North Carolina Community College System: Developmental Reading And English (DRE) Curriculum
NCCCS Developmental Reading and English (DRE) Curriculum
FINAL VERSION
April 2013
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Table of Contents
Introduction to the Curriculum
3
Pedagogical Approach Statement
3
Mastery Definition
4
Use of Technology Statement
4
Teaching Parameters and Student Success Tips
5
Guide to Text Complexity for DRE Courses
6
NC Community Colleges’ Developmental Reading & English (DRE) Sequence
7
Course Descriptions, Sample Activities and Sample Assessments o DRE 096: Integrated Reading and Writing I o DRE 097: Integrated Reading and Writing II o DRE 098: Integrated Reading and Writing III o DRE 099: Integrated Reading and Writing III (ENG 111 Co-requisite)
8
8
18
30
43
Placement into DRE Courses
49
Annotated Bibliography
51
Glossary of Terms
57
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INTRODUCTION TO THE CURRICULUM
Developed by a Task Force comprising 18 English and reading faculty from across North Carolina’s
Community Colleges, this curriculum charts a new course for integrated developmental English and reading in our System. The faculty team created it based on guiding principles provided the
Developmental Education Initiative’s statewide policy team. It is a curriculum rooted in research and learning theory, and influenced by the Common Core State Standards adopted by North Carolina’s public schools. It sets expectations for deeper thinking and high attainment. It supports relevancy in learning and will enable students to enter credit-bearing college courses more quickly, setting them on a pathway toward credential completion.
PEDAGOGICAL APPROACH STATEMENT
The intent of the DRE courses is to enable students to think critically and analytically about their reading, to write about what they think, and to understand what is happening in their minds as they process information. The pedagogies include
reading materials that are carefully selected for student interest, relevance to career and academic goals, participation, and challenge
sequencing of learning strategies that take students from literal interpretation to evaluative thinking verbal interaction through small group and full class discussion
writing assignments such as responses, summaries, critiques, or syntheses that develop from the readings
assessments that require students to demonstrate mastery of reading and writing competencies as they interpret, analyze, evaluate, synthesize, organize, and convey information coherently and meaningfully.
The following diagram illustrates the integrated reading and writing instructional cycle embodied in this curriculum. 3
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Integrated Reading and Writing Cycle — Intended to be repeated multiple times throughout all DRE courses
Pre-reading
High Stakes
Writing
Post-reading
Pre-Writing/Low
Stakes Writing
(Graphic adapted from model developed by Katie Hern at Chabot College)
MASTERY DEFINITION
This curriculum is mastery-based with grades of P for Pass and R for Re-enroll (which will map to F for reporting and financial aid purposes). The rationale is that students who master content are better equipped for success in future coursework. Therefore, in this curriculum students must demonstrate
80% mastery of the Student Learning Outcomes on major assessments such as tests, writing assignments, projects, portfolios, and presentations.
USE OF TECHNOLOGY STATEMENT
Course competencies require the use of an appropriate word processing program to produce written assignments. The use of technology as instructional support is strongly encouraged to reinforce course competencies, individualize learning, and facilitate flexible scheduling.
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TEACHING PARAMETERS AND STUDENT SUCCESS TIPS
The following are key parameters that characterize this curriculum. They should be the focus of professional development activities to support implementation of the new curriculum. In addition, the annotated bibliography in this document provides research and resources related to many of these teaching parameters.
Use intentionality to select appropriate and high quality texts based on Lexile® level.
Encourage students to base most writings on textual evidence.
Assign no more than one major writing assignment that results in personal narrative. Other writing assignments should result in third person texts.
Find ways to contextual reading and writings to students’ interests or career goals.
Grammar instruction should be included in the context of writing activities and/or during lab time.
Focus on active classroom activities rather than lecture.
Emphasize reading and writing as processes.
Use mastery-based assessments.
Count everything leading up to major assignments as part of the grade on those assignments.
Focus on deep reading of fewer selections.
Do more things with fewer writings.
Offer continual and timely feedback to students.
Access students’ affective domains to motivate high efforts and successful results.
Frequently model the integrated reading and writing process.
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GUIDE TO TEXT COMPLEXITY FOR DRE COURSES
This curriculum emphasizes carefully choosing appropriate texts based on their Lexile® level. The recommended Lexile® Framework for Reading* bands for DRE courses are in alignment with the text complexity grade bands for high school through Career and College Ready (CCR).
The Lexile® Framework for Reading (by Metametrics, Inc.) uses semantic difficulty (word frequency) and syntactic complexity (sentence length) to determine both text complexity and reader ability to comprehend text within a range, with 75% as the comprehension expectation for students for the middle of their range. The Lexile® Framework for Reading is the most widely adopted reading measurement instrument used today that combines the work of many experts in reading, including Chall and Flesch, to provide a standard common scale to measure text difficulty and reader ability. It allows the DRE educator to set measurable instructional goals, choose appropriate materials, and show student progress all using the same standard and widely recognized measurement instrument.
DRE
096
097
098
099
Lexile®
Range for Course Texts
960L – 1115L
1070L – 1220L
1185L – 1385L
1185L – 1385L
Faculty may assess a texts’ complexity by going to www.lexile.com. Many titles are already assessed, and there are software tools available to analyze others.
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NC COMMUNITY COLLEGES’ DEVELOPMENTAL
READING & ENGLISH (DRE) SEQUENCE
COLLEGES ARE REQUIRED TO OFFER DRE 096, 097, AND 098; DRE 099 IS
OPTIONAL.
ENG 111
DRE 099**
DRE 098*
(2cr.hrs.)
8 wk course (3cr.hrs.)
OR
DRE 097
8 wk course (3cr.hrs.)
DRE 096
8 wk course(3cr.hrs.)
FLOOR
* DRE 098 may be offered as a stand-alone course or as a co-requisite with an entry-level credit bearing college course that is not an ENG course. When offered as a co-requisite, the course focus is DRE 098 student learning outcomes; however, proficiency should be attained through assignments and resources linked to the credit course, creating a contextual learning experience for students.
**If colleges choose to offer DRE 099, it will be an alternative to DRE 098. This course must be a corequisite with ENG 111.
Upon completion of DRE 098, students are prepared to enter ENG 111.
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COURSE DESCRIPTIONS, SAMPLE, ACTIVITES, AND SAMPLE ASSESSMENTS
DRE 096 Integrated Reading and Writing I
Course Description
Class
Lab
2.5
1
Pre-requisites:
Co-requisites:
Clinical/
Work Exp
0
None
None
Credit Hours
3
This course develops proficiency in specific integrated and contextualized reading and writing skills and strategies. Topics include reading and writing processes, critical thinking strategies, and recognition and composition of well-developed, coherent, and unified texts; these topics are primarily taught at the introductory level using texts primarily in a Lexile® range of 960 to 1115. Upon completion, students should be able to apply those skills toward understanding a variety of academic and career-related texts and composing effective paragraphs.
Goals, Student Learning Outcomes, and Course Competencies
GOAL 1: Students will demonstrate the use of reading and writing processes.
Student Learning Outcome
DRE 096 Competencies
Students will demonstrate the use of pre-reading, reading, and post-reading strategies. Pre-reading Strategies
Use a variety of previewing strategies to comprehend texts.
Activate prior knowledge using text markers (titles, headings, etc.), graphics, and textual aids (objectives, questions, etc.).
During Reading Strategies
Annotate, highlight, and underline texts to identify important vocabulary, main ideas, supporting details and examples, and other key pieces of information.
Use context clues, dictionaries, and thesauri to better understand texts, expand personal vocabularies, distinguish between denotative and connotative meanings, recognize slang, understand idioms, and distinguish between antonyms and synonyms. Post-reading Strategies
Identify stated main ideas and details in paragraph-length texts and student writings.
Recognize signal words which indicate patterns within texts and organizational patterns for text development.
Respond, in writing, to texts using text-to-self connections.
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Students will demonstrate the use of the writing process, including prewriting, drafting, revising, proofreading, and editing. Prewriting Strategies
• Employ a variety of prewriting strategies to narrow the focus of the text, establish a clear main idea (topic sentence)
• Generate supporting details for a specific purpose and audience, and determine appropriate organization.
Drafting Strategies
• Compose and revise drafts by adding, deleting, and reorganizing content to ensure a narrow focus, a clear main idea, and adequate supporting details.
• Use a variety of sentence structures that are appropriate to a specific purpose, audience, and organizational pattern.
Editing and Proofreading
• Use proofreading and editing strategies to identify and correct grammatical, mechanical, and spelling errors in drafts to reflect
Standard Written English.
• Use MLA or APA guidelines for margins, font, page nos., etc., for presentation of texts.
• Use appropriate technology for preparing texts.
GOAL 2: Students will apply critical thinking strategies in reading and writing.
Student Learning Outcome
DRE 096 Competencies
Students will demonstrate an understanding of technical and academic language. Recognize and understand the difference between the use of formal and informal language.
Recognize and use types of technical and academic language.
Students will demonstrate an understanding of purpose and point of view.
Determine the purpose of a text.
Determine the author’s point of view.
Compose texts using consistent point of view.
Students will demonstrate an understanding of fact and opinion.
Identify fact and opinion statements in texts.
Write paragraphs using facts and opinions to support topic sentences.
Students will recognize inferences in texts.
Make logical conclusions based on prior knowledge.
Make inferences based on prior knowledge, context, and associations.
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Students will analyze and evaluate graphic materials in a text.
Recognize and interpret at variety of visual aids and graphic representation of information.
Make connections between written and graphic text.
GOAL 3: Students will recognize and compose well-developed, coherent, and unified texts.
Student Learning Outcome
DRE 096 Competencies
Students will identify and write clear topic sentences. Identify topic sentences in paragraphs.
Write clear, focused topic sentences.
Students will demonstrate an understanding of specific and adequate supporting information.
Analyze and evaluate body sentences in texts and student writings for specific and adequate support.
Use adequate supporting details to develop and support a topic sentence. Students will achieve unity in paragraphs.
Identify sentences that are off-topic in sample paragraphs and in their writing. Write sentences that relate to and support the topic sentence of the paragraph. Students will demonstrate an understanding of coherence through organizational patterns.
Employ a variety of organizational patterns to draft texts.
Employ transitions, repetition of key words, and synonyms to connect ideas and achieve coherence in writing.
Teaching and Student Success Tips
Course readings should be grounded in primarily non-fiction texts corresponding to appropriate
Lexile® level.
Instructors should assign no more than two writing assignments that result in personal narratives. Other writing assignments should produce third-person texts.
Grammar instruction should be included in context of writing activities or during lab time.
Focus on active learning activities rather than lecture.
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Sample Activity
Using Pre-reading, Reading, and Post-reading Strategies to Comprehend and Respond to Texts
Goals, Student Learning Outcomes, and Competencies
Goal 1: Students will demonstrate the use of reading and writing processes.
Student Learning Outcomes:
Students will demonstrate the use of pre-reading, reading, and post-reading strategies.
Students will demonstrate the use of the writing process, including prewriting, drafting, revising, proofreading, and editing.
Competencies:
Use a variety of previewing strategies to comprehend texts.
Activate prior knowledge using text markers (titles, headings, etc.), graphics, and textual aids (objectives, questions, etc.).
Use context clues, dictionaries, and thesauri to better understand texts, expand personal vocabularies, distinguish between denotative and connotative meanings, recognize slang, understand idioms, and distinguish between anonyms and synonyms.
Identify stated main ideas and details in paragraph-length texts and student writings.
Respond, in writing, to texts using text-to-self connections.
Use editing and proofreading strategies to identify and correct grammatical, mechanical, and spelling errors in drafts to reflect Standard Written English.
Use appropriate technology for preparing texts.
Goal 2: Students will apply critical thinking strategies in reading and writing.
Student Learning Outcome:
Students will recognize inferences in texts.
Competency:
Make logical conclusions based on prior knowledge.
Goal 3: Students will recognize and compose well-developed, coherent, and unified texts.
Student Learning Outcomes:
Students will identify and write clear topic sentences.
Students will demonstrate an understanding of specific and adequate supporting information. Competencies:
Identify topic sentences in paragraphs.
Write clear, focused topic sentences.
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Analyze and evaluate body sentences in texts and student writings for specific and adequate support.
Use adequate supporting details to develop and support a topic sentence.
Resources and Materials Needed
An article about the use (or overuse) of technology that includes illustrations and/or other graphic material. This lesson is based on the article “Are You a Screen Addict?” in Scholastic
Choices, Apr/May2012, Vol. 27 Issue 6, pages 4-7, which is available through NC Live.
Activities
1. Have students review the title, the subtitles, and the two illustrations at the beginning of the article. Have students answer the following questions:
Prediction:
What do you think this article will be about?
Do you think the author will be presenting a positive or a negative outlook on this topic?
Which word in the title suggests a positive or negative slant? (This could be a good time to discuss connotation and denotation.)
Prior Knowledge:
What types of technology do you use on a daily basis?
How much time do you spend on technology each day?
2. Have students read the article.
3. Point out that three words appear in bold: monumental, mesmerized, and enhanced. Discuss with students what context clues (information stated in the passage) they could use to figure out the meanings. Spend some time discussing context clues and identifying other unfamiliar vocabulary, including the names of unfamiliar technology.
4. Have students identify the topic sentence of each of the following paragraphs from the article:
Studies show that screen time does have its advantages. It can make you a good multitasker. Certain types of video games can build your reflexes and even improve your vision.
But there is a dark side. Studies also show that teens who spend excessive time—16 hours or more a day—in front of a screen are more likely to feel depressed and become obese.
Technology allows you to stay in constant touch with friends and family. On the other hand, you might be missing out on relationships in your own home. Maybe your parents are always begging you not to use your cell phone during dinner. Or perhaps
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you’ve stopped shooting hoops with your little brother because you’re spending every waking minute playing NBA2K12.
5. Discuss the importance of distinguishing between main ideas and supporting details. Also discuss the supporting details for each paragraph. Ask: Is there enough detail in each paragraph to support the main idea?
6. Have students demonstrate an understanding of the article by listing answers to the following questions:
What technologies are discussed in this article? Your answers should be both general
(texting) and specific (chatting on Facebook).
What advantages of using technology are discussed? List all of the advantages.
What disadvantages of overusing technology are discussed? List all of the disadvantages. Students can then use their answers to create an informal outline.
7. An additional writing assignment could be to write a paragraph discussing the advantages or disadvantages of using or overusing technology that are not discussed in this article.
8. Have students work in pairs or small groups to proofread and edit the draft they composed.
9. Evaluate paragraph with a grading rubric like the one on page 14.
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Grading Rubric for Paragraph
80% Required for Mastery
Writer: ________________________________________ GRADE: ___________________
Subject: _________________________________________ Date: ______________________
TOPIC SENTENCE
EXCELLENT
The writer’s idea is clearly stated in a topic sentence/logical response to prompt
SUPPORT/
DEVELOPMENT
Well developed with facts, details, examples and explanations
UNITY
Every sentence in the paragraph is related to and supports the main idea. Free of fragments, runon’s and comma splices.
MAJOR SENTENCE
ERRORS
GRAMMAR ERROR
No error patterns
PATTERNS*
DRAFTING AND EDITING Multiple drafts and participation in pair/group proofreading and editing *Adjectives/adverbs
Apostrophes
Articles
Capitalization
Consistent # or person
Consistent tense
Commas
Pronoun agreement
ACCEPTABLE (-5)
The writer’s idea is somewhat clearly stated in a topic sentence/response has some connection to prompt Adequate for some points but not others.
Could use additional facts, details, examples and explanations
Most of the sentences in the paragraph are related to and support the main idea.
Only 1 or 2 fragments, run-on’s and comma splices. Occasional error patterns Few drafts and little participation in pair/group proofreading and editing Double negatives
Fixed-form helping verbs
Look-alikes/sound alikes
Parallelism
Past participles
Plural/singular noun forms
Prepositions
Subject-verb agreement
Pronoun case errors
Punctuation
Quotations
Relative pronouns
Semi-colon errors
Short, choppy sentences
Spelling
Other:
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POOR (-10)
Paragraph is missing either a topic sentence or a controlling idea.
Mismatch between topic sentence and support. Poorly developed with few or no facts, details, examples and explanations Paragraph digresses significantly from the main idea.
Many fragments, runon’s and comma splices
Many error patterns
No evidence of more than one or two drafts and no participation in pair/group proofreading and editing Vague pronoun reference
Verb tenses
Word form
Word usage
Wordy sentences
Dangling/misplaced
modifier
Sample DRE 096 Mastery Test
The Mastery Test for DRE 096 should be based upon a text no lower than the midpoint of the Lexile® range for this course. Students should be required to actively read the selection and then answer literal, inferential, and analytical questions about the text. Then, they should be required to write a least one paragraph in class about some topic related to the reading. A score of 80 is required to demonstrate mastery. Students who do not demonstrate mastery of either the reading component or the writing component could be offered the opportunity to review and then take another version of the mastery test. Part I: Reading
Complete all of the steps of the reading process to read the article “Dinner from a Dumpster” from
Scholastic Action, April 16, 2012, pages 16-19. (Available through NC Live. 845 words. Lexile® 850). Use annotating, highlighting, and/or underlining as you complete the pre-reading and reading steps of the process. Then, answer the following questions.
1. Which of the following best states the main idea of the entire article?
a. Saving the environment is important, but dumpster diving is disgusting.
b. Kristen Lambert is a freegan for many reasons.
c. American citizens are some of the most wasteful people on the planet.
d. Freegans are people who risk the dangers of dumpster diving to save money, stop waste, and save the environment.
2. What is the topic sentence of paragraph 10?
a. But although more and more people are dumpster diving, it has risks.
b. Food in the trash could have rat droppings or poisons from household cleaners all over it.
c. Also, dumpster diving is illegal in many states.
d. People who do it may get a ticket or even be arrested.
3. What pattern organizes the supporting details in paragraph 10?
a. comparison and contrast
b. illustration
c. narration
d. classification
4. What is the purpose of this text?
a. to entertain
b. to inform
c. to persuade
5. The first sentence of paragraph 4 states
a. a fact.
b. an opinion.
6. In paragraph 13, the words stuff and yup are examples of what kind of language?
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a. formal language
b. informal language
c. figurative language
7. What can you infer about the film that Kristin’s sister saw (paragraph 15)?
a. It explained reasons why dumpster diving is a bad idea.
b. It covered the history of dumpster diving.
c. It was a very long film.
d. It effectively explained the benefits of dumpster diving.
8. In paragraph 17, what word or phrase provides a contrast context clue that helps readers understand the meaning of the word mindful?
a. don’t realize
b. wasted
c. more people
d. show them
9. Which of the following is a correct inference from paragraphs 11-13?
a. Matthew would refuse to eat ears of corn tightly wrapped in plastic.
b. Meat juice would be unlikely to make a person sick.
c. Food that is not properly handled or wrapped can cause illness.
d. Restaurant food often makes people sick.
10. Which of the following could be another reason that people might choose to go dumpster diving? a. They know that food in dumpsters is always healthy and nutritious.
b. They don’t have money for food.
c. They think dumpster diving is gross.
d. They want to encourage their fellow citizens to obey the law.
Part II: Writing
Select one of the following topics and follow all of the steps of the writing process to write a welldeveloped, coherent, unified paragraph. Use a prewriting technique to generate ideas, write a first draft, and then revise and proofread that draft to create a final draft.
a. Write a paragraph to Kristen Lambert and Matthew Kaplan to convince them to replace dumpster diving with another, better way to stop waste and save the environment.
b. Write a paragraph to a legislator in a state that has banned dumpster diving. In your paragraph, request a change to the law to make this activity legal.
c. Write a paragraph to convince the citizens of your community to recycle waste and to donate unwanted clothes and furniture to charitable organizations rather than throw them in the trash.
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Assessment
To assess the paragraph students write, you could use the rubric on page 14.
Answer Key for Mastery Test
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
Answers will vary. d a b b a b d a c b
Answers will vary.
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DRE 097 Integrated Reading and Writing II
Course Description
Class
Lab
2.5
1
Pre-requisites:
Co-requisites:
Clinical/
Work Exp
0
DRE 096
None
Credit Hours
3
This course develops proficiency in integrated and contextualized reading and writing skills and strategies. Topics include reading and writing processes, critical thinking strategies, and recognition and composition of well-developed, coherent, and unified texts; except where noted, these topics are taught at a reinforcement level using texts primarily in a Lexile® range of 1070 to 1220. Upon completion, students should be able to demonstrate and apply those skills toward understanding a variety of complex academic and career texts and composing essays incorporating relevant, valid evidence.
Goals, Student Learning Outcomes, and Course Competencies
Goal 1: Students will demonstrate the use of reading and writing processes.
Student Learning Outcome
DRE 097 Competencies (Unless otherwise indicated, competencies in
DRE 097 are being reinforced. Competencies labeled with an I are being introduced at this level.)
Students will demonstrate the use of pre-reading, reading, and post-reading strategies. Pre-reading Strategies
Apply a variety of previewing strategies to comprehend texts.
Activate prior knowledge using text markers (titles, headings, etc.), graphics, and textual aids (objectives, questions, etc.)
During Reading Strategies
Annotate, highlight, and underline texts to identify important vocabulary, main ideas, supporting details and examples, and other key pieces of information.
Use context clues and affixes to comprehend complex texts and expand personal vocabularies.
Distinguish between connotative and denotative meanings and between informal language and Standard Written English.
Employ metacognitive strategies (I) to monitor comprehension.
Identify stated and implied main ideas (I) and details in complex texts and student writing.
Recognize organizational patterns in complex texts.
Post-reading Strategies
Respond, in writing, to complex texts using text-to-text connections.
(I)
Paraphrase texts or portions of texts. (I)
Summarize complex texts. (I)
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Students will demonstrate the use of the writing process, including prewriting, drafting, revising, proofreading, and editing. Prewriting Strategies
Employ a variety of prewriting strategies to
narrow the focus of the text,
establish a clear main idea (thesis statement),
generate supporting details for a specific purpose and audience, and
determine appropriate organization.
Drafting Strategies
Compose and revise drafts by adding, deleting, and reorganizing content to ensure
a narrow focus,
a clear main idea, and
adequate supporting details.
Editing and Proofreading Strategies
Use editing and proofreading strategies to identify and correct grammatical, mechanical, and spelling errors in drafts to reflect
Standard Written English.
Use MLA or APA guidelines for margins, font, page numbers, etc., for presentation of texts and for documentation and citation.
GOAL 2: Students will apply critical thinking strategies in reading and writing.
Student Learning Outcome
Students will critically analyze complex texts.
Students will employ strategies from complex texts to inform and strengthen their writing.
DRE 097 Competencies
Make logical conclusions based on prior knowledge and infer answers to questions about texts.
Recognize and understand the difference between formal and informal language.
Recognize and use types of technical and academic language in complex texts.
Recognize certain types of figurative language—simile, metaphor, and personification.
Determine the author’s purpose in complex texts.
Determine the author’s point of view in complex texts.
Determine the author’s tone in complex texts.
Identify fact and opinion statements in complex texts.
Demonstrate an understanding of verbal and situational irony.
Understand bias, logical fallacies, and propaganda techniques.
Compose texts that demonstrate a(n)
consistent point of view
clear purpose
appropriate tone for the subject
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appropriate use of facts and expert opinions
Students will identify and write clear thesis statements. Identify thesis statements in multi-paragraph complex texts.
Write clear, focused thesis statements for essays.
Students will demonstrate an understanding of specific and adequate supporting information.
