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1 QATAR UNIVERSITY FOUNDATION PROGRAM ENGLISH DEPARTMENT UNIVERSITY REQUIREMENT COURSES English (202) Course Syllabus Course Information Course Name: English 1 Course Code: 202 Contact Hours: 3 Credit Hours: 3 Pre-requisites A minimum score of 500 in TOEFL, 5.5 in IELTS, or English Foundation Level 4 plus a minimum score of 450 in TOEFL Course Textbook (Required) Broukal, M. (2010). Weaving it Together (3 rd Edition). Boston, MA: Heinle Cengage Learning. Instructor Information Name: Stacey Wizner Contact Tel.: 4403 5449 E-Mail Address: [email protected] Office Location: WFB #225 and Main Men’s Building #238 Office Hours: Monday and Wednesday 11:10-12:25, Thursday 10:55-11:55 Course Description English 1 is designed to help students improve their academic writing ability, and to ensure that they are prepared for the more advanced writing and research skills introduced in the final course in the Post- Foundation series (English 2). Emphasis is placed on understanding and synthesizing information from authentic texts, and in exploring the relationship between spoken and written discourse. Academic vocabulary is taught through inference and context, and is reinforced through reading and writing activities. A collaborative community environment is encouraged whereby students learn to provide and accept relevant, focused feedback to and from their peers. Throughout the semester, students create and develop an e-portfolio: a virtual portfolio of their writing and reflections (self and peer) by means of the Blackboard Suite. Primary assessment tools are in-class essays, evaluated through common rubrics, as

E202 Student Syllabus Fall 2011

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Page 1: E202 Student Syllabus Fall 2011

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QATAR UNIVERSITYFOUNDATION PROGRAMENGLISH DEPARTMENT

UNIVERSITY REQUIREMENT COURSESEnglish (202) Course Syllabus

Course InformationCourse Name: English 1Course Code: 202Contact Hours: 3Credit Hours: 3

Pre-requisitesA minimum score of 500 in TOEFL, 5.5 in IELTS, or English Foundation Level 4 plus a minimum score of 450 in TOEFL

Course Textbook (Required)Broukal, M. (2010). Weaving it Together (3rd Edition). Boston, MA: Heinle Cengage Learning.

Instructor InformationName: Stacey WiznerContact Tel.: 4403 5449E-Mail Address: [email protected] Location: WFB #225 and Main Men’s Building #238Office Hours: Monday and Wednesday 11:10-12:25, Thursday 10:55-11:55

Course DescriptionEnglish 1 is designed to help students improve their academic writing ability, and to ensure that they are prepared for the more advanced writing and research skills introduced in the final course in the Post-Foundation series (English 2). Emphasis is placed on understanding and synthesizing information from authentic texts, and in exploring the relationship between spoken and written discourse. Academic vocabulary is taught through inference and context, and is reinforced through reading and writing activities. A collaborative community environment is encouraged whereby students learn to provide and accept relevant, focused feedback to and from their peers. Throughout the semester, students create and develop an e-portfolio: a virtual portfolio of their writing and reflections (self and peer) by means of the Blackboard Suite. Primary assessment tools are in-class essays, evaluated through common rubrics, as well as quizzes, reading comprehension and synthesis activities, and a final examination at the conclusion of the semester.

Course Objectives

E202 aims at helping the students to:

A. Develop academic essay writing proficiencyB. Enhance reading comprehension and synthesis abilitiesC. Expand academic vocabulary through context-based activities

D. Explore the critical thinking paradigm E. Encourage independent and collaborative learning skills

Course Learning Outcomes

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By the time of completing E202 students should be able to:

1. Use, organize and present ideas in the format required for academic writing:

- An introduction, including background information and a thesis statement- A three-part body paragraph with a topic sentence, supporting sentences, and a concluding

sentence.- A conclusion that summarizes the main ideas.

2. Use sequence markers and transition words correctly.3. Compose academic essays, with emphasis on the following genres:

- Causal Analysis & Effects Analysis Essay - Argumentative Essay

4. Apply meta-cognitive tools (peer review exercises & error logs) to enhance writing skill. 5. Identify and comprehend etymological elements (prefixes, suffixes, etc.) 6. Demonstrate understanding of higher-level vocabulary items in context. 7. Use advanced vocabulary items appropriately within academic essays. 8. Demonstrate comprehension and synthesis of information in texts. 9. Apply critical thinking skills to reading and writing assignments. 10. Employ logical argument for and against an issue. 11. Create an electronic portfolio to participate in the online classroom writing community.

Content Distribution Chart

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Week: Day 1 Day 2

Week 125-29 Sept

Introduce the curriculum Diagnostic essays (give indirect corrective feedback and end notes)

Week 22-6Oct

Modeling the error log, peer review and common syntactic errors

- Model error log (corrective feedback from diagnostic essays)

- Model peer review (diagnostic essays)

- Common syntactic errors (e.g. fragments, run on expressions, etc.)

Organizing: The Essay (pp. 21 – 26)- Introduction, body, conclusion- Exercises optional (pp. 27 – 30)- Model outlines- Vocabulary (1): AWL (20 words)- Assign reading homework 1

Week 39-13Oct

The cause or effect analysis essay continued- Reading task 1 – an outline (in-

class activity)**- Model summaries

The cause or effect analysis essay continued

- Reading task 1 continued – in class discussion and a summary

Week 416-20Oct

The cause or effect essay continued- Brainstorming, etc. (pp. 254 – 256)- Brainstorming, etc. to outline (e.g.

essay form on p. 21)Organizing: The Cause and Effect Essay (pp. 193-197

- Exercises optional (pp.197 - 201)- Coherence of a cause or effect essay

(teachers provide own materials)

Essay 1 first draft (in-class activity)- Brainstorming, etc.- An outline- The introduction

Week 523-27Oct

Essay 1 first draft (in-class activity)- Body paragraphs- Conclusion

Essay 1 peer review workshop (in-class activity)

Week 630 Oct- 3 Nov

Essay 1 second draft derived from peer review (in-class activity)

Vocabulary Quiz 1Creating an e-Portfolio

- Introduce e-portfolio- Create homepage & 2pgs ready for

essays

6-10Nov

Eid Holiday Eid Holiday

Week 713-17Nov

In-class conferencing based on feedback of second draft

- Self-editing using indirect corrective feedback and end notes on second draft

- Complete error log (in-class activity)

In-class conferencing based on feedback of second draft

- Self-editing using indirect corrective feedback and end notes on second draft

- Complete error log(in-class activity)

Week 820-24Nov

E-portfolio & Argumentative Essay- Create reflection, peer response and

error log artifacts for PF

Argumentative essay continued Final draft of essay 1 is due. It must also be uploaded to e-portfolio.

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- Introduce concepts of argument and refutation

- Assign reading homework 2

Reading task 2 – an outline (in-class activity)

Week 927 Nov-1 Dec

Argumentative essay continued Reading task 2 continued (in-class summary activity)

- Vocabulary (2): AWL (20 words)- Brainstorming, etc. an argument

essay- Brainstorming, etc. to outline

Argumentative essay continuedE-Portfolio for essay 1 is due

- Organizing: The Argument Essay (pp. 220 – 223)

- Exercises optional (pp. 223 – 226)- Coherence of argument essay

(teachers provide)

Week 104-8Dec

Essay 2 first draft (in-class activity)

- Brainstorming, etc.- An outline- The introduction

Essay 2 first draft (in-class activity)- Body paragraphs- Conclusion

Week 1111-15Dec

Essay 2 peer review workshop (in-class activity)

Essay 2 second draft derived from peer review (in-class activity)

Week 1219-22Dec

In-class conferencing based on feedback of second draft

- Self-editing using indirect corrective feedback and end notes on second draft

- Complete error log

In-class conferencing based on feedback of second draft

- Self-editing using indirect corrective feedback and end notes on second draft

- Complete error logWeek 13

25-29Dec

Final draft of essay 2 is due. It must also be uploaded to e-portfolio.

- Review constituents of e-portfolio

Vocabulary quiz 2 E-portfolio for essay 2 is due

Week 141-5

Jan’12

Review Review

Final Exam

Saturday, January 14, 2012

* The content presented here should ideally be completed by the end of the week. However, the allocation of the content to day 1 or day 2 is a guide only. In some instances, it may be necessary to complete the assigned content in the first class of the following week. **Work to be done in-class (bold), assignments to be completed in-class and is assessed (bold + underlined) and the submission of assessed work (bold + underlined + italics) must be completed on the assigned dates.

