Course: Reading 1 (Spring 2008)
Instructor: Prof. Reima Al-Jarf
Credit hours: 4
Prerequisites: None
Textbook: Kirn, Elaine & Hartman, Pamela (2004) Interactions I. 4th Edition (Middle East Edition). McGraw-Hill.
Marks: 100 (50 for semester work + 50% for final exam)
Semester work: 20% interms + 20% interm + 10% for online course.
Brief Description:
The course aims at developing the students' ability to read and comprehend the main ideas and details that are explicitly and implicitly stated in a text and to develop their ability to infer the meaning of difficult words from context, recognize the text structure and connect pronouns with their referents.
Audiovisuals:
· Course videos are not available.
· Would like to use the overhead projector , but I need a classroom with curtains to darken it.
· I am unable to use the LCD projector because only two are available and they are used by the computer instructors and by Dr Hoda Brinji. The lab schedule is almost full.
Material Coverage:
· One or two lesson can be covered per class session. A total of 3-6 lessons can be covered per week.
Reading Skills:
· Recognizing chapter format and divisions.
· Recognizing text divisions
· Identifying paragraph topic
· Writing paragraph topic
· Identifying the topic sentence of a paragraph
· Identifying the supporting details
· Identifying the types of details
· Locating words signaling text structure
· Identifying the type of structure a passage has
· Inferring the meaning of difficult words from context using semantic and syntactic clues available in the text.
· Figuring out the part of speech of certain words in context.
· Locating compounds and idioms.
· Recognizing and producing word derivatives
· Summarizing
· Making an outline
Reading Instructional Strategies:
· I illustrate the structure of the passage. Draw a tree diagram to show the topic and subtopics of each paragraph and fill it out as I read each paragraph and move on from one paragraph to the next.
· Read text paragraph by paragraph.
· Read paragraph and analyzing it sentence by sentence. Point out topic sentences, signaling devices, context clues, ask about the part of speech of certain words, ask about pronoun antecedents. As I read, I have students underline difficult words, topic sentence, number details, circle words that signal structure and pronouns. Students underline key words in each point.
· Before doing each exercise, I read the instructions and have students underline the definitions and main points and circle the question word. The students write the answer in class in pencil and I go around and check. Wrong answers are discussed in class. We do some exercises orally for a change.
Reading Assessment:
· Each interm test will consist of a one-page text and several questions testing the reading skills mentioned above. From the text the students will be asked to:
· Identify the paragraph topic
· Write the paragraph topic
· Identify the topic sentence of a paragraph
· Identify the supporting details
· Identify the types of details
· Locate words signaling text structure
· Identify the type of structure a passage has
· Infer the meaning of difficult words from context using semantic and syntactic clues available in the text.
· Figure out the part of speech of certain words in context.
· Locate compounds and idioms.
· Recognize and producing word derivatives
· Summarize
· Make an outline
· Reading Study skills:
· Reading textbook design and Chapter format.
· Using the dictionary
· Dividing notebook into sections.
· Preparing vocabulary cards.
· How to practice and review a chapter.
· Building a daily, weekly and monthly study schedule.
Extensive Reading & Listening:
· Each student will bring a story/book of her choice to class. An extra reading hour is given in the garden, where the students and I bring stories, magazines and other books. We discuss and each student gives a 5-minute summary of her book.
· Students are asked to read a story for half an hour a day.
· Students are asked to watch T.V. news (BBC or CNN for 15-30 minutes a day.
Online Course:
An online course will be used. It will provide students with extra practice. Reading texts, short stories and comprehension exercises will be posted. The students will locate information, texts and write their reactions in the discussion forum.