Analyze and evaluate body paragraphs in complex texts and student writings for specific and adequate support.
Assess, synthesize, and integrate relevant and valid evidence from assigned readings to support a main idea.
Avoid plagiarism by paraphrasing textual information used in composing a text.
Document source material using MLA or APA guidelines.
Students will achieve unity in essays.
Identify points that are off-topic in complex texts and in student writing. Compose body paragraphs that consistently support the thesis statement of an essay.
Students will recognize and apply the conventions of Standard Written
English.
Identify and use a variety of sentence structures when writing.
Identify errors and use accurate spelling, capitalization, grammar, and punctuation according to guidelines of Standard Written
English.
GOAL 3: Students will recognize and compose well-developed, coherent, and unified texts.
Student Learning Outcome
DRE 097 Competencies
Students will identify and write clear thesis statements. Identify thesis statements in essays.
Write clear, focused thesis statements.
Students will demonstrate an understanding of specific and adequate supporting information.
Analyze and evaluate body sentences in texts and student writings for specific and adequate support.
Analyze and evaluate graphic materials in a text.
Use adequate supporting details to develop and support a thesis statement Students will achieve unity
Identify points that are off-topic in texts and in student writing.
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in paragraphs.
Students will demonstrate an understanding of coherence in a variety of organizational patterns.
Students will recognize and apply the conventions of
Standard Written English.
Students will employ appropriate technology when composing texts.
Employ a variety of organizational patterns to draft texts.
Employ transitional words and phrases, repetition of key words, and synonyms to connect ideas and achieve coherence in writing.
Use a variety of sentence structures.
Identify errors and use accurate spelling, grammar, and punctuation according to the guidelines of Standard Written English.
Use technology to generate material for writing.
Use an appropriate word processing program.
Use technology when drafting and revising texts.
Prepare final drafts according to MLA formatting, documentation, and citation guidelines.
Sample Activity
Supporting a Thesis: Reasons and Special Language
Goals, Student Learning Outcomes, and Competencies
Goal 1: Students will demonstrate the use of reading and writing processes.
Student Learning Outcomes:
Students will demonstrate the use of pre-reading, reading, and post-reading strategies. Students will demonstrate the use of the writing process, including prewriting, drafting, revising, proofreading, and editing.
Competencies:
Annotate, highlight, and underline texts to identify important vocabulary, main ideas, supporting details and examples, and other key pieces of information. Distinguish between connotative and denotative meanings and between informal language and Standard Written English.
Employ a variety of prewriting strategies.
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Goal 2: Students will apply critical thinking strategies in reading and writing.
Student Learning Outcome:
Students will critically analyze texts at a career and college ready level.
Competencies:
Recognize certain types of figurative language—simile, metaphor, and personification. Determine the author’s purpose in complex texts.
Goal 3: Students will recognize and compose well-developed, coherent, and unified texts.
Student Learning Outcomes:
Students will identify and write clear thesis statements.
Students will demonstrate an understanding of specific and adequate supporting information.
Competencies:
Identify thesis statements in essays.
Write clear, focused thesis statements.
Use adequate supporting details to develop and support a thesis statement.
Resources and Materials Needed
“Raising Children” by Anna Quindlen
(www.themontessorischool.org/classroom/uploads/files/Raising_Children.pdf) 1020L
Reading response handout
Prewriting handout
Rubric
Activities
1. Read and annotate the essay.
2. Complete the Reading Response handout on page 23 (individually or as a class). Special emphasis should be placed on essay’s thesis and support. Additionally, time should also be spent in discussing the author’s use of language.
3. Present question to consider for writing assignment – Do you need to be an “expert” to raise children? Why or why not? Students should ultimately answer the question in essay form.
Essays should include a thesis and three supporting reasons. Encourage students to explore special uses of language as they write (e.g., use a simile or connotations).
4. Begin writing assignment with Prewriting Handout on page 24. Students can use the back of this handout or a separate sheet of paper for freewriting.
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5. Evaluate reading responses and essays with the rubric that follows this assignment.
Evaluation/Assessment
See the rubric on page 30.
Notes
This assignment is limited in its focus in that the full writing process is not part of the evaluation.
Instructors can choose to include more of the writing process as need warrants. Additionally, other reading and analyzing of the essay could also include competencies such as fact and opinion, context clues, main ideas, or conclusions.
Reading Response Handout for “Raising Children” by Anna Quindlen
1. Compose a statement that captures the author’s thesis using your own words.
2. Give some examples used by the author to support her thesis.
3. Did the author seem to be more interested in entertaining the reader or persuading the reader? Explain.
4. Note the phrase, “Like the trick soap I bought for the bathroom with a rubber ducky at its center….” Is this a simile or metaphor? How do you know?
5. Note the statement, “Raising children is presented at first as a true-false test……until finally, far along, you realize that it is an endless essay.” What two things are being compared in this figurative example?
6. What do you generally think of when you hear “Hall of Fame”? What was the author referring to when she talked about a “Hall of Fame”?
7. Note the phrase, “…more than anyone to excavate my essential humanity.” If you have to excavate to get to something, then what are you doing? How does the meaning of excavate fit here?
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Prewriting Handout
Do you need to be an “expert” to raise children? Why or why not?
Spend 5 minutes free-writing on this topic. Consider what the word “expert” means to you. Think about things that a person needs to know in order to raise children. When you are finished freewriting, create a thesis statement and determine the three supporting reasons that will be used in your essay. Fill out the diagram below.
Thesis statement:
Supporting Reason 1
Supporting Reason 2
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Supporting Reason 3
Sample DRE 097 Mastery Test
The Mastery Test for DRE 097 should be based upon a text no lower than the midpoint of the Lexile® range for this course. Students should be required to actively read the selection and then answer literal, inferential, and analytical questions about the text. Then, they should be required to write a least one paragraph in class about some topic related to the reading. A score of 80 is required to demonstrate mastery. Students who do not demonstrate mastery of either the reading component or the writing component could be offered the opportunity to review and then take another version of the mastery test.
Part I: Reading
Read the essay, “I Want a Wife” by Judy Brady (Lexile® 1100). Answer the following questions by circling the BEST answer. Read all choices carefully.
1. The thesis for Brady’s essay is
a. stated
b. hypothetical
c. implied
d. factual
2. The general purpose of this essay is
a. to entertain
b. to inform
c. to persuade
d. to explain
3. Since Brady’s essay was first published in 1971 in a new feminist magazine titled Ms., who was the most likely intended audience?
a. married women over 40
b. men and women of all ages
c. divorced men and women
d. young women interested in equal rights
4. Which group below is most likely to find the article relevant or amusing today?
a. married women over 40
b. men and women of all ages
c. young married women
d. all of the above
5. The author uses specific sentence structure, repetition, and figurative language in order to
a. impress the reader.
b. portray a fair image of a wife.
c. create a model essay.
d. give the essay a humorous and satirical tone.
6. Brady’s essay
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a. satirizes the way some men treat their wives.
b. points out the rigors of being a wife.
c. gives instructions for being a good wife.
d. compares the roles of wife and husband.
7. What is the tone of Brady’s essay?
a. humorous and satirical
b. monotonous
c. serious and thought provoking
d. dark and mysterious
8. Repetition of this pronoun referring to the “wife” emphasizes the writer’s position that marriage is an institution of “ownership.”
a. my
b. I
c. me
d. mine
9. What point is the author making about the inequality between the lives of married men and women? a. Married men and women are equal.
b. Marriage is a partnership.
c. Wives typically take on a great deal more responsibility for taking care of the family than men. d. A good wife should be recognized for all of her hard work.
10. On first reading, what does the title of this essay imply?
a. The author is a woman.
b. The author is a man.
c. The essay will be funny.
d. The writer has no imagination.
11. What does Brady indicate by constantly repeating the words “I want”?
a. Repeating gets the reader’s attention.
b. The writer wants a wife.
c. The writer is a woman.
d. The “husband” is selfish.
12. Based on the reading, what is the best definition for the term “attendant” (paragraph 3)?
a. caregiver
b. tutor
c. teacher
d. babysitter
13. Based on the reading, what is the best definition for the word “replenished” (paragraph 5)?
a. cleaned
b. replaced
c. refilled
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d. placed in the dishwasher
14. Based on the reading, what is the best definition for the term “monogamy” (paragraph 6)?
a. married to more than one person at a time
b. faithful to one’s spouse
c. having only one spouse at a time
d. divorcing one’s spouse if necessary
15. Which line below is NOT an obvious example of irony?
a. I want a wife who cooks the meals.
b. I want a wife who will care for me when I am sick and sympathize with my pain and loss of time from school.
c. I want a wife who will not bother me with rambling complaints about a wife’s duties.
d. I want a wife who will not demand sexual attention when I am not in the mood for it.
Part II: Writing
Choose ONE of the following and write a fully-developed five-paragraph essay with substantial support for a clearly defined thesis based on your experience, observations and reading. Use this sheet to indicate which topic you have chosen. If you are hand writing this exam, please make sure your work is legible.
a. In an essay, describe Brady’s explanation of a wife’s role as you understand it. Sum up the duties of a wife as they are presented in the reading.
b. Is Brady’s account of a wife’s role fair or justified? Is there anything she left out that you would include? Explain in an essay. Support your thesis with three reasons.
c. How do you think the roles of men and women have changed since the article was written in 1971? Write an essay that describes the changes you know about. Provide specific examples.
d. After reading an additional article about wives in another culture, write a comparative essay on the definition of a wife from the two cultures.
Assessment
To assess the essay students write, you could use the rubric on page 29.
Answer Key for Mastery Test
1. c
2. c
3. d
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4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.
d d a a a c b d a c b a 28
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Rubric for DRE 097 Mastery Test
80% Mastery
Requirements:
The student shows evidence of successfully utilizing pre-reading and post-reading strategies. (10 points)1
The student shows evidence of successfully utilizing pre-writing and revising strategies.
(10 points)2
The student has critically analyzed the complex text. (20 points)3
Your Points (100 total)
The student has a clear thesis statement and adequate and relevant supporting details in his/her composition. (30 points)
The student has applied the conventions of
Standard Written English in his/her composition. (20 points)4
The student has used technology appropriately.
(10 points)5
Student’s Total Points
1
In DRE 097, students are practicing and reviewing reading and writing strategies. This portion of the rubric considers use of specific reading strategies as assigned by the instructor (ex. KWL, SQ3R, etc.). It is recommended that the instructor look for actual evidence that the student made use of a strategy (ex. a completed KWL chart, a list of questions created by the student to answer while reading, etc.).
2
Generally when students are learning to read and write on college-level, each new skill builds on the last until he/she is using many strategies and skills on each reading or each writing assignment. This portion of the rubric considers use of the writing process as assigned by the instructor (ex. a specific prewriting method). It is recommended that the instructor look for evidence of prewriting and revising before completing a final draft.
3
Learning to analyze a text is crucial to successful completion of the assignment. Instructors can prepare a list of analytical questions for students to complete or require the text to be annotated with specific notes. Analysis of a text can take many forms, and some sort of analysis and demonstration of that analysis is the focus of this portion of the rubric.
4
As students become proficient with grammar, the instructor can use this general rubric to evaluate the student’s use of Standard Written English.
5
Students may be required to use appropriate word processing programs or use technology to research and generate material for writing. Instructors should evaluate accordingly.
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DRE 098 Integrated Reading and Writing III
Course Description
Class
Lab
2.5
1
Pre-requisites:
Co-requisites:
Clinical/
Work Exp
0
DRE 097
None
Credit Hours
3
This course develops proficiency in integrated and contextualized reading and writing skills and strategies. Topics include reading and writing processes, critical thinking strategies, and recognition and composition of well-developed, coherent, and unified texts; except where noted, these topics are taught using texts primarily in the Lexile® range of 1185 to 1385 in order to prepare students to be career and college ready. Upon completion, students should be able to apply those skills toward understanding a variety of texts at the career and college ready level and toward composing a documented essay.
Goals, Student Learning Outcomes, and Course Competencies
GOAL 1: Students will demonstrate the use of reading and writing processes.
Student Learning
Outcome
Students will demonstrate the use of pre-reading, reading, and post-reading strategies.
DRE 098 Competencies (Competencies in DRE 098 prepare students to be career and college ready. Competencies labeled with an I are being introduced at this level.)
Pre-reading Strategies
Choose and effectively employ appropriate reading strategies to comprehend texts at a career and college ready level.
Activate prior knowledge using text markers (titles, headings, etc.), graphics, and textual aids (objectives, questions, etc.).
During Reading Strategies
Annotate, highlight, and underline texts to identify important vocabulary, main ideas, supporting details and examples, and other key pieces of information.
Use context clues and affixes to comprehend texts at the career and college ready level and expand personal vocabularies.
Distinguish between connotative and denotative meanings and between informal language and Standard Written English.
Employ metacognitive strategies to monitor comprehension.
Identify stated and implied main ideas and details in texts at a career and college ready level and student writing.
Recognize organizational patterns in texts at the career and college ready level.
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Develop general and specific academic literacy.
Post-reading Strategies
Summarize (I) texts at a career and college ready level.
Respond, in writing, to texts using text-to-world connections.
Students will demonstrate the use of the writing process, including prewriting, drafting, revising, proofreading, and editing. Pre-writing Strategies
Employ a variety of prewriting strategies to
narrow the focus of the text,
establish a clear main idea (thesis statement),
generate supporting details for a specific purpose and audience, and determine appropriate organization.
Drafting Strategies
Compose and revise drafts by adding, deleting, and reorganizing content to ensure
a narrow focus,
a clear main idea, and
adequate supporting details.
Editing and Proofreading
Use proofreading and editing strategies to identify and correct grammatical, mechanical, and spelling errors in drafts to reflect
Standard Written English.
Use MLA or APA guidelines for margins, font, page numbers, etc., for presentation of texts.
Use appropriate technology for preparing texts.
GOAL 2: Students will apply critical thinking strategies in reading and writing.
Student Learning
Outcome
Students will critically analyze texts at a career and college ready level.
DRE 098 Competencies
Comprehend certain types of figurative language—simile, metaphor, personification. Recognize and interpret imagery, symbols, and analogies.
Determine the author’s purpose in texts at a career and college ready level. Determine the author’s point of view in texts at a career and college ready level.
Identify fact and opinion statements in texts at a career and college ready level.
Use inferencing skills to determine alternate interpretations.
Demonstrate an understanding of verbal and situational irony.
Understand bias, logical fallacies, and propaganda techniques.
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Students will employ strategies from texts at a career and college ready level to inform and strengthen their writing.
Compose texts that demonstrate a(n)
consistent point of view,
clear purpose,
appropriate tone for the subject,
appropriate use of facts and expert opinions.
GOAL 3: Students will recognize and compose well-developed, coherent, and unified texts.
Student Learning
Outcome
DRE 098 Competencies
Students will identify and write clear thesis statements. Identify thesis statements in texts at a career and college ready level.
Write clear, focused thesis statements for essays.
Students will demonstrate an understanding of specific and adequate supporting information. Analyze and evaluate body paragraphs in texts at a career and college ready level and student writing for specific and adequate support.
Assess, synthesize, and integrate relevant and valid evidence to support a thesis statement.
Avoid plagiarism by paraphrasing textual information when composing an essay.
Document source material using MLA or APA guidelines.
Students will achieve unity in essays.
Identify points that are off-topic in texts at a career and college ready level and in student writing.
Compose body paragraphs which consistently support the thesis statement of an essay.
Students will demonstrate an understanding of coherence organizational patterns. Employ a variety of organizational patterns to draft texts.
Employ transitional words and phrases, repetition of key words, and synonyms to connect ideas and achieve coherence in writing.
Students will recognize and apply the conventions of Standard
Written English.
Identify and use a variety of sentence structures when writing.
Identify errors and use accurate spelling, capitalization, grammar, and punctuation according to guidelines of Standard Written English.
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Students will employ appropriate technology when reading and composing texts.
Use technology to generate material for writing.
Use an appropriate word processing program.
Use technology when drafting and revising texts.
Prepare final drafts according to MLA formatting, documentation, and citation guidelines.
Teaching and Student Success Tips
Teaching Tips for DRE 098:
From the beginning, students should be challenged to compose multi-page essays, culminating in a documented essay.
Course readings should be grounded in primarily non-fiction texts at a career and college ready level corresponding to appropriate Lexile® level. o Non-fiction texts should serve to build background knowledge as well as give opportunity for text-to-world connections. o Texts should also serve as sources of evidence for writing assignments throughout the course.
Teaching and Student Success Tips for DRE 098 Co-requisite Option:
The instructors of these co-requisites, DRE 98 and the entry-level credit-bearing non-ENG course, must have a very strong team-teaching relationship so that these classes are clearly related. All reading material and writing assignments used in DRE 098 must be directly related to the co-requisite class in order to facilitate contextualized learning.
It is not imperative that the credit-bearing course contains 100% DRE 098 students. o Some schools may offer multiple sections of the credit-bearing course and have the
DRE students from these classes meet at one time. (If schools choose this option, it is important that the credit-bearing courses be taught by the same instructor to maintain continuity for the DRE 098 students.)
Final Assessment
Grades for the credit-bearing course and the DRE 098 co-requisite are exclusive of each other. A student may pass the credit-bearing course and not DRE 98 and vice-versa. o In this case, the student must retake the applicable course individually.
Sample Activity
Employing the Integrated Reading and Writing
Cycle to Culminate in a Documented Essay
This integrated reading/writing unit on The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks (Lexile® 1140) for DRE
098 will encompass many of the course competencies for DRE 098 as it includes all aspects of the
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reading and writing process. The instructor can begin with the Pre-Reading Activities in class to get the students interested in the reading assignment and familiar with what they will be reading.
Students will read the book on their own outside of class. After reading, students will discuss and write about what they read and tackle major themes in the book by completing Post-Reading
Activities and Low-Stakes Writing Assignments in and out of class. Ideally, there should be a mix of whole class, small-group, and individual activities. Finally, the unit will culminate with a documented essay related to the work. This unit should take 3-4 weeks to complete.
Goals, Student Learning Outcomes, and Competencies
Goal 1: Students will demonstrate the use of reading and writing processes.
Student Learning Outcomes:
Students will demonstrate the use of pre-reading, reading, and post-reading strategies. Students will demonstrate the use of the writing process, including prewriting, drafting, revising, proofreading, and editing.
Competencies:
Choose and effectively employ appropriate reading strategies to comprehend texts at a career and college ready level.
Activate prior knowledge using text markers (titles, headings, etc.), graphics, and textual aids (objectives, questions, etc.).
Annotate, highlight, and underline texts to identify important vocabulary, main ideas, supporting details and examples, and other key pieces of information.
Use context clues and affixes to comprehend texts at a career and college ready level and expand personal vocabularies.
Distinguish between connotative and denotative meanings and between informal language and Standard Written English.
Employ metacognitive strategies to monitor comprehension.
Identify stated and implied main ideas and details in texts at a career and college ready level and student writing.
Recognize organizational patterns in texts at a career and college ready level.
Develop general and specific academic literacy.
Summarize (I) texts at a career and college ready level.
Respond, in writing, to texts using text-to-world connections.
Employ a variety of prewriting strategies to
narrow the focus of the text,
establish a clear main idea (thesis statement),
generate supporting details for a specific purpose and audience, and
determine appropriate organization.
Compose and revise drafts by adding, deleting, and reorganizing content to ensure
a narrow focus,
a clear main idea, and
adequate supporting details.
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Use proofreading and editing strategies to identify and correct grammatical, mechanical, and spelling errors in drafts to reflect Standard Written English.
Use MLA or APA guidelines for margins, font, page numbers, etc., for presentation of texts.
Use appropriate technology for preparing texts.
Goal 2: Students will apply critical thinking strategies in reading and writing.
Student Learning Outcomes:
Students will critically analyze texts at a career and college ready level.
Students will employ strategies from texts at a career and college ready level to inform and strengthen their writing.
Competencies:
Comprehend certain types of figurative language—simile, metaphor, personification. Recognize and interpret imagery, symbols, and analogies.
Determine the author’s purpose in texts at a career and college ready level.
Determine the author’s point of view in texts at a career and college ready level.
Identify fact and opinion statements in texts at a career and college ready level.
Use inferencing skills to determine alternate interpretations.
Demonstrate an understanding of verbal and situational irony.
Understand bias, logical fallacies, and propaganda techniques.
Compose texts that demonstrate a(n)
consistent point of view,
clear purpose,
appropriate tone for the subject, and
appropriate use of facts and expert opinions.
Goal 3: Students will recognize and compose well-developed, coherent, and unified texts.
Student Learning Outcomes:
Students will identify and write clear thesis statements.
Students will demonstrate an understanding of specific and adequate supporting information.
Students will achieve unity in essays.
Students will demonstrate an understanding of coherence organizational patterns. Students will recognize and apply the conventions of Standard Written
English.
Students will employ appropriate technology when reading and composing texts. Competencies:
Identify thesis statements in texts at a career and college ready level.
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NCCCS DRE Courses – FINAL – April 2013
Write clear, focused thesis statements for essays.
Analyze and evaluate body paragraphs in texts at a career and college ready level and student writing for specific and adequate support.
Assess, synthesize, and integrate relevant and valid evidence to support a thesis statement.
Avoid plagiarism by paraphrasing textual information when composing an essay. Document source material using MLA or APA guidelines.
Identify points that are off-topic in texts at a career and college ready level and in student writing.
Compose body paragraphs which consistently support the thesis statement of an essay.
Employ a variety of organizational patterns to draft texts.
Employ transitional words and phrases, repetition of key words, and synonyms to connect ideas and achieve coherence in writing.
Identify and use a variety of sentence structures when writing.
Identify errors and use accurate spelling, capitalization, grammar, and punctuation according to guidelines of Standard Written English.
Use technology to generate material for writing.
Use an appropriate word processing program.
Use technology when drafting and revising texts.
Prepare final drafts according to MLA formatting, documentation, and citation guidelines.
Resources and Materials Needed
•
The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot
Activities
Pre-Reading Activities
1. Have students bring their copies of The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks to class. Breaking into small groups, students should practice pre-reading strategies and try to determine what the book will be about by using visual cues. They should look at the cover, inside and outside, the reviews, the
“About the Author” section, the photographs in the middle of the book, the Table of Contents, etc.
Have students try to determine as much as possible about the content of the book. Does the book seem interesting to them? Is this a book they would pick up and read based on the cover and the reviews? 2. Discuss the genres of non-fiction and historical fiction in class. What are the differences in these genres? Is there such a thing as “creative non-fiction”? How much “creativity” is allowed in nonfiction? Rebecca Skloot’s book is classified as non-fiction, so how does she include dialogue and private conversations from decades before? Have students read the notes from the author in the introductory material on page xiii and at the end on page 346, regarding her writing process and
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NCCCS DRE Courses – FINAL – April 2013
how she was able to recreate these scenes. Discuss the importance of good research and accuracy in writing a piece of non-fiction.
3. Spend a few minutes in class discussing what students know about HeLa cells and their contribution to scientific research. Have they heard of HeLa cells before? What do they know about them? Ask students if they know anyone who has been treated for cancer and if they feel comfortable describing the kinds of treatment the person received.
Reading Assignment
4. Read The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot (either in whole or in 3-4 parts).
Post-Reading Activities
5. View the following videos in class and discuss: http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/adamcurtis/2010/06/the_undead_henrietta_lacks_and.html http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=6304949n&tag=related;photovideo
Do seeing and hearing the author improve your understanding or appreciation of the book? Do seeing and hearing the Lacks family improve your understanding or appreciation of the book? In what ways?
