HB5 Presentation
8/6/2019
HB 2223 Advising Presentation
Reading and Writing (ELA College Prep. Course)
What is HB 5?
- Collaboration between school districts and community college districts
- College readiness preparation opportunity
- Upon students’ successful completion, college readiness will be honored by Blinn College for a period of two years.
- Students should take a first college-level course in the relevant content area in the first full academic year of enrollment at Blinn.
What Blinn College Provides the ELA Team
- Syllabus-in MOU document-see Appendix A
- Simple final exam for grading calibration and backward course design and improvement
- Final Exam (referred to as the end of course assessment in the MOU). The ELA team will receive the following for the final:
- Prompt
- Readings
- Grading rubric
Review of MOU Content for Reading and Writing
- Appendix A Questions and Answers
- Target Students
- Recommended Prerequisites
- Course Description
- Course Goal
- SLOs
- Outline of instruction (the syllabus)
Review of MOU Grading Criteria and Scoring Rubric for Final Exam
- MOU Grading Criteria
- Grade of 70 or better is passing AY 2019-2020.
- Check recommended if the grade in the course and the grade on the final are widely varied.
- THECB recommendations for 2023: requiring the TSIA for passing.
- Final exam = 20% of the course grade; no retest or rewrite.
- Reading and writing assessments = 50% of the course grade; each assessment = 10%.
- Example: reading informed writing project requiring several readings of varied length and complexity and asking students to demonstrate analysis strategies.
- Expository text is dominant to give practice that transfers to core courses.
- Daily grades = 30% of the course grade.
- 70 = highest grade for retest or rewrite on assessments.
Sample Final Exam Discussion
- Evaluating reading skills and critical thinking
- article annotations
- annotated bibliography
- Evaluating writing and research skills and critical thinking
- Annotated bibliography
- researched argument essay
- Applying the rubric across all student work
Pathways for College-Ready Students
- Students who successfully complete the ELA college preparatory course will be able to register for any college course within a two-year waiver period.
- ENGL 1301 requires students to be college ready in both reading and writing. This course should be taken in the first full academic year of enrollment.
- HIST 1301 and other core courses require students to be college ready in reading. This course should be taken in the first full academic year of enrollment.
- *It is possible for a student to receive a high school diploma but not achieve college readiness. In this event, the student is encouraged to prep for and take the TSIA.
Materials Suggestion
- As per the MOU, the IHE does not provide materials; however, this is a list of textbooks that have been used in teaching dev. ed. courses:
- Fusion 2, Cengage
- The Bedford St. Martin’s Textbook Reader
- Common Places, 2nd ed., McGraw-Hill
Tracking
- Student success in gateway courses-Tracking is an upcoming goal
- ENGL 1301
- HIST 1301
- Other core courses
- For more information about the college preparatory course:
Contact Information
General HB5 questions
- Dual Credit Office, dualcredit@blinn.edu
Reading and writing content specific questions
- Sandra Chumchal, schumchal@blinn.edu
Final Exam Assignment for HB5
Sources for Final Exam
- Jean Twenge’s “Have Smartphones Destroyed a Generation?”, from The Atlantic
- Sherry Turkle’s “Stop Googling. Let’s Talk.”, from The New York Times
- David Brooks’ “Building Attention Span”, from The New York Times
Objective
Each student will proficiently reveal an ability to annotate, to summarize, and to produce an Annotated Bibliography. Each student will also perform a rhetorical analysis of two texts offering support via both paraphrasing and summarizing.
In Preparation
Each student may complete the following preparatory exercises and use any of the following notes, as well as the articles themselves, on the Final Exam. All preparatory work including annotated sources, should be collected by the administering instructor along with exam responses. (See note to Exam Administrator below).
- Each student should annotate all three given texts in accordance with the Final Exam prompt (i.e., for unfamiliar vocabulary, thesis and supports, rhetorical appeals and examples thereof).
- Each student should write an Annotated Bibliography of all three given sources, offering objective summaries of each author’s thesis and three primary supports. Annotated Bibliographies may end with a subjective note concerning the authors’ most successful rhetorical appeal, followed by a brief note concerning how such an appeal is revealed in the text.
Final Exam Prompt (to be completed in a single two-hour sitting)
Each student should compose a four-paragraph essay (see outline below) comparatively analyzing two of the three given texts.
