Course: Reading Express: ENG925R 2X15
Professor: Jessica Penner
Email: jpenner@citytech.cuny.edu / readingexpressfysp@gmail.com
Course Location: Online through Zoom
Meeting Days & Times: July 13 – 28, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday, 1:00 – 3:30 PM
Office Hours: Tuesdays and Thursdays, 4:00 – 4:30 PM (Other times are possible by appointment!)
Course Description
This course is designed to help you improve your reading comprehension so that you can become a successful college student and citizen. We will focus on developing vocabulary, determining main ideas, finding authors’ supporting ideas and details, and making inferences based on context clues. In order to accomplish the goal of developing your reading comprehension, we will read regularly, we will read a lot, we will read carefully, and we will read critically. We will work on creating effective study habits and methods in order to help you focus on achieving your academic and professional goals.
All this reading might sound like heavy lifting—and it should. Reading when unpracticed is difficult. But just like heavy lifting, reading can be made easier with practice—practice not only in reading, but also in writing, discussion and thinking. Reading, writing, discussion, and thinking are precisely what we’re here to do in FYSP Reading Express in preparation for the CUNY Reading Proficiency Exam. Not only will the coursework prepare you for the exam, but it will also strengthen your reading, writing, discussion, and thinking skills for the semesters ahead at City Tech, and for life beyond City Tech.
Course Objectives
Over the span of our ten-day course, students will:
- Learn and use vocabulary
- Practice using context clues to determine the meaning of unfamiliar words in passages
- Distinguish main ideas from supporting details in a text
- Recognize an author’s purpose in writing and the audience for whom they write
- Practice identifying an argument
- Practice meeting the demands of the vocabulary exam and the CUNY Reading Proficiency Exam
- Sit for a vocabulary exam and for the CUNY Reading Proficiency Exam
Required Course Text
- Merriam-Webster Dictionary app on your phone or a reliable paper dictionary.
Required Materials
- Since this class is fully online and I will be using Zoom for our meetings, a device (laptop or tablet) is absolutely necessary, as well as a reliable Internet connection.
- If you need a computer or tablet should fill out and submit the following survey ASAP https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/NYCCTdelivery.
- You must use your City Tech email. Directions on accessing and activating City Tech student email can be found here: https://openlab.citytech.cuny.edu/blog/help/accessing-your-city-tech-email-for-students/.
- We will be using Zoom for our meetings: https://zoom.us/signin.
- You must be signed up to use OpenLab and join the class website: https://openlab.citytech.cuny.edu/.
- Please have a course notebook, a folder or binder for course materials, and writing utensils ready to use for each class.
Course Grading, Attendance, and Participation
Grading Breakdown
Attendance/Participation 10%
Homework 20%
Daily Tests 20%
Practice Final Exam 15%
Final Exam (CUNY RPE) 35%
Description of Grading
Attendance and Participation
Attendance in all ten classes is required. There are no excused absences. Two late arrivals/early departures will count as one absence. If you have a verifiable family emergency or technological issues that might cause an absence or late arrival, email me IMMEDIATELY and we’ll talk about your situation after class.
Since this class is online, it will be run differently than an in-person class. To be considered present and a participant for this class, you must:
- be logged in to Zoom at the assigned times (if you aren’t logged in within ten minutes you’ll be considered late),
- have your cell phone turned off and put away,
- be in a private or semi-private space,
- wear earbuds if you are sharing your space with family members in order to minimize any noise, and
- use the audio and video applications on Zoom. No headshots, empty spaces, or pet pictures—I must see you! If you have personal or technological issues with this requirement, talk to me after class about it.
- If you need to use the bathroom or deal with a family member, please ask permission first. If you are gone ten minutes, you will be counted late. If you are gone for twenty minutes, you will be counted absent.
Homework
You will be assigned homework every day and it will be due at the beginning of the next class. The way you prove to me that the homework is completed is by emailing the assignment to me before class begins. Homework will be listed on the syllabus, though extra homework may be assigned and posted on the OpenLab website. Please plan on doing one to two hours of work outside of class each day.
Daily Tests
You will take a practice test most days in order to continue building the skills worked on in class and for homework. The test contents will reflect what we’ve covered that day or in previous classes.
Final Exam
The Final Exam will be given in class on 7/28. If you miss that class, you fail the exam and possibly the course. The exam contains two parts: 1) a reading passage and graphic organizer, and 2) three passages on a common theme, with multiple choice questions.
Important Information
If you have a question that comes up after class, please email me at readingexpressfysp@gmail.com. If the email arrives during the workweek, I will respond within 24 hours or less. If it’s during the weekend, I will respond within 48 hours or less. Please use my Gmail account rather than my City Tech account. I check both quite regularly, but if it comes to my City Tech account, your message may become buried under other messages—thus, my response will be slower. The Gmail account is set up for just this class, so my response will be much faster!
Accessibility Statement
City Tech is committed to supporting the educational goals of enrolled students with disabilities in the areas of enrollment, academic advisement, tutoring, assistive technologies and testing accommodations. If you have or think you may have a disability, you may be eligible for reasonable accommodations or academic adjustments as provided under applicable federal, state and city laws. You may also request services for temporary conditions or medical issues under certain circumstances. If you have questions about your eligibility or would like to seek accommodation services or academic adjustments, please contact the Center for Student Accessibility.
New York City College of Technology Policy on Academic Integrity
Students and all others who work with information, ideas, texts, images, music, inventions, and other intellectual property owe their audience and sources accuracy and honesty in using, crediting, and citing sources. As a community of intellectual and professional workers, the College recognizes its responsibility for providing instruction in information literacy and academic integrity, offering models of good practice, and responding vigilantly and appropriately to infractions of academic integrity. Accordingly, academic dishonesty is prohibited in The City University of New York and at New York City College of Technology and is punishable by penalties, including failing grades, suspension, and expulsion. The complete text of the College policy on Academic Integrity may be found in the catalog.
Withdrawal
If you have an extenuating circumstance and wish to officially withdraw, you will need the appropriate paperwork from the registrar’s office, a letter of withdrawal approval from a college counselor or major department advisor, and the appropriate department signature. English and ESL students can obtain the final signature from Lauri Aguirre, Director of First Year Programs.
