English 471(G): Grammar for Teachers
T &Th, 6 – 7:15 SI 020, Fall 2003
As announced, we will also meet in the computer labs in SI 319/321.
Office SI 022 M 1:30-2:30 W & F 11:00-noon
298-1494 (my office) W & F 11:00-noon T & Th 5 - 6 pm
298-2974 (department fax) T & Th 5 - 6 pm
Note: I no longer have a home land line, and I do not access email from home. I do have an answering machine at my office. If you email or leave a message over the weekend, I will get it Monday. You should get contact info from three class members to consult with homework or assignment questions. From Blackboard, you can just click to email anyone in the class.
· Peter Smagorinsky, Expressions: Multiple Intelligences in the English Class.
· chs. 41, 43, 44, and 45 in Clark, Eschholz, & Rosa, eds. Language: Readings in Language and Culture 6th ed. These are the readings for Language Acquisition. The exam is Week 4. (This book is not on the store shelf with the course. It is and was used for 372. I am hoping people can make other arrangements besides purchasing the book if you are not and will not be taking 372 – that means grad students – since 372 is a prerequisite for undergrads.)
· Constance Weaver, ed. Lessons to Share: On Teaching Grammar in Context.
· Edgar Schuster, Breaking the Rules: Liberating Writers through Innovative Grammar Instruction.
· Any portable dictionary. If you don’t already own one, you should. I recommend The American Heritage College Dictionary (paperback). It is a good dictionary and costs only $5.99, list price.
· Any usage handbook. Any edition of the Hacker handbook will do – or any other usage handbook You should have your own copy.
Other
· Enroll in Grammar for Teachers’ Blackboard site <http://blackboard.cait.org>. We will do this in the lab on the second night. (Notice that there isn’t any “www” in the address and that it’s not .com but .org.) You must use your WIU ecom account username and your student id number (or social security number – if one doesn’t work, try the other) for a password to get into the course. If you don’t know these, I will be able to tell you once in the lab. All course documents will be uploaded to bb for you to read, print, or download. Some documents will be available only at bb. ALL of your written assignments (except the language acquisition homework) will be uploaded to this site. Everyone has access, and anyone in the class may download and adapt or revise for use in their own teaching. The labs in Simpkins have only pc’s – no macs. You cannot bring in a mac disk to upload a file from a Simpkins lab.
· A copy of the Illinois State Standards for teachers of English Language Arts. These are the standards used for the education portfolio – in the English department’s purple, teacher-ed, spiral-bound book. Most of you should have one. Make sure you sign the list if you don’t, and I’ll make sure you get one.
·A copy of Illinois goals and benchmarks for language arts, middle and high school. There is a link to the State Board WebSite from the bb “External Links.” I will give you a sheet with very brief instructions for printing your own copy from there. (The process tends to change very slightly from year to year. You can try it on your own – look for a table that lets you choose Word or PDF for downloading. If you find that, just click and follow instructions on the screen. You can’t just print from the regular WEB screen – you won’t get the right-facing pages.)
Policies:
1. I am not counting attendance against the final grade this semester. I am, however, keeping track of absences. They will “count” only should you seek special arrangements or need a small boost to get a higher grade.
2. Late lesson (mini-lessons or lesson plan): I accept late lessons, but if late, they may not be revised or corrected for resubmission.
3. I will not put a grade on a lesson submitted on time which does not merit an “A,” “B,” or “C.” I will give feedback (written or oral) and expect it to be resubmitted within two weeks of being returned to you. If it is not revised and resubmitted, I will record a D or F.
4. I don’t even read lessons with excessive mechanical and usage errors. These are returned with a zero. They should be corrected and resubmitted within two weeks for a grade higher than 0.
5. Homework: I accept homework only on or before the due date. If you will be gone, you can turn it in early, send it with a classmate or friend, fax it, or email it. If I have it before the end of the class, then I will accept it. Your homework points are a straight percentage based on the number of assignments you turn in and the total number I collect.
Grading:
Grammar/Language and Lg Arts Lesson Plan 75
Final Submission 100
Language Acquisition Exam 50
Various Homework Assignments 25
I calculate final grades based on a straight percentage. 90% for an A, 80% for a B; 70% for a C; 60% for a D. You can access your own grades from bb. Do so periodically, and double check my entries. Note that the program doesn’t let me construct two different totals for the course. So undergrads should subtract 50 points from the total and work with your own calculations for your percentages.
Requirements: (Caution: WEB downloads may not constitute more than 25% of what you submit for any one assignment.)
· 3 mini lessons – format soon to be available at bb;
· Rubric and peer edit sheet for mechanics and usage;
· 1 lesson plan using the format available at bb;
· one exam;
· Final submission – a portfolio with the three mini-lessons and the lesson plan revised and indexed to the Illinois State Benchmarks, also includes mla’d list of “Materials Used and Consulted”;
· homework.
NOTE: In order to pass the course, ALL requirements must be completed.
Brief descriptions of requirements:
Mini-Lessons: Three mini-lessons for teaching usage or mechanics in the context of writing. Mini-lessons should take no more than 10 minutes. Much of the reading is aimed at helping with these assignments. These will be uploaded to the bb site. Bring paper copy to class too. Selected class members will teach their mini-lessons.
Rubric and Peer Edit Sheets: These require you to select, from among the many possible errors, those that you believe are most important for students to correct. You may select and count no more than five. Restraint and reasonableness are important factors for this assignment. Upload to bb site.
Lesson Plan. Lessons are quite detailed descriptions covering 45 – 75 minutes of class time. The lesson plan should teach an element of grammar or language (using an expansive idea of grammar) in the context of a specific language arts thread (except writing). Format for the lesson is available at the course site on blackboard. All lessons will be submitted by posting/uploading to the appropriate group area in blackboard.
Final Submission: The final submission is a portfolio, involving revising your three mini-lessons and your lesson plan and indexing them, through parenthetical quotation – not citation - to the Illinois goals/objectives/benchmarks which they help satisfy. The whole submission has a bibliography of works cited or consulted. You should document your use of classmates’ materials as well as material published elsewhere.
Homework: There are homework assignments throughout the semester. Each has its own instructions at time of assignment.
Blackboard: You must use the course site at http://blackboard.cait.org enough to move through and use its elements with assurance and confidence.
EXTRA REQUIREMENT FOR STUDENTS RECEIVING G CREDIT
If you are registered for graduate credit, you will also submit an evaluative, annotated bibliography of material (minimum of fifteen items) on any of the topics of this course (with a focus you identify): Multiple Intelligences, Language Acquisition, Grammar in the Context of Writing, and Grammar/Language in the Context of other Language Arts Threads. At least eight of these items must be available in the WIU library in physical copy (paper or microform). The rest may or may not come from the WEB. I do not recommend that you go for many books – since you will have to read each of the entries in order to evaluate them.
Objectives:
By the end of the semester, a student who earns an A will be able to:
§Plan a teaching sequence which includes grammar in the context of the threads of English Language Arts threads;
§Access materials supporting the teaching of the English language/grammar through WEB resources;
§Discuss with understanding some of the politics of the teaching of grammar;
§Generate assignments for teaching grammar based on accurate knowledge of principles of language and language learning;
§ Use the student areas of blackboard fluently;
§ Demonstrate a clear understanding of the Illinois Language Arts goals for a selected level in the middle or high school grades;
§ Use dictionaries.
ADA Compliance: If you have any disability requiring academic accommodations, you must initiate letting me know. It is illegal for me to ask you if you require accommodations. I have scheduled office hours before each class meeting. I am also usually (but not always) about to stay after class.