Course Outline for English 201A
Non-Credit Preparation for Composition I

Effective: Fall 2021
SLO Rev: 10/02/2020
Catalog Description:

ENGL 201A - Non-Credit Preparation for Composition I

45.00 Hours

May be repeated 99 time(s)
Non-credit course in which students will practice academic reading, critical thinking, and writing expected in credit classes or degree-applicable classes. Students will practice metacognitive strategies that will prepare them for success in a transfer-level English course. This is the first 9-week course in a two-course sequence. Students completing both English 201A and 201B will earn a Certificate of Competency in Preparation for English Composition. The course is free to students and repeatable until mastery of the skills is met. Strongly Recommended: Informed Course Selection Tool (ICST).
Strongly Recommended: Informed Course Selection Tool
1501.00 - English
Pass/No Pass/Satisfactory Progress
Type Hours
Lecture 45.00
Total 45.00
Measurable Objectives:
Upon completion of this course, the student should be able to:
  1. demonstrate critical thinking and reading skills in both class discussion and in writing:
    A. practice critical thinking and reading skills, and enhance and develop comprehension skills;
    B. discuss how racism, xenophobia, sexism, homophobia, transphobia, ableism, and classism shape the contexts for thinking, reading, and writing;
  2. use pre-reading techniques to facilitate understanding of texts, including:
    A. accessing background knowledge in the subject area;
    B. learning to assess the difficulty of the text, including vocabulary, sentence structure, and concepts and make a plan for approaching it;
    C. establishing outcomes for the reading prior to reading, for instance, forming appropriate questions and using structural cues about how the textbook or essay is organized;
  3. take charge of reading, apply strategies to annotate and unlock the meaning from texts, including:
    A. identifying passages that are causing difficulty to comprehension;
    B. identifying and correcting reading miscues;
    C. understanding such text features as text structure, transitions, captions, charts, graphs, etc;
  4. demonstrate composition strategies preparing students for college-level standards of academic prose:
    A. generating ideas for writing based on the reading, using a variety of pre- and post-reading and prewriting techniques;
    B. organizing coherent essays by summarizing central ideas;
    C. providing evidence primarily from the reading to support points;
    D. recognizing and practice features of academic voice;
    E. writing sentences demonstrating control of basic sentence structure;
    F. developing editing and proofreading strategies of his/her/their own prose;
    G. focusing on metacognitive development including differentiating fact from opinion.
Course Content:
  1. Instruction integrating critical thinking, reading, and writing
  2. Student-Centered and Equity-Oriented Curriculum
    1. Relating course materials to the lives and values of students to create student-centered classrooms in which students are meaning makers; students provide cultural capital to engage in academic discourse; acculturation into academic pursuit does not diminish students’ histories and cultural wealth; there is transparency in recognizing a wide range of voices and media as text, including that of students.
  3. Reading and critical thinking
    1. Strategies for making meaning of text.
    2. Active reading, including summarizing and posing questions.
    3. Critical reading, including making connections, exploring significance, and evaluating evidence.
    4. Reading for conceptual understanding and synthesizing multiple ideas from reading.
    5. Forming legitimate inference.
  4. Academic writing
    1. Forming a controlling idea in writing.
    2. Essay structure and the process of writing.
    3. Evaluating specific data/evidence used to support general ideas.
    4. Understanding audience in reading and writing.
    5. Sentence focus and development.
  5. Individualized instruction in reading and writing skills, including modeling and practicing reading strategies.
Methods of Instruction:
  1. Collaborative learning in pairs and groups, which may include brainstorming, modeling close reading, developing analysis and synthesis, debate, role playing, and enactment.
  2. Lecture/Discussion that requires students to construct meaning and engage in academic discourse.
  3. Presentation and analysis of multimedia materials in support of primary texts and/or understanding of elements of multimedia composition.
  4. Revision activities to improve style, structure, and coherence, including peer review, self reflection.
  5. Student-instructor conferences.
Assignments and Methods of Evaluating Student Progress:
  1. Type a 3–4 page paper in response to the following prompt: According to author John Suler, Ph.D., “adolescents typically spend a lot of time talking with other teens online in websites such as Myspace and Facebook. Online teens now are a significant population…by spending significant amounts of time on-line, it’s inevitable that a teenager's on-line social skills will improve.” Recent reports, however, have shown that there are “legitimate concerns about youth involvement in these social networking communities.” Why is this generation of teens so attracted to social networks? Should we as a society encourage teens to join social networking communities or should we promote more face to face interaction? How would you advise teens, parents, and educators about this issue? You must include at least three ideas from Suler’s article or other class readings.
  2. Read the first five chapters in A Lesson Before Dying by Ernest Gaines. Using your Active Reading handout as a guide, carefully annotate the text. Make a list of all unfamiliar social and historical references to share with the class. Next, type 1 - 2 pages in response to our first discussion question: Discuss racial prejudice as it relates to the criminal justice system. How do the rights of black citizens compare to the rights of white citizens? What are specific expectations regarding race and “place” or social position?
  1. Essays and other assigned writing, including timed in-class writing, evaluated on critical thinking, development of thesis, and correct mechanical usage.
  2. Depth of understanding of assigned readings assessed via reading tests, final and/or midterm examination.
  3. Quality and consistency of class presentations, responses, and regular in class and/or homework assignments.
  4. Self-reflection and peer evaluation of reading and writing.
Upon the completion of this course, the student should be able to:
  1. organize a paper so that it is unified and coherent;
  2. respond to a topic, demonstrate critical thinking, comprehension and use of text to support ideas;
  3. demonstrate sentence-level fluency and control of grammar.
Textbooks (Typical):
  1. Hacker, Diana and Nancy Sommers (2018). Rules for Writers Bedford St. Martin’s Bedford St. Martin's.
  2. Atwan, Robert, ed. (2019). America Now Bedford/St. Martin.
  3. Audrey Fielding, Audrey, Robinson and Altman, eds. (2003). An Anthology for Reading Apprenticeship: Building Academic Literacy Cengage Thompson.
  4. Beah, Ishmael (2007). A Long Way Gone Sarah Crichton Books.
  5. Moore, Wes (2010). The Other Wes Moore Random House..
  6. Beals, Melba Patillo (2007). Warriors Don't Cry Simon Pulse.
  7. Baca, Jimmy Santiago (2001). A Place to Stand Grove Press.
  8. Rodriguez, Luis J. (2005). Always Running Touchstone.
  9. Spiegelman, Art (2003). Maus I Penguin.
  10. Spiegleman, Art (2003). Maus II Penguin.
  11. Kendi, Ibram X and Jason Reynolds (2020). tamped: Racism, Antiracism, and You: A Remix of the National Book Award-winning Stamped from the Beginning Little Brown.
  12. Slater, Dashka (2017). The 57 Bus Farrar, Straus, and Giroux.
  13. Guptill, Amy (2016). Writing in College: Competence to Excelence Open SUNY.
Abbreviated Class Schedule Description:
Non-credit course in which students will practice academic reading, critical thinking, and writing expected in credit classes or degree-applicable classes. This is the first 9-week course in a two-course Certificate of Competency in Preparation for English Composition. The course is free to students and repeatable until mastery of the skills is met. Strongly Recommended: Informed Course Selection Tool (ICST).
Strongly Recommended: Informed Course Selection Tool
Discipline:
English*