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Week: Day 1 Day 2

Week 3

Reading task 1 – an outline (in-class activity)**

Date:

Reading task 1 continued – in class discussion and a summary

Date:

Week 4Essay 1 first draft (in-class activity)

Date:

Week 5

Essay 1 first draft (in-class activity)

Date:

Essay 1 peer review workshop (in-class activity)

Date:

Week 6

Essay 1 second draft derived from peer review (in-class activity)

Date:

Vocabulary Quiz 1

Date:

Week 8

Final draft of essay 1 is due. It must also be uploaded to e-portfolio.Reading task 2 – an outline (in-class activity)

Date:

Week 9

Reading task 2 continued (in-class summary activity)

Date:

E-Portfolio for essay 1 is due

Date:

Week 10Essay 2 first draft (in-class activity)

Date:

Essay 2 first draft (in-class activity)

Date:

Week 11

Essay 2 peer review workshop (in-class activity)

Date:

Essay 2 second draft derived from peer review (in-class activity)

Date:

Week 13

Final draft of essay 2 is due. It must also be uploaded to e-portfolio.

Date:

Vocabulary quiz 2 E-portfolio for essay 2 is due

Date:Assessment Activities and Due Dates

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The Process of Drafts and Feedback

Draft 2 based on peer review (in-class)- Students cannot

take it home.- Teachers collect

draft 2.

Peer review (in-class)- Students cannot

take the peer review home.

- Teachers collect the peer review.

Draft 1 (in-class)- Students cannot

take the draft home.

- Teachers collect draft 1.

Teacher feedback derived from the rubric (+

written)

Teacher feedback using indirect corrective

feedback and end notes

In-class conferences using teacher feedback

from rubric and corrective feedback- Students

undertake self-editing exercise.

- Students complete error logs.

Draft 3 submitted- Hard copy in class

- Soft copy to e-portfolio

Teacher feedback using appropriate rubrics

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Additional Resources

The resources listed here will help students to pursue further information related to English 1 on their own time.

Books: the following books can be found in the Reference Section of the QU Library.

1. Haber, S.B. & Mcynarczyk, R. (2005). In our own words: Student writers at work (3rd Edition). New York: Cambridge University Press.

2. Carter, R., Hughes, R., & McCarthy, M. (2000). Exploring grammar in context: Grammar reference and practice (Upper Intermediate & Advanced). Cambridge: Cambridge University

Press.

3. Boerner, J., Holguin-Balogh, D., & Wingersky, J. (2009). Writing paragraphs & essays: Integrating reading, writing and grammar skills (6th Edition). Boston: Wadsworth Cengage.

4. Glau, G.R., Maid, B.M., & Roen, D. (2009). The McGraw-Hill guide: Writing for college, writing for life. New York: McGraw-Hill Publishing.

Online Resources:

Here are two well-organized sites that offer accurate and helpful advice for university writing students. http://owl.english.purdue.edu/

http://www.writing.utoronto.ca/advice

The following links show short videos with useful advice about improving essays.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hVsstQY3cPM&feature=relmfu (sentence structure help)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rrAcer3gWi8&feature=relmfu (more sentence structure help)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QOZo7lFlmjU&feature=relmfu (proofreading your essay)

For students who want to learn more about the Academic Word List and how to continue to take advantage of it throughout their university careers, take a look at the following sites.

http://www.victoria.ac.nz/lals/resources/academicwordlist/ (information and organization)

http://www.academicvocabularyexercises.com/id17.htm (practice exercises and answers)

For students interested in debates and argumentation on controversial issues, the Doha Debates website is an excellent resource for viewing. This is useful for organizing ideas in an argumentative essay.

http://www.dohadebates.com/debates/past.asp

Finally, here is a link to an easy-to-use online dictionary and thesaurus resource.

http://www.merriam-webster.com/

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Teaching MethodsThe main features of teaching this course include, but are not limited to, the following teaching principles and techniques:

Principles:- Fostering a learner-centered environment; i.e., teacher acts as a facilitator - Applying problem-solving activities- Using collaborative approaches (peer support and feedback)

Techniques:- Do individual work, pair work and group work- Use activities that involve brainstorming- Analyze problems and work out solutions

Instructional MediaOHP, Whiteboard, computer and Data show, audio-cassettes and CD players, video and DVD players, and Blackboard Academic Suite.

