Good Morning :-)

 

This is where you come to find your English lessons for Vance's Academic Composition classes

 

Navigation:

Finding your way around this website

 

On the Front Page you'll find your current projects and assignments

At right you'll see a SIDEBAR --> 

• You can see how you compare with others in your class

• Old assignments will be moved there 

 

During the first week in this class you set up your Google account and HCT email

Then you wrote a "good" paragraph.

 

Each of these assignments has a mark.  You will find your marks in the sidebar (click on your class)

 

You wrote a paragraph about

• Why are students so sleepy in English class
• what are students interested in doing in classes
• what will keep them awake?

 

Your work will be marked 

• If you did it you can see your mark in your class link in the sidebar
• If you didn't do it yet you need to do it right away 

 

Now we're going to do more work on paragraphs. A good paragraph has

1. A topic sentence
2. supporting details
3. a conclusion

 

TO BE DONE BY NOV 3

 

Write a GOOD PARAGRAPH on the topic of ...

 

Why are students so sleepy in classes?  What can teachers do that will WAKE THEM UP and keep them interested?

 

If you are in Google Docs you can write your paragraph there

If you are not in Google Docs, you can send it by email to

vstevens@hct.ac.ae

 

Scoring:

Submitted in Google Docs or emailed from your HCT email account

Your paragraph has at least three sentences

The first sentence is a topic sentence

The second (third, etc) sentence is a supporting detail

The last sentence is a final supporting detail or a conclusion

Each sentence has a subject and verb

The subject and verb agree and are in the correct verb tense 

Grammar is essentially correct

Spelling is correct and proper nouns (names of people and institutions) are capitalized

The paragraph is indented, first words are capitalized, and full stops are used

 

 

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For the week after Eid, Nov 13-17

 

TASK 1

Find the topic sentences here

• This one is easy: http://www.studyzone.org/testprep/ela4/g/topicmainp.cfm
• This one is more difficult: http://www.monash.edu.au/lls/llonline/writing/science/paragraphs/1.2.xml

 

TASK 2

Your teacher will give you this paper exercise. 

http://www.mce.k12tn.net/reading39/paragraph_unit/lesson4.htm

• Put your name on it
• Complete practices 1 and 3
• Hand it back to your teacher

 

 

TASK 3 - Your teacher will put you in groups.  Each group writes two topic sentences and one conclusion

TITANPAD RULE #1 http://screencast.com/t/7JK588WJvw 

See some examples here: http://tinyurl.com/01nov-c 

 

Class B

Group 1 - http://tinyurl.com/13nov1b 

Group 2 - http://tinyurl.com/13nov2b 

Group 3 - http://tinyurl.com/13nov3b 

Group 4 - http://tinyurl.com/13nov4b 

 

Topic sentences

 

Study these examples of good topic sentences (in bold)

 

The topic sentence is the most important sentence in your paragraph. Carefully worded and restricted, it helps you generate and control your information. An effective topic sentence also helps readers grasp your main idea quickly. As you draft your paragraphs, pay close attention to the following three guidelines:

 

• Make sure you provide a topic sentence. . . .
• Put your topic sentence first. . . .
• Be sure your topic sentence is focused.

 

 

There are three reasons why Canada is one of the best countries in the world. First, Canada has an excellent health care system. All Canadians have access to medical services at a reasonable price. Second, Canada has a high standard of education. Students are taught by well-trained teachers and are encouraged to continue studying at university. Finally, Canada's cities are clean and efficiently managed. Canadian cities have many parks and lots of space for people to live. As a result, Canada is a desirable place to live.

 

Every Sunday, Cadets come to classes tired and sleepy because they are either tired or did not have enough sleep. This has become a problem to the instructors. However, there are reasons for this and there could be a way to solve it.

 

 

Now, here are some paragraphs that need topic sentences. In your group try and write them.

 

Passage A: Reasons for Bullying

 

(group a write a topic sentence)

Some bullies act the way they do to try and make themselves feel more important or more popular.  Other bullies are acting out or copying the ways others have treated them.  Most bullies don't realize or understand how they are hurting others.

 

The last sentence above is a example of a conclusion

 

Passage B: Ways Desert Animals Survive

 

(write a topic sentence)

For example, many desert animals are nocturnal.  They sleep during the day and come out at night to hunt.  Some desert animals don't need to drink water.  They get their water from the foods they eat. Most desert animals are small and can move quickly.

(now add a conclusion sentence)

 

 

 

 

 

 

TASK 4 - You can complete this in GoogleDocs or Word. Write it on the same document as the one above

 

This is the start of a short essay on a common problem in English classes:

 

     Every Sunday, Cadets come to classes tired and sleepy because they did not get enough sleep. This has become a problem for the instructors. There are several reasons for this. However, there could be a way to solve this problem.

 

Write two topic sentences that will start two more paragraphs.

• The first paragraph is on reasons for students being so tired in class,
• the second paragraph is about solutions to the problem.

 

Topic sentence 1

 

 

 

Topic sentence 2