookstore.
#1- Patterns Plus: A short prose reader with Argumentation, 9th Ed. Mary Lou Conlin
#2- The Brief Penguin Handbook, 3rd Ed. Lester Faigley
Required Materials:
In the interest of teaching students about the necessity of good organization and helping students to see their and reflect upon their development I will require all students to keep a binder in which all course materials will be kept. The complete and ordered binder will play a large role in your final grade. For the binder you will need to purchase
A 1.5 inch three ring binder ($3.70)
One set of dividers/tabs with three holes (.75)
Plenty of loose-leaf paper with the three hole punches
A stapler
For our work in the lab you must purchase:
A Lab print card (available for purchase at the information desk in the LRC- allows
you to print in the LRC)
6. A Flash Drive to save all of your work on
Course Requirements:
A Grade of Credit/ No Credit will be assigned to you at the end of the term. In order to get credit you must satisfactory complete the following requirements:
Writing:
Short Essays: You are required to compete three out of class essays. These essays will be approximately 2 pages each. We will write multiple drafts of these essays and you will have instructor and peer feedback to assist you in the writing process.
In Class Essays: You will be required to write 2 in class essays. These kinds of exercises are helpful in preparing you for essay tests at the university. These are not weighed as heavily as the short essays.
Research Project: You will be required to complete a short research paper. This assignment will give you the opportunity to learn to use the resources avalible at the library and will help you to learn more about something you are interested in. Additionally you will be introduced to academic documentation (sounds fancy, I know).
Other: We will be writing paragraphs, posting comments to the class blog, doing peer review, and writing many free writing exercises. Be ready to write at the drop of a hat (or a pen)!
Student Conduct:
Attendance: You must attend the first two class meetings of the semester to retain your enrollment in this section of English 03. Any student who is absent either the first or second day will be dropped so as to open places for those on the waiting list. Any student who misses more then one week of class will have points deducted from their attendance grade for each absence after 5. Any student who misses more then 10 class meetings will be dropped regardless of their standing in the course. If you are late on a regular basis you will be counted as absent.
Homework: In order to pass the course you must receive a passing homework grade. This means that your homework must be completed at the beginning of class. Your course binder will be the most accurate record of your ability to complete and showcase your homework and essays.
Participation: The easiest way to both learn something, develop as a writer, be prepared for college level writing, and to receive credit for this course is to be a student who participates fully. The easiest way to fail this course is to not come to class, not do the work, not see me when you have questions, and to just be a body in the room. The only way to be successful in this learning environment is to keep up with the work, ask questions when you are unsure, and take your role as a student seriously. If you want to pass you have to come to class, participate in the activities we are doing (this is not a lecture course it is a workshop) and do the work that is required outside of class.
Grading:
To receive a passing grade in this course you must:
Complete the three take home essays on-time
Complete the two in class essays on the dates they are given (TBA)
Turn in a completed binder at the end of the term with all of the work you have done for English 03 this semester
Have fewer then ten absences
Receive a passing Homework Grade (After each unit you will turn in your binder and receive a homework grade for that unit.)
Receive a passing Participation Grade (I will inform you if you are failing)
Instructor’s Pedagogy (teaching methods):
This course may be conducted differently from your other courses. For instance I will not lecture and you will not sit in the same place every day taking notes. Rather, we will be working together in groups, students will be talking a lot, presenting their papers to the whole class to get feedback, groups will present to the whole class, and there will be a lot of discussion about things that, I hope, you are interested in. Our discussion will continue when we all post to the on-line blog. You will be reading about current issues and concerns and on the days we are in the lab you will often be reading breaking news. I firmly believe that students become better writers when they #1) are given the opportunity to write about things they care about and #2) are given a safe group environment to write to and within. My goal is to give you both of these opportunities.
Important Information regarding dropping this Course:
Last Day to Add Class
Last Day to Drop with Refund
Last Day to Drop without a "W"
Last Day to Drop with a "W"
31-AUG-2008
31-AUG-2008
12-Sep-2008
21-Nov-2008