Policy Assessment & Tools

Final Exam Weighting:Component Explanation MarkReading Comprehension Students complete a task related to the reading

passage. 10

Essay Students compose ONE essay on a topic provided. 20

Total 30

Class Component Weighting:Component Explanation Mark

EssaysTwo essaysThe essays will have 3 drafts; Drafts 2 and 3 are worth 10 points each.

40

Reading Tasks Two reading tasks (5.0 points each) 10

Vocabulary Quizzes Two vocabulary quizzes (4 points each) 8

Peer Review Two peer review workshops (1 point each) 2

e-PortfolioUploading final drafts = 2 points (1 point each)Reflections = 2 points (1point each)Peer response = 4 points (2 points each)Error logs = 2 points (1 point each)

10

Final Exam Refer to above table 30

Total 100

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Description of Exams & Assessment

Final Exam

1. Reading Comprehension The length of the final exam reading comprehension passage should be between 700-800 words, and tasks will be similar to reading tasks completed during the semester.

2. Essay WritingThe length of the essay should be from 400-450 words. Students will compose one essay on one of the topics provided. The final essay exam will be marked by another English 1 instructor, following the essay-writing draft 2 rubric.

Policies & Procedures

General Classroom Behavior Protocol:.The use of mobile telephones inside the classroom is NOT permitted.

Any student disciplinary issues which may arise will be referred to the head of the English Department. Additional information on student classroom conduct will be given to you by your course instructors.

Attendance Policy:

Students are expected to attend all classes. There are no excused absences. Even if the student produces a document which explains the reason for the student’s absence, the student is marked as absent when the student does not attend class. A student’s absence does not excuse the student for not being prepared for the next class. It is student’s responsibility to find out what he/she missed and what assignments have to be completed.

Post-Foundation courses are calculated according to a 14-week semester, i.e., 28 class sessions. According to the broader QU policy of students being barred from taking the final exam after missing 25% of classes, Post-Foundation students will be barred from any further assessments if they miss more than 7 class sessions. They will automatically receive an F-barred grade for the class. The barring notice will be sent to the student at the time of the 8th absence and duplicated to the administration office. Students will receive a warning from their instructor to their university e-mail account after missing 4 (14%) class sessions, a copy of which will be sent to the administration office.

As per the QU policy, 3 late arrivals constitute 1 absence. A student will be considered late if he or she arrives up to 10 minutes after the scheduled beginning of class. Beyond this time, the student is marked absent for the session or more after the scheduled beginning of class.

This policy is non-negotiable, and does not distinguish between excused and unexcused absences.

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Late & Missed Assignment Policy:

If a student misses a classroom activity, the student might be allowed to complete an assignment or an alternative assignment at a later date (decided by the teacher) if the student can prove that the absence was an emergency. Only police (accident) or medical reports (confirming medical emergency and issued by a state hospital) should be accepted as proof of emergency.

Written assignments should be submitted on the assigned date. Coursework must be delivered by hand. Assignments sent by e-mail will not be accepted. The late submission of written assignments will result in an academic penalty.

Work submitted for assessment after the deadline but up to 3 days (72 hours) late can achieve a maximum of total marks allocated for the assessment task, minus 2 marks. Work submitted more than 3 days (72 hours) but less than 1 week late (after deadline time and day one week later) can achieve a maximum of half marks. Work submitted more than 1 week late (after deadline time and day one weeks later) will not be assessed.

Policy for Identifying Cheating & Plagiarism:

Students are responsible for their own work and for their own actions. Cheating or plagiarism will not be tolerated. Cheating implies student’s obtaining or attempting to obtain credit for work by any dishonest or deceptive means. Cheating includes but is not limited to copying from another student’s paper or employing somebody else to complete student’s work.

Plagiarism is an event when someone uses another person’s words, ideas, or work and pretends they are their own. The teacher has the right to confront the student if the teacher has the following reasons to suspect cheating or plagiarism:

The style of the work displays sharp difference from student’s normal writing style

Vocabulary and concepts found in the student’s writing are found to be irrelevant to the content of student’s writing, are anachronisms or scholarly expressions which are not typical to this level of student’s linguistic abilities in English.

The language of the writing is of a very high quality but the piece of writing does not follow the format of the writing assignment (e.g. the pattern of cause-effect essay practiced in class).

SafeAssign program confirms that the piece of writing is copied.

Suspected plagiarism not revealed by SafeAssign can be confirmed by the following methods:

Student rewrites portion in Teacher’s presence

Student is questioned by Teacher for understanding for ideas and words

Teacher compares the work in question with ‘normal’ writing of the student

Teacher refers student’s work to a panel (the instructor & 2 English 1 colleagues)

Paper is referred to PF Program Head

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Policy for Dealing with Cheating & Plagiarism:

First Offense: The teacher will schedule a teacher-student conference, explain to the student the gravity of the offense and give the student the option to rewrite the essay. Should the student exercise the option to rewrite the essay, the highest mark that a student is eligible to receive on the rewrite is 70% of the grade. For example, if the total marks allocated to the assignment are ‘5’, the highest grade possible for a rewrite will be ‘3.5’.

Second Offense: The student’s work which is identified by the teacher as cheating or plagiarism for the second time will receive ‘0’ (zero).

Other Policies:

All English1 instructors will meet during the common hour (Tuesday, 10:00 – 10:50) during the last week of every month in order to discuss issues of common concern.

All class grades must be posted to BlackBoard within 10 days of the assignment’s submission date.

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Appendix 1: Rubrics for Evaluating Essays

The following represent the condensed rubric score sheet, and the two longer versions with proficiency scale. The same condensed score sheet is used for both draft 2 and draft 3.

Draft #2 (Written in class after peer review) Draft #3 (Final Draft – Typed) MACRO VIEW

_______/ 3 *Planning: The essay demonstrates the use of pre writing strategies – brainstorming,

clustering, bubbling, diagramming and/ or outlining.

_______/3 Purpose: The essay clearly identifies the focus of the essay -

What the controlling idea of the essay is Why the topic is important How the Student will develop the topic_______/3 *Essay Structure: The essay conforms to

the assigned genre (type – cause, effect or argumentative) and has a well developed introduction, developmental paragraphs and a conclusion.

MACRO VIEW

_______/3 Purpose: The essay clearly identifies the focus of the essay -

What the controlling idea of the essay is Why the topic is important How the Student will develop the topic

_______/3 *Essay Structure: The essay is highly coherent in the logical development and flow of ideas within paragraphs and between paragraphs.

MICRO VIEW_______/3 Language Accuracy: The essay uses highly accurate grammar, punctuation and spelling_______/3 Sentence structure/ variety: The essay uses complete sentences and has a range of sentence styles_______/3 Vocabulary and word usage: The essay

displays a sophisticated vocabulary range and exceptional facility with language.

MICRO VIEW_______/3 Language Accuracy: The essay uses highly accurate grammar, punctuation and spelling_______/3 Sentence structure/ variety: The essay

uses complete sentences and has a range of sentence styles

_______/3 Vocabulary and word usage: The essaydisplays a sophisticated vocabulary range and exceptional facility with language.

COGNITIVE VIEW______/3 Relevant evidence: The essay uses facts, examples and reasons to support

statements and provides definitions and explanations to clarify ideas

______/3 Critical/ in-depth thinking: The essay examines and analyzes the

topic, makes comparisons, predicts and/or restructures the learning in an original way.

COGNITIVE VIEW______/3 Relevant evidence: The essay uses facts, examples and reasons to support

statements and provides definitions and explanations to clarify ideas

______/3 Critical/ in-depth thinking: The essay examines and analyzes the

topic, makes comparisons, predicts and/or restructures the learning in an original way.

_______/3 *Editing: The essay has made use of comments and suggestions, where applicable, and has edited the final draft to between 400 and 450 words. The layout has applied correct formatting.

Score: ___________/ 24 marks = _____________/ 10 Score: ___________/ 24 marks = _____________/ 10

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Rubric for Draft 2

PerformanceCriteria

Proficiency Scale Score of Score of Score of Score of 2.25 - 3 1.25 – 2 0.25 - 1 0

Total Points

MACRO VIEW

1. *Planning: The pre-writing shows how ideas were generated, how ideas were grouped and how the essay organization was determined

The pre-writing shows ideas but the sequence of how the ideas originated (scope, divergent thinking) is missingClustering and outlining show organization essay organization

The pre-writing shows ideas but presents minimal documentation of where the ideas came from and how major ideas and supporting details will be organized in the essay.

Student has a first draft with no prewriting

______/ 3

2. Purpose: The essay has a well written thesis statement showing What the controlling idea of the essay is

Why the topic is importantIn addition, S shows the reader the plan of the essay: “By examining/ By analyzing the positions for and against……..

