"Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover." - Mark Twain
Signature Form and Syllabus - Due August 14 https://docs.google.com/document/d/1m8f9OOnNjxIOUbp-3qwPhWWabFoRopxf2ZVZ3bavkcs/pub
Common Questions
What is ERWC? The California State University Expository Reading and Writing Course is aligned with California Common Core State Standards for English Language Arts and Literacy, addresses critical academic literacy challenges identified by the CSU English Placement Test Committee and ICAS and successfully prepares students to meet the academic demands of college and the technical expectations for reading and writing in the professional workplace. The course emphasizes the in-depth study of expository, analytical, informational, and argumentative reading and writing. The rich, adaptable resources, developed by a collaborative group of CSU and high school faculty and specialists, are designed to help students develop the academic literacy skills necessary for success in college and the world of work. Students who complete this course with a grade of A-C are automatically considered “college ready” by the CSU system and do not need to participate in any CSU English Language Arts placement exams and are able to begin their freshman year of college without any additional English Language Arts remedial coursework. This course is approved by the UC system as meeting their “b” English requirement.
To enable students to analyze, interpret, and apply the rhetorical strategies of a variety of expository and literary texts
To foster students’ ability to create and support written arguments based on readings, research, and personal experience
To increase students’ repertoire of cognitive and metacognitive strategies for approaching various reading and writing tasks
To promote independent academic literacy practices in college and work-bound students, including the ability to use reading and writing processes recursively and reflectively
To provide a conceptual and disciplinary focus for a wide variety of issues and problems that converge in written discourse
To prepare students to meet the standards of the CSU English Placement Test and the California English– language arts content standards
ERWC Goals
To enable students to analyze, interpret, and apply the rhetorical strategies of a variety of expository and literary texts
To foster students’ ability to create and support written arguments based on readings, research, and personal experience
ERWC Course Objectives - Students will:
Analyze the features and rhetorical devices of different types of texts and the way in which authors use those features and devices.
Analyze the way in which clarity of meaning is affected by patterns of organization, hierarchical structures, repetition of main ideas, syntax, and word choice in the text.
Analyze an author’s implicit and explicit political and/or philosophical assumptions and beliefs about a subject or topic.
Identify and assess the impact of ambiguities and complexities within the text.
Demonstrate an understanding of elements of discourse (e.g., purpose, speaker, audience, form) when completing reading and writing assignments.
Make warranted and reasonable assertions about the author’s arguments and themes by using elements of the text to defend and clarify interpretations.
Critique the validity of arguments in texts; their appeal to both friendly and hostile audiences; and the extent to which the arguments anticipate and address reader concerns and counterclaims (e.g., logos, pathos, and ethos).
Develop academic/analytical essays that are focused on a central idea, developed with information learned from assigned texts, well-organized in an appropriate and effective pattern that structures ideas in a sustained and persuasive way, and free from grammatical and mechanical errors.
Revise what they have drafted, rethinking their focus, point of view, organization, logic, and structure; improve sentence variety and style, and enhance sophistication of meaning and tone in ways that are consistent with purpose, audience, and genre.
Edit their work for clarity; for standard written English grammar, usage, and mechanics; for diction and for an appropriate level of formality to demonstrate control of grammar, diction, and paragraph and sentence structure and an understanding of English usage.
Meet all relevant California Common Core State Standards for English Language Arts and Literacy for twelfth grade.
To increase students’ repertoire of cognitive and metacognitive strategies for approaching various reading and writing tasks
To promote independent academic literacy practices in college and work-bound students, including the ability to use reading and writing processes recursively and reflectively
To provide a conceptual and disciplinary focus for a wide variety of issues and problems that converge in written discourse
To prepare students to meet the standards of the CSU English Placement Test and the California English– language arts content standard
What will I need? Please bring the following to class everyday:
A book YOU want to read brought from home or checked out from the library.
A composition notebook/ writing journal. A major focus of this course is the practice of writing. You will be using your journals to take notes, brainstorm ideas for projects and writing assignments, generate classroom discussions, respond to short reading/writing assignments, and we will be writing ALL of our formal essays in stages during class. The journals will be collected and evaluated on a regular basis and many of the points available in the class will come from these small, daily writing activities.
A pocket folder in which to keep your graded assignments, assessments (with rubrics), and progress chart. You will fill out this chart throughout the school year to track your progress in the ERWC (Activity 1 of ERWC final portfolio).