ENGLISH 250 Compensatory College Skills Community College of Rhode Island

TEXTS
Fawcett, Susan and Alvin Sandburg. Evergreen: A Guide to Writing.  6th edition, Houghton Mifflin, 2000.
A dictionary (preferably American Heritage).  Some good ones are available online also.  

DESCRIPTION
This course is designed for students who need a basic grammar background:  parts of speech, punctuation, capitalization, and forming sentences.  By writing paragraphs, students will demonstrate their ability to plan, organize, and express their ideas in grammatically correct sentences.   

PREREQUISITES
English Placement Exam or permission of instructor.

OBJECTIVES
At the completion of this course, the student should be able to:

• Determine a purpose for writing.
• Choose and limit a topic.
• Generate ideas for a topic using a variety of techniques.
• Write a topic sentence.
• Use examples, facts, details, etc., to support a topic sentence.
• Organize and connect ideas.
• Use methods of paragraph development to express ideas.
• Write a paragraph that demonstrates control of sentence skills.
• Evaluate and rewrite a paragraph using the principles of support, unity, coherence, and sentence skills.

REQUIREMENTS

• Attend class regularly.
• Complete each assigned chapter.
• Contribute to class by sharing writing and evaluating writing of others.
• Write and submit regularly a Writer's Notebook.
• Submit three revised entries for mid-term evaluation.
• Submit 10 vocabulary words, per my example.
• Write eight to ten paragraph-length assignments.
• Read all all assigned and supplementary readings.  
• Complete and submit all writing assignments in a timely manner.
• Complete all in-class exercises and assignments.
• Take major tests or quizzes (as required).
• Complete two mini research projects (1-2 pages each).  
• Work in the Writing Center (as required).  
• Complete a Final Portfolio which indicates readiness for Fundamentals of Writing, English 1050.

WARNING:  This is a portfolio class.  DO NOT DISCARD ANY WORK FOR THE ENTIRE SEMESTER!!!  If you do not have earlier drafts of work you will not receive a final grade for that assignment. 

POLICIES

This is a learning environment.  For all of us, distractions must be kept to a minimum.  All cell phones and pagers must be turned off or set to a non-ringing mode.  If you receive a message, you may leave for an emergency situation.

ACCOMMODATIONS
Any student with a documented disability who requires accommodation should contact the Instructor before the third class. 

ASSIGNMENTS
It is extremely important to complete and submit assignments in a timely manner.   If you are absent, it is YOUR responsibility to find out the assignment that you have missed.  Even if you must be absent, your assignments are due by the scheduled class date.  Remember that incomplete assignments may result in a failing grade. 

ATTENDANCE
Regular attendance is required.  In-class assignments are an essential part of the classroom experience. Students are not allowed to make up in-class assignments.   If the student misses more than 3 classes, their grade may be reduced by a letter grade (ten points).  Repeated lateness will be marked as absences.

DUE DATES
Assignments are due at the beginning of each class, unless otherwise specified.

EVALUATION POLICY
The following considerations are applied in the grading process:

• Letter grades (A-F) will be assigned to students based on their ability to meet the above requirements, which may be weighed according to course emphasis and importance.  

• Writing assignments will receive a variation of check marks (4 +, 4 , or 4 -).  A check is considered passing; therefore, if a writing assignment receives an R (rewrite), the student will be allowed to rewrite it after discussion the assignment with the instructor.  The number of times rewriting will be allowed depends upon the nature of the assignment and the problem.

• Did the student follow all of the criteria for each specific assignment?

• Was all work submitted?

• Was it submitted in a timely manner?

• Did the student address and apply the concepts discussed in the textbook or class which may apply to this specific assignment?

• Was the work error free?

• Did the work have appropriate grammar and language usage, and use the expressive range of the language?

CONTENT OUTLINE  
Content outline attached.

LATENESS  
Late assignments are not accepted, unless prior approval is given.  Work is considered to be late if it is not submitted at the beginning of class.   Per major assignments, portfolios and exam policies, a grade deduction will be given for any major assignment submitted late.  Late assignments which have not been received within a week of the due date, will NOT be accepted.  

CCRI’S POLICY ON PLAGIARISM
8.27.17 Instructors shall have the explicit duty to take action in known cases of cheating and plagiarism.  The instructor shall have the right to fail a student on the assignment on which the instructor has determined that a student has cheated or plagiarized.  The circumstances of this failure shall be reported to the student’s academic dean.  The student may appeal the matter to the instructor’s dean, and the decision by the dean shall be expeditious and final.  The Dean of the College of Continuing Education shall be the instructor’s dean only in cases of courses.

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