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Developmetal English Syllabus

SYLLABUS FOR DEVELOPMENTAL ENGLISH DSPW0800
Fall 2007


Instructor: Teri Maddox Class Meetings:
Office Number: C247 Office Hours: Check office door for hours or by appointment
Office Phone: 424-3520, ext 217
TOLL FREE--1-800-355-JSCC ext 217 Tutoring: Academic Assistance Center, 2nd Floor of Library
E-mail address: Use your E-Learn account to get in touch with me.

CATALOG DESCRIPTION
DSPW0080 Developmental English 3 cr. hrs.
A course designed to introduce the basic principles of writing with emphasis on paragraph development and basic theme structure. Logic and maturity of thought will be stressed. This course does not meet English requirements for graduation nor elective credits for graduation.

TEXTBOOKS AND SUPPLIES
1. Along These Lines: Writing Paragraphs and Essays Fourth Edition by Biays and Wershoven. Grammar software MyWritingLab must be purchased new.
2. Folder for portfolio.

NOTE--always bring textbook to class.

COURSE REQUIREMENTS
In order to receive credit for the course, the student must:
1. Complete daily assignments as specified by the instructor.
2. Complete all writing assignments.
3. Complete a portfolio of revised work.
4. Receive a passing grade (C or better) on the final.
5. Attend tutoring sessions as assigned.
6. Comply with the attendance and make-up policy

COURSE OBJECTIVES
To receive credit for this course, the student must be able
1. To conceive ideas about a topic for the purpose of writing and speaking.
2. To select, organize and develop ideas to be presented in a paragraph, short essay, or speech, and to evaluate a similar presentation by others.
3. To organize the ideas above in a two-level outline.
4. To write standard English sentences with correct sentence structure verb forms
punctuation, capitalization, possessives, plural forms, and other matters of mechanics spelling.
5. To present ideas orally in standard English.
6. To vary writing and speaking styles, including vocabulary and sentence structure, for different audiences and purposes.
7. To improve writing by restructuring, correcting, and rewriting.
8. To write a short report using information gathered from primary and secondary sources, demonstrating the ability to distinguish between fact and opinion.
9. To quote, paraphrase and summarize accurately and cite sources properly.
10. To answer and ask questions coherently in the exchange of ideas, particularly during class discussions and conferences with the instructor.
11. To accept constructive criticism and learn from it.

ATTENDANCE AND MAKE UP POLICY
Attendance is expected and required. It is difficult and sometimes impossible to make up work done in class. After the third absence, the student's final grade will be lowered by 1/3 for each subsequent absence (for example a final grade of B- will become a C after the third absence, etc.) Extenuating circumstances do occur and should be discussed with the instructor.

Tardies should be avoided as much as possible. Occasional tardiness is not a problem, but after the third tardy, I will begin adding your tardies together and four tardies will constitute an absence.

If you are absent, it is your responsibility to find out what you missed by calling or e-mailing the instructor or another student in class. It would be a good idea to exchange phone numbers and e-mail addresses with one or two students in our class so you can contact each other if necessary. If you know you will be absent on a particular day, let me know so I can give you your assignments in advance and you will not lose a letter grade for late work. Many assignments will be put on E-Learn, so if you check the calendar you will know what you need to do to make up your work.

It is fine for you to call me at home, as long as you call at a courteous time--I get up very early, so I go to bed before 10:00 pm. Often I do not have my textbook at home, so I cannot answer some specific questions from home. I check my e-mail several times a day, so e-mail is a good way to get in touch with me.


PLAGIARISM
According to Lester in Writing Research Papers, plagiarism is "the offering of the words or ideas of another person as one's own. The worst violation is the use of another student's work. Also flagrantly dishonest are writers who knowingly use sources without documentation" (129). Plagiarism can result in an F in the course or even dismissal from college. See p. 24 in the JSCC Student Catalog and Handbook for the college official policy on academic honesty.

Students with documented disabilities should meet with the instructor to discuss possible alternative strategies

EXPLANATION OF GRADES
(found on p. 18 of the JSCC Catalog)
Grades assigned in basic and developmental courses are: A, B, C, F, PR (progress), and W (withdraw from college). Only in extenuating circumstances will the Director of Academic Preparation approve a student to drop a single R/D course.

A 95-100 or a 6 on an essay

B 85-94 or a 5 on an essay

C 75-84 or a 4 on an essay

The "PR" grade will be assigned to students who do not master all required competencies within the semester, but do master a minimum percentage of competencies required. A student receiving a "PR" grade will register for the same course and will be required to master the remaining course work during the next semester. A "PR" grade can only be given during the first attempt of this course.

IMPORTANT DATES
August 27 Classes begin
Sept 2 Last day to register late or add a class
Sept 3 Labor Day Holiday
Sept 9 Last day to receive a 75% refund
Sept 22 Last day to receive a 25% refund
Oct 13-16 Mid-Term Break
Oct 31 Last day to drop a course or withdraw from college
Nov 12-21 Priority registration for Summer/Fall 2005
Nov 22-25 Thanksgiving Break
Dec 5 Last day of classes
Dec 6-8 nd 10-12 Final Exams. Thurs Ap 26 8-10, 10-12, 12-2

TUTORING
Free tutoring is available through two sources, in the Writing Center in the library and on-line. Call the Writing Center to make an appointment at ext. 324 or drop by. An English tutor is available for you most days of the week.

In addition, JSCC subscribes to Smarthinking, an on-line tutoring service you may use free for 10 hours each semester. This service is available nights and weekends. Call the Academic Assistance Center at Ext 614 for information.

Format for Papers

Always use Times New Roman 12-point font for the body of your papers. Double-spacing is standard.

In the top left-hand corner of the page, type your heading:
Your name
Your class name DSPW0800
Teacher’s name Dr. Maddox
Date

On the next line, center your title (CNTL E or click the icon at the top of the screen). Make your title distinctive from the body of the paper by using a different size and type of font. Change the font by highlighting your title and experimenting with different choices from the drop-down menu at the top of the screen.

Before turning in any paper, ALWAYS do the following:
Spell Check—click the icon at the top
Save to My Documents
Print
Staple the assignment sheet on the bottom, prewriting in the middle and typed copy on top.
Read over your paper and make any corrections with a pencil or pen. Do not re-print the paper. I want to see if you can find your own errors before turning in the paper, so I want to see pencil or pen changes.
If you have to revise a paper, staple the revised copy to the top of the above. The most recent paper should always be on top.

Helpful Hints
Save—Save—Save. The first time you save your document, hit CNTL S and type in the document name and save it in the 3 1/2 Floppy A drive. After that first time, each additional time you save will just take seconds for the computer to save your work. It is imperative for you to save frequently—every paragraph or so. The slower you type, the more frequently you need to save. Do not wait until the end of your paper to save it. Unfortunately disasters happen—lightning strikes or the power goes off unexpectedly or your teacher accidentally erases what you have written. As long as you have saved correctly, you will not have to begin again. Take it from someone who has lost a lot of work because of not saving enough and save—save—save.

Numbering
Number your pages by clicking on
Insert > page numbers > position >top of the page > alignment > right > deselect "show number on first page" > OK

Graphics
If you would like to add a graphic to your paper first put your blinking cursor where you want the clip art to be inserted. Suggestion: center the cursor and put it above your title or at the end of your paper. Then do the following:
Insert > picture > clip art > click the category you would like to view > click on the picture you want to insert so that it has a blue box around it > insert.

Now you must size the clip art to make it fit your paper. Click on the print preview icon at the top of the screen to see what the clip art will look like on your paper before you print it. Then close the print preview. You may make the graphic smaller or larger by clicking on it to until a box around it appears. Then carefully drag the corners to size the clip art. Again, check print preview to see your page before printing.

Cut or Copy and Paste
If you would like to move a word, line, or paragraph to a different place in your document, you don’t have to delete it and type it over. Use the cut and paste method.
First highlight what you want to move. Then select the cut icon at the top of the screen. Next move your cursor to where you want the line to go and click on the paste icon. Your text will now be in a different place.

Revising
Revising is much easier on a word processor than handwritten papers.
Open the file, change the date, click File > Save As > and give the file name a number. For example if you are working on your Diagnostic paper, its file name will be Diag. When you revise it, type Diag 2 since it is the second draft of this paper. If you revise it again, give it the name Diag 3 and so on.

Always change the date of your papers when you revise them.

Staple the new draft to the top of the old drafts and put in my mailbox in the lab.


Web Pages of Interest

Guides to grammar and writing:
http://owl.english.purdue.edu/

English as a Second Language Links
http://owl.english.purdue.edu/handouts/esl/index.html
http://www.esl-lab.com/

Study Hints
http://www.howtostudy.org

Citing the Internet
http://www.nwmissouri.edu/library/citing/citing.htm#ebsco

History of People’s Names
http://www.pacificcoast.net/~muck/etym.html

Linguistic Fun Page
http://www.ojohaven.com/fun/

Multiple Intelligence Links
http://www.thomasarmstrong.com/multiple_intelligences.htm
http://www2.bgfl.org/bgfl2/custom/resources_ftp/client_ftp/ks3/ict/multiple_int/what.cfm

Writing Handbook
http://karn.ohiolink.edu/%7Esg-ysu/writehb.html

Writing Style
http://www.bartleby.com/141/

Grammar Gorilla Grammar Game
http://www.funbrain.com/grammar/

The Writing Process
http://www.csuohio.edu/writingcenter/writproc.html

Spelling
http://www.sentex.net/~mmcadams/spelling.html