HD Level 1: English 124
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General Information
In Level 1, you will be doing two courses, English 124 and 125. This page has information about English 124.
English 124 is a short course (around 4 hours a week) about summarizing, note-taking, referencing and writing projects. The main activity is writing a report.
There is no final exam. Half the marks (50%) will come from a project. This is made up of skill development work (10%) a first draft (15%) and the final draft (25%), and another 10% will come from an oral presentation. Three reading summaries will make up 30%, and the final 10% will be from vocabulary practice quizzes which you will complete on WebCT Vista.
At the bottom of this page, there are additional activities that relate to the skills needed for success in English 124.
Note: This information is subject to change. Last updated June 2008.
English 124 Useful Documents
- An overview of the course requirements in Word and PDF
- Click here to see the calendar for English 124
- Official English 124 Course Outline (Novell logon required
- Click here for the English 124 assessment spreadsheet
Course Goals
Research work
- Carry out internet searches on various search engines and select appropriate URLS
- Summarize information from given texts
- Construct a bibliography
Report writing (Project)
- Use teacher feedback to produce a draft report
- Write a final report conforming to an accepted format
- Identify and avoid plagiarism by using software for drafts and final reports
-
Use basic APA/MPA citation conventions to credit sources.
Oral presentation
- Give an oral presentation using visual aids and deal with questions from the audience. For more information on oral presentations, click here
Vocabulary
- Learn the meaning of words from Sublists 1 and 2
- Complete 10 quizzes for sublists 1 and 2 on WebCT Vista
- Compile a log of useful new words
Coursework
| Percentage | |
| Reading Summaries (30%) | |
| Reading Summary 1 | 10% |
| Reading Summary 2 | 10% |
| Reading Summary 3 | 10% |
Project (60%) |
|
| Skill development | 10% |
| Draