Tuesday, August 27, 2013English 83REntryways, Chapter 3Intro to TextbookVocabulary“Brainology”Flashcards/Word MapsRead with a Purpose

Some humor to start the day. Agenda

Introduction to Textbook

Essay Packet Review

Vocabulary Reading with a

Purpose

Syllabus Agreement Please turn in your syllabus agreement.

Entryways into College Reading

This is a special edition textbook that must be purchased through the bookstore.

You will have weekly assignments from the book. These may not be turned in late; however, I will drop one of your homework assignment grades.

Entryways into College Reading

You will also take five quizzes from the book, and you will not be able to make the quizzes up regardless of the circumstances.

As with the homework, I will drop the lowest grade; therefore.

Connect Reading 2.0 Lab Your textbook comes with the access code

for the lab. Next Tuesday, 9/3/13, we will go to the

Learning Center Lab where we will register for Connect Reading 2.0 and have an orientation on the program.

If you haven’t purchased your book by Tuesday, you will be able to sign up for the lab with a 2-week pass.

We will be going to the lab on a weekly basis.

Binder Dividers Everyone is required to have a binder in this

class, along with index tabs. I recommend that you break down your

binder with the following tabs: Syllabus/Schedule Essay Packet Lab Contract Literature Circle Writing Handouts/Information Reading Handouts/Information

Essay Packet #1Educational Autobiography

Distribute Please place this packet into your 3-ring

binder that you will show me by next Thursday, 9/5/13.

Let’s review the packet.

Essay Units In this class (16 weeks) you will write 6

(six) essays. We will be doing lots of writing; however,

you will be given time to complete some of this writing in Computer Commons A.

Essay #1 will be due on Monday, 9/16/13. This essay will be submitted via

Turnitin.com. Mrs. Long will be demonstrating how to use this website.

The Essay Prior to turning in you essay, you will

also have it reviewed by a mentor or teaching in the Learning Center Lab.

This first essay will be an educational autobiography.

You will tell the story of your educational history.

You will also include ideas you will receive from the readings.

The Blog Page 4 of packet. Each week you will write a blog entry

from the questions given. This will be done via Moodle, and Mrs.

Long will be showing your how to do this.

Reading Strategies & Comprehension

Page 5 Check your tentative schedule for the

due dates. What does paraphrase mean?

Rubric Page 8/9 You will want to continually refer to this

rubric as you write your essay. By doing this, you will be able to keep

track of all the requirements for your essay.

Vocabulary Each week you will receive a new

vocabulary assignment. The words chosen have been taken from

your readings. For example, the first list comes from

“Brainology” which you will be reading this week.

The Readings As you can see by the packet, we are

going to be doing lots of reading this semester.

You will need to pay close attention to your schedule, along with the agenda to know which articles you will be reading.

We will be learning several reading strategies that will help with the readings.

Breaks & Last Hour We will take a short break about 1/3

through the class. We will take another break at 1:45 p.m. Starting next week, on Thursdays, we

will go to the Learning Center Lab after the second break. You will work on Connect Reading 2.0 during this time.

Breaks & Last Hour On Tuesdays, you will be allowed to work

on anything you would like as long as it pertains to English 83R.

This means you can work on assignments from me, or assignments from Mrs. Long.

You may not use this time to work on assignments from other classes, go on the phone, etc.

Okay, let’s take a five-minute break.

How Much Do You Know About Vocabulary? The February 14, 2000, issue of Time

magazine reported some disturbing news: in 1950 the average 14-year-old had a vocabulary of 25,000 words. By 1999, the average 14-year-old's vocabulary had dropped to only 10,000 words, less than half.

Reading Inventory Interview Distribute Pair up with someone that you do not

know. Please answer the questions honestly!

This is disturbing because a person's vocabulary reflects his or her overall general knowledge.

This is why I.Q. tests (intelligence tests), college entrance exams, and many other tests contain vocabulary sections.

Think of people whom you consider to be smart. The odds are they have good vocabularies.

(If you speak more than one language, you have two vocabularies.

This gives you an advantage over people who speak only a single language.)

Why should I spend time improving my vocabulary? Did you know that the amount of

money you earn in your lifetime is related to the size of your vocabulary? Decades of research by the Johnson

O'Connor Research Foundation, an independent, nonprofit scientific research and educational organization, confirm that income and vocabulary size are correlated.

Think of every word you add to your vocabulary as being like a deposit you make in your bank account.

A powerful vocabulary allows you to express your thoughts clearly and precisely.

It enhances the impression you make at job interviews.

For better or worse, people will make judgments about you based on the size of your vocabulary and how accurately you use words.

Doesn't it make sense to turn your vocabulary into an asset, a tool that works for you?

Here's some happy news: vocabulary knowledge is not an aptitude

(a natural ability or special talent). Anyone can learn words and expand his

or her vocabulary. It's never too late to improve your

vocabulary. Most people develop their vocabularies

by reading widely and by paying attention to new words they see and hear.

A strong vocabulary allows you to… understand more of what you read; understand more of what you hear; paraphrase (put into your own words)

information you read and hear; speak more intelligently and precisely; communicate more effectively in

writing;

A strong vocabulary allows you to… score higher on tests, especially essay tests; feel more confident about your speaking and

writing; create a positive impression at job

interviews; advance on the job and earn more money

over the course of your lifetime. Like anything of value, developing your

vocabulary requires time and effort, but the rewards are great.

In each of your college courses, you will learn a wealth of specialized terms.

Along with learning academic terms, you should also make an effort to add general words to your vocabulary.

Most people's vocabularies are weakest in verbs. Do you use the same handful of colorless verbs--

such as got--over and over again? Are you aware that there is always a better,

stronger, more interesting, and more precise verb than got ?

If you want to see a dramatic improvement in your vocabulary, add verbs.

What are passive and active vocabularies? When you are learning new words, you

might find yourself thinking, "Who uses these words? I never hear anyone using them!" People do, in fact, use them.

The reason you don't hear them is because the words don't mean anything to you.

Once you know their meaning, you start seeing and hearing those words everywhere! They were always there, of course, but now you hear them because you recognize them.

Passive vs. Active Vocabulary Everyone has an active vocabulary that consists

of words the person actually uses when speaking and writing.

Everyone also has a larger passive vocabulary. A person's passive vocabulary consists of words the

person understands when he or she reads and hears them but doesn't actively use.

One goal of yours should be to move words from your passive vocabulary into your active vocabulary.

You do that just the way you would expect: by using those words in your own speaking and writing.

What is the size of the typical person's vocabulary? How many words are there in the

English language? More than a million!

The most complete English dictionary, The Oxford English Dictionary, has about 750,000 entries (words, abbreviations, and names that are defined).

What about the size of a person's vocabulary? It is difficult to measure vocabulary size accurately. Total vocabulary size varies greatly from person to

person, but people typically use about 5,000 words in their speech and about twice that many in their writing.

A college-educated speaker of English could have a vocabulary as large as 80,000 words.

Shakespeare, whose body of work is considered the greatest in English literature, used more than 33,000 words in his plays. This is an astonishing number, especially considering

that he was writing 400 years ago.

Vocabulary growth varies greatly among students. Many students whose culture differs from

the mainstream one add vocabulary at slower rates than other students.

This means that over time, the gap between their vocabularies and other students' vocabularies grows increasingly large.

If you are behind in vocabulary, now is the perfect time to begin closing the gap!

Let’s Review1. Between 1950 and 2000, the average 14-year-old's vocabulary A) decreased significantly. B) increased significantly.

2. A person's vocabulary reflects his or her A) overall general knowledge. B) college exam scores.

Let’s Review3. Most people's vocabularies are weakest in A) nouns. B) verbs.

4. Which type of vocabulary contains more words? A) a person's active vocabulary B) a person's passive vocabulary

Let’s Review5. The English language contains A) more than 750,000 words, but less

than a million words. B) B) more than a million words.

If it is 1:45 we will take a break. If not, let’s look at the Vocabulary

Assignment for this week. Flash cards Vocabulary Word Maps

Vocabulary Assignment #1

10th page of the Essay packet These words come from your first reading

assignment “Brainology” (which follows right after the vocabulary list).

You will need to look up all of these words in a dictionary. You may use an on-line dictionary or hard

copy. I recommend the following on-line dictionary: http://www.learnersdictionary.com/

Flash Cards

Definition: To continue trying to do something even though it is very hard.    

Antonym (or synonym): to give up

Part of Speech: Verb      Jackie Robinson

Word Maps The Word

Thursday’s Assignments Vocabulary Assignment #1

Also make at least one flash card and one word map (this will give a total of four).

When you come to class on Thursday, you will do one of two things: 1. Write the definition/part of speech of one of

your words on the white board 2. Write your sentence on the white board.

“Brainology” Read with a Purpose Assignment (see page 5 of your essay #1 packet).