Hi! Welcome to English 162: Developmental Reading! This blog is designed to be the central information hub for the course. Come here for your syllabus, course handouts, and assignment details and deadlines. Below you will see a section titled “Essential Course Documents,” where you’ll find the syllabus and other key documents.
Scroll down a little more and you’ll see our course schedule, arranged by date. Please note that the date above each reading/writing assignment is the due date. If something is underlined on the blog, that means you should be able to click on it and open a link.
If you ever have questions about something on the blog (or if a link is broken), please email me at jhurley@ohlone.edu. The course schedule shouldn’t change much, but in the event that I have to revise an assignment or a deadline, those changes will appear on the blog. Thus, it’s a good idea to check the blog regularly so that you always know what’s going on in the course. If you have the blog bookmarked on your phone or computer, be sure to refresh the page so that you are accessing the most recent version.
Essential Course Documents
NEW! Essay #3: The Workers Who Make Our Stuff
Guiding question for the course: What does it mean to be a college reader? How does a college reader approach challenging readings?
Unit 1: Educational Autobiography
Guiding question for this unit: What has your educational journey been like so far? What do you want from education in the future?
WEEK 1
In-Class Activities for Monday, Aug. 26
“Fake” Reading Versus Real Reading: Read “A Mardsan for Gilbrater”
Pre-Reading Activity for “Brainology”:
Freewrite in response to 20-minute clip from Reading Between the Lives
Due Wednesday, Aug. 28
Read Course Syllabus
Read “Brainology” (handed out in class)
WEEK 2
Monday, Sept. 2
Labor Day Holiday: No Class! Enjoy your break!
Due Wednesday, Sept. 4
Read “The Seven-Lesson Schoolteacher” by John Taylor Gatto (handed out in class)
Post your first Lab Assignment (Introduction) to Blackboard by Sunday, Sept. 9, by 11:59pm
WEEK 3
Due Monday, Sept. 9
Turn in Essay #1: Educational Autobiography
Go to Blackboard and get started on the Week 3 lesson (in the Content section).
Read “Superman and Me” (please open and print this document)
Due Wednesday, Sept. 11
Read “Gifted Hands” (please open and print this document)
Post your Lab Week 3 Assignment (Reading Readers’ Autobiographies) to Blackboard by Sunday, Sept. 15, by 11:59pm
Unit 2: Texting While Driving
Guiding Question: What sort of laws about texting and driving make us safer on the roads?
WEEK 4
Due Monday, Sept. 16
From the green packet, read “Study: Texting While Driving Now Leading Cause of Death for Teen Drivers,” “Take the Pledge: Texting and Driving, It Can Wait,” and “Massachusetts Teen Sentenced to Prison for Texting While Driving” (pages 1-6)
Due Wednesday, Sept. 18
From the green packet, read “Texting While Driving: How Dangerous Is It?” (pages 7-9)
Read the assignment sheet for Essay #2 so that you know what we are working up to.
Complete your Lab Week 4 Assignment (Reading Survey) on Blackboard by Sunday, Sept. 22, by 11:59pm
WEEK 5
Due Monday, Sept. 23
Look at the various state laws regarding distracted driving here
From the green packet, read “Texting While Driving Ban Is Hard to Enforce, Police Officers Say,” “Editorial: Cellphone Ban Isn’t the Way to Fix Distracted Driving,” and “Do Texting Bans Really Prevent Fatal Accidents?” (pages 10-17)
Due Wednesday, Sept. 25
From the green packet, read “How to Fix America’s Horrendous Texting While Driving Problem” and “Even Hands-Free Texting While Driving Is Dangerous (pages 21-26)
Post your Lab Week 5 Assignment (Reading Autobiography) on Blackboard by Sunday, Sept. 29, by 11:59pm
WEEK 6
Due Monday, Sept. 30
Read the last article from your green packet (pages 27-34)
Complete Brainstorming Activity for Essay #2 and start working on your draft
Due Wednesday, Oct. 2
Prepare for a open-book, open-note reading quiz on all the articles on texting and driving. To study, review all the readings in the green packet. Mark and highlight important passages and identify the different types of support.
If you have not yet done so, complete Brainstorming Activity for Essay #2 (please type)
Post your Lab Week 6 Assignment (Responses to Peers’ Autobiographies) on Blackboard by Sunday, Oct. 6, by 11:59pm
Unit 3: The Workers Who Make Our Stuff
Guiding Question: Is it OK to buy consumer products made under difficult or unsafe working conditions?
