Syllabus | Schedule | Tronclass
NEN10801 English Reading
Th 6:25-8:10, Rm R0402
Intensive Reading
Intensive reading means taking the time to read a text carefully, rereading and doing one’s best to understand as thoroughly as possible. For this class, our intensive reading mostly comes from the textbook, Reading for Real 3. Be sure to read each selection carefully before class, rereading, using your dictionary, and noting down questions. Much of our class time each week will be devoted to these selections.
Extensive Reading
Extensive reading means spending more time reading and covering many pages with little or no rereading. The extensive reading for this semester is The Giver, by Lois Lowry. Extensive reading is done outside the class as part of your homework. We will discuss ideas from the reading in class, and a few quiz questions each week will be related to basic comprehension of the story. I hope that this reading will be enjoyable and interesting so that it does not feel like a chore.
Extensive Reading and Reading Journal
Record your own thoughts and ideas about your reading in a reading journal. This will not receive a regular grade. The only important thing is that you write in it each week. You can write about anything you read in English related to this class or even in another class.
Reading Journal.
- Write in your journal once or twice a week from 50-100 words each time.
- Before each entry, write the date and which pages you read since your last entry.
- First entry: Tell the name of your book, what it is about and why you chose it. Also tell how many pages it has and how many pages you plan to read each week. When you finish this book, do it again with each new book you choose.
- All other entries: Simply tell what happens, what you learned, or what you found interesting related to what you read,
Writing Assignments/Reading Responses
How we write can help us better understand how we read. The acts of reading and writing support each other. Each writing assignment should be about one page, double-spaced (around 300-400 words), and printed out on A4 size paper. Use a font that is easy to read. The font size should be 12. You should have 2.5cm margins around the page. See the format page for more details.
Each paper should have one clear main idea.
These papers should be carefully written. You should finish with enough time to proofread carefully. Plan to proofread at least twice for such items as verb tense and use of prepositions. I care more about your ideas than your grammar, but poor grammar and spelling mistakes makes it difficult to understand your ideas clearly.
Share your writing: I strongly believe that writing improves when you write about things you care about and when you share your writing with others. Of course, you will most likely share your writing with others if you write something you find interesting. I suggest you get friends and/or classmates to read your papers. You can ask them for grammar help, or just see how they react to your ideas. Always think about new ideas for your writing and how to improve.
Reading Response1: Your Reading Culture
Write a short introduction of your reading background, style, experiences, tastes, etc. This may include such things as how often you read, when and where you read, what you enjoy reading, what you have been forced to read, what you read in English and/or Chinese, etc. Give your paper a title and develop one main idea throughout your paper.
- Remember that it is better to go into more detail about a few interesting points than to make many points but say little about each one.
- Remember to give your paper an interesting title.
- Remember to read all instructions above and to format your paper properly.
Purpose: I want you to start to feel comfortable in this class. I hope students can share with me and with each other about who we are, so we can know each other and begin to work well together. I also want to start getting a sense of how you write and your English ability.
Papers 2, 3, Reading Response
Share your own idea about something you read. You need to write two reading responses related to one thing you read for this class. It can be an article, short story or a part of The Giver. Do not write a summary. Simply focus on one main idea you have about the selection you choose to write about and then explain your idea using details or quotes from the reading. Here are a few ideas
- Describe how easy or difficult the passage was for you to read.
- Tell why you liked or didn’t like a particular article or passage.
- Tell about something you strongly agree or disagree with from the passage.
- Tell how you relate to the passage and why.
- Tell how the passage is similar to something else you read or heard and explain.
Be sure to clearly tell what chapter(s) from Reading for Real or The Giver that you are responding to.
Purpose: These responses help you to develop your ability to think critically and explain and defend your own ideas in English.
Reading Response 4: One very specific reading experience
Write about one specific reading experience this or last week.
Write about your reading process(es). You should focus on either your intensive OR extensive reading. “Watch” yourself as you read in English for about 30 minutes this week and pay attention to what you do. If you like, you can also compare this to how you usually read. Here are some of the questions you can write about. Remember to keep in mind the Stages of Reading and other reading skills we have discussed.
Where did you read? How did you prepare to read (for example, how did you preview)? How did you actually read? Did you underline vocabulary? Did you take any notes? Did you sound out words? What did you picture? How did you relate? Which passages did you reread and why? How did you deal with words you didn’t know: ignore them? Use a dictionary? Guess their meanings? (Give specific examples). What questions came to mind as you read? What did you do when you finished reading?
Remember to write about one specific experience. Basically, try to pay attention to all the little actions you do as you read in order to be more aware of your personal reading process.
Purpose: All semester we have been talking about how to read. I want your metacognitive ability to develop. In other words, I want you to be self-conscious about your read. I want you to notice the things you do when you read, that you didn’t notice before.