· Reading websites that the students can check:
· One Look Dictionary: http://www.onelook.com/
· Cambridge Dictionary: http://dictionary.cambridge.org/
· Short Stories: http://www.readingmatrix.com/directory/pages/Short_Stories/
· More Short Stories: http://www.englishclub.com/reading/short-stories.htm
· World Newspapers: http://www.actualidad.com/
· Topics magazine for learners of English: http://www.topics-mag.com/
· Many Books such as "Pride and Prejudice", "Hamlet": http://manybooks.net/
· Plain English: http://home.att.net/~tangents/issue/english.htm
· Reading Comprehension – Beginner: http://www.readingmatrix.com/directory/pages/Reading_Comprehension_Beginner/
· Finding Main Ideas: http://elearn.mtsac.edu/amla/readingroom/Mainidea.htm
· Identifying details: http://elearn.mtsac.edu/amla/readingroom/details.htm
· Guessing word meaning from context: http://elearn.mtsac.edu/amla/readingroom/context.htm
· BBC English: http://elearn.mtsac.edu/amla/readingroom/context.htm
· English Language Activities, Exercises And Tests: http://www.world-english.org/
· Study Guides and Strategies: http://www.studygs.net/
A Study Guide For the Students:
· Before you read, number the lines in the reading text.
· Read the text paragraph by paragraph with a pencil in hand.
· Read each paragraph 4 times.
· While reading for the first time, underline the topic sentence or main idea.
· From the main idea, write the topic of the paragraph in few words in the left margin of the book.
· While reading, circle the signal words that refer to the supporting details such as:
· Listing: First, second, third.
· Examples: For example, for instance, such as, like.
· Compare/Contrast: similarly, on the one hand, on the other hand, but, although, yet.
· Cause effect: Because, for, since, consequently, as a result.
· Definitions: mean, called, defined, definition.
· Classification:
· Whole-part:
· Process:
· While reading, number the supporting details in each paragraph in pencil.
· While reading the paragraph for the second time, circle all the pronouns and underline their referent or antecedent (the noun to which it refers).
· While reading each paragraph, circle the difficult words and look for their meanings in context (the sentence in which it is used) such as punctuation marks, synonyms, antonyms, definitions, examples…etc.
· While reading each paragraph for the third time, underline the difficult words and try to identify their part of speech are they are used in the paragraph. Break some words into their component parts (prefixes and suffixes). Find some compounds.
· Read all the paragraphs for the fourth time and draw a diagram that shows the main topic and sub-topics (topic of each paragraph). Under each sub-topic, list all the details briefly.
· Reading the text for several times will help you become fluent in reading, improve your comprehension, learn the meaning of the new words and remember the information contained in the text.
Sample Reading Test Questions
Read the text entitled "Personal Stories and Humor" pages 52-54 and answer the following questions.
Write the main idea or topic sentence of each paragraph.
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Write the topic of each paragraph.
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Make a list of the different food groups mentioned in the text.
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What are the purposes of the Slow Food Organization?
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What types of international food are mentioned in the text?
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What kinds of food and drink can Muslim people not eat?
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What does the speaker in paragraph 2 think of food in the United States?
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What does the speaker in paragraph 3 think of American fast food?
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What is the meaning of each word as used in the text:
Food group(line1): ----------------------------------------------------------
Slow Food (line 8): ----------------------------------------------------------
hometown buffet (line 45): ----------------------------------------------
What does each pronoun refer to:
· Its (line 8) ---------------------
· they (line 15) ---------------------
· they (line 23) ----------------
· Its (line 26) -------------------
· there (line 45) -----------------
· these (line 64) -----------------
Give examples of the following categories:
· American fast food:------------------------------------------------------
· Asian food: ----------------------------------------------------------------
· European Countries: ---------------------------------------------------
· Sea food: -------------------------------------------------------------------
Write the part of speech (N, V, Adj, Adv.) of each word as used in the text:
· category (line 2)
· according to (line 2)
· perfect (line 13)
· relaxed (line 16)
· convenient (line 17)
· increase (line 21)
· worldwide (line 23)
· fried (line 46)
· Muslim (line64)
Find 4 compounds in the text:
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Break the following words into their component parts using dashes:
· Organization
· unhealthful
· bakeries
· expression
· international
· neighborhood
· identical
· requirements
· preparation
Give other derivatives of the following words:
· Convenience --------------------------------------------------------------
· unhealthful ----------------------------------------------------------------
· expression ----------------------------------------------------------------
· enjoyment ----------------------------------------------------------------
· organization ---------------------------------------------------------------