- Each student must perform a rhetorical analysis of Jean Twenge’s article “Have Smartphones Destroyed a Generation?” Students should answer the question, “What is Twenge’s strongest rhetorical appeal?” Offer a minimum of two examples from the text that exemplify this appeal.
- Each student should also choose the text—Turkle or Brooks—that most compliments Twenge’s rhetorical appeal. How does the chosen essay speak to or expand upon Twenge’s strongest appeal? Offer two examples from the chosen essay that corresponds to Twenge.
Four-paragraph essay outline
- Introductory paragraph introducing two featured authors and their shared topic.
- Rhetorical analysis of Twenge’s article.
- Comparative rhetorical analysis of either Turkle or Brooks.
- Conclusion paragraph that revisits previous paragraph discussion.
Note to Exam Administrator
No part of this Final may be taken home or worked on outside of a proctored environment.
Rubric
Note: If the essay does not meet the requirements of the prompt or address the assigned topic, the essay should automatically be assigned a 0.
Organization (20 Points)
- 18-20: The reader moves through the paper effortlessly because of its effective transitions and topic sentences, strong organization, and thorough, purposeful development.
- 16-17: Its specific points are logically ordered, with appropriate transitions and topic sentences; ideas are well developed and supported with evidence.
- 14-15: It has an organizational pattern, with body paragraphs containing information that is relevant to the assignment. However, it often lacks varied transitions, clear topic sentences, and other information needed to guide the reader.
- 12-13: It has only skeletal organization—e.g., body paragraphs lack topic sentences—and minimal or superficial development.
- 0-11: It has little or no organization with a lack of logical paragraphing.
Thesis (15 Points)
- 14-15: The thesis is a complete, well-formulated sentence appearing early in the paper. It clearly states the controlling idea of the paper and projects the organization of supporting ideas to follow.
- 12-13: The thesis is a complete sentence, appearing early in the paper, which states the essay’s controlling idea.
- 11: It has a thesis, but it usually lacks specificity in language and focus. It may be insubstantial, vague, or simply too broad or general.
- 9-10: The thesis is unclear or missing; however, the idea of a thesis can be derived from fully developed body paragraphs.
- 0-8: The thesis is unclear or missing; little or no evidence can be found of a central focus.
Analysis (25 Points)
- 18-20: Analysis shows consistently careful thought, fresh insights, sophisticated analysis, and stylistic maturity.
- 16-17: Analysis demonstrates insight, detailed analysis, and a varied vocabulary.
- 14-15: Analysis is superficial or inconsistently provided.
- 12-13: Analysis is infrequent, extremely vague, and/or does not follow logically from the evidence.
- 0-11: Lack of analysis, thought, and/or purpose.
Quoting and Paraphrasing (20 Points)
- 18-20: Directly quoted and paraphrased passages are gracefully integrated into the text with correct attribution.
- 16-17: Directly quoted and paraphrased passages are smoothly integrated into the text with appropriate attribution.
- 14-15: Directly quoted and paraphrased passages are integrated into the text with attribution.
- 12-13: Direct quotations and paraphrased passages lack signal phrases or are dropped into the text without context, but still have some attribution (e.g., quotations standing alone as their own sentences, but with internal citations).
- 0-11: Lack of evidence, or direct quotations and paraphrased passages lack sufficient attribution.
Grammar (15 Points)
- 14-15: The paper is not marred by distracting mechanical and syntactic errors such as fragments, run-on sentences, subject-verb agreement problems, and incorrect or missing punctuation.
- 12-13: The paper is mostly free of distracting mechanical and syntactic errors such as subject-verb agreement problems or incorrect or missing punctuation. Serious errors, such as fragments and run-ons, rarely appear in the paper. The writer’s meaning is clear throughout the document.
- 11: The paper may have some serious mechanical and syntactic errors such as fragments, run-on sentences, subject-verb agreement problems, or incorrect punctuation. Errors may distract the reader but do not obscure the writer’s meaning.
- 9-10: It has serious mechanical and syntactic errors, including fragments, run-on sentences, subject-verb agreement problems, and incorrect or missing punctuation. These errors are distracting and interfere with the reader’s ability to understand the document.