The essay has a thesis statement showing What the controlling idea of the essay is

Why the topic is important

The essay attempts a thesis statement, saying why a topic is important but is vague about the focus and direction of the paper

There is no thesis statement

______/ 3

3.*Essay Structure : The essay conforms to the assigned genre (type – cause, effect or argumentative) and has a well developed introduction, developmental paragraphs and a conclusion.

The essay corresponds to the assigned genre (type – cause, effect or argumentative) but the introduction, developmental paragraphs or conclusion may be not balanced with evidence or sufficiently developed

The essay has weak structure –Ideas are not organized into paragraphs or ideas overlap in paragraphs(redundancy) ORThere may be a three sentence intro. or conclusion.

The essay does not conform to the genre OR the essay does not conform to the proscribed structure.There may be a few poorly developed paragraphs ______/ 3

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MICRO VIEW

4. Language Accuracy: The essay uses highly accurate grammar, punctuation and spelling

The essay has several mistakes per paragraph

There are many types of errors throughout the essay; the flow is not impacted

The essay is difficult to read due to the high incidence of grammar, punctuation and spelling errors ______/ 3

5, Sentence structure/ variety

6. Vocabulary and word usage:

The essay is written in complete sentences and uses a range of sentence styles

The essay displays sophisticated vocabulary range and exceptional facility with the language.The essay is in keeping with academic writing. Formal terms and word class are used“The reports were completed” OR, “The completion of the reports ensured…..”“An examination of the causes will demonstrate X.”“It is critical to understand the how the results of this study will impact…..”

There is predominantly accurate sentence structure with attempts at a wider range –complex, compound

The essay demonstrates a good command of vocabulary. Attempts to use appropriate formal writing terms and structures Active or passive “They analyzed the findings.” “The findings were analyzed.”

The essay consists of simple sentence structure, 25% errorrate in construction

The essay struggles with appropriate vocabulary to express ideas –

Some phrasal and prepositional verbs: “carry out”, “find out”The paper uses many informal and spoken terms such as: hesitation fillers – “As we know”“You could say”Contractions –Didn’t, can’t

The essay consists of 50% or more run on sentences and/or sentence fragments

Vocabulary is very basic (beginning language learner) and repetitive-“bad, different” (i.e. “Different people have different ways of thinking and different kinds of opinions on this topic.”)

The paper mostly uses informal language and spoken terms such as: hesitation fillers – “As we know”Narrative language –“I think, Now I am going to explain, In my opinion” Contractions –Didn’t, can’t Slang – stuff

______/ 3

______/ 3

COGNITIVE VIEW

7. Relevant evidence : The essay uses a wide variety of facts, examples and reasons to support statements and provides definitions and explanations to clarify ideas

The essay uses supporting detail well to substantiate statements and claims made in the essay

There is some supporting detail, but often it is not appropriate or relevant to support a claim

There is little or weak support for ideas and statements.

______/ 3

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8. Critical/ in-depth thinking:

The essay examines and analyzes the topic, makes comparisons, predicts and/or restructures the learning in an original way.

There are attempts to examine and explain contexts at a deep level and make inferences The essay makes comparisons, linking criteria to positions

The essay makes statements without demonstrating analytic reasoningGeneralizations aremade based on assumptions Conclusions are drawn from prevailing views

The essay is primarily descriptive orsurface level thinking or does not exhibit original thought

______/ 3

Conversion Scale: 24/ 24 = 10/10 19/24 = 7.9/10 14 /24 = 5.8/10 9/24 = 3.8/10 23/24 = 9..6/10 18/24 = 7.5/10 13/24 = 5.4/10 8/24 = 3.3/10 22/24 = 9.2/10 17/24 = 7.1/10 12 /24 = 5/10 21/24 = 8.8/10 16/24 = 6.7/10 11/24 = 4.2/10 20/24 = 8.3/10 15/24 = 6.3/10 10/24 = 4.2/10

Score: _____/24

TOTAL ______/10

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Rubric for Draft 3

PerformanceCriteria

Proficiency Scale Score of Score of Score of Score of 2.25 - 3 1.25 – 2 0.25 - 1 0

Total Points

MACRO VIEW

1. Purpose The essay has a well written thesis statement showing What the controlling idea of the essay is, and Why the topic is important. In addition, S shows the reader the plan of the essay: “By examining/ By analyzing the positions for and against……..