6. Break students into groups after reading sections of the book or the entire book, and have them discuss the Guided Reading Questions in the Teaching Guide to the book. Students should write up their answers (or at least take notes on the discussion) and report out to the rest of the class on their group discussions.
Random House Teacher’s Guide http://rebeccaskloot.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/RHSklootTeachersGuideLORES.pdf 7. Discuss the writing process as it relates to student writing assignments. Then discuss the writing process that Rebecca Skloot goes through in the decade she spent researching and writing The
Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks. How is Skloot’s writing process similar or different? How is the writing process different for a shorter assignment like a student essay versus a longer work of nonfiction? How are those processes the same?
8. Invite a biology instructor to class to discuss the science of the book. Skloot does a good job of explaining the science of cell division and the importance of HeLa cells to some of the major scientific discoveries of the last several decades. However, students probably still have questions and/or need clarification on some of the details. This might be a good opportunity to partner with a biology class, in fact. In order to ensure good discussion, have each student write out at least one question on an index card before the biology discussion as their “ticket to class” that day.
9. Have some fun in class with this online version of Jeopardy! with questions related to The Immortal
Life of Henrietta Lacks. The site allows you to customize the game for up to 12 teams to allow for friendly competition in class.
The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks Online Jeopardy! Game
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http://jeopardylabs.com/play/the-immortal-life-of-henrietta-lacks
Pre-Writing/Low-Stakes Writing
1. One of the major themes in The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks is the reference to using African
Americans for medical experiments. Many of the Lacks family members seem to believe in the conspiracy theories that Johns Hopkins doctors would snatch people off the streets, never to be seen again. However, Skloot does mention the Tuskegee Experiments and the Mississippi
Appendectomies, two very brutal scientific experiments where scientists conducted horrific scientific research on uninformed African Americans.
Have students research both the Tuskegee Experiments and the Mississippi Appendectomies and write up what they find. Then have students compare these two projects to what happened to
Henrietta Lacks and her family. Was the Lacks family victimized in the same way?
2. One of the major arguments of the Lacks family (and incredible ironies of this story) is that millions of dollars have been made from HeLa cells, yet the Lacks family has received no compensation and often cannot afford medical care of their own. In an opinion paper or journal entry, have students tackle this issue. Should the Lacks family receive compensation for the use of Henrietta’s cells? If so, how would this be awarded? Who would pay the family? How much? Students should use textual evidence from the book to support their conclusions.
3. In an opinion paper or journal entry, consider the role education or lack of education plays in this story. In the beginning of the book, the Lacks family does not understand how Henrietta’s cells have been used. In fact, some of the family members seem to believe that scientists have Henrietta herself somehow alive in a lab. To what do you attribute this confusion? Would the story be different if Henrietta or her family members would have been better educated? To answer this, also think about the other stories of tissue research that Skloot describes and the court cases surrounding those. Think about how tissue samples are handled today. When someone has a mole or tumor removed today, what happens to those cells? Does the patient have any control over the tissue once it has been removed? Students should use textual evidence from the book to support their conclusions.
4. Have students, either individually or in small groups, create a timeline of events from The Immortal
Life of Henrietta Lacks beginning from the point where Henrietta first visits Johns Hopkins. Students should include important Lacks’ family events on one side of the timeline and important scientific and medical events relating to HeLa cells on the other side. Have students share and discuss their timelines with the class. After students have presented their timelines, compare these to similar timelines found online (links below). What things did students decide to include that might not be included on the publisher timelines? What things did students not include? Discuss how and why they decided what to include.
Timeline from Rebecca Skloot’s website http://rebeccaskloot.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/HenriettaLacks_RGG_timeline.pdf Scientific Henrietta Lacks Timeline http://libguides.dccc.edu/content.php?pid=203528&sid=1699966 38
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5. The Lacks family wants recognition for Henrietta’s contribution to medical research more than anything. Have students write a letter to the Lacks family that describes how HeLa cell research has helped them or someone in their family.
High-Stakes Writing Assignment
Students will compose a documented essay on one of the major concepts (patient education, ethics of scientific experiments and patient consent, lack of health care options for the poor, treatment of the mentally ill, etc.) discussed in the Pre-Writing/Low-Stakes Writing Assignments above. Students will synthesize, integrate, and build arguments in their writing using textual evidence from the book and from their research for support.
Notes
Additional Online Resources:
•
Author Web site: http://rebeccaskloot.com/
•
Lacks family Web site: http://www.lacksfamily.com/
•
Radiolab segment on the story of Henrietta Lacks and her children, featuring audio footage of Deborah Lacks talking about her mother’s cells, and actual recordings of key scenes from the book: http://www.wnyc.org/shows/radiolab/episodes/2010/05/07/segments/150681 •
Fresh Air’s Terry Gross interviews the author: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=123232331 •
CBS Sunday Morning piece featuring interviews with the author, members of the Lacks family, and a representative from Johns Hopkins: http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=6304949n&tag=related;photovideo •
“Are We Alone?” public radio segment focusing on the science of HeLa cells: http://radio.seti.org/episodes/Cell_Cell_ •
Slate article about the Law & Order episode based on the book: http://www.slate.com/id/2257189 39
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Sample DRE 098 Mastery Test
The Mastery Test for DRE 098 should be based upon a text no lower than the midpoint of the Lexile® range for this course. Students should be required to actively read the selection and then answer literal, inferential, and analytical questions about the text. Then, they should be required to write a least one paragraph in class about some topic related to the reading. A score of 80 is required to demonstrate mastery. Students who do not demonstrate mastery of either the reading component or the writing component could be offered the opportunity to review and then take another version of the mastery test. Part I: Reading
Students should read the essay, “What We Eat” (Lexile® 1320) by Eric Schlosser before test day, completing the pre-reading and reading processes. Students may use their annotated text to complete the following questions.
1.
The thesis for Schlosser’s essay is
a. implied.
b. stated.
c. hypothetical.
d. fictional.
2.
The thesis for Schlosser’s essay is
a. “Fast food has become so commonplace that is has acquired an air of inevitability, as though it were somehow unavoidable, a fact of modern life.”
b. “The read price never appears on the menu.”
c. “The McDonald’s corporation has become a powerful symbol of America’s service economy, which is now responsible for 90 percent of the country’s new jobs.”
d. “The centralized purchasing decisions of the large restaurant chains and their demand for standardized products have given a handful of corporations an unprecedented degree of power over the nation’s food supply.”
3.
Schlosser writes, “[t]he key to a successful franchise […] can be expressed in one word:
‘uniformity’” (paragraph 8). Based on his supporting details throughout the paragraph, the connotation of the work “uniformity” is
a. consistency.
b. variation.
c. submission.
d. harmony.
4. Based on the reading, what is the best definition for the term “commodity”?
a. liability
b. product
c. reason
d. result
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5. Refer to paragraph 2, which begins, “Pull open the glass door, feel the rush of cool air,” is filled with details of a fast food experience. What is the purpose of this paragraph?
a. To get the reader to avoid fast food restaurants
b. To get the reader to go to a fast food restaurant
c. To get the reader to pull from past experience at a fast food restaurant
d. To get the reader to recommend fast food restaurants
6. Which of the following passages is an example of irony?
a. McDonalds “annually hires about one million people, more than any other American organization, public or private.”
b. “The typical American now consumes approximately three hamburgers and four orders of french fries every week.”
c. Fast food “has become a social custom as American as a small, rectangular, hand-held, frozen, and reheated apple pie.”
d. “America’s fast food industry in its present form is the logical outcome of certain political and economic choices.”
7.
Refer to paragraph 3. What is Schlosser’s audience?
a. Consumers who eat fast food every week
b. Consumers who do not eat fast food
c. Consumers who eat fast food multiple times a day
d. All consumers
8.
Refer to paragraph 5. What is the reader to infer from this paragraph?
a. Many people are familiar with McDonald’s.
b. McDonald’s impact is farther reaching than the food it serves.
c. Children like Ronald McDonald and Santa Claus.
d. McDonald’s charges high rent for their restaurants.
9.
Overall, what is Schlosser’s purpose for writing this essay?
a. To get the reader to boycott fast food restaurants
b. To get the reader to prepare more homemade meals
c. To raise awareness of the impact of the fast food industry
d. To get the reader to petition the USDA for stricter standards regarding E. coli contamination 10. Refer to paragraph 4. Schlosser claims the fast food industry has seen “extraordinary growth” in the past several decades. List two major causes for this growth here.
a. ___________________________________________________________
b. ___________________________________________________________
11. May Schlosser’s essay be construed as
a. biased.
b. propaganda.
c. a logical fallacy.
d. objective reporting.
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12. Schlosser argues that “a nation’s diet can be more revealing than its art or literature.”
According to the essay, what does the American diet reveal about the United States? (Please list
3 assertions in your own words.)
a. ______________________________________________________________
b. ______________________________________________________________
c. ______________________________________________________________
Part II: Writing
A separate writing assignment is to be given prior to the final test day, which results in a process oriented documented essay using at least three sources which have been presented to the student. (No active research is required of the student for this essay.)
A documented essay is defined as an essay that draws on outside sources of information for supporting details. Those sources are properly cited and referenced using a documentation format such as APA or
MLA style.
Assessment
Answer Key for Mastery Test
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
b b c b c c d b c
Declining hourly wage (after 1973)
Women entering the workforce (requiring more convenience food)
11. a
12. Answers will vary, but may include the following:
a. America has become a nation of uniformity rather than individuality
b. America has lost the spirit of independently owned businesses, embracing franchising and chain businesses.
c. The “bigger is better” mentality reflects our values as a nation.
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DRE 099 Integrated Reading and Writing III (ENG 111 Co-requisite)
Course Description
Class
Lab
2
0
Pre-requisites:
Co-requisites:
Clinical/
Work Exp
0
DRE 097
ENG 111
Credit Hours
2
This course, which must be offered as a co-requisite with ENG 111 to students who are near college ready, develops proficiency in integrated and contextualized reading and writing skills and strategies by complementing, supporting and reinforcing material covered in ENG 111. Topics include reading and writing processes, critical thinking strategies, and recognition and composition of well-developed, coherent, and unified texts; except where noted, these topics are taught using texts primarily in the
Lexile® range of 1185 to 1385 in order to prepare students to be career and college ready. Upon completion, students should be able to apply those skills toward understanding a variety of texts at the career and college ready level and toward composing a documented essay.
Goals, Student Learning Outcomes, and Course Competencies
GOAL 1: Students will demonstrate the use of reading and writing processes.
Student Learning
Outcome
Students will demonstrate the use of pre-reading, reading, and post-reading strategies.
DRE 099 Competencies (Competencies in DRE 099 prepare students to be career and college ready. Competencies labeled with an I are being introduced at this level.)
Pre-reading Strategies
Choose and effectively employ appropriate reading strategies to comprehend texts at a career and college ready level.
Activate prior knowledge using text markers (titles, headings, etc.), graphics, and textual aids (objectives, questions, etc.).
During Reading Strategies
Annotate, highlight, and underline texts to identify important vocabulary, main ideas, supporting details and examples, and other key pieces of information.
Use context clues and affixes to comprehend texts at a career and college ready level and expand personal vocabularies.
Distinguish between connotative and denotative meanings and between informal language and Standard Written English.
Employ metacognitive strategies to monitor comprehension.
Identify stated and implied main ideas and details in texts at a career and college ready level and student writing.
Recognize organizational patterns in texts at a career and college ready level.
Develop general and specific academic literacy.
Post-reading Strategies
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Summarize (I) texts at a career and college ready level.
Respond, in writing, to texts using text-to-world connections.
Students will demonstrate the use of the writing process, including prewriting, drafting, revising, proofreading, and editing. Pre-writing Strategies
Employ a variety of prewriting strategies to
narrow the focus of the text,
establish a clear main idea (thesis statement),
generate supporting details for a specific purpose and audience, and determine appropriate organization.
Drafting Strategies
Compose and revise drafts by adding, deleting, and reorganizing content to ensure
a narrow focus,
a clear main idea, and
adequate supporting details.
Editing and Proofreading
Use proofreading and editing strategies to identify and correct grammatical, mechanical, and spelling errors in drafts to reflect
Standard Written English.
Use MLA or APA guidelines for margins, font, page numbers, etc., for presentation of texts.
Use appropriate technology for preparing texts.
GOAL 2: Students will apply critical thinking strategies in reading and writing.
Student Learning
Outcome
DRE 098 Competencies
Students will critically analyze texts at a career and college ready level.
Comprehend certain types of figurative language—simile, metaphor, personification. Recognize and interpret imagery, symbols, and analogies.
Determine the author’s purpose in texts at a career and college ready level. Determine the author’s point of view in texts at a career and college ready level.
Identify fact and opinion statements in texts at a career and college ready level.
Use inferencing skills to determine alternate interpretations.
Demonstrate an understanding of verbal and situational irony.
Understand bias, logical fallacies, and propaganda techniques.
Students will employ
Compose texts that demonstrate a(n)
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strategies from texts at a career and college ready level to inform and strengthen their writing.
consistent point of view, clear purpose, appropriate tone for the subject, appropriate use of facts and expert opinions.
GOAL 3: Students will recognize and compose well-developed, coherent, and unified texts.
Student Learning
Outcome
DRE 098 Competencies
Students will identify and write clear thesis statements. Identify thesis statements in texts at a career and college ready level.
Write clear, focused thesis statements for essays.
Students will demonstrate an understanding of specific and adequate supporting information. Analyze and evaluate body paragraphs in texts at a career and college ready level and student writing for specific and adequate support.
Assess, synthesize, and integrate relevant and valid evidence to support a thesis statement.
Avoid plagiarism by paraphrasing textual information when composing an essay.
Document source material using MLA or APA guidelines.
Students will achieve unity in essays.
Identify points that are off-topic in texts at a career and college ready level and in student writing.
Compose body paragraphs which consistently support the thesis statement of an essay.
Students will demonstrate an understanding of coherence organizational patterns. Employ a variety of organizational patterns to draft texts.
Employ transitional words and phrases, repetition of key words, and synonyms to connect ideas and achieve coherence in writing.
Students will recognize and apply the conventions of Standard
Written English.
Identify and use a variety of sentence structures when writing.
Identify errors and use accurate spelling, capitalization, grammar, and punctuation according to guidelines of Standard Written English.
Students will employ appropriate technology
Use technology to generate material for writing.
Use an appropriate word processing program.
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when reading and composing texts.
Use technology when drafting and revising texts.
Prepare final drafts according to MLA formatting, documentation, and citation guidelines.
Teaching and Student Success Tips
These co-requisites, ENG 111 and DRE 099, should ideally be taught by the same instructor in order to create continuity. If different instructors are used, a very strong team-teaching relationship must be formed so that these classes are clearly related.
The face-to-face nature of DRE 099 is important in that it is not designed to be simply an independent-study computer lab time to work on grammar. It is intended to prepare students for major ENG 111 assignments and reinforce the competencies necessary to be successful in college level reading and writing.
Assignments and readings for DRE 099 should complement and be similar in theme to ENG 111 assignments and readings.
Typically, the assignments for DRE 099 should be shorter than those in ENG 111.
It is not imperative that the ENG 111 portion of the model be 100% DRE 099 students. An ideal ratio is no more than 50% DRE 099 to ENG 111 students. (This enables stronger students to help the DRE students.) o Some schools may offer two sections of ENG 111 and have the DRE students from both classes meet at one time.
DRE 099 Assignment Suggestions:
Writing assignments may include metacognitive reflections on essays composed in ENG 111 or read in ENG 111. These activities will reinforce awareness of both the reading and writing processes. Class time may be used to reinforce the just-in-time approach to grammar by focusing on issues reflected in student writing.
Perform close-readings on texts related to ENG 111 material to reinforce reading strategies so students become more comfortable with texts at a career and college ready level. o Students may respond to these related texts using text-to-world connections.
Sample Activity
Note: The DRE 098 sample activity could also apply to DRE 099.
Inference and Word Play
Inference is a mental process by which we reach a conclusion based on specific evidence.
We engage in inference every day. We infer people are thirsty if they ask for a glass of water.
We seek purposes and reasons. Inferences are not random but are based on supporting
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evidence. In reading, inference (or “reading between the lines”) is an important skill for advanced level readers. Students learn that they can infer, or interpret, what an author means based on word selection, context, structure, and/or a specific reference. Reading for inference is an important skill for successful transitioning to post-secondary education or training. This activity will enable students to closely read college-level and student texts for inferences and to consider inferences in their own writing.
Goals, Student Learning Outcomes, and Competencies
GOAL 1: Demonstrate the use of reading and writing processes.
Student Learning Outcome:
• Students will demonstrate the use of pre-reading, reading, and post-reading strategies.
Competencies:
• Activate prior knowledge using text markers (titles, headings, etc.), graphics, and textual aids (objectives, questions, etc.).
• Annotate, highlight, and underline texts to identify important vocabulary, main ideas, supporting details and examples, and other key pieces of information.
• Use context clues and affixes to comprehend texts at a career and college ready level and expand personal vocabularies.
• Employ metacognitive strategies to monitor comprehension.
• Identify stated and implied main ideas and details in texts at a career and college ready level and student writing.
GOAL 2: Students will apply critical thinking strategies in reading and writing.
Student Learning Outcome:
• Students will critically analyze texts at a career and college ready level.
Competencies:
• Determine the author’s point of view in texts at a career and college ready level.
• Use inferencing skills to determine alternate interpretations.
Resources and Materials Needed
•
Short passage related to material presented in ENG 111.
Activities
1. Students read the passage in class, noting any words or phrases about which they have questions. 2. Teacher begins conversation, pointing out a specific sentence: “During World War II, the United
States fought the Germans, mainly in Europe, and the Japanese, mainly in the Pacific.” She then asks, “What are we not told specifically about the Pacific?” (Answer: that it is an ocean)
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3. Teacher points out: We have to understand the reference—that the “Pacific” refers to the
“Pacific Ocean.” Why might that be important to our overall understanding of the rest of this article, whatever it may be? (Answer: because if we know that Europe is a continent and the
Pacific is an ocean, we will be better able to understand what the author is talking about.)
4. Teacher asks: According to the sentence, which of the two countries may we infer engaged in the most naval battles with the United States? (Answer: Japan) Why do you think so? (Because if we fought Japan mainly in the Pacific, and the Pacific is an ocean, those fights would have been at sea and thus naval battles.)
5. Teacher asks: From the sentence, can we infer who won World War II? (Answer: No. The sentence simply states a fact. It contains no reference or inference regarding victory).
6. Teacher asks: From the sentence structure, can we infer from whose point of view—the United
States, Germany, or Japan—that the rest of this article is most likely written? (Answer: Yes. The
United States. The United States appears first in the sentence. If the article had been written from the POV of Germany or Japan, the sentence would most likely have been constructed to read: “During World War II, Germany fought...”or “During World War II, Japan fought...”)
7. Teacher asks: Want to see what happens if we change the word selection a bit? Let's change the sentence to read: During World War II, the United States attacked Germany, mainly in
Europe, and Japan, mainly in the Pacific. How is “attacked” different from “fought”? Would that change the meaning? (Answer: “Attacked” implies offensive rather than defensive action.
Attacked” is stronger than “fought”, and it implies or infers that the United States made the first strike. So, yes, it would change the meaning.)
Evaluation/Assessment
After numerous opportunities to practice inferential reading with various passages and texts, students gain familiarity with “reading between the lines” and recognize that authors intentionally include certain words, references, contexts, and structures to convey meaning that is inferred rather than directly stated. The ability to perform inferential reading is an extremely important reading skill as students progress in their studies and transition to post-secondary education.
From this activity, students may look at samples of their own writing in order to determine what readers might infer from their own text. From there, teachers may ask students to play with different word choices or sentence structure to elicit certain inferences from the reader.
Sample DRE 099 Mastery Test
DRE 099 should follow the final assessment model for DRE 098, including a documented essay and reading test. In the case that DRE 099 and ENG 111 are offered as co-requisites with the same end date, students must successfully complete a reading test in order to receive a P for the course; writing proficiency may be assessed using the final ENG 111 essay, given that it is, in fact, a documented essay.
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If not, the standard DRE 098 assessment must be given. Note: It is possible for students to pass DRE 099, but not ENG 111. In this case, students will re-enroll for ENG 111 only, the next semester.
Placement into DRE Courses
Competencies below DRE 096 (the Floor)
Students are placed into developmental education courses based on State Board-approved placement policies. A custom North Carolina diagnostic assessment will be created by College Board to identify students who likely would not succeed in DRE course. Competencies presumed in order to enroll in DRE
096 include identifying and writing basic sentence structures, reading and comprehending texts at a
Lexile® level of 960, and using dictionary entries for information about words.
Recommended
Placement Test Crosswalk
These scores provide placement guidance until the new diagnostic assessment for DRE courses is available in Spring 2014
ACCUPLACER
Reading
Comprehension
PLUS Sentence
Skills
COMPASS Reading Skills
PLUS Writing Skills
ASSET Reading Skills PLUS
Writing Skills
Basic Skills
40-71*
0-63*
46-52*
DRE 096
DRE 097
DRE 098
72-91
92-128
129-165
64-84
85-111
112-150
53-61
62-71
72-81
DRE 099
129-165**
112-150**
72-81**
*No student should be placed below DRE 096 without confirming the need for that placement through an additional measure. Additional measures might include additional testing, a writing sample, an interview, or a reading fluency check.
** DRE 099 is a co-requisite with ENG 111 and is an alternative to DRE 098. Placement scores for DRE
098 and DRE 099 are the same; however, colleges may set additional criteria for DRE 099 placement.
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Recommended Course Crosswalk for DRE*
If student does not pass ENG 075 with C or better
student goes to
DRE 096
student goes to
DRE 097
student goes to
DRE 098 or
DRE 099
student goes to
ENG 111
If student does not pass either ENG 070 OR RED 070 with a C or better
If student passes pre-developmental (Basic Skills) floor course
If student does not pass either ENG 080 OR RED 080 with a C or better
If student passes ENG 085 with a grade of C
If a student passes both ENG 080 AND RED 080 with a grade of C
If student passes ENG 075 with a C or better
If student passes both ENG 070 AND RED 070 with a C or better
If student does not pass ENG 095 with a C or better
If student does not pass either ENG 090 OR RED 090 with a C or better
If student passes ENG 085 with a B or better
If student passes both ENG 080 AND RED 080 with a B or better
If student passes ENG 095 with a C or better
If student passes both ENG 090 and RED 090 with a C or better
*Colleges may locally tailor the crosswalk to accommodate their current instructional practices in developmental reading and English.
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Annotated Bibliography
As part of the redesign process, the DEI English/Reading Redesign Task Force conducted extensive research in a variety of developmental education areas including student assessment, placement, retention, and completion; current trends; program models; teaching methodologies; best practices; learning styles; guides; tutorials; as well as fundamental skills for college and career success. The following resources and materials were used in and/or consulted during the development of the new
English/Reading curriculum.
Addison, Joanne, and Sharon James McGee. “Writing in High School/Writing in College: Research Trends and Future Directions.” College Composition and Communication 62.1 (2010): 147-179. Print.
Providing a look into writing practices throughout the United States in high schools, colleges, and workplaces, Addison and McGee’s comparative approach highlights how we are assisting in the negotiation of literacy demands in the “academy and beyond” (169). Through their research, the authors cite the National Survey of Student Engagement Research that concluded “the types of writing assignments that promote “deep learning” across the curriculum include those that focus on analysis, synthesis, and integration of ideas from various sources in ways that lead to engagement with course ideas both inside and outside of the classroom” (162).
