Spanish-American Institute

503 Advanced Reading and Writing 120 Hours

Prerequisite(s): English 501.6 (level VI) or equivalent.

Textbooks: NorthStar Reading and Writing Advanced, 2^nd ed., Pearson Education, 2004 (or comparable text); Longman Dictionary of American English now with Thesaurus, 3^rd or later edition, Pearson, 2004 (recommended).

Course Description: Advanced Reading and Writing develops advanced English language skills through close examination of reading passages, through objective discussion of reading, and through paragraph and short essay writing. The course develops personal, academic, and workplace advanced English reading, writing, and oral presentation skills at the multi-paragraph and document level.

Objectives: By the end of the course, students should be able:

• to understand and use the various stages of the writing process, including drafts and revisions;
• to understand the difference between correct writing and effective writing;
• to understand how context affects meaning, grammar, and other writing choices;
• to write different document forms on a variety of topics;
• to write a multi-paragraph essay with a clearly identified thesis, development, and conclusion;
• to read in ways that reflect attention to the effective writing process; and
• to read critically.

Instructional Methods: Students develop language skills from an integrated cumulative skills approach that increases retention and fluency by stimulating them to create meaning in a new language. Longer reading passages, recorded listening passages, and videos build on vocabulary and ideas from background material and exercises. Students are guided through the writing process, followed by practice in context activities to apply each new writing concept to their own writing. Students work individually, in pairs, and in small groups on guided, linked activities built around each unit's theme.

Grading: The final grade is based on the following:

Class Participation	25%
Assignments	50%
Exams	25%
Total	100%

The grading scale is: A=90-100%, B+=85-89%, B=80-84%, C+=75-79%, C=70-74%, D=65-69%, F=60-64%

Course Outline:

Week	Topics	Assignments and Tests
1-3	NorthStar Unit 1 Theme: Addiction Communication Focus: supporting answers; inferring non-explicit information; identifying argument’s logic; writing summary paragraphs, personal letters, reports, etc. Grammar Focus: past unreal conditionals. Unit 1 Video Sequence.	Unit exercises. Student video activity sheet.
4-5	NorthStar Unit 2 Theme: Utopian Movements Communication Focus: recognizing personal attitudes and values, developing thesis statements and introductory paragraphs, writing statements of opinion using noun clauses; summarizing research, etc. Grammar Focus: noun clauses Unit 2 Video Sequence	Unit exercises. Student video activity sheet
6-7	NorthStar Unit 3 Theme: Personality Communication Focus: identifying personality traits; analyzing character and motivation, writing short statements of advice; combining sentences using relative pronouns; writing a short article; summarizing an interview, etc. Grammar Focus: identifying and nonidentifying adjective clauses Unit 3 Video Sequence	Unit exercises. Student video activity sheet.
8	Review, Units 1-3 Drafting, editing, and re-writing essay.	Assigned essay (part of bi-monthly grade) Bi-monthly Exam
9-10	NorthStar Unit 4 Theme: Trends Communication Focus: identifying and interpreting trends, examining imagery and symbolism, analyzing author’s purpose, writing cause-and-effect paragraphs and essays, combining sentences using discourse connectors and adverb clauses Grammar Focus: adverb clauses and discourse connectors to express cause and effect Unit 4 Video Sequence	Unit exercises. Student video activity sheet.
11-12	NorthStar Unit 5 Theme: Cross-Cultural Insights Communication Focus: comparing and contrasting , identifying point of view, inferring characters’ attitudes and feelings, writing a compare-and-contrast essay, etc. Grammar Focus: adverb clauses of comparison and contrast Unit 5 Video Sequence	Unit exercises. Student video activity sheet.
13-14	NorthStar Unit 6 Theme: Religion Communication Focus: relating supporting details to main ideas, supporting answers with information; writing a definition essay; paraphrasing quotations; writing summary statements, essay responses, and reports, etc. Grammar Focus: definite and indefinite articles Unit 6 Video Sequence	Unit exercises. Student video activity sheet.
15-16	NorthStar Unit 7 Theme: Business (1^st half of unit) Communication Focus: assessing personal traits, analyzing a case study, evaluating and writing about advantages and disadvantages, writing persuasive statements, composing transitional sentences, summarizing questionnaire data Grammar Focus: infinitives and gerunds Review, Units 4-7 (partial unit 7) Drafting, editing, and re-writing short essay.	Unit exercises. Assigned essay (part of bi-monthly grade) Bi-monthly Exam, week 16.
17	NorthStar Unit 7 (2^nd half of unit) Unit 7 Video Sequence	Unit exercises. Student video activity sheet.
18-19	NorthStar Unit 8 Theme: The Military Communication Focus: recognizing personal values and assumptions; making generalizations; writing summaries, a personal letter, a dialog, etc. Grammar Focus: direct and indirect speech Unit 8 Video Sequence	Unit exercises Student video activity sheet
20-21	NorthStar Unit 9 Theme: The Arts Communication Focus: theorizing motivations, analyzing descriptive language, writing a descriptive paragraph, evaluating passive voice usage Grammar Focus: use of the passive voice Unit 9 Video Sequence	Unit exercises. Student video activity sheet.
22-23	NorthStar Unit 10 Theme: First Amendment Issues Communication Focus: identifying personal assumptions, analyzing argumentative language, writing argumentatively in different document forms, etc. Grammar Focus: verb tense review Unit 10 Video Sequence	Unit exercises. Student video activity sheet.
24	Review, Units 8-10. Drafting, editing, and re-writing essay.	Assigned essay (part of bi-monthly grade) Bi-monthly Exam

rev. 6/06, 2/07