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Spring 2016 Writing Syllabus
Spring 2016 Writing Syllabus
Tuesday, February 9
Week 2
Friday, February 12
Wednesday, February 17
Final exam
Friday, April 22
Week 10
Course Description
The Intermediate Writing course is designed to help students write connected texts on a range
of familiar subjects within their fields of interest. Students will practice writing simple,
effective, and well-organized texts. They will also learn how to review and edit their own
texts as well as their classmates work.
Course Objectives: This course will help students
Write simple, effective, and well-organized texts on familiar topics.
Gain more control over academic writing norms.
Practice the different steps of the writing process, i.e., prewriting, drafting, revising,
and editing.
Identify topic sentence and supporting details in various pieces of writing
Engage in critical thinking and collaborative learning via peer-review and peer-editing
activities.
Course Materials
There are no required textbooks for this course. We will be using a variety of material from
different sources. I will provide you with photocopies that you will use in class and for
homework purposes.
CLP
We will supplement the course with grammatical activities from a book entitled Essential
Grammar in Use (Third edition) by Raymond Murphy. You will receive photocopies
whenever we are working on grammar. However, I strongly recommend that you buy one.
You can buy it cheaper online at Amazon.com or Barnes&Noble.com.
Course Requirements
Midterm Portofolio: 30%
Final Exam Portofolio: 30%
Attendance and Participation: 20%
Homework: 20%
Over the course of the Spring term, students will complete six assignments that will be
graded and that work towards the completion of the course portfolio. The assignments are
designed to be drafts that will receive feedback from their peers as well as from the teacher.
NB: Please, print out each assignment and bring two copies in class.
If you cannot attend class on the assignment due date, please email me your assignment
before the deadline so that you get feedback on it.
In addition to the graded assignments, students will be given homework on a regular basis.
Although homework tasks do not count towards the completion of the portfolio, students are
required to do their homework before coming to class. Failure to comply with this
requirement will negatively affect your grade.
Plagiarism Policy
Columbia University promotes intellectual probity. Copying from printed material or from
the Internet is forbidden. Students who are proven guilty of plagiarism will be reported to the
CLP office and will be penalized.
Attendance Policy
If a student misses 3 or more classes, s/he cannot pass the course.
If the student is late for 5 or more classes, s/he cannot pass the course.
Grading
A+/B+/C+/-
Excellent
A+ 97 100%
A 94 96%
A- 90 93%
Good
B+ 87 89%
B 84 86%
B- 80 83%
Satisfactory
C+ 77 79%
C 73 76%
C- 70 72%
(pass)
Fail/Repeat
Poor (no pass)
69% or Below
D 63 66%
D- 60 62%
W
Withdrawal (With permission from the teacher and the Director, the
student withdrew from the course due to extenuating circumstances)
CLP
Approximate Schedule
Week
Week 1
Feb 9 - 11
Language focus
Simple, compound, &
complex sentences
Conjunctions:
FANBOY
(for,and,nor,but,or,yet)
Writing strategies
Identifying learners
needs (N. Analysis)
Exploring potential topics
for writing
Prewriting techniques:
Clustering, spidergram,
Week 2
Feb 16 -18
Paragraph structure
Topic sentence +
supporting sentences
Cohesive devices
Week 3
Feb 23 - 25
Online
communication
--Email writing
Week 4
Mar 1 - 3
From paragraph to
essay writing.
5
Mar 8 - 10
Rewriting: saying it in
another!
Editing: Punctuation
& Capitalization
Assignments
Assignment 1
Assignment 2
Assignment 3
Midterm
portfolio due on
3/10/2016
English rhetoric
--From reading to
writing: The
argumentative essay
Assignment 4
Week 7
Mar 29 - 31
English rhetoric
--From Reading to
Writing: The issue
essay
Assignment 5
CLP
Week 8
Apr 5 - 7
Completing a resume
Cover letter format &
content
Week 9
Apr 12 - 14
Academic writing
Citing an author
Writing references
Academic vocabulary
Assignment 6
Week 10
Apr 19 - 21
In class
presentations
CLP
and the instructor, students and instructors should consult the Program Director. If an
additional appeal is needed, it may be taken to the Provost
Sexual Harassment and Violence Reporting: Teachers College is committed to
maintaining a safe environment for students. Because of this commitment and because of
federal and state regulations, we must advise you that if you tell any of your instructors about
sexual harassment or gender-based misconduct involving a member of the campus
community, your instructor is required to report this information to the Title IX Coordinator,
Janice Robinson. She will treat this information as private, but will need to follow up with
you and possibly look into the matter. The Ombuds officer for Gender-Based Misconduct is a
confidential resource available for students, staff, and faculty. Gender-based misconduct
includes sexual assault, stalking, sexual harassment, dating violence, domestic violence,
sexual exploitation, and gender-based harassment. For more information, see
http://sexualrespect.columbia.edu/gender-based-misconduct-policy-students.