ALPIN: The Accelerated Learning Program Inquiry Network. The Community College of Baltimore
County, Baltimore, Maryland, 2007. Web. 1 July 2012. <http://www.alpinccbc.org>.
Sponsored by the Community College of Baltimore County, this site offers resources for its
Accelerated Learning Program, which is very much like the DRE 99/ENG 111 option. While active conversation takes place throughout the fall and spring semesters, everything is archived by topic for anytime viewing. Anyone can view the site, but if instructors want to join the conversation, they can easily register.
Bartholomae, David, and Anthony Petrosky. Facts, Artifacts, and Counterfacts. Portsmouth:
Boynton/Cook, 1986. Print.
Seminal work in integration of reading and writing. The authors developed a reading/writing course for developmental students at the University of Pittsburgh. The course was thematically based and including a primary text as well as supplemental readings. Writing assignments
Increase in complexity and culminate in a synthesis of readings and student opinions.
“Barriers.” SuccessNC. North Carolina Community College System, 2011. Web. 1 Jan. 2012.
<http://www.successnc.org/barriers>.
This page lists barriers to student success that were identified by colleges during the SuccessNC
Listening Tour. The state-wide initiative to redesign developmental education is an effort to address and remove as many barriers as possible for NC Community College students so that program completions and graduation are achievable goals.
Bean, John C. Engaging Ideas: The Professor's Guide to Integrating Writing, Critical Thinking, and Active
Learning in the Classroom. 2nd ed. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 2011. Print.
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This book is filled with practical classroom activities which mimic the active students engagement suggested by the DRE model. Further, this resource is applicable to all disciplines and addresses the contextual nature of the new curriculum. Topics include, but are not limited to, critical reading and thinking and responding to student writing.
Bernstein, Susan Naomi. Teaching Developmental Writing: Background Readings. 4th ed. Boston:
Bedford, 2013. Print.
This is a great resource for any writing instructor but may prove especially useful to cross-train reading instructors for the new DRE model. Essays based in theory and practical application are included. “Bloom’s Taxonomy Action Verbs.” Reference Materials. Office of Institutional Assessment, Clemson
University, 2012. Web. 1 Mar. 2012. <http://www.clemson.edu/assessment/ assessmentpractices/ referencematerials/index.html>.
A list of key action words is offered for each level of the Bloom’s Taxonomy. In the initial development of the new integrated courses, the Task Force used Bloom’s pyramid levels and keywords for brainstorming. The handouts given on the webpage above are useful for lesson development and for expressing Student Learning Outcomes.
CAP: California Acceleration Project. California Community Colleges’ Success Network (3CSN)
Completion Initiative, 2012. Web. 1 Mar. 2012. <http://cap.3csn.org/>.
This entire site is invaluable to any instructor teaching an integrated reading and writing course. Peruse the entire site, but pay special attention to the “Teaching Accelerated Courses” tab and click on “Reading and Writing Classes.” Sample materials, classroom videos, and more are included.
“Common Core State Standards for English Language Arts.” Common Core State Standards Initiative.
National Governors Association Center for Best Practices (NGA Center) and the Council of Chief
State School Officers (CCSSO), 2012. Web. 1 Mar. 2012. http://www.corestandards.org.
North Carolina is one of 45 states that have adopted the Common Core State Standards. The
Common Core State Standards provide a consistent, clear understanding of what students are expected to learn, so teachers and parents know what they need to do to help them. The standards are designed to be robust and relevant to the real world, reflecting the knowledge and skills that our young people need for success in college and careers. With American students fully prepared for the future, our communities will be best positioned to compete successfully in the global economy.
“Community Colleges and Remedial Education.” The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, 2012. Web.
27 January 2012. <http://www.gatesfoundation.org/postsecondaryeducation/Pages/ community-colleges-remedial-education.aspx>. The article discusses the importance of remedial education at the community college level and calls for a “rethinking” of this area in order to provide new, innovative, as well as economical
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avenues to success and graduation. The Foundation offers its support and commitment with the mission of removing the “stumbling blocks” encountered by developmental education students.
The website offers information about research data, reform strategies, and investments.
“Developmental Education Course Competencies.” SuccessNC. North Carolina Community
College System, 15 Dec. 2011. Web. 1 Jan. 2012. <www.nccommunitycolleges.edu/programs/
Developmental>.
This website provides the current competencies for developmental English and Reading courses offered in North Carolina’s Community Colleges. A link to current integrated courses is offered.
These competency lists were carefully examined by Task Force members in the initial process of the new curriculum’s development.
“Developmental Education Initiative (DEI).” SuccessNC. North Carolina Community
College System, 2011. Web. 1 Jan. 2012. <www.successnc.org/initiatives/ developmental-education-initiative>. Listed under the “Entry” category on “The Student Success Framework” of SuccessNC, the
Developmental Education Initiative (DEI) is a state-policy initiative to redesign the North
Carolina Community College System’s developmental education curricula, accelerate student completion, implement diagnostic assessments, increase the number of students who successfully complete developmental education and enroll in college-level courses, and implement supporting policies. The DEI establishes guiding principles for redesign in the areas of
Developmental Math, which is currently being implemented system-wide, and in
English/Reading, which is under development.
Jenkins, Davis, Cecilia Speroni, Clive Belfield, Shanna Smith Jaggars, and Nikki Edgecombe. “A Model
For Accelerating Academic Success of Community College Remedial English Students: Is The
Accelerated Learning Program (ALP) Effective and Affordable?” (CCRC Working Paper No. 21)
Community College Research Center: Teachers College, Columbia University, Sept. 2010. Web. 1
Mar. 2012. <http://ccrc.tc.columbia.edu/Publication.asp?uid=811>.
This report discusses the results of a quantitative analysis of the Community College of
Baltimore County’s Accelerated Learning Program (ALP). The authors weigh the benefits with the cost.
Morrison, Constance. “A Literary, Whole Language College Reading Program.” Journal of
Developmental Education 14.2 (1990): 8-12, 16-18. Print.
A literary approach to the teaching of reading comprehension evolved from dissatisfaction with self-instructional materials and individualized lab classes. Using novels, essays and short stories, the author describes a reading program which uses a whole language approach with verbal interaction and written expression becoming important components of the program. Higher level reasoning and critical thinking skills are incorporated in the written assignments and class discussions. NADE: The National Association for Developmental Education. Web. 2 Mar. 2012.
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NCCCS DRE Courses – FINAL – April 2013
<http://www.nade.net>.
NADE is an active organization whose membership includes a community of like-minded educators who serve as advocates for developmental education. NADE provides research, publications, conferences, workshops, and networking opportunities. Membership is open to “everyone interested in learning and helping others learn.” To learn more about NADE, visit the website given above and choose “About NADE.” The link will take the viewer to specific information about the organization such as a fact sheet, history, bylaws, etc.
National Center for Developmental Education. Reich College of Education, Appalachian State University,
2012. Web. 1 Mar. 2012. <http://ncde.appstate.edu>.
The National Center for Developmental Education is an excellent source for current information
In the field. The site links to pages of interest such as The Kellogg Institute, NCDE publications like the Journal of Developmental Education (JDE) and Research in Developmental Education
(RiDE), research, reports, resources, services, news, and events. The site provides an
Impressive list of professional contacts and offers a mailing list, which can easily be joined through a given link.
North Carolina Association for Developmental Education, 2012. Web. 1 Mar. 2012. <http://ncade.net>.
Professional association for North Carolina’s developmental educators. Contains information on
NCADE officers, conferences, listserv, and resources.
Perin. D., Rachel Hare Bork, Stephen T. Pervely, Linda H. Mason, and Megan Vaselewski. “A
Contextualized Intervention for Community College Developmental Reading and Writing
Students.” (CRCC Working Paper No. 38). Community College Research Center: Teachers
College, Columbia University, Jan. 2010. Web. 1 Mar. 2012.
<http://ccrc.tc.columbia.edu/Publication.asp?UID=1007>.
Instructors in community college developmental education programs are constantly seeking new ways to improve outcomes for their students, but, to date, there has been a shortage of empirical studies on the effectiveness of such efforts. The current study provides evidence on the potential efficacy of an approach to helping students develop an important academic skill, written summarization. In two experiments, a contextualized intervention was administered to developmental reading and writing students in two community colleges. The intervention was a
10-week curricular supplement that emphasized written summarization, as well as vocabulary knowledge, question generation, reading comprehension, and persuasive writing. The intervention was based on reading passages from science textbooks, with generic text from developmental education textbooks added in the second experiment.
Public Schools of North Carolina. North Carolina Department of Public Instruction, 2012. Web. 1 Mar.
2012. <www.dpi.state.nc.us>.
This website presents a plethora of information for education in North Carolina. Featured links include the following: K-12 Curriculum; Testing; Data & Statistics; Work 4 NC; Publications; NC
School Report Cards; Education Director; Program Areas; Public Notices, and NC Race to The
Top -- Career & College: Ready Set Go! Current news and highlights are helpful avenues for
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information regarding state programs, efforts, planning projects, and initiatives.
The Purdue OWL Family of Sites. The Writing Lab and OWL at Purdue and Purdue U, 2012. Web. 22 July
2012. <http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/>.
The Purdue Online Writing Lab (OWL) is a vast and helpful web-warehouse for English and writing assistance. Guides for language arts and various types of writing projects are available.
OWL offers free material for students, teachers, and tutors. Some feature sections include
“Research and Citation,” “Job Search Writing,” “English as a Second Language,” “MLA Guide,” and “APA Guide.”
Rose, Mike. “Remedial Writing Courses: A Critique and a Proposal.” College English 45.2 (Feb. 1983):
109-128. Print.
Upset with the knowledge that many developmental/remedial classes were not preparing students for college/university level writing, Mike Rose conducted research to discover what writing was expected of students in their academic lives and then propose pedagogical changes to developmental English classes. According to Rose, remedial classes limit growth in writing when they are self-contained, do not include academic prose, are vigilant about error, separate reading from writing, and undercut expression and exploration (109). For Rose, “…students must early on, begin wrestling with academically oriented topics that help them develop into more critical-thinkers, that provide them with some of the tools of the examined life, and that, practically, will assist them in the courses they take” (110). Rose observes through his research that reading and writing are intricately connected within academic writing in every discipline; thus, if we are to best prepare our students for curriculum writing, we must recognize that our instruction should center on the “complex ability to write from other texts” (119).
Stahl, Norman, and Hunter Boylan. Teaching Developmental Reading. Boston: Bedford, 2003. Print.
This is the companion piece to Teaching Developmental Writing and can be effectively used to cross train writing instructors for the new integrated model.
“Student Success Framework.” SuccessNC. North Carolina Community College
System, 2011. Web. 1 Jan. 2012. <www.successnc.org/initiatives>.
The “Student Success Framework” envisions a comprehensive, statewide effort to improve community college education in North Carolina through improving access, enhancing quality, and increasing success for students. The effort identifies four main areas of concern: connection, entry, progress, and completion. State Performance Measures and the Bill and
Melinda Gates Foundation’s Completion by Design initiative form the foundations of the framework. Sullivan, Patrick, and Howard Tinberg. What is College Level Writing? Urbana: National Council of
Teachers of English, 2006. Print.
Patrick Sullivan and Howard Tinberg edited a collection of articles written by three distinct groups—students, faculty, and administrators—who have a vested interest in understanding what college-level writing is. Throughout the work, each of these groups is given a space to
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express its concept of “good” college-level writing as well as concern and praise for those pedagogical strategies employed to assist in the success of the students beyond the English classroom. In Patrick Sullivan’s introductory article titled “What is ‘College-Level’ Writing?”, he notes, after much research and reflection, that “good writing can only be the direct result of good reading and thinking, and this, it seems to me is one of the foundational principles of college-level work” (16). For Sullivan, the title “college-level writer” should not be limited to writing, but due to their symbiotic relationship, the title should be “college-level reader, writer, and thinker” (16).
Tierney, Robert J., and P. David Pearson. “Toward a Composing Model of Reading.” Language Arts
(May 1983): 568-580. Print.
This article is based on the premise that reading and writing are “essentially similar processes of meaning construction.” (568). The authors discuss similarities in the stages of planning, drafting, aligning, revising, and monitoring in both reading and writing. Provides a rationale and solid support for the concept of integrating the two skills.
Tierney, Robert J., and Timothy Shanahan. “Research on the Reading-Writing Relationship:
Interactions, Transactions, and Outcomes.” Handbook of Reading Research, II. Eds.
R. Barr, M. Kamil, P. Mosenthal, and P.D. Pearson. White Plains: Longman, 1991. 246-280. Print.
An extensive, research-based discussion of the commonalities of reading and writing leading to a model of reading to writing. They discuss stages of planning, aligning, drafting, revising, and overall monitoring. The authors also tie in social-transactional theory in the teaching of reading and writing, especially reader-response theory. The article concludes by stating that “writing and reading together engage learners in a greater variety of reasoning operations than when they are apart or when students are given a variety of other tasks to go along with their reading”
(280).
Tinberg, Howard. Border Talk: Writing and Knowing in the Two-Year College. Urbana: National Council of
Teachers of English, 1997. Print.
Howard Tinberg brought together faculty from multiple disciplines at a two-year college in order to best assist the writing center in determining standards for tutorial assistance in writing. The round table discussions from the faculty prove the undeniable inability of an agreement on what characteristics constitutes “good” college level writing. However, from the discussions, one standard resounded throughout the whole of faculty members: Students must be able to read and critically respond in writing to the reading in order to be successful in academia. For
Tinberg, the writing difficulties students face are not tied to their lack of writing conventions, but the students lack experience “in the kind of writing that calls for them to synthesize the ideas of others” (57).
“Warm Up Activities for English Clubs.” EnglishClub, 2012. Web. 1 July 2012.
<www.englishclub.com/english-clubs/english-club-warm-up>.
The EnglishClub is a valuable resource for students and teachers alike. The given article presents some engaging “ice-breaker” type activities to do in classes sessions: “20 Questions,”
“Can’t Say Yes or No,” “Hot Seat,” and more. The parent site provides information and links for
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English as a Second Language (ESL) activities.
Wilkins, Chuck, Jennifer Harman, Noelle Howland, and Nitin Sharma. How Prepared Are Students For
College-level Reading? Applying A Lexile®-based Approach. (Issues & Answers Report, REL
2010 -- No. 094). Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Education, Institute of Education
Sciences, National Center for Education Evaluation and Regional Assistance, Regional
Educational Laboratory Southwest, Nov. 2010. Web. 1 Mar. 2012.
<http://ies.ed.gov/ncee/edlabs>.
The report offers a study concerning the development and implementation of a new methodology to determine high school students’ college-readiness in language arts and reading for entry-level English courses in the University of Texas system.
Glossary
Academic language: Vocabulary used across all disciplines in the classroom, in textbooks, and on tests. (Examples: hypothesis, evaluate, valid, compare and contrast)
Academic literacy: The level of reading, writing, and critical thinking skills necessary for collegelevel work.
Affixes: Any additions to the base or root of a word, including prefixes, infixes, and suffixes.
Analogies: Comparisons that show knowledge of word meanings as well as the ability to think critically and detect relationships.
Annotate: An individualized method of highlighting the most important parts of a reading, such as main ideas and major details, using symbols, abbreviations, and marginal notes.
Antonyms: Words with meanings that are the opposite of each other.
APA essay format: General formatting style (margins, spacing, heading, pagination, etc.) prescribed in the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association.
APA documentation: Formatting style of in-text citations, endnotes/footnotes, and reference page prescribed in the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association.
Audience: The group that a writer is writing for or to.
Bias: A positive or negative slant/opinion/attitude on an issue.
Coherence: Clearly connected sentences and paragraphs with ideas flowing smoothly and logically. 57
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Career and college ready texts: Written materials typical of those used right before entering curriculum level college courses.
Complex texts: Written materials with vocabulary, structures, and ideas that are sufficiently challenging to prepare students to read texts at a career and college ready level.
Connotation: The implied meaning of a word.
Context clues: Information in a text appearing near a word that directly or indirectly helps a reader figure out the meaning of that word.
Contextualization: The teaching of basic skills using disciplinary topic areas. (For more information see http://ccrc.tc.columbia.edu/Publication.asp?uid=866)
Denotation: The literal meaning of a word.
Documented essay: An essay that draws on outside sources of information for supporting details. Those sources are properly cited and referenced using a documentation format such as
APA or MLA style.
Editing: A stage in the writing process that involves improving a text by correcting grammatical and mechanical errors and making wordings clearer and more precise.
Expert opinion: Statements that contain personal viewpoints or judgments from people with special knowledge about the topic gained from education or experience.
Fact statement: A statement based on evidence or observation that can be proven true or false.
Figurative language: Words or phrases with implied meanings such as metaphors, similes, personification, analogies, idioms, and connotative language.
Formal language: Language which avoids the use of slang and adheres to the conventions of
Standard Written English.
Idioms: Expressions or phrases in which the words together have a meaning different from the definitions of the individual words. (Examples: A dime a dozen, keeping your head above water, rack your brain)
Imagery: The use of words to create a picture in the audience's imagination.
Implied main idea: A central message not stated in the reading but based on the evidence
(details) in the reading. An implied main idea answers the questions: Who or what is the reading about? What is the author trying to say through these details?
Inference: An unstated idea or message determined through the facts and evidence and the reader’s own personal experience and prior knowledge. The equation for an inference is as follows: Facts/Details + Prior Knowledge and experience = Inference. An inference also answers these two questions: Who or what is the reading about? What is the author trying to say?
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Informal language: Casual language that may include colloquialisms, and slang, which is less strict in following grammar rules. Informal language is not appropriate for academic writing.
Integrated Reading and Writing: Instruction that blends reading and writing assignments to show connections between the skills and makes coverage of material more efficient (for example, using a text to develop a reading skill but also using it as a springboard to a writing assignment). Lexile level: The Lexile® Framework for Reading by Metametrics which uses semantic difficulty
(word frequency) and syntactic complexity (sentence length) to determine both text complexity and reader ability to comprehend text within a range, with 75% as the comprehension expectation for students for the middle of their range.
Logical fallacies: Errors in reasoning that make arguments invalid.
Main idea: The central, general message in a reading. The main idea answers these two questions: Who or what is the reading about? What is the author trying to say?
Metacognition: The awareness and regulation of the reading process; a reader knowing when he/she knows and knowing when he/she doesn’t know when reading and using strategies if he/she is not understanding the reading.
Metaphor: A description that asserts that one object, event, or concept is, in some way, like another object, event, or concept. (Examples: My father is a rock. All the world's a stage.)
MLA essay format: General formatting style (margins, spacing, heading, pagination, etc.) prescribed in the MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers.
MLA documentation: Style of in-text citations, endnotes/footnotes, and works cited page prescribed in the MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers.
Opinions: Statements that cannot be verified for accuracy which contains personal viewpoint or judgment. Organizational pattern: A system for arranging the parts of a paragraph or essay. Within a rhetorical mode, there are different ways to order parts of a text.(For example: In a compare/contrast essay, organization may reflect point-by-point, subject-by-subject, or block arrangement.) Paraphrase: A restatement of all the ideas in a text using different wording.
Personification: Figurative language that applies human characteristics to inanimate objects or abstract ideas.
Plagiarism: Work that takes someone else's ideas and/or words and presents them as one's own; work that includes materials from sources without proper citations.
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Point of view
(Reading)-The author's attitude toward or position on the subject of the writing. The author's attitude could be delighted, sorrowful, angry, enthusiastic, etc. The author's position could be favorable, unfavorable, neutral, or ambivalent.
(Writing)-The perspective from which the author writes. First person point of view uses the pronouns I, we, me, mine and highlights the author's personal viewpoint. Second person point of view uses the pronouns you, your, and yours and addresses the audience directly. Third person point of view uses pronouns such as he, she, it, and they to speak about the subject in a more detached way.
Post-reading strategies: Strategies to use after reading to check comprehension and respond to the reading. These include but are not limited to reacting, responding, reviewing, recalling, and relating. Pre-reading strategies: Strategies used before reading to engage the mind and increase concentration and comprehension. (For example: surveying, activating prior knowledge, predicting what might be in the reading, and formulating questions to answer while reading)
Prewriting strategies: Methods of generating ideas, narrowing a topic, and establishing what material will go into the first draft of a text (for example: freewriting, mapping/clustering, brainstorming, listing, looping, outlining).
Prior knowledge: The network of knowledge in the brain on any given topic.
Proofreading: The act of reading through a text in an effort to locate errors.
Propaganda: Information that is deliberately manipulative, using such techniques as strong emotional appeal, logical fallacies, or one-sided arguments.
Purpose: The reason or intention for writing. Generally, there are four major purposes: to express, to inform, to entertain, and to persuade.
Revise: To add to, delete from, and/or reorganize a draft during the writing process. (Note:
Editing is not normally done during revision, but once revision is complete.)
Simile: A comparison of two objects, events, or concepts using the words like or as.
Situational irony: A circumstance with a different outcome from what the audience expects.
Slang: Informal, non-standard language used by a particular group.
Stated main idea: A central message that is expressed directly in a reading. A stated main idea answers these questions: Who or what is the reading about? What is the author trying to say about this topic?
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Standard Written English: The version of English that is widely accepted as a model by educated writers; composition that is consistent with grammar, punctuation, spelling, and vocabulary rules approved by authorities and described in handbooks.
Summarizing: A restatement of the ideas in a text in a shorter wording that follows the same organizational pattern as the original.
Supporting details: Specific information that illustrates, explains, or proves a main idea.
Synonyms: Words that have very similar meanings to other words.
Synthesis: The process of combining ideas to form a new idea.
Technical language: Discipline-specific vocabulary.
Text-to-self: Personal connections that a reader makes between a text and his/her own experience. (Example: The character that I just read about reminds me of my mother.)
Text-to-text: Connections the reader makes between a text and something else he/she has read. (Example: This book is very similar to a book I read last year.)
Text-to-world: Connections the reader makes between a text and the world at large. (Example:
This article is about the same issue I saw on the TV news last night.)
Thesis statement: The sentence or sentences that contain the main idea or point of the essay.
Tone: The attitude or feeling expressed through the word choice.
Topic sentence: The sentence in a paragraph that contains the main idea.
Transitional words: Words that help a text to read more smoothly and show the relationship of one idea to another thus alerting the reader to the organization of the text and the relative importance of the ideas. (Examples: next, in addition, conversely, similarly, furthermore)
Unified: Writing that has a single main idea with all other parts supporting the main idea.
Valid evidence: Evidence that is appropriate to the point and able to withstand objection.
Verbal irony: Wording that is the opposite of what the audience expects; sarcasm.
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FINAL VERSION
April 2013
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Table of Contents
Introduction to the Curriculum
3
Pedagogical Approach Statement
3
Mastery Definition
4
Use of Technology Statement
4
Teaching Parameters and Student Success Tips
5
Guide to Text Complexity for DRE Courses
6
NC Community Colleges’ Developmental Reading & English (DRE) Sequence
7
Course Descriptions, Sample Activities and Sample Assessments o DRE 096: Integrated Reading and Writing I o DRE 097: Integrated Reading and Writing II o DRE 098: Integrated Reading and Writing III o DRE 099: Integrated Reading and Writing III (ENG 111 Co-requisite)
8
8
18
30
43
Placement into DRE Courses
49
Annotated Bibliography
51
Glossary of Terms
57
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INTRODUCTION TO THE CURRICULUM
Developed by a Task Force comprising 18 English and reading faculty from across North Carolina’s
Community Colleges, this curriculum charts a new course for integrated developmental English and reading in our System. The faculty team created it based on guiding principles provided the
Developmental Education Initiative’s statewide policy team. It is a curriculum rooted in research and learning theory, and influenced by the Common Core State Standards adopted by North Carolina’s public schools. It sets expectations for deeper thinking and high attainment. It supports relevancy in learning and will enable students to enter credit-bearing college courses more quickly, setting them on a pathway toward credential completion.