- 0-8: It has numerous and pervasive mechanical and syntactic errors, including fragments, run-on sentences, subject-verb agreement, and incorrect or missing punctuation. These errors are very distracting and significantly interfere with the reader’s ability to understand the document.
Style (5 Points)
- 5: Word choice is marked by precision and a varied, advanced vocabulary. It is free of jargon, clichés, and empty language.
- 4: The language is clear, correct, and often thoughtful, but it lacks the candor and precision of the most memorable writing.
- 3: The language is characterized by generalities rather than precise, illustrative details.
- 2: Its style and sentence structure are awkward, non-standard, and ambiguous.
- 0-1: It has a garbled or immature style.
Points Per Category: ______ + ______ + ______ + ______ + ______ + ______ = Final Grade ______
Sample Student Work (OCR Text as Captured)
Note: The following pages include student samples and handwritten annotations. Text is presented as captured by OCR.
“Stop Googling. Let’s Talk.” (Excerpt as captured)
Opinion | Stop Googling, Let’s Talk. - The New York Times
Annotated Bibliography (Excerpt as captured)
Date: 14 May 2019
Topic: Technology
Thesis Statement: The effects of smartphones and the Internet on society.
Brooks, David. “Building Attention Span.” The New York Times. The New York Times, 30 July 2015.
The article informs readers about the effects of the internet and how the internet changes the attention span of people. The author uses ethos by using credible professionals in the article who defend that smartphones and the immediate availability of the Internet are responsible for attention spans changing. The author uses professional research to support the idea that attention spans are negatively changed by technology and can return to a more positive state when technology is limited.
Turkle, Sherry. “Stop Googling. Let’s Talk.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 26 Sept. 2015.
The author is informing the reader about how communication skills are becoming lost in a world of technology. The article uses ethos when professional experts give information about how the Internet is affecting communication. For example, the author uses research studies that was conducted for 30 years that was led by psychologist who found that the easy access of smartphones is causing people to lose empathy and imagination.
Twenge, Jean M. “Have Smartphones Destroyed a Generation?” The Atlantic, 19 Mar. 2018.
This article informs the reader about both negative and positive effects of smartphones and social media. The author gives facts from generations beginning with the Baby Boomers all the way through to Millennials and the subgroup iGen. The author talks about how the iGen generation is mainly influenced by smartphones and social media in ways that other generations were not affected. The author includes surveys to show responses of iGen teens to support the research behind the finding of the iGen generation. The article is supported by facts and data to break down the different areas of teens’ lives that have changed throughout the generations, some positive and some negative. No other generation has been affected by one single factor the way the iGens are affected by growing up in a world with smartphones and social media.
Essay (Excerpt as captured)
Date: 14 May 2019
Most of the population owns a smartphone. Two articles discuss how smartphones and social media are impacting the world. This technology has created both positive and negative effects on society. The articles, “Have Smartphones Destroyed a Generation?” by Jean Twenge and “Stop Googling. Let’s Talk.” by David Brooks show specific ways people have been affected by smartphones and social media. The articles focus on how different generations are effected by smartphones and social media, as well as, how communication and socializing have changed due to technology.
The article “Have Smartphones Destroyed a Generation?” by Jean Twenge focuses on the negative and positive effects of smartphones on the recent generations. Twenge uses facts, statistics and anecdotes in the article to provide evidence of the effects of smartphones.
In both of the articles “Have Smartphones Destroyed a Generation?” and “Stop Googling. Let’s Talk.”, the authors intend to inform the readers about the effects of the usage of technology. In the article “Stop Googling. Let’s Talk.”, the author uses more professional research to compare in-person communications with and without technology present.
Overall, smartphones and social media can affect people in every aspect of life. Smartphones can affect people in bad ways, but if people reduce the time spent on their phones, the effects can change. In other words people should reduce their time on their phones or realize the impact of using smartphones.
Handwritten Feedback (as captured)
- Solid start… Bring in more rhetorical analysis — pathos, ethos, logos; clean up formatting.
- Paper is edited well though minor errors remain.
- Sentence logic and phrasing are strong. But “logos” and “complex” sentence types only. More variety needed.
- WIP one page missing.
- This writer attempts to use some rhetorical analysis. Analysis is emerging.
- Review prompt — What is the reader’s/writer’s task.