WEEK 7
Due Monday, Oct. 7
2-page draft of Essay #2 due (typed, double spaced, and stapled)
Closet investigation:
Go to your closet and choose ten items at random. Look at the labels to see where these products were made. Write down your results. You don’t need to type this.
Due Wednesday, Oct. 9
Essay #2 due (typed, double spaced, and stapled)
From the blue packet, read “Apple’s Efforts Fail to End Gruelling Conditions at Foxconn Factories” (pages 1-2)
Post your Lab Week 7 Assignment (Book Choices) on Blackboard by Sunday, Oct. 13, by 11:59pm
WEEK 8
Due Monday, Oct. 14
From the blue packet, read “Scores Dead in Bangladesh Building Collapse,” “Bangladesh Collapse: The Garment Workers Who Survived” (pages 3-10)
Due Wednesday, Oct. 16
From the blue packet, read “Paychecks Trump Danger for Bangladesh Women” (pages 11-16)
Post your Lab Week 8 Assignment (Final Book Choice) on Blackboard by Sunday, Oct. 20, by 11:59pm
WEEK 9
Due Monday, Oct. 21
From the blue packet, read the excerpt from Factory Girls: From Village to City in a Changing China (pages 17-25)
Vocabulary Quiz #2 will be today
Due Wednesday, Oct. 23
No class today!
Start ahead on the reading for next week.
Post your Lab Week 9 Assignment (Response) on Blackboard by Sunday, Oct. 27, by 11:59pm
WEEK 10
Due Monday, Oct. 28
Revisions of Texting Essay due. Please highlight any additions you made to your essay, and staple the new version on top of the old version.
From the blue packet, read “How Clothing Has Become Faster, More Disposable—and Most of All, Cheap” and “The Salvation Army Probably Can’t Use Your Clothes”
Due Wednesday, Oct. 30
From the blue packet, read “The Ethical Puzzle of Sweatshops” (pages 35-37)
Bring in a draft of Essay #3 ((2 typed, double spaced pages minimum)
Post your Lab Week 10 Assignment (Setting and POV) on Blackboard by Sunday, Nov. 3, by 11:59pm
Unit 4: Case Study of Fact Vs. Opinion
Guiding Question: What are the facts about what happened to Pat Tillman?
WEEK 11
Due Monday, Nov. 4
Essay #3 due (typed, double spaced, and stapled)
From the pink packet, read “A Heroic Life” and “Pat Tillman Is Not a Hero” (pages 1-7)
You do not have to complete the exercises in the packet. We will work on them in class.
Due Wednesday, Nov. 6
From the pink packet, read “Tillman’s Parents Are Critical of Army”
You do not have to complete the exercises in the packet. We will work on them in class.
Due to the Veteran’s Day Holiday, Lab Week 11 Assignment (Character Analysis) will not be due until Wednesday, Nov. 13 by 11:59pm
WEEK 12
Monday, Nov. 11
Veterans’ Day: No Class! Enjoy your break.
Don’t forget! Vocab Quiz will be on Wednesday! Start studying now!
Due Wednesday, Nov. 13
From the pink packet, read “Investigation Reveals New Tillman Questions” (pages 14-19)
Vocabulary Quiz #2 will be today
Reminder: Lab Week 11 Assignment (Character Analysis) will be due Wednesday, Nov. 13 by 11:59pm
Post your Lab Week 12 Assignment (Theme) on Blackboard by Monday, Nov. 18, by 11:59pm (I gave you an extra day due to the previous lab deadline being pushed back.)
NOTE: Thursday, Nov. 14 is the last day to drop the class with a W grade.
WEEK 13
Monday, Nov. 18
Read assignment sheet for Essay #4
In class we will watch the movie “The Tillman Story”
Wednesday, Nov. 20
No class today. Start working on your essay and complete the Show Vs. Tell activity to bring to class on Monday.
Post your Lab Week 13 Assignment (Response) on Blackboard by Sunday, Nov. 24, by 11:59pm
WEEK 14
Due Monday, Nov. 25
2-page typed draft of Essay #4 due
Please go online early this week and complete your final Lab Assignment (Week 14: Book Presentations).
Due Wednesday, Nov. 27
Essay #4 due
Book presentations begin! Anyone who wants to get it over with can present today.
Also, please bring the book you are reading for lab today. If we have time, I will give you some open reading time.
WEEK 15
Due Monday, Dec. 2
Book Presentations, Last Names A-M
Due Wednesday, Dec. 4
Last Day of Class!
Book Presentations, Last Names N-Z
The Final Exam will take place on Monday, December 9, from 9:30-11:30am in our usual classroom. Please plan to be there.
English 162 