PEDAGOGICAL APPROACH STATEMENT
The intent of the DRE courses is to enable students to think critically and analytically about their reading, to write about what they think, and to understand what is happening in their minds as they process information. The pedagogies include
reading materials that are carefully selected for student interest, relevance to career and academic goals, participation, and challenge
sequencing of learning strategies that take students from literal interpretation to evaluative thinking verbal interaction through small group and full class discussion
writing assignments such as responses, summaries, critiques, or syntheses that develop from the readings
assessments that require students to demonstrate mastery of reading and writing competencies as they interpret, analyze, evaluate, synthesize, organize, and convey information coherently and meaningfully.
The following diagram illustrates the integrated reading and writing instructional cycle embodied in this curriculum. 3
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Integrated Reading and Writing Cycle — Intended to be repeated multiple times throughout all DRE courses
Pre-reading
High Stakes
Writing
Post-reading
Pre-Writing/Low
Stakes Writing
(Graphic adapted from model developed by Katie Hern at Chabot College)
MASTERY DEFINITION
This curriculum is mastery-based with grades of P for Pass and R for Re-enroll (which will map to F for reporting and financial aid purposes). The rationale is that students who master content are better equipped for success in future coursework. Therefore, in this curriculum students must demonstrate
80% mastery of the Student Learning Outcomes on major assessments such as tests, writing assignments, projects, portfolios, and presentations.
USE OF TECHNOLOGY STATEMENT
Course competencies require the use of an appropriate word processing program to produce written assignments. The use of technology as instructional support is strongly encouraged to reinforce course competencies, individualize learning, and facilitate flexible scheduling.
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TEACHING PARAMETERS AND STUDENT SUCCESS TIPS
The following are key parameters that characterize this curriculum. They should be the focus of professional development activities to support implementation of the new curriculum. In addition, the annotated bibliography in this document provides research and resources related to many of these teaching parameters.
Use intentionality to select appropriate and high quality texts based on Lexile® level.
Encourage students to base most writings on textual evidence.
Assign no more than one major writing assignment that results in personal narrative. Other writing assignments should result in third person texts.
Find ways to contextual reading and writings to students’ interests or career goals.
Grammar instruction should be included in the context of writing activities and/or during lab time.
Focus on active classroom activities rather than lecture.
Emphasize reading and writing as processes.
Use mastery-based assessments.
Count everything leading up to major assignments as part of the grade on those assignments.
Focus on deep reading of fewer selections.
Do more things with fewer writings.
Offer continual and timely feedback to students.
Access students’ affective domains to motivate high efforts and successful results.
Frequently model the integrated reading and writing process.
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GUIDE TO TEXT COMPLEXITY FOR DRE COURSES
This curriculum emphasizes carefully choosing appropriate texts based on their Lexile® level. The recommended Lexile® Framework for Reading* bands for DRE courses are in alignment with the text complexity grade bands for high school through Career and College Ready (CCR).
The Lexile® Framework for Reading (by Metametrics, Inc.) uses semantic difficulty (word frequency) and syntactic complexity (sentence length) to determine both text complexity and reader ability to comprehend text within a range, with 75% as the comprehension expectation for students for the middle of their range. The Lexile® Framework for Reading is the most widely adopted reading measurement instrument used today that combines the work of many experts in reading, including Chall and Flesch, to provide a standard common scale to measure text difficulty and reader ability. It allows the DRE educator to set measurable instructional goals, choose appropriate materials, and show student progress all using the same standard and widely recognized measurement instrument.
DRE
096
097
098
099
Lexile®
Range for Course Texts
960L – 1115L
1070L – 1220L
1185L – 1385L
1185L – 1385L
Faculty may assess a texts’ complexity by going to www.lexile.com. Many titles are already assessed, and there are software tools available to analyze others.
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NC COMMUNITY COLLEGES’ DEVELOPMENTAL
READING & ENGLISH (DRE) SEQUENCE
COLLEGES ARE REQUIRED TO OFFER DRE 096, 097, AND 098; DRE 099 IS
OPTIONAL.
ENG 111
DRE 099**
DRE 098*
(2cr.hrs.)
8 wk course (3cr.hrs.)
OR
DRE 097
8 wk course (3cr.hrs.)
DRE 096
8 wk course(3cr.hrs.)
FLOOR
* DRE 098 may be offered as a stand-alone course or as a co-requisite with an entry-level credit bearing college course that is not an ENG course. When offered as a co-requisite, the course focus is DRE 098 student learning outcomes; however, proficiency should be attained through assignments and resources linked to the credit course, creating a contextual learning experience for students.
**If colleges choose to offer DRE 099, it will be an alternative to DRE 098. This course must be a corequisite with ENG 111.
Upon completion of DRE 098, students are prepared to enter ENG 111.
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COURSE DESCRIPTIONS, SAMPLE, ACTIVITES, AND SAMPLE ASSESSMENTS
DRE 096 Integrated Reading and Writing I
Course Description
Class
Lab
2.5
1
Pre-requisites:
Co-requisites:
Clinical/
Work Exp
0
None
None
Credit Hours
3
This course develops proficiency in specific integrated and contextualized reading and writing skills and strategies. Topics include reading and writing processes, critical thinking strategies, and recognition and composition of well-developed, coherent, and unified texts; these topics are primarily taught at the introductory level using texts primarily in a Lexile® range of 960 to 1115. Upon completion, students should be able to apply those skills toward understanding a variety of academic and career-related texts and composing effective paragraphs.
Goals, Student Learning Outcomes, and Course Competencies
GOAL 1: Students will demonstrate the use of reading and writing processes.
Student Learning Outcome
DRE 096 Competencies
Students will demonstrate the use of pre-reading, reading, and post-reading strategies. Pre-reading Strategies
Use a variety of previewing strategies to comprehend texts.
Activate prior knowledge using text markers (titles, headings, etc.), graphics, and textual aids (objectives, questions, etc.).
During Reading Strategies
Annotate, highlight, and underline texts to identify important vocabulary, main ideas, supporting details and examples, and other key pieces of information.
Use context clues, dictionaries, and thesauri to better understand texts, expand personal vocabularies, distinguish between denotative and connotative meanings, recognize slang, understand idioms, and distinguish between antonyms and synonyms. Post-reading Strategies
Identify stated main ideas and details in paragraph-length texts and student writings.
Recognize signal words which indicate patterns within texts and organizational patterns for text development.
Respond, in writing, to texts using text-to-self connections.
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Students will demonstrate the use of the writing process, including prewriting, drafting, revising, proofreading, and editing. Prewriting Strategies
• Employ a variety of prewriting strategies to narrow the focus of the text, establish a clear main idea (topic sentence)
• Generate supporting details for a specific purpose and audience, and determine appropriate organization.
Drafting Strategies
• Compose and revise drafts by adding, deleting, and reorganizing content to ensure a narrow focus, a clear main idea, and adequate supporting details.
• Use a variety of sentence structures that are appropriate to a specific purpose, audience, and organizational pattern.
Editing and Proofreading
• Use proofreading and editing strategies to identify and correct grammatical, mechanical, and spelling errors in drafts to reflect
Standard Written English.
• Use MLA or APA guidelines for margins, font, page nos., etc., for presentation of texts.
• Use appropriate technology for preparing texts.
GOAL 2: Students will apply critical thinking strategies in reading and writing.
Student Learning Outcome
DRE 096 Competencies
Students will demonstrate an understanding of technical and academic language. Recognize and understand the difference between the use of formal and informal language.
Recognize and use types of technical and academic language.
Students will demonstrate an understanding of purpose and point of view.
Determine the purpose of a text.
Determine the author’s point of view.
Compose texts using consistent point of view.
Students will demonstrate an understanding of fact and opinion.
Identify fact and opinion statements in texts.
Write paragraphs using facts and opinions to support topic sentences.
Students will recognize inferences in texts.
Make logical conclusions based on prior knowledge.
Make inferences based on prior knowledge, context, and associations.
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Students will analyze and evaluate graphic materials in a text.
Recognize and interpret at variety of visual aids and graphic representation of information.
Make connections between written and graphic text.
GOAL 3: Students will recognize and compose well-developed, coherent, and unified texts.
Student Learning Outcome
DRE 096 Competencies
Students will identify and write clear topic sentences. Identify topic sentences in paragraphs.
Write clear, focused topic sentences.
Students will demonstrate an understanding of specific and adequate supporting information.
Analyze and evaluate body sentences in texts and student writings for specific and adequate support.
Use adequate supporting details to develop and support a topic sentence. Students will achieve unity in paragraphs.
Identify sentences that are off-topic in sample paragraphs and in their writing. Write sentences that relate to and support the topic sentence of the paragraph. Students will demonstrate an understanding of coherence through organizational patterns.
Employ a variety of organizational patterns to draft texts.
Employ transitions, repetition of key words, and synonyms to connect ideas and achieve coherence in writing.
Teaching and Student Success Tips
Course readings should be grounded in primarily non-fiction texts corresponding to appropriate
Lexile® level.
Instructors should assign no more than two writing assignments that result in personal narratives. Other writing assignments should produce third-person texts.
Grammar instruction should be included in context of writing activities or during lab time.
Focus on active learning activities rather than lecture.
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Sample Activity
Using Pre-reading, Reading, and Post-reading Strategies to Comprehend and Respond to Texts
Goals, Student Learning Outcomes, and Competencies
Goal 1: Students will demonstrate the use of reading and writing processes.
Student Learning Outcomes:
Students will demonstrate the use of pre-reading, reading, and post-reading strategies.
Students will demonstrate the use of the writing process, including prewriting, drafting, revising, proofreading, and editing.
Competencies:
Use a variety of previewing strategies to comprehend texts.
Activate prior knowledge using text markers (titles, headings, etc.), graphics, and textual aids (objectives, questions, etc.).
Use context clues, dictionaries, and thesauri to better understand texts, expand personal vocabularies, distinguish between denotative and connotative meanings, recognize slang, understand idioms, and distinguish between anonyms and synonyms.
Identify stated main ideas and details in paragraph-length texts and student writings.
Respond, in writing, to texts using text-to-self connections.
Use editing and proofreading strategies to identify and correct grammatical, mechanical, and spelling errors in drafts to reflect Standard Written English.
Use appropriate technology for preparing texts.
Goal 2: Students will apply critical thinking strategies in reading and writing.
Student Learning Outcome:
Students will recognize inferences in texts.
Competency:
Make logical conclusions based on prior knowledge.
Goal 3: Students will recognize and compose well-developed, coherent, and unified texts.
Student Learning Outcomes:
Students will identify and write clear topic sentences.
Students will demonstrate an understanding of specific and adequate supporting information. Competencies:
Identify topic sentences in paragraphs.
Write clear, focused topic sentences.
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Analyze and evaluate body sentences in texts and student writings for specific and adequate support.
Use adequate supporting details to develop and support a topic sentence.
Resources and Materials Needed
An article about the use (or overuse) of technology that includes illustrations and/or other graphic material. This lesson is based on the article “Are You a Screen Addict?” in Scholastic
Choices, Apr/May2012, Vol. 27 Issue 6, pages 4-7, which is available through NC Live.
Activities
1. Have students review the title, the subtitles, and the two illustrations at the beginning of the article. Have students answer the following questions:
Prediction:
What do you think this article will be about?
Do you think the author will be presenting a positive or a negative outlook on this topic?
Which word in the title suggests a positive or negative slant? (This could be a good time to discuss connotation and denotation.)
Prior Knowledge:
What types of technology do you use on a daily basis?
How much time do you spend on technology each day?
2. Have students read the article.
3. Point out that three words appear in bold: monumental, mesmerized, and enhanced. Discuss with students what context clues (information stated in the passage) they could use to figure out the meanings. Spend some time discussing context clues and identifying other unfamiliar vocabulary, including the names of unfamiliar technology.
4. Have students identify the topic sentence of each of the following paragraphs from the article:
Studies show that screen time does have its advantages. It can make you a good multitasker. Certain types of video games can build your reflexes and even improve your vision.
But there is a dark side. Studies also show that teens who spend excessive time—16 hours or more a day—in front of a screen are more likely to feel depressed and become obese.
Technology allows you to stay in constant touch with friends and family. On the other hand, you might be missing out on relationships in your own home. Maybe your parents are always begging you not to use your cell phone during dinner. Or perhaps
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you’ve stopped shooting hoops with your little brother because you’re spending every waking minute playing NBA2K12.
5. Discuss the importance of distinguishing between main ideas and supporting details. Also discuss the supporting details for each paragraph. Ask: Is there enough detail in each paragraph to support the main idea?
6. Have students demonstrate an understanding of the article by listing answers to the following questions:
What technologies are discussed in this article? Your answers should be both general
(texting) and specific (chatting on Facebook).
What advantages of using technology are discussed? List all of the advantages.
What disadvantages of overusing technology are discussed? List all of the disadvantages. Students can then use their answers to create an informal outline.
7. An additional writing assignment could be to write a paragraph discussing the advantages or disadvantages of using or overusing technology that are not discussed in this article.
8. Have students work in pairs or small groups to proofread and edit the draft they composed.
9. Evaluate paragraph with a grading rubric like the one on page 14.
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Grading Rubric for Paragraph
80% Required for Mastery
Writer: ________________________________________ GRADE: ___________________
Subject: _________________________________________ Date: ______________________
TOPIC SENTENCE
EXCELLENT
The writer’s idea is clearly stated in a topic sentence/logical response to prompt
SUPPORT/
DEVELOPMENT
Well developed with facts, details, examples and explanations
UNITY
Every sentence in the paragraph is related to and supports the main idea. Free of fragments, runon’s and comma splices.
MAJOR SENTENCE
ERRORS
GRAMMAR ERROR
No error patterns
PATTERNS*
DRAFTING AND EDITING Multiple drafts and participation in pair/group proofreading and editing *Adjectives/adverbs
Apostrophes
Articles
Capitalization
Consistent # or person
Consistent tense
Commas
Pronoun agreement
ACCEPTABLE (-5)
The writer’s idea is somewhat clearly stated in a topic sentence/response has some connection to prompt Adequate for some points but not others.
Could use additional facts, details, examples and explanations
Most of the sentences in the paragraph are related to and support the main idea.
Only 1 or 2 fragments, run-on’s and comma splices. Occasional error patterns Few drafts and little participation in pair/group proofreading and editing Double negatives
Fixed-form helping verbs
Look-alikes/sound alikes
Parallelism
Past participles
Plural/singular noun forms
Prepositions
Subject-verb agreement
Pronoun case errors
Punctuation
Quotations
Relative pronouns
Semi-colon errors
Short, choppy sentences
Spelling
Other:
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POOR (-10)
Paragraph is missing either a topic sentence or a controlling idea.
Mismatch between topic sentence and support. Poorly developed with few or no facts, details, examples and explanations Paragraph digresses significantly from the main idea.
Many fragments, runon’s and comma splices
Many error patterns
No evidence of more than one or two drafts and no participation in pair/group proofreading and editing Vague pronoun reference
Verb tenses
Word form
Word usage
Wordy sentences
Dangling/misplaced
modifier
Sample DRE 096 Mastery Test
The Mastery Test for DRE 096 should be based upon a text no lower than the midpoint of the Lexile® range for this course. Students should be required to actively read the selection and then answer literal, inferential, and analytical questions about the text. Then, they should be required to write a least one paragraph in class about some topic related to the reading. A score of 80 is required to demonstrate mastery. Students who do not demonstrate mastery of either the reading component or the writing component could be offered the opportunity to review and then take another version of the mastery test. Part I: Reading
Complete all of the steps of the reading process to read the article “Dinner from a Dumpster” from
Scholastic Action, April 16, 2012, pages 16-19. (Available through NC Live. 845 words. Lexile® 850). Use annotating, highlighting, and/or underlining as you complete the pre-reading and reading steps of the process. Then, answer the following questions.
1. Which of the following best states the main idea of the entire article?
a. Saving the environment is important, but dumpster diving is disgusting.
b. Kristen Lambert is a freegan for many reasons.
c. American citizens are some of the most wasteful people on the planet.
d. Freegans are people who risk the dangers of dumpster diving to save money, stop waste, and save the environment.
2. What is the topic sentence of paragraph 10?
a. But although more and more people are dumpster diving, it has risks.
b. Food in the trash could have rat droppings or poisons from household cleaners all over it.
c. Also, dumpster diving is illegal in many states.
d. People who do it may get a ticket or even be arrested.
3. What pattern organizes the supporting details in paragraph 10?
a. comparison and contrast
b. illustration
c. narration
d. classification
4. What is the purpose of this text?
a. to entertain
b. to inform
c. to persuade
5. The first sentence of paragraph 4 states
a. a fact.
b. an opinion.
6. In paragraph 13, the words stuff and yup are examples of what kind of language?
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NCCCS DRE Courses -- FINAL -- April 2013
a. formal language
b. informal language
c. figurative language
7. What can you infer about the film that Kristin’s sister saw (paragraph 15)?
a. It explained reasons why dumpster diving is a bad idea.
b. It covered the history of dumpster diving.
c. It was a very long film.
d. It effectively explained the benefits of dumpster diving.
8. In paragraph 17, what word or phrase provides a contrast context clue that helps readers understand the meaning of the word mindful?
a. don’t realize
b. wasted
c. more people
d. show them
9. Which of the following is a correct inference from paragraphs 11-13?
a. Matthew would refuse to eat ears of corn tightly wrapped in plastic.
b. Meat juice would be unlikely to make a person sick.
c. Food that is not properly handled or wrapped can cause illness.
d. Restaurant food often makes people sick.
10. Which of the following could be another reason that people might choose to go dumpster diving? a. They know that food in dumpsters is always healthy and nutritious.
b. They don’t have money for food.
c. They think dumpster diving is gross.
d. They want to encourage their fellow citizens to obey the law.
Part II: Writing
Select one of the following topics and follow all of the steps of the writing process to write a welldeveloped, coherent, unified paragraph. Use a prewriting technique to generate ideas, write a first draft, and then revise and proofread that draft to create a final draft.
a. Write a paragraph to Kristen Lambert and Matthew Kaplan to convince them to replace dumpster diving with another, better way to stop waste and save the environment.
b. Write a paragraph to a legislator in a state that has banned dumpster diving. In your paragraph, request a change to the law to make this activity legal.
c. Write a paragraph to convince the citizens of your community to recycle waste and to donate unwanted clothes and furniture to charitable organizations rather than throw them in the trash.
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Assessment
To assess the paragraph students write, you could use the rubric on page 14.
Answer Key for Mastery Test
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
Answers will vary. d a b b a b d a c b
Answers will vary.
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DRE 097 Integrated Reading and Writing II
Course Description
Class
Lab
2.5
1
Pre-requisites:
Co-requisites:
Clinical/
Work Exp
0
DRE 096
None
Credit Hours
3
This course develops proficiency in integrated and contextualized reading and writing skills and strategies. Topics include reading and writing processes, critical thinking strategies, and recognition and composition of well-developed, coherent, and unified texts; except where noted, these topics are taught at a reinforcement level using texts primarily in a Lexile® range of 1070 to 1220. Upon completion, students should be able to demonstrate and apply those skills toward understanding a variety of complex academic and career texts and composing essays incorporating relevant, valid evidence.
Goals, Student Learning Outcomes, and Course Competencies
Goal 1: Students will demonstrate the use of reading and writing processes.
Student Learning Outcome
DRE 097 Competencies (Unless otherwise indicated, competencies in
DRE 097 are being reinforced. Competencies labeled with an I are being introduced at this level.)
Students will demonstrate the use of pre-reading, reading, and post-reading strategies. Pre-reading Strategies
Apply a variety of previewing strategies to comprehend texts.
Activate prior knowledge using text markers (titles, headings, etc.), graphics, and textual aids (objectives, questions, etc.)
During Reading Strategies
Annotate, highlight, and underline texts to identify important vocabulary, main ideas, supporting details and examples, and other key pieces of information.
Use context clues and affixes to comprehend complex texts and expand personal vocabularies.
Distinguish between connotative and denotative meanings and between informal language and Standard Written English.
Employ metacognitive strategies (I) to monitor comprehension.
Identify stated and implied main ideas (I) and details in complex texts and student writing.
Recognize organizational patterns in complex texts.
Post-reading Strategies
Respond, in writing, to complex texts using text-to-text connections.
(I)
Paraphrase texts or portions of texts. (I)
Summarize complex texts. (I)
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Students will demonstrate the use of the writing process, including prewriting, drafting, revising, proofreading, and editing. Prewriting Strategies
Employ a variety of prewriting strategies to
narrow the focus of the text,
establish a clear main idea (thesis statement),
generate supporting details for a specific purpose and audience, and
determine appropriate organization.
Drafting Strategies
Compose and revise drafts by adding, deleting, and reorganizing content to ensure
a narrow focus,
a clear main idea, and
adequate supporting details.
Editing and Proofreading Strategies
Use editing and proofreading strategies to identify and correct grammatical, mechanical, and spelling errors in drafts to reflect
Standard Written English.
Use MLA or APA guidelines for margins, font, page numbers, etc., for presentation of texts and for documentation and citation.
GOAL 2: Students will apply critical thinking strategies in reading and writing.
Student Learning Outcome
Students will critically analyze complex texts.
Students will employ strategies from complex texts to inform and strengthen their writing.
DRE 097 Competencies
Make logical conclusions based on prior knowledge and infer answers to questions about texts.
Recognize and understand the difference between formal and informal language.
Recognize and use types of technical and academic language in complex texts.
Recognize certain types of figurative language—simile, metaphor, and personification.
Determine the author’s purpose in complex texts.
Determine the author’s point of view in complex texts.
Determine the author’s tone in complex texts.
Identify fact and opinion statements in complex texts.
Demonstrate an understanding of verbal and situational irony.
Understand bias, logical fallacies, and propaganda techniques.
Compose texts that demonstrate a(n)
consistent point of view
clear purpose
appropriate tone for the subject
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appropriate use of facts and expert opinions
Students will identify and write clear thesis statements. Identify thesis statements in multi-paragraph complex texts.
Write clear, focused thesis statements for essays.
Students will demonstrate an understanding of specific and adequate supporting information.
Analyze and evaluate body paragraphs in complex texts and student writings for specific and adequate support.
Assess, synthesize, and integrate relevant and valid evidence from assigned readings to support a main idea.
Avoid plagiarism by paraphrasing textual information used in composing a text.
Document source material using MLA or APA guidelines.
Students will achieve unity in essays.
Identify points that are off-topic in complex texts and in student writing. Compose body paragraphs that consistently support the thesis statement of an essay.
Students will recognize and apply the conventions of Standard Written
English.
Identify and use a variety of sentence structures when writing.
Identify errors and use accurate spelling, capitalization, grammar, and punctuation according to guidelines of Standard Written
English.
GOAL 3: Students will recognize and compose well-developed, coherent, and unified texts.
Student Learning Outcome
DRE 097 Competencies
Students will identify and write clear thesis statements. Identify thesis statements in essays.
Write clear, focused thesis statements.
Students will demonstrate an understanding of specific and adequate supporting information.
Analyze and evaluate body sentences in texts and student writings for specific and adequate support.
Analyze and evaluate graphic materials in a text.
Use adequate supporting details to develop and support a thesis statement Students will achieve unity
Identify points that are off-topic in texts and in student writing.
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NCCCS DRE Courses -- FINAL -- April 2013
in paragraphs.
Students will demonstrate an understanding of coherence in a variety of organizational patterns.
Students will recognize and apply the conventions of
Standard Written English.
Students will employ appropriate technology when composing texts.
Employ a variety of organizational patterns to draft texts.
Employ transitional words and phrases, repetition of key words, and synonyms to connect ideas and achieve coherence in writing.
Use a variety of sentence structures.
Identify errors and use accurate spelling, grammar, and punctuation according to the guidelines of Standard Written English.
Use technology to generate material for writing.
Use an appropriate word processing program.
Use technology when drafting and revising texts.
Prepare final drafts according to MLA formatting, documentation, and citation guidelines.
Sample Activity
Supporting a Thesis: Reasons and Special Language
Goals, Student Learning Outcomes, and Competencies
Goal 1: Students will demonstrate the use of reading and writing processes.
Student Learning Outcomes:
Students will demonstrate the use of pre-reading, reading, and post-reading strategies. Students will demonstrate the use of the writing process, including prewriting, drafting, revising, proofreading, and editing.
Competencies:
Annotate, highlight, and underline texts to identify important vocabulary, main ideas, supporting details and examples, and other key pieces of information. Distinguish between connotative and denotative meanings and between informal language and Standard Written English.
Employ a variety of prewriting strategies.
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Goal 2: Students will apply critical thinking strategies in reading and writing.
Student Learning Outcome:
Students will critically analyze texts at a career and college ready level.
Competencies:
Recognize certain types of figurative language—simile, metaphor, and personification. Determine the author’s purpose in complex texts.
Goal 3: Students will recognize and compose well-developed, coherent, and unified texts.
Student Learning Outcomes:
Students will identify and write clear thesis statements.
Students will demonstrate an understanding of specific and adequate supporting information.
Competencies:
Identify thesis statements in essays.
Write clear, focused thesis statements.
Use adequate supporting details to develop and support a thesis statement.
Resources and Materials Needed
“Raising Children” by Anna Quindlen
(www.themontessorischool.org/classroom/uploads/files/Raising_Children.pdf) 1020L
Reading response handout
Prewriting handout
Rubric
Activities
1. Read and annotate the essay.
2. Complete the Reading Response handout on page 23 (individually or as a class). Special emphasis should be placed on essay’s thesis and support. Additionally, time should also be spent in discussing the author’s use of language.
3. Present question to consider for writing assignment – Do you need to be an “expert” to raise children? Why or why not? Students should ultimately answer the question in essay form.
Essays should include a thesis and three supporting reasons. Encourage students to explore special uses of language as they write (e.g., use a simile or connotations).
4. Begin writing assignment with Prewriting Handout on page 24. Students can use the back of this handout or a separate sheet of paper for freewriting.
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5. Evaluate reading responses and essays with the rubric that follows this assignment.
Evaluation/Assessment
See the rubric on page 30.
Notes
This assignment is limited in its focus in that the full writing process is not part of the evaluation.
Instructors can choose to include more of the writing process as need warrants. Additionally, other reading and analyzing of the essay could also include competencies such as fact and opinion, context clues, main ideas, or conclusions.
Reading Response Handout for “Raising Children” by Anna Quindlen
1. Compose a statement that captures the author’s thesis using your own words.
2. Give some examples used by the author to support her thesis.
3. Did the author seem to be more interested in entertaining the reader or persuading the reader? Explain.
4. Note the phrase, “Like the trick soap I bought for the bathroom with a rubber ducky at its center….” Is this a simile or metaphor? How do you know?
5. Note the statement, “Raising children is presented at first as a true-false test……until finally, far along, you realize that it is an endless essay.” What two things are being compared in this figurative example?
6. What do you generally think of when you hear “Hall of Fame”? What was the author referring to when she talked about a “Hall of Fame”?
7. Note the phrase, “…more than anyone to excavate my essential humanity.” If you have to excavate to get to something, then what are you doing? How does the meaning of excavate fit here?
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Prewriting Handout
Do you need to be an “expert” to raise children? Why or why not?
Spend 5 minutes free-writing on this topic. Consider what the word “expert” means to you. Think about things that a person needs to know in order to raise children. When you are finished freewriting, create a thesis statement and determine the three supporting reasons that will be used in your essay. Fill out the diagram below.
Thesis statement:
Supporting Reason 1
Supporting Reason 2
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NCCCS DRE Courses -- FINAL -- April 2013
Supporting Reason 3
Sample DRE 097 Mastery Test
The Mastery Test for DRE 097 should be based upon a text no lower than the midpoint of the Lexile® range for this course. Students should be required to actively read the selection and then answer literal, inferential, and analytical questions about the text. Then, they should be required to write a least one paragraph in class about some topic related to the reading. A score of 80 is required to demonstrate mastery. Students who do not demonstrate mastery of either the reading component or the writing component could be offered the opportunity to review and then take another version of the mastery test.
Part I: Reading
Read the essay, “I Want a Wife” by Judy Brady (Lexile® 1100). Answer the following questions by circling the BEST answer. Read all choices carefully.
1. The thesis for Brady’s essay is
a. stated
b. hypothetical
c. implied
d. factual
2. The general purpose of this essay is
a. to entertain
b. to inform
c. to persuade
d. to explain
3. Since Brady’s essay was first published in 1971 in a new feminist magazine titled Ms., who was the most likely intended audience?
a. married women over 40
b. men and women of all ages
c. divorced men and women
d. young women interested in equal rights
4. Which group below is most likely to find the article relevant or amusing today?
a. married women over 40
b. men and women of all ages
c. young married women
d. all of the above
5. The author uses specific sentence structure, repetition, and figurative language in order to
a. impress the reader.
b. portray a fair image of a wife.
c. create a model essay.
d. give the essay a humorous and satirical tone.
6. Brady’s essay
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NCCCS DRE Courses – FINAL – April 2013
a. satirizes the way some men treat their wives.
b. points out the rigors of being a wife.
c. gives instructions for being a good wife.
d. compares the roles of wife and husband.
7. What is the tone of Brady’s essay?
a. humorous and satirical
b. monotonous
c. serious and thought provoking
d. dark and mysterious
8. Repetition of this pronoun referring to the “wife” emphasizes the writer’s position that marriage is an institution of “ownership.”
a. my
b. I
c. me
d. mine
9. What point is the author making about the inequality between the lives of married men and women? a. Married men and women are equal.
b. Marriage is a partnership.
c. Wives typically take on a great deal more responsibility for taking care of the family than men. d. A good wife should be recognized for all of her hard work.
10. On first reading, what does the title of this essay imply?
a. The author is a woman.
b. The author is a man.
c. The essay will be funny.
d. The writer has no imagination.
11. What does Brady indicate by constantly repeating the words “I want”?
a. Repeating gets the reader’s attention.
b. The writer wants a wife.
c. The writer is a woman.
d. The “husband” is selfish.
12. Based on the reading, what is the best definition for the term “attendant” (paragraph 3)?
a. caregiver
b. tutor
c. teacher
d. babysitter
13. Based on the reading, what is the best definition for the word “replenished” (paragraph 5)?
a. cleaned
b. replaced
c. refilled
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d. placed in the dishwasher
14. Based on the reading, what is the best definition for the term “monogamy” (paragraph 6)?
a. married to more than one person at a time
b. faithful to one’s spouse
c. having only one spouse at a time
d. divorcing one’s spouse if necessary
15. Which line below is NOT an obvious example of irony?
a. I want a wife who cooks the meals.
b. I want a wife who will care for me when I am sick and sympathize with my pain and loss of time from school.
c. I want a wife who will not bother me with rambling complaints about a wife’s duties.
d. I want a wife who will not demand sexual attention when I am not in the mood for it.
Part II: Writing
Choose ONE of the following and write a fully-developed five-paragraph essay with substantial support for a clearly defined thesis based on your experience, observations and reading. Use this sheet to indicate which topic you have chosen. If you are hand writing this exam, please make sure your work is legible.
a. In an essay, describe Brady’s explanation of a wife’s role as you understand it. Sum up the duties of a wife as they are presented in the reading.
b. Is Brady’s account of a wife’s role fair or justified? Is there anything she left out that you would include? Explain in an essay. Support your thesis with three reasons.
c. How do you think the roles of men and women have changed since the article was written in 1971? Write an essay that describes the changes you know about. Provide specific examples.
d. After reading an additional article about wives in another culture, write a comparative essay on the definition of a wife from the two cultures.
Assessment
To assess the essay students write, you could use the rubric on page 29.
Answer Key for Mastery Test
1. c
2. c
3. d
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4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.
d d a a a c b d a c b a 28
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Rubric for DRE 097 Mastery Test
80% Mastery
Requirements:
The student shows evidence of successfully utilizing pre-reading and post-reading strategies. (10 points)1
The student shows evidence of successfully utilizing pre-writing and revising strategies.
(10 points)2
The student has critically analyzed the complex text. (20 points)3
Your Points (100 total)
The student has a clear thesis statement and adequate and relevant supporting details in his/her composition. (30 points)
The student has applied the conventions of
Standard Written English in his/her composition. (20 points)4
The student has used technology appropriately.
(10 points)5
Student’s Total Points
1
In DRE 097, students are practicing and reviewing reading and writing strategies. This portion of the rubric considers use of specific reading strategies as assigned by the instructor (ex. KWL, SQ3R, etc.). It is recommended that the instructor look for actual evidence that the student made use of a strategy (ex. a completed KWL chart, a list of questions created by the student to answer while reading, etc.).
2
Generally when students are learning to read and write on college-level, each new skill builds on the last until he/she is using many strategies and skills on each reading or each writing assignment. This portion of the rubric considers use of the writing process as assigned by the instructor (ex. a specific prewriting method). It is recommended that the instructor look for evidence of prewriting and revising before completing a final draft.
3
Learning to analyze a text is crucial to successful completion of the assignment. Instructors can prepare a list of analytical questions for students to complete or require the text to be annotated with specific notes. Analysis of a text can take many forms, and some sort of analysis and demonstration of that analysis is the focus of this portion of the rubric.
4
As students become proficient with grammar, the instructor can use this general rubric to evaluate the student’s use of Standard Written English.
5
Students may be required to use appropriate word processing programs or use technology to research and generate material for writing. Instructors should evaluate accordingly.
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DRE 098 Integrated Reading and Writing III
Course Description
Class
Lab
2.5
1
Pre-requisites:
Co-requisites:
Clinical/
Work Exp
0
DRE 097
None
Credit Hours
3
This course develops proficiency in integrated and contextualized reading and writing skills and strategies. Topics include reading and writing processes, critical thinking strategies, and recognition and composition of well-developed, coherent, and unified texts; except where noted, these topics are taught using texts primarily in the Lexile® range of 1185 to 1385 in order to prepare students to be career and college ready. Upon completion, students should be able to apply those skills toward understanding a variety of texts at the career and college ready level and toward composing a documented essay.
Goals, Student Learning Outcomes, and Course Competencies
GOAL 1: Students will demonstrate the use of reading and writing processes.
Student Learning
Outcome
Students will demonstrate the use of pre-reading, reading, and post-reading strategies.
DRE 098 Competencies (Competencies in DRE 098 prepare students to be career and college ready. Competencies labeled with an I are being introduced at this level.)
Pre-reading Strategies
Choose and effectively employ appropriate reading strategies to comprehend texts at a career and college ready level.
Activate prior knowledge using text markers (titles, headings, etc.), graphics, and textual aids (objectives, questions, etc.).
During Reading Strategies
Annotate, highlight, and underline texts to identify important vocabulary, main ideas, supporting details and examples, and other key pieces of information.
Use context clues and affixes to comprehend texts at the career and college ready level and expand personal vocabularies.
Distinguish between connotative and denotative meanings and between informal language and Standard Written English.
Employ metacognitive strategies to monitor comprehension.
Identify stated and implied main ideas and details in texts at a career and college ready level and student writing.
Recognize organizational patterns in texts at the career and college ready level.
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NCCCS DRE Courses – FINAL – April 2013
Develop general and specific academic literacy.
Post-reading Strategies
Summarize (I) texts at a career and college ready level.
Respond, in writing, to texts using text-to-world connections.
Students will demonstrate the use of the writing process, including prewriting, drafting, revising, proofreading, and editing. Pre-writing Strategies
Employ a variety of prewriting strategies to
narrow the focus of the text,
establish a clear main idea (thesis statement),
generate supporting details for a specific purpose and audience, and determine appropriate organization.
Drafting Strategies
Compose and revise drafts by adding, deleting, and reorganizing content to ensure
a narrow focus,
a clear main idea, and
adequate supporting details.
Editing and Proofreading
Use proofreading and editing strategies to identify and correct grammatical, mechanical, and spelling errors in drafts to reflect
Standard Written English.
Use MLA or APA guidelines for margins, font, page numbers, etc., for presentation of texts.
Use appropriate technology for preparing texts.
GOAL 2: Students will apply critical thinking strategies in reading and writing.
Student Learning
Outcome
Students will critically analyze texts at a career and college ready level.
DRE 098 Competencies
Comprehend certain types of figurative language—simile, metaphor, personification. Recognize and interpret imagery, symbols, and analogies.
Determine the author’s purpose in texts at a career and college ready level. Determine the author’s point of view in texts at a career and college ready level.
Identify fact and opinion statements in texts at a career and college ready level.
Use inferencing skills to determine alternate interpretations.
Demonstrate an understanding of verbal and situational irony.
Understand bias, logical fallacies, and propaganda techniques.
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NCCCS DRE Courses – FINAL – April 2013
Students will employ strategies from texts at a career and college ready level to inform and strengthen their writing.
Compose texts that demonstrate a(n)
consistent point of view,
clear purpose,
appropriate tone for the subject,
appropriate use of facts and expert opinions.
GOAL 3: Students will recognize and compose well-developed, coherent, and unified texts.
Student Learning
Outcome
DRE 098 Competencies
Students will identify and write clear thesis statements. Identify thesis statements in texts at a career and college ready level.
Write clear, focused thesis statements for essays.
Students will demonstrate an understanding of specific and adequate supporting information. Analyze and evaluate body paragraphs in texts at a career and college ready level and student writing for specific and adequate support.
Assess, synthesize, and integrate relevant and valid evidence to support a thesis statement.
Avoid plagiarism by paraphrasing textual information when composing an essay.
Document source material using MLA or APA guidelines.
Students will achieve unity in essays.
Identify points that are off-topic in texts at a career and college ready level and in student writing.
Compose body paragraphs which consistently support the thesis statement of an essay.
Students will demonstrate an understanding of coherence organizational patterns. Employ a variety of organizational patterns to draft texts.
Employ transitional words and phrases, repetition of key words, and synonyms to connect ideas and achieve coherence in writing.
Students will recognize and apply the conventions of Standard
Written English.
Identify and use a variety of sentence structures when writing.
Identify errors and use accurate spelling, capitalization, grammar, and punctuation according to guidelines of Standard Written English.
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NCCCS DRE Courses – FINAL – April 2013
Students will employ appropriate technology when reading and composing texts.
Use technology to generate material for writing.
Use an appropriate word processing program.
Use technology when drafting and revising texts.
Prepare final drafts according to MLA formatting, documentation, and citation guidelines.
Teaching and Student Success Tips
Teaching Tips for DRE 098:
From the beginning, students should be challenged to compose multi-page essays, culminating in a documented essay.
Course readings should be grounded in primarily non-fiction texts at a career and college ready level corresponding to appropriate Lexile® level. o Non-fiction texts should serve to build background knowledge as well as give opportunity for text-to-world connections. o Texts should also serve as sources of evidence for writing assignments throughout the course.
Teaching and Student Success Tips for DRE 098 Co-requisite Option:
The instructors of these co-requisites, DRE 98 and the entry-level credit-bearing non-ENG course, must have a very strong team-teaching relationship so that these classes are clearly related. All reading material and writing assignments used in DRE 098 must be directly related to the co-requisite class in order to facilitate contextualized learning.
It is not imperative that the credit-bearing course contains 100% DRE 098 students. o Some schools may offer multiple sections of the credit-bearing course and have the
DRE students from these classes meet at one time. (If schools choose this option, it is important that the credit-bearing courses be taught by the same instructor to maintain continuity for the DRE 098 students.)
Final Assessment
Grades for the credit-bearing course and the DRE 098 co-requisite are exclusive of each other. A student may pass the credit-bearing course and not DRE 98 and vice-versa. o In this case, the student must retake the applicable course individually.
Sample Activity
Employing the Integrated Reading and Writing
Cycle to Culminate in a Documented Essay
This integrated reading/writing unit on The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks (Lexile® 1140) for DRE
098 will encompass many of the course competencies for DRE 098 as it includes all aspects of the
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NCCCS DRE Courses – FINAL – April 2013
reading and writing process. The instructor can begin with the Pre-Reading Activities in class to get the students interested in the reading assignment and familiar with what they will be reading.
Students will read the book on their own outside of class. After reading, students will discuss and write about what they read and tackle major themes in the book by completing Post-Reading
Activities and Low-Stakes Writing Assignments in and out of class. Ideally, there should be a mix of whole class, small-group, and individual activities. Finally, the unit will culminate with a documented essay related to the work. This unit should take 3-4 weeks to complete.
Goals, Student Learning Outcomes, and Competencies
Goal 1: Students will demonstrate the use of reading and writing processes.
Student Learning Outcomes:
Students will demonstrate the use of pre-reading, reading, and post-reading strategies. Students will demonstrate the use of the writing process, including prewriting, drafting, revising, proofreading, and editing.
Competencies:
Choose and effectively employ appropriate reading strategies to comprehend texts at a career and college ready level.
Activate prior knowledge using text markers (titles, headings, etc.), graphics, and textual aids (objectives, questions, etc.).
Annotate, highlight, and underline texts to identify important vocabulary, main ideas, supporting details and examples, and other key pieces of information.
Use context clues and affixes to comprehend texts at a career and college ready level and expand personal vocabularies.
Distinguish between connotative and denotative meanings and between informal language and Standard Written English.
Employ metacognitive strategies to monitor comprehension.
Identify stated and implied main ideas and details in texts at a career and college ready level and student writing.
Recognize organizational patterns in texts at a career and college ready level.
Develop general and specific academic literacy.
Summarize (I) texts at a career and college ready level.
Respond, in writing, to texts using text-to-world connections.
Employ a variety of prewriting strategies to
narrow the focus of the text,
establish a clear main idea (thesis statement),
generate supporting details for a specific purpose and audience, and
determine appropriate organization.
Compose and revise drafts by adding, deleting, and reorganizing content to ensure
a narrow focus,
a clear main idea, and
adequate supporting details.
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Use proofreading and editing strategies to identify and correct grammatical, mechanical, and spelling errors in drafts to reflect Standard Written English.
Use MLA or APA guidelines for margins, font, page numbers, etc., for presentation of texts.
Use appropriate technology for preparing texts.
Goal 2: Students will apply critical thinking strategies in reading and writing.
Student Learning Outcomes:
Students will critically analyze texts at a career and college ready level.
Students will employ strategies from texts at a career and college ready level to inform and strengthen their writing.
Competencies:
Comprehend certain types of figurative language—simile, metaphor, personification. Recognize and interpret imagery, symbols, and analogies.
Determine the author’s purpose in texts at a career and college ready level.
Determine the author’s point of view in texts at a career and college ready level.
Identify fact and opinion statements in texts at a career and college ready level.
Use inferencing skills to determine alternate interpretations.
Demonstrate an understanding of verbal and situational irony.
Understand bias, logical fallacies, and propaganda techniques.
Compose texts that demonstrate a(n)
consistent point of view,
clear purpose,
appropriate tone for the subject, and
appropriate use of facts and expert opinions.
Goal 3: Students will recognize and compose well-developed, coherent, and unified texts.
Student Learning Outcomes:
Students will identify and write clear thesis statements.
Students will demonstrate an understanding of specific and adequate supporting information.
Students will achieve unity in essays.
Students will demonstrate an understanding of coherence organizational patterns. Students will recognize and apply the conventions of Standard Written
English.
Students will employ appropriate technology when reading and composing texts. Competencies:
Identify thesis statements in texts at a career and college ready level.
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NCCCS DRE Courses – FINAL – April 2013
Write clear, focused thesis statements for essays.
Analyze and evaluate body paragraphs in texts at a career and college ready level and student writing for specific and adequate support.
Assess, synthesize, and integrate relevant and valid evidence to support a thesis statement.
Avoid plagiarism by paraphrasing textual information when composing an essay. Document source material using MLA or APA guidelines.
Identify points that are off-topic in texts at a career and college ready level and in student writing.
Compose body paragraphs which consistently support the thesis statement of an essay.
Employ a variety of organizational patterns to draft texts.
Employ transitional words and phrases, repetition of key words, and synonyms to connect ideas and achieve coherence in writing.
Identify and use a variety of sentence structures when writing.
Identify errors and use accurate spelling, capitalization, grammar, and punctuation according to guidelines of Standard Written English.
Use technology to generate material for writing.
Use an appropriate word processing program.
Use technology when drafting and revising texts.
Prepare final drafts according to MLA formatting, documentation, and citation guidelines.
Resources and Materials Needed
•
The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot
Activities
Pre-Reading Activities
1. Have students bring their copies of The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks to class. Breaking into small groups, students should practice pre-reading strategies and try to determine what the book will be about by using visual cues. They should look at the cover, inside and outside, the reviews, the
“About the Author” section, the photographs in the middle of the book, the Table of Contents, etc.
Have students try to determine as much as possible about the content of the book. Does the book seem interesting to them? Is this a book they would pick up and read based on the cover and the reviews? 2. Discuss the genres of non-fiction and historical fiction in class. What are the differences in these genres? Is there such a thing as “creative non-fiction”? How much “creativity” is allowed in nonfiction? Rebecca Skloot’s book is classified as non-fiction, so how does she include dialogue and private conversations from decades before? Have students read the notes from the author in the introductory material on page xiii and at the end on page 346, regarding her writing process and
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NCCCS DRE Courses – FINAL – April 2013
how she was able to recreate these scenes. Discuss the importance of good research and accuracy in writing a piece of non-fiction.
3. Spend a few minutes in class discussing what students know about HeLa cells and their contribution to scientific research. Have they heard of HeLa cells before? What do they know about them? Ask students if they know anyone who has been treated for cancer and if they feel comfortable describing the kinds of treatment the person received.
Reading Assignment
4. Read The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot (either in whole or in 3-4 parts).
Post-Reading Activities
5. View the following videos in class and discuss: http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/adamcurtis/2010/06/the_undead_henrietta_lacks_and.html http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=6304949n&tag=related;photovideo
Do seeing and hearing the author improve your understanding or appreciation of the book? Do seeing and hearing the Lacks family improve your understanding or appreciation of the book? In what ways?
6. Break students into groups after reading sections of the book or the entire book, and have them discuss the Guided Reading Questions in the Teaching Guide to the book. Students should write up their answers (or at least take notes on the discussion) and report out to the rest of the class on their group discussions.
Random House Teacher’s Guide http://rebeccaskloot.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/RHSklootTeachersGuideLORES.pdf 7. Discuss the writing process as it relates to student writing assignments. Then discuss the writing process that Rebecca Skloot goes through in the decade she spent researching and writing The
Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks. How is Skloot’s writing process similar or different? How is the writing process different for a shorter assignment like a student essay versus a longer work of nonfiction? How are those processes the same?
8. Invite a biology instructor to class to discuss the science of the book. Skloot does a good job of explaining the science of cell division and the importance of HeLa cells to some of the major scientific discoveries of the last several decades. However, students probably still have questions and/or need clarification on some of the details. This might be a good opportunity to partner with a biology class, in fact. In order to ensure good discussion, have each student write out at least one question on an index card before the biology discussion as their “ticket to class” that day.
9. Have some fun in class with this online version of Jeopardy! with questions related to The Immortal
Life of Henrietta Lacks. The site allows you to customize the game for up to 12 teams to allow for friendly competition in class.
The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks Online Jeopardy! Game
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http://jeopardylabs.com/play/the-immortal-life-of-henrietta-lacks
Pre-Writing/Low-Stakes Writing
1. One of the major themes in The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks is the reference to using African
Americans for medical experiments. Many of the Lacks family members seem to believe in the conspiracy theories that Johns Hopkins doctors would snatch people off the streets, never to be seen again. However, Skloot does mention the Tuskegee Experiments and the Mississippi
Appendectomies, two very brutal scientific experiments where scientists conducted horrific scientific research on uninformed African Americans.
Have students research both the Tuskegee Experiments and the Mississippi Appendectomies and write up what they find. Then have students compare these two projects to what happened to
Henrietta Lacks and her family. Was the Lacks family victimized in the same way?
2. One of the major arguments of the Lacks family (and incredible ironies of this story) is that millions of dollars have been made from HeLa cells, yet the Lacks family has received no compensation and often cannot afford medical care of their own. In an opinion paper or journal entry, have students tackle this issue. Should the Lacks family receive compensation for the use of Henrietta’s cells? If so, how would this be awarded? Who would pay the family? How much? Students should use textual evidence from the book to support their conclusions.
3. In an opinion paper or journal entry, consider the role education or lack of education plays in this story. In the beginning of the book, the Lacks family does not understand how Henrietta’s cells have been used. In fact, some of the family members seem to believe that scientists have Henrietta herself somehow alive in a lab. To what do you attribute this confusion? Would the story be different if Henrietta or her family members would have been better educated? To answer this, also think about the other stories of tissue research that Skloot describes and the court cases surrounding those. Think about how tissue samples are handled today. When someone has a mole or tumor removed today, what happens to those cells? Does the patient have any control over the tissue once it has been removed? Students should use textual evidence from the book to support their conclusions.
4. Have students, either individually or in small groups, create a timeline of events from The Immortal
Life of Henrietta Lacks beginning from the point where Henrietta first visits Johns Hopkins. Students should include important Lacks’ family events on one side of the timeline and important scientific and medical events relating to HeLa cells on the other side. Have students share and discuss their timelines with the class. After students have presented their timelines, compare these to similar timelines found online (links below). What things did students decide to include that might not be included on the publisher timelines? What things did students not include? Discuss how and why they decided what to include.
Timeline from Rebecca Skloot’s website http://rebeccaskloot.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/HenriettaLacks_RGG_timeline.pdf Scientific Henrietta Lacks Timeline http://libguides.dccc.edu/content.php?pid=203528&sid=1699966 38
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5. The Lacks family wants recognition for Henrietta’s contribution to medical research more than anything. Have students write a letter to the Lacks family that describes how HeLa cell research has helped them or someone in their family.
High-Stakes Writing Assignment
Students will compose a documented essay on one of the major concepts (patient education, ethics of scientific experiments and patient consent, lack of health care options for the poor, treatment of the mentally ill, etc.) discussed in the Pre-Writing/Low-Stakes Writing Assignments above. Students will synthesize, integrate, and build arguments in their writing using textual evidence from the book and from their research for support.
Notes
Additional Online Resources:
•
Author Web site: http://rebeccaskloot.com/
•
Lacks family Web site: http://www.lacksfamily.com/
•
Radiolab segment on the story of Henrietta Lacks and her children, featuring audio footage of Deborah Lacks talking about her mother’s cells, and actual recordings of key scenes from the book: http://www.wnyc.org/shows/radiolab/episodes/2010/05/07/segments/150681 •
Fresh Air’s Terry Gross interviews the author: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=123232331 •
CBS Sunday Morning piece featuring interviews with the author, members of the Lacks family, and a representative from Johns Hopkins: http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=6304949n&tag=related;photovideo •
“Are We Alone?” public radio segment focusing on the science of HeLa cells: http://radio.seti.org/episodes/Cell_Cell_ •
Slate article about the Law & Order episode based on the book: http://www.slate.com/id/2257189 39
NCCCS DRE Courses – FINAL – April 2013
Sample DRE 098 Mastery Test
The Mastery Test for DRE 098 should be based upon a text no lower than the midpoint of the Lexile® range for this course. Students should be required to actively read the selection and then answer literal, inferential, and analytical questions about the text. Then, they should be required to write a least one paragraph in class about some topic related to the reading. A score of 80 is required to demonstrate mastery. Students who do not demonstrate mastery of either the reading component or the writing component could be offered the opportunity to review and then take another version of the mastery test. Part I: Reading
Students should read the essay, “What We Eat” (Lexile® 1320) by Eric Schlosser before test day, completing the pre-reading and reading processes. Students may use their annotated text to complete the following questions.
1.
The thesis for Schlosser’s essay is
a. implied.
b. stated.
c. hypothetical.
d. fictional.
2.
The thesis for Schlosser’s essay is
a. “Fast food has become so commonplace that is has acquired an air of inevitability, as though it were somehow unavoidable, a fact of modern life.”
b. “The read price never appears on the menu.”
c. “The McDonald’s corporation has become a powerful symbol of America’s service economy, which is now responsible for 90 percent of the country’s new jobs.”
d. “The centralized purchasing decisions of the large restaurant chains and their demand for standardized products have given a handful of corporations an unprecedented degree of power over the nation’s food supply.”
3.
Schlosser writes, “[t]he key to a successful franchise […] can be expressed in one word:
‘uniformity’” (paragraph 8). Based on his supporting details throughout the paragraph, the connotation of the work “uniformity” is
a. consistency.
b. variation.
c. submission.
d. harmony.
4. Based on the reading, what is the best definition for the term “commodity”?
a. liability
b. product
c. reason
d. result
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5. Refer to paragraph 2, which begins, “Pull open the glass door, feel the rush of cool air,” is filled with details of a fast food experience. What is the purpose of this paragraph?
a. To get the reader to avoid fast food restaurants
b. To get the reader to go to a fast food restaurant
c. To get the reader to pull from past experience at a fast food restaurant
d. To get the reader to recommend fast food restaurants
6. Which of the following passages is an example of irony?
a. McDonalds “annually hires about one million people, more than any other American organization, public or private.”
b. “The typical American now consumes approximately three hamburgers and four orders of french fries every week.”
c. Fast food “has become a social custom as American as a small, rectangular, hand-held, frozen, and reheated apple pie.”
d. “America’s fast food industry in its present form is the logical outcome of certain political and economic choices.”
7.
Refer to paragraph 3. What is Schlosser’s audience?
a. Consumers who eat fast food every week
b. Consumers who do not eat fast food
c. Consumers who eat fast food multiple times a day
d. All consumers
8.
Refer to paragraph 5. What is the reader to infer from this paragraph?
a. Many people are familiar with McDonald’s.
b. McDonald’s impact is farther reaching than the food it serves.
c. Children like Ronald McDonald and Santa Claus.
d. McDonald’s charges high rent for their restaurants.
9.
Overall, what is Schlosser’s purpose for writing this essay?
a. To get the reader to boycott fast food restaurants
b. To get the reader to prepare more homemade meals
c. To raise awareness of the impact of the fast food industry
d. To get the reader to petition the USDA for stricter standards regarding E. coli contamination 10. Refer to paragraph 4. Schlosser claims the fast food industry has seen “extraordinary growth” in the past several decades. List two major causes for this growth here.
a. ___________________________________________________________
b. ___________________________________________________________
11. May Schlosser’s essay be construed as
a. biased.
b. propaganda.
c. a logical fallacy.
d. objective reporting.
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12. Schlosser argues that “a nation’s diet can be more revealing than its art or literature.”
According to the essay, what does the American diet reveal about the United States? (Please list
3 assertions in your own words.)
a. ______________________________________________________________
b. ______________________________________________________________
c. ______________________________________________________________
Part II: Writing
A separate writing assignment is to be given prior to the final test day, which results in a process oriented documented essay using at least three sources which have been presented to the student. (No active research is required of the student for this essay.)
A documented essay is defined as an essay that draws on outside sources of information for supporting details. Those sources are properly cited and referenced using a documentation format such as APA or
MLA style.
Assessment
Answer Key for Mastery Test
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
b b c b c c d b c
Declining hourly wage (after 1973)
Women entering the workforce (requiring more convenience food)
11. a
12. Answers will vary, but may include the following:
a. America has become a nation of uniformity rather than individuality
b. America has lost the spirit of independently owned businesses, embracing franchising and chain businesses.
c. The “bigger is better” mentality reflects our values as a nation.
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DRE 099 Integrated Reading and Writing III (ENG 111 Co-requisite)
Course Description
Class
Lab
2
0
Pre-requisites:
Co-requisites:
Clinical/
Work Exp
0
DRE 097
ENG 111
Credit Hours
2
This course, which must be offered as a co-requisite with ENG 111 to students who are near college ready, develops proficiency in integrated and contextualized reading and writing skills and strategies by complementing, supporting and reinforcing material covered in ENG 111. Topics include reading and writing processes, critical thinking strategies, and recognition and composition of well-developed, coherent, and unified texts; except where noted, these topics are taught using texts primarily in the
Lexile® range of 1185 to 1385 in order to prepare students to be career and college ready. Upon completion, students should be able to apply those skills toward understanding a variety of texts at the career and college ready level and toward composing a documented essay.
Goals, Student Learning Outcomes, and Course Competencies
GOAL 1: Students will demonstrate the use of reading and writing processes.
Student Learning
Outcome
Students will demonstrate the use of pre-reading, reading, and post-reading strategies.
DRE 099 Competencies (Competencies in DRE 099 prepare students to be career and college ready. Competencies labeled with an I are being introduced at this level.)
Pre-reading Strategies
Choose and effectively employ appropriate reading strategies to comprehend texts at a career and college ready level.
Activate prior knowledge using text markers (titles, headings, etc.), graphics, and textual aids (objectives, questions, etc.).
During Reading Strategies
Annotate, highlight, and underline texts to identify important vocabulary, main ideas, supporting details and examples, and other key pieces of information.
Use context clues and affixes to comprehend texts at a career and college ready level and expand personal vocabularies.
Distinguish between connotative and denotative meanings and between informal language and Standard Written English.
Employ metacognitive strategies to monitor comprehension.
Identify stated and implied main ideas and details in texts at a career and college ready level and student writing.
Recognize organizational patterns in texts at a career and college ready level.
Develop general and specific academic literacy.
Post-reading Strategies
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Summarize (I) texts at a career and college ready level.
Respond, in writing, to texts using text-to-world connections.
Students will demonstrate the use of the writing process, including prewriting, drafting, revising, proofreading, and editing. Pre-writing Strategies
Employ a variety of prewriting strategies to
narrow the focus of the text,
establish a clear main idea (thesis statement),
generate supporting details for a specific purpose and audience, and determine appropriate organization.
Drafting Strategies
Compose and revise drafts by adding, deleting, and reorganizing content to ensure
a narrow focus,
a clear main idea, and
adequate supporting details.
Editing and Proofreading
Use proofreading and editing strategies to identify and correct grammatical, mechanical, and spelling errors in drafts to reflect
Standard Written English.
Use MLA or APA guidelines for margins, font, page numbers, etc., for presentation of texts.
Use appropriate technology for preparing texts.
GOAL 2: Students will apply critical thinking strategies in reading and writing.
Student Learning
Outcome
DRE 098 Competencies
Students will critically analyze texts at a career and college ready level.
Comprehend certain types of figurative language—simile, metaphor, personification. Recognize and interpret imagery, symbols, and analogies.
Determine the author’s purpose in texts at a career and college ready level. Determine the author’s point of view in texts at a career and college ready level.
Identify fact and opinion statements in texts at a career and college ready level.
Use inferencing skills to determine alternate interpretations.
Demonstrate an understanding of verbal and situational irony.
Understand bias, logical fallacies, and propaganda techniques.
Students will employ
Compose texts that demonstrate a(n)
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NCCCS DRE Courses – FINAL – April 2013
strategies from texts at a career and college ready level to inform and strengthen their writing.
consistent point of view, clear purpose, appropriate tone for the subject, appropriate use of facts and expert opinions.
GOAL 3: Students will recognize and compose well-developed, coherent, and unified texts.
Student Learning
Outcome
DRE 098 Competencies
Students will identify and write clear thesis statements. Identify thesis statements in texts at a career and college ready level.
Write clear, focused thesis statements for essays.
Students will demonstrate an understanding of specific and adequate supporting information. Analyze and evaluate body paragraphs in texts at a career and college ready level and student writing for specific and adequate support.
Assess, synthesize, and integrate relevant and valid evidence to support a thesis statement.
Avoid plagiarism by paraphrasing textual information when composing an essay.
Document source material using MLA or APA guidelines.
Students will achieve unity in essays.
Identify points that are off-topic in texts at a career and college ready level and in student writing.
Compose body paragraphs which consistently support the thesis statement of an essay.
Students will demonstrate an understanding of coherence organizational patterns. Employ a variety of organizational patterns to draft texts.
Employ transitional words and phrases, repetition of key words, and synonyms to connect ideas and achieve coherence in writing.
Students will recognize and apply the conventions of Standard
Written English.
Identify and use a variety of sentence structures when writing.
Identify errors and use accurate spelling, capitalization, grammar, and punctuation according to guidelines of Standard Written English.
Students will employ appropriate technology
Use technology to generate material for writing.
Use an appropriate word processing program.
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NCCCS DRE Courses – FINAL – April 2013
when reading and composing texts.
Use technology when drafting and revising texts.
Prepare final drafts according to MLA formatting, documentation, and citation guidelines.
Teaching and Student Success Tips
These co-requisites, ENG 111 and DRE 099, should ideally be taught by the same instructor in order to create continuity. If different instructors are used, a very strong team-teaching relationship must be formed so that these classes are clearly related.
The face-to-face nature of DRE 099 is important in that it is not designed to be simply an independent-study computer lab time to work on grammar. It is intended to prepare students for major ENG 111 assignments and reinforce the competencies necessary to be successful in college level reading and writing.
Assignments and readings for DRE 099 should complement and be similar in theme to ENG 111 assignments and readings.
Typically, the assignments for DRE 099 should be shorter than those in ENG 111.
It is not imperative that the ENG 111 portion of the model be 100% DRE 099 students. An ideal ratio is no more than 50% DRE 099 to ENG 111 students. (This enables stronger students to help the DRE students.) o Some schools may offer two sections of ENG 111 and have the DRE students from both classes meet at one time.
DRE 099 Assignment Suggestions:
Writing assignments may include metacognitive reflections on essays composed in ENG 111 or read in ENG 111. These activities will reinforce awareness of both the reading and writing processes. Class time may be used to reinforce the just-in-time approach to grammar by focusing on issues reflected in student writing.
Perform close-readings on texts related to ENG 111 material to reinforce reading strategies so students become more comfortable with texts at a career and college ready level. o Students may respond to these related texts using text-to-world connections.
Sample Activity
Note: The DRE 098 sample activity could also apply to DRE 099.
Inference and Word Play
Inference is a mental process by which we reach a conclusion based on specific evidence.
We engage in inference every day. We infer people are thirsty if they ask for a glass of water.
We seek purposes and reasons. Inferences are not random but are based on supporting
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NCCCS DRE Courses – FINAL – April 2013
evidence. In reading, inference (or “reading between the lines”) is an important skill for advanced level readers. Students learn that they can infer, or interpret, what an author means based on word selection, context, structure, and/or a specific reference. Reading for inference is an important skill for successful transitioning to post-secondary education or training. This activity will enable students to closely read college-level and student texts for inferences and to consider inferences in their own writing.
Goals, Student Learning Outcomes, and Competencies
GOAL 1: Demonstrate the use of reading and writing processes.
Student Learning Outcome:
• Students will demonstrate the use of pre-reading, reading, and post-reading strategies.
Competencies:
• Activate prior knowledge using text markers (titles, headings, etc.), graphics, and textual aids (objectives, questions, etc.).
• Annotate, highlight, and underline texts to identify important vocabulary, main ideas, supporting details and examples, and other key pieces of information.
• Use context clues and affixes to comprehend texts at a career and college ready level and expand personal vocabularies.
• Employ metacognitive strategies to monitor comprehension.
• Identify stated and implied main ideas and details in texts at a career and college ready level and student writing.
GOAL 2: Students will apply critical thinking strategies in reading and writing.
Student Learning Outcome:
• Students will critically analyze texts at a career and college ready level.
Competencies:
• Determine the author’s point of view in texts at a career and college ready level.
• Use inferencing skills to determine alternate interpretations.
Resources and Materials Needed
•
Short passage related to material presented in ENG 111.
Activities
1. Students read the passage in class, noting any words or phrases about which they have questions. 2. Teacher begins conversation, pointing out a specific sentence: “During World War II, the United
States fought the Germans, mainly in Europe, and the Japanese, mainly in the Pacific.” She then asks, “What are we not told specifically about the Pacific?” (Answer: that it is an ocean)
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NCCCS DRE Courses – FINAL – April 2013
3. Teacher points out: We have to understand the reference—that the “Pacific” refers to the
“Pacific Ocean.” Why might that be important to our overall understanding of the rest of this article, whatever it may be? (Answer: because if we know that Europe is a continent and the
Pacific is an ocean, we will be better able to understand what the author is talking about.)
4. Teacher asks: According to the sentence, which of the two countries may we infer engaged in the most naval battles with the United States? (Answer: Japan) Why do you think so? (Because if we fought Japan mainly in the Pacific, and the Pacific is an ocean, those fights would have been at sea and thus naval battles.)
5. Teacher asks: From the sentence, can we infer who won World War II? (Answer: No. The sentence simply states a fact. It contains no reference or inference regarding victory).
6. Teacher asks: From the sentence structure, can we infer from whose point of view—the United
States, Germany, or Japan—that the rest of this article is most likely written? (Answer: Yes. The
United States. The United States appears first in the sentence. If the article had been written from the POV of Germany or Japan, the sentence would most likely have been constructed to read: “During World War II, Germany fought...”or “During World War II, Japan fought...”)
7. Teacher asks: Want to see what happens if we change the word selection a bit? Let's change the sentence to read: During World War II, the United States attacked Germany, mainly in
Europe, and Japan, mainly in the Pacific. How is “attacked” different from “fought”? Would that change the meaning? (Answer: “Attacked” implies offensive rather than defensive action.
Attacked” is stronger than “fought”, and it implies or infers that the United States made the first strike. So, yes, it would change the meaning.)
Evaluation/Assessment
After numerous opportunities to practice inferential reading with various passages and texts, students gain familiarity with “reading between the lines” and recognize that authors intentionally include certain words, references, contexts, and structures to convey meaning that is inferred rather than directly stated. The ability to perform inferential reading is an extremely important reading skill as students progress in their studies and transition to post-secondary education.
From this activity, students may look at samples of their own writing in order to determine what readers might infer from their own text. From there, teachers may ask students to play with different word choices or sentence structure to elicit certain inferences from the reader.
Sample DRE 099 Mastery Test
DRE 099 should follow the final assessment model for DRE 098, including a documented essay and reading test. In the case that DRE 099 and ENG 111 are offered as co-requisites with the same end date, students must successfully complete a reading test in order to receive a P for the course; writing proficiency may be assessed using the final ENG 111 essay, given that it is, in fact, a documented essay.
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NCCCS DRE Courses – FINAL – April 2013
If not, the standard DRE 098 assessment must be given. Note: It is possible for students to pass DRE 099, but not ENG 111. In this case, students will re-enroll for ENG 111 only, the next semester.
Placement into DRE Courses
Competencies below DRE 096 (the Floor)
Students are placed into developmental education courses based on State Board-approved placement policies. A custom North Carolina diagnostic assessment will be created by College Board to identify students who likely would not succeed in DRE course. Competencies presumed in order to enroll in DRE
096 include identifying and writing basic sentence structures, reading and comprehending texts at a
Lexile® level of 960, and using dictionary entries for information about words.
Recommended
Placement Test Crosswalk
These scores provide placement guidance until the new diagnostic assessment for DRE courses is available in Spring 2014
ACCUPLACER
Reading
Comprehension
PLUS Sentence
Skills
COMPASS Reading Skills
PLUS Writing Skills
ASSET Reading Skills PLUS
Writing Skills
Basic Skills
40-71*
0-63*
46-52*
DRE 096
DRE 097
DRE 098
72-91
92-128
129-165
64-84
85-111
112-150
53-61
62-71
72-81
DRE 099
129-165**
112-150**
72-81**
*No student should be placed below DRE 096 without confirming the need for that placement through an additional measure. Additional measures might include additional testing, a writing sample, an interview, or a reading fluency check.
** DRE 099 is a co-requisite with ENG 111 and is an alternative to DRE 098. Placement scores for DRE
098 and DRE 099 are the same; however, colleges may set additional criteria for DRE 099 placement.
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NCCCS DRE Courses – FINAL – April 2013
Recommended Course Crosswalk for DRE*
If student does not pass ENG 075 with C or better
student goes to
DRE 096
student goes to
DRE 097
student goes to
DRE 098 or
DRE 099
student goes to
ENG 111
If student does not pass either ENG 070 OR RED 070 with a C or better
If student passes pre-developmental (Basic Skills) floor course
If student does not pass either ENG 080 OR RED 080 with a C or better
If student passes ENG 085 with a grade of C
If a student passes both ENG 080 AND RED 080 with a grade of C
If student passes ENG 075 with a C or better
If student passes both ENG 070 AND RED 070 with a C or better
If student does not pass ENG 095 with a C or better
If student does not pass either ENG 090 OR RED 090 with a C or better
If student passes ENG 085 with a B or better
If student passes both ENG 080 AND RED 080 with a B or better
If student passes ENG 095 with a C or better
If student passes both ENG 090 and RED 090 with a C or better
*Colleges may locally tailor the crosswalk to accommodate their current instructional practices in developmental reading and English.
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Annotated Bibliography
As part of the redesign process, the DEI English/Reading Redesign Task Force conducted extensive research in a variety of developmental education areas including student assessment, placement, retention, and completion; current trends; program models; teaching methodologies; best practices; learning styles; guides; tutorials; as well as fundamental skills for college and career success. The following resources and materials were used in and/or consulted during the development of the new
English/Reading curriculum.
Addison, Joanne, and Sharon James McGee. “Writing in High School/Writing in College: Research Trends and Future Directions.” College Composition and Communication 62.1 (2010): 147-179. Print.
Providing a look into writing practices throughout the United States in high schools, colleges, and workplaces, Addison and McGee’s comparative approach highlights how we are assisting in the negotiation of literacy demands in the “academy and beyond” (169). Through their research, the authors cite the National Survey of Student Engagement Research that concluded “the types of writing assignments that promote “deep learning” across the curriculum include those that focus on analysis, synthesis, and integration of ideas from various sources in ways that lead to engagement with course ideas both inside and outside of the classroom” (162).
ALPIN: The Accelerated Learning Program Inquiry Network. The Community College of Baltimore
County, Baltimore, Maryland, 2007. Web. 1 July 2012. <http://www.alpinccbc.org>.
Sponsored by the Community College of Baltimore County, this site offers resources for its
Accelerated Learning Program, which is very much like the DRE 99/ENG 111 option. While active conversation takes place throughout the fall and spring semesters, everything is archived by topic for anytime viewing. Anyone can view the site, but if instructors want to join the conversation, they can easily register.
Bartholomae, David, and Anthony Petrosky. Facts, Artifacts, and Counterfacts. Portsmouth:
Boynton/Cook, 1986. Print.
Seminal work in integration of reading and writing. The authors developed a reading/writing course for developmental students at the University of Pittsburgh. The course was thematically based and including a primary text as well as supplemental readings. Writing assignments
Increase in complexity and culminate in a synthesis of readings and student opinions.
“Barriers.” SuccessNC. North Carolina Community College System, 2011. Web. 1 Jan. 2012.
<http://www.successnc.org/barriers>.
This page lists barriers to student success that were identified by colleges during the SuccessNC
Listening Tour. The state-wide initiative to redesign developmental education is an effort to address and remove as many barriers as possible for NC Community College students so that program completions and graduation are achievable goals.
Bean, John C. Engaging Ideas: The Professor's Guide to Integrating Writing, Critical Thinking, and Active
Learning in the Classroom. 2nd ed. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 2011. Print.
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This book is filled with practical classroom activities which mimic the active students engagement suggested by the DRE model. Further, this resource is applicable to all disciplines and addresses the contextual nature of the new curriculum. Topics include, but are not limited to, critical reading and thinking and responding to student writing.
Bernstein, Susan Naomi. Teaching Developmental Writing: Background Readings. 4th ed. Boston:
Bedford, 2013. Print.
This is a great resource for any writing instructor but may prove especially useful to cross-train reading instructors for the new DRE model. Essays based in theory and practical application are included. “Bloom’s Taxonomy Action Verbs.” Reference Materials. Office of Institutional Assessment, Clemson
University, 2012. Web. 1 Mar. 2012. <http://www.clemson.edu/assessment/ assessmentpractices/ referencematerials/index.html>.
A list of key action words is offered for each level of the Bloom’s Taxonomy. In the initial development of the new integrated courses, the Task Force used Bloom’s pyramid levels and keywords for brainstorming. The handouts given on the webpage above are useful for lesson development and for expressing Student Learning Outcomes.
CAP: California Acceleration Project. California Community Colleges’ Success Network (3CSN)
Completion Initiative, 2012. Web. 1 Mar. 2012. <http://cap.3csn.org/>.
This entire site is invaluable to any instructor teaching an integrated reading and writing course. Peruse the entire site, but pay special attention to the “Teaching Accelerated Courses” tab and click on “Reading and Writing Classes.” Sample materials, classroom videos, and more are included.
“Common Core State Standards for English Language Arts.” Common Core State Standards Initiative.
National Governors Association Center for Best Practices (NGA Center) and the Council of Chief
State School Officers (CCSSO), 2012. Web. 1 Mar. 2012. http://www.corestandards.org.
North Carolina is one of 45 states that have adopted the Common Core State Standards. The
Common Core State Standards provide a consistent, clear understanding of what students are expected to learn, so teachers and parents know what they need to do to help them. The standards are designed to be robust and relevant to the real world, reflecting the knowledge and skills that our young people need for success in college and careers. With American students fully prepared for the future, our communities will be best positioned to compete successfully in the global economy.
“Community Colleges and Remedial Education.” The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, 2012. Web.
27 January 2012. <http://www.gatesfoundation.org/postsecondaryeducation/Pages/ community-colleges-remedial-education.aspx>. The article discusses the importance of remedial education at the community college level and calls for a “rethinking” of this area in order to provide new, innovative, as well as economical
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avenues to success and graduation. The Foundation offers its support and commitment with the mission of removing the “stumbling blocks” encountered by developmental education students.
The website offers information about research data, reform strategies, and investments.
“Developmental Education Course Competencies.” SuccessNC. North Carolina Community
College System, 15 Dec. 2011. Web. 1 Jan. 2012. <www.nccommunitycolleges.edu/programs/
Developmental>.
This website provides the current competencies for developmental English and Reading courses offered in North Carolina’s Community Colleges. A link to current integrated courses is offered.
These competency lists were carefully examined by Task Force members in the initial process of the new curriculum’s development.
“Developmental Education Initiative (DEI).” SuccessNC. North Carolina Community
College System, 2011. Web. 1 Jan. 2012. <www.successnc.org/initiatives/ developmental-education-initiative>. Listed under the “Entry” category on “The Student Success Framework” of SuccessNC, the
Developmental Education Initiative (DEI) is a state-policy initiative to redesign the North
Carolina Community College System’s developmental education curricula, accelerate student completion, implement diagnostic assessments, increase the number of students who successfully complete developmental education and enroll in college-level courses, and implement supporting policies. The DEI establishes guiding principles for redesign in the areas of
Developmental Math, which is currently being implemented system-wide, and in
English/Reading, which is under development.
Jenkins, Davis, Cecilia Speroni, Clive Belfield, Shanna Smith Jaggars, and Nikki Edgecombe. “A Model
For Accelerating Academic Success of Community College Remedial English Students: Is The
Accelerated Learning Program (ALP) Effective and Affordable?” (CCRC Working Paper No. 21)
Community College Research Center: Teachers College, Columbia University, Sept. 2010. Web. 1
Mar. 2012. <http://ccrc.tc.columbia.edu/Publication.asp?uid=811>.
This report discusses the results of a quantitative analysis of the Community College of
Baltimore County’s Accelerated Learning Program (ALP). The authors weigh the benefits with the cost.
Morrison, Constance. “A Literary, Whole Language College Reading Program.” Journal of
Developmental Education 14.2 (1990): 8-12, 16-18. Print.
A literary approach to the teaching of reading comprehension evolved from dissatisfaction with self-instructional materials and individualized lab classes. Using novels, essays and short stories, the author describes a reading program which uses a whole language approach with verbal interaction and written expression becoming important components of the program. Higher level reasoning and critical thinking skills are incorporated in the written assignments and class discussions. NADE: The National Association for Developmental Education. Web. 2 Mar. 2012.
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<http://www.nade.net>.
NADE is an active organization whose membership includes a community of like-minded educators who serve as advocates for developmental education. NADE provides research, publications, conferences, workshops, and networking opportunities. Membership is open to “everyone interested in learning and helping others learn.” To learn more about NADE, visit the website given above and choose “About NADE.” The link will take the viewer to specific information about the organization such as a fact sheet, history, bylaws, etc.
National Center for Developmental Education. Reich College of Education, Appalachian State University,
2012. Web. 1 Mar. 2012. <http://ncde.appstate.edu>.
The National Center for Developmental Education is an excellent source for current information
In the field. The site links to pages of interest such as The Kellogg Institute, NCDE publications like the Journal of Developmental Education (JDE) and Research in Developmental Education
(RiDE), research, reports, resources, services, news, and events. The site provides an
Impressive list of professional contacts and offers a mailing list, which can easily be joined through a given link.
North Carolina Association for Developmental Education, 2012. Web. 1 Mar. 2012. <http://ncade.net>.
Professional association for North Carolina’s developmental educators. Contains information on
NCADE officers, conferences, listserv, and resources.
Perin. D., Rachel Hare Bork, Stephen T. Pervely, Linda H. Mason, and Megan Vaselewski. “A
Contextualized Intervention for Community College Developmental Reading and Writing
Students.” (CRCC Working Paper No. 38). Community College Research Center: Teachers
College, Columbia University, Jan. 2010. Web. 1 Mar. 2012.
<http://ccrc.tc.columbia.edu/Publication.asp?UID=1007>.
Instructors in community college developmental education programs are constantly seeking new ways to improve outcomes for their students, but, to date, there has been a shortage of empirical studies on the effectiveness of such efforts. The current study provides evidence on the potential efficacy of an approach to helping students develop an important academic skill, written summarization. In two experiments, a contextualized intervention was administered to developmental reading and writing students in two community colleges. The intervention was a
10-week curricular supplement that emphasized written summarization, as well as vocabulary knowledge, question generation, reading comprehension, and persuasive writing. The intervention was based on reading passages from science textbooks, with generic text from developmental education textbooks added in the second experiment.
Public Schools of North Carolina. North Carolina Department of Public Instruction, 2012. Web. 1 Mar.
2012. <www.dpi.state.nc.us>.
This website presents a plethora of information for education in North Carolina. Featured links include the following: K-12 Curriculum; Testing; Data & Statistics; Work 4 NC; Publications; NC
School Report Cards; Education Director; Program Areas; Public Notices, and NC Race to The
Top -- Career & College: Ready Set Go! Current news and highlights are helpful avenues for
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information regarding state programs, efforts, planning projects, and initiatives.
The Purdue OWL Family of Sites. The Writing Lab and OWL at Purdue and Purdue U, 2012. Web. 22 July
2012. <http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/>.
The Purdue Online Writing Lab (OWL) is a vast and helpful web-warehouse for English and writing assistance. Guides for language arts and various types of writing projects are available.
OWL offers free material for students, teachers, and tutors. Some feature sections include
“Research and Citation,” “Job Search Writing,” “English as a Second Language,” “MLA Guide,” and “APA Guide.”
Rose, Mike. “Remedial Writing Courses: A Critique and a Proposal.” College English 45.2 (Feb. 1983):
109-128. Print.
Upset with the knowledge that many developmental/remedial classes were not preparing students for college/university level writing, Mike Rose conducted research to discover what writing was expected of students in their academic lives and then propose pedagogical changes to developmental English classes. According to Rose, remedial classes limit growth in writing when they are self-contained, do not include academic prose, are vigilant about error, separate reading from writing, and undercut expression and exploration (109). For Rose, “…students must early on, begin wrestling with academically oriented topics that help them develop into more critical-thinkers, that provide them with some of the tools of the examined life, and that, practically, will assist them in the courses they take” (110). Rose observes through his research that reading and writing are intricately connected within academic writing in every discipline; thus, if we are to best prepare our students for curriculum writing, we must recognize that our instruction should center on the “complex ability to write from other texts” (119).
Stahl, Norman, and Hunter Boylan. Teaching Developmental Reading. Boston: Bedford, 2003. Print.
This is the companion piece to Teaching Developmental Writing and can be effectively used to cross train writing instructors for the new integrated model.
“Student Success Framework.” SuccessNC. North Carolina Community College
System, 2011. Web. 1 Jan. 2012. <www.successnc.org/initiatives>.
The “Student Success Framework” envisions a comprehensive, statewide effort to improve community college education in North Carolina through improving access, enhancing quality, and increasing success for students. The effort identifies four main areas of concern: connection, entry, progress, and completion. State Performance Measures and the Bill and
Melinda Gates Foundation’s Completion by Design initiative form the foundations of the framework. Sullivan, Patrick, and Howard Tinberg. What is College Level Writing? Urbana: National Council of
Teachers of English, 2006. Print.
Patrick Sullivan and Howard Tinberg edited a collection of articles written by three distinct groups—students, faculty, and administrators—who have a vested interest in understanding what college-level writing is. Throughout the work, each of these groups is given a space to
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NCCCS DRE Courses – FINAL – April 2013
express its concept of “good” college-level writing as well as concern and praise for those pedagogical strategies employed to assist in the success of the students beyond the English classroom. In Patrick Sullivan’s introductory article titled “What is ‘College-Level’ Writing?”, he notes, after much research and reflection, that “good writing can only be the direct result of good reading and thinking, and this, it seems to me is one of the foundational principles of college-level work” (16). For Sullivan, the title “college-level writer” should not be limited to writing, but due to their symbiotic relationship, the title should be “college-level reader, writer, and thinker” (16).
Tierney, Robert J., and P. David Pearson. “Toward a Composing Model of Reading.” Language Arts
(May 1983): 568-580. Print.
This article is based on the premise that reading and writing are “essentially similar processes of meaning construction.” (568). The authors discuss similarities in the stages of planning, drafting, aligning, revising, and monitoring in both reading and writing. Provides a rationale and solid support for the concept of integrating the two skills.
Tierney, Robert J., and Timothy Shanahan. “Research on the Reading-Writing Relationship:
Interactions, Transactions, and Outcomes.” Handbook of Reading Research, II. Eds.
R. Barr, M. Kamil, P. Mosenthal, and P.D. Pearson. White Plains: Longman, 1991. 246-280. Print.
An extensive, research-based discussion of the commonalities of reading and writing leading to a model of reading to writing. They discuss stages of planning, aligning, drafting, revising, and overall monitoring. The authors also tie in social-transactional theory in the teaching of reading and writing, especially reader-response theory. The article concludes by stating that “writing and reading together engage learners in a greater variety of reasoning operations than when they are apart or when students are given a variety of other tasks to go along with their reading”
(280).
Tinberg, Howard. Border Talk: Writing and Knowing in the Two-Year College. Urbana: National Council of
Teachers of English, 1997. Print.
Howard Tinberg brought together faculty from multiple disciplines at a two-year college in order to best assist the writing center in determining standards for tutorial assistance in writing. The round table discussions from the faculty prove the undeniable inability of an agreement on what characteristics constitutes “good” college level writing. However, from the discussions, one standard resounded throughout the whole of faculty members: Students must be able to read and critically respond in writing to the reading in order to be successful in academia. For
Tinberg, the writing difficulties students face are not tied to their lack of writing conventions, but the students lack experience “in the kind of writing that calls for them to synthesize the ideas of others” (57).
“Warm Up Activities for English Clubs.” EnglishClub, 2012. Web. 1 July 2012.
<www.englishclub.com/english-clubs/english-club-warm-up>.
The EnglishClub is a valuable resource for students and teachers alike. The given article presents some engaging “ice-breaker” type activities to do in classes sessions: “20 Questions,”
“Can’t Say Yes or No,” “Hot Seat,” and more. The parent site provides information and links for
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English as a Second Language (ESL) activities.
Wilkins, Chuck, Jennifer Harman, Noelle Howland, and Nitin Sharma. How Prepared Are Students For
College-level Reading? Applying A Lexile®-based Approach. (Issues & Answers Report, REL
2010 -- No. 094). Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Education, Institute of Education
Sciences, National Center for Education Evaluation and Regional Assistance, Regional
Educational Laboratory Southwest, Nov. 2010. Web. 1 Mar. 2012.
<http://ies.ed.gov/ncee/edlabs>.
The report offers a study concerning the development and implementation of a new methodology to determine high school students’ college-readiness in language arts and reading for entry-level English courses in the University of Texas system.
Glossary
Academic language: Vocabulary used across all disciplines in the classroom, in textbooks, and on tests. (Examples: hypothesis, evaluate, valid, compare and contrast)
Academic literacy: The level of reading, writing, and critical thinking skills necessary for collegelevel work.
Affixes: Any additions to the base or root of a word, including prefixes, infixes, and suffixes.
Analogies: Comparisons that show knowledge of word meanings as well as the ability to think critically and detect relationships.
Annotate: An individualized method of highlighting the most important parts of a reading, such as main ideas and major details, using symbols, abbreviations, and marginal notes.
Antonyms: Words with meanings that are the opposite of each other.
APA essay format: General formatting style (margins, spacing, heading, pagination, etc.) prescribed in the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association.
APA documentation: Formatting style of in-text citations, endnotes/footnotes, and reference page prescribed in the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association.
Audience: The group that a writer is writing for or to.
Bias: A positive or negative slant/opinion/attitude on an issue.
Coherence: Clearly connected sentences and paragraphs with ideas flowing smoothly and logically. 57
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Career and college ready texts: Written materials typical of those used right before entering curriculum level college courses.
Complex texts: Written materials with vocabulary, structures, and ideas that are sufficiently challenging to prepare students to read texts at a career and college ready level.
Connotation: The implied meaning of a word.
Context clues: Information in a text appearing near a word that directly or indirectly helps a reader figure out the meaning of that word.
Contextualization: The teaching of basic skills using disciplinary topic areas. (For more information see http://ccrc.tc.columbia.edu/Publication.asp?uid=866)
Denotation: The literal meaning of a word.
Documented essay: An essay that draws on outside sources of information for supporting details. Those sources are properly cited and referenced using a documentation format such as
APA or MLA style.
Editing: A stage in the writing process that involves improving a text by correcting grammatical and mechanical errors and making wordings clearer and more precise.
Expert opinion: Statements that contain personal viewpoints or judgments from people with special knowledge about the topic gained from education or experience.
Fact statement: A statement based on evidence or observation that can be proven true or false.
Figurative language: Words or phrases with implied meanings such as metaphors, similes, personification, analogies, idioms, and connotative language.
Formal language: Language which avoids the use of slang and adheres to the conventions of
Standard Written English.
Idioms: Expressions or phrases in which the words together have a meaning different from the definitions of the individual words. (Examples: A dime a dozen, keeping your head above water, rack your brain)
Imagery: The use of words to create a picture in the audience's imagination.
Implied main idea: A central message not stated in the reading but based on the evidence
(details) in the reading. An implied main idea answers the questions: Who or what is the reading about? What is the author trying to say through these details?
Inference: An unstated idea or message determined through the facts and evidence and the reader’s own personal experience and prior knowledge. The equation for an inference is as follows: Facts/Details + Prior Knowledge and experience = Inference. An inference also answers these two questions: Who or what is the reading about? What is the author trying to say?
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Informal language: Casual language that may include colloquialisms, and slang, which is less strict in following grammar rules. Informal language is not appropriate for academic writing.
Integrated Reading and Writing: Instruction that blends reading and writing assignments to show connections between the skills and makes coverage of material more efficient (for example, using a text to develop a reading skill but also using it as a springboard to a writing assignment). Lexile level: The Lexile® Framework for Reading by Metametrics which uses semantic difficulty
(word frequency) and syntactic complexity (sentence length) to determine both text complexity and reader ability to comprehend text within a range, with 75% as the comprehension expectation for students for the middle of their range.
Logical fallacies: Errors in reasoning that make arguments invalid.
Main idea: The central, general message in a reading. The main idea answers these two questions: Who or what is the reading about? What is the author trying to say?
Metacognition: The awareness and regulation of the reading process; a reader knowing when he/she knows and knowing when he/she doesn’t know when reading and using strategies if he/she is not understanding the reading.
Metaphor: A description that asserts that one object, event, or concept is, in some way, like another object, event, or concept. (Examples: My father is a rock. All the world's a stage.)
MLA essay format: General formatting style (margins, spacing, heading, pagination, etc.) prescribed in the MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers.
MLA documentation: Style of in-text citations, endnotes/footnotes, and works cited page prescribed in the MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers.
Opinions: Statements that cannot be verified for accuracy which contains personal viewpoint or judgment. Organizational pattern: A system for arranging the parts of a paragraph or essay. Within a rhetorical mode, there are different ways to order parts of a text.(For example: In a compare/contrast essay, organization may reflect point-by-point, subject-by-subject, or block arrangement.) Paraphrase: A restatement of all the ideas in a text using different wording.
Personification: Figurative language that applies human characteristics to inanimate objects or abstract ideas.
Plagiarism: Work that takes someone else's ideas and/or words and presents them as one's own; work that includes materials from sources without proper citations.
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Point of view
(Reading)-The author's attitude toward or position on the subject of the writing. The author's attitude could be delighted, sorrowful, angry, enthusiastic, etc. The author's position could be favorable, unfavorable, neutral, or ambivalent.
(Writing)-The perspective from which the author writes. First person point of view uses the pronouns I, we, me, mine and highlights the author's personal viewpoint. Second person point of view uses the pronouns you, your, and yours and addresses the audience directly. Third person point of view uses pronouns such as he, she, it, and they to speak about the subject in a more detached way.
Post-reading strategies: Strategies to use after reading to check comprehension and respond to the reading. These include but are not limited to reacting, responding, reviewing, recalling, and relating. Pre-reading strategies: Strategies used before reading to engage the mind and increase concentration and comprehension. (For example: surveying, activating prior knowledge, predicting what might be in the reading, and formulating questions to answer while reading)
Prewriting strategies: Methods of generating ideas, narrowing a topic, and establishing what material will go into the first draft of a text (for example: freewriting, mapping/clustering, brainstorming, listing, looping, outlining).
Prior knowledge: The network of knowledge in the brain on any given topic.
Proofreading: The act of reading through a text in an effort to locate errors.
Propaganda: Information that is deliberately manipulative, using such techniques as strong emotional appeal, logical fallacies, or one-sided arguments.
Purpose: The reason or intention for writing. Generally, there are four major purposes: to express, to inform, to entertain, and to persuade.
Revise: To add to, delete from, and/or reorganize a draft during the writing process. (Note:
Editing is not normally done during revision, but once revision is complete.)
Simile: A comparison of two objects, events, or concepts using the words like or as.
Situational irony: A circumstance with a different outcome from what the audience expects.
Slang: Informal, non-standard language used by a particular group.
Stated main idea: A central message that is expressed directly in a reading. A stated main idea answers these questions: Who or what is the reading about? What is the author trying to say about this topic?
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Standard Written English: The version of English that is widely accepted as a model by educated writers; composition that is consistent with grammar, punctuation, spelling, and vocabulary rules approved by authorities and described in handbooks.
Summarizing: A restatement of the ideas in a text in a shorter wording that follows the same organizational pattern as the original.
Supporting details: Specific information that illustrates, explains, or proves a main idea.
Synonyms: Words that have very similar meanings to other words.
Synthesis: The process of combining ideas to form a new idea.
Technical language: Discipline-specific vocabulary.
Text-to-self: Personal connections that a reader makes between a text and his/her own experience. (Example: The character that I just read about reminds me of my mother.)
Text-to-text: Connections the reader makes between a text and something else he/she has read. (Example: This book is very similar to a book I read last year.)
Text-to-world: Connections the reader makes between a text and the world at large. (Example:
This article is about the same issue I saw on the TV news last night.)
Thesis statement: The sentence or sentences that contain the main idea or point of the essay.
Tone: The attitude or feeling expressed through the word choice.
Topic sentence: The sentence in a paragraph that contains the main idea.
Transitional words: Words that help a text to read more smoothly and show the relationship of one idea to another thus alerting the reader to the organization of the text and the relative importance of the ideas. (Examples: next, in addition, conversely, similarly, furthermore)
Unified: Writing that has a single main idea with all other parts supporting the main idea.
Valid evidence: Evidence that is appropriate to the point and able to withstand objection.
Verbal irony: Wording that is the opposite of what the audience expects; sarcasm.
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Students in today’s classroom are expected read and comprehend on a higher level than before. Because the CCSS focused in on preparing students for college and careers, the idea is that we should be teaching students how to read and process not only fiction text, but also a very large variety of informational text as well. The reading demands are extremely strenuous in high school and college, so students in both elementary and middle school need to be prepared for this much earlier. There is also a great demand for students to be literate in subject areas such as science, math, and social studies. It is essential that they are able to read across the curriculum and…
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High-quality reading instruction in a literature-based classroom begins with assessment. The need for assessment stems from the fact that children are not all identical. If all children were identical, instruction would be a whole lot easier. We could just figure out what lessons needed to be taught, and teachers could simply deliver the same curriculum to all of the students in the same way. One reading program would work for every child.…
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