The essay has a thesis statement showing

What the controlling idea of the essay is

Why the topic is important

The essay attempts a thesis statement, saying why a topic is important but is vague about the focus and direction of the paper

There is no thesis statement

_______/ 3

2. *Essay Structure The essay is highly coherent in the logical development and flow of ideas within paragraphs and between paragraphs.Topic sentences incorporate smooth transitions between paragraphs and changes in ideas within paragraphs use signal words.

The paragraphs are well developed and ideas unfold in logical sequence, overall. Although the basic structure is organized, occasionally information is out of place.

Some sections/ paragraphs of the essay are coherent, but other sections have weak idea development. Extraneous/ irrelevant information appears frequently.

The essay lacks cohesion within and between paragraphs. Idea development lacks logical sequence in general. The essay is predominately, “Train of thought” thinking.

_______/ 3 MICRO VIEW

3. Language Accuracy The essay uses highly accurate grammar, punctuation and spelling

The essay has several mistakes per paragraph

There are many types of errors throughout the essay; the flow is not impacted

The essay is difficult to read due to the high incidence of grammar, punctuation and spelling errors

_______/ 3

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4, Sentence structure/ variety The essay is written in

complete sentences and uses a range of sentence styles

There is predominantly accurate sentence structure with attempts at a wider range –complex, compound

The essay consists of simple sentence structure, 25% errorrate in construction

The essay consists of 50% or more run on sentences and/or sentence fragments

_______/ 3

5. Vocabulary and word usage

The essay displays a sophisticated vocabulary range and exceptional facility with the language.The essay is in keeping with academic writing. Formal terms and word class are used“The reports were completed” OR, “The completion of the reports ensured…..”“An examination of the causes will demonstrate X.”“It is critical to understand the how the results of this study will impact…..”

The essay demonstrates a good command of vocabulary. Attempts to use appropriate formal writing terms and structures Active or passive “They analyzed the findings.” “The findings were analyzed.”

The essay struggles with appropriate vocabulary to express ideas – Some phrasal and prepositional verbs: “carry out”, “find out”The paper uses many informal and spoken terms such as: hesitation fillers – “As we know”“You could say”Contractions –Didn’t, can’t

Vocabulary is very basic (beginning language learner) and repetitive-“bad, different” (i.e. “Different people have different ways of thinking and different kinds of opinions on this topic.”)The essay mostly uses informal language and spoken terms such as: hesitation fillers – “As we know”Narrative language –“I think, Now I am going to explain, In my opinion” Contractions – Didn’t, can’t Slang – stuff

_______/ 3

COGNITIVE VIEW

6. Relevant evidenceThe essay uses a wide variety of facts, examples and reasons to support statements and provides definitions and explanations to clarify ideas

The essay uses supporting detail well to substantiate statements and claims made in the essay.

There is some supporting detail, but often it is not appropriate or relevant to support a claim

There is little or weak support for ideas and statements.

_______/ 3

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7. Critical/ in-depth thinking

The essay examines and analyzes the topic, makes comparisons, predicts and/or restructures the learning in an original way.

There are attempts to examine and explain contexts at a deep level and make inferences The essay makes comparisons, linking criteria to positions

The essay makes statements without demonstrating analytic reasoningGeneralizations aremade based on assumptions Conclusions are drawn from prevailing views

The essay is primarily descriptive orsurface level thinking or does not exhibit original thought

_______/ 3

8. *EditingThe essay has made use of comments and suggestions, where applicable. The essay is typed and the layout has applied correct formatting. The essay has been edited to between 400 and 450 words.

Most comments and suggestions have been incorporated. The essay is typed, but does not meet all format requirements. The essay is at least 400 words.

Some corrections have been made, but there are recurring errors that should have been corrected. The essay is typed, but disregards major format requirements.

The essay has made little use of suggestions from peer conference or teacher conference. AND/ORThe essay is handwritten or not formatted correctly. AND/OR The essay is less than 400 words. ______/ 3

24/24 = 10/10 21/24 = 8.8/10 18/24 = 7.5 15/24 = 6.3 12/24 = 5 9/24 = 3.8 Conversion Scale: 23/24 = 9.6/10 20/24 = 8.3/10 17/24 = 7.1 14/24 = 5.8 11/24 = 4.6 8/24 = 3.3 ________/24 22/ 24 = 9.2/10 19/24 = 7.9/10 16/24 = 6.7 13/24 = 5.4 10/24 = 4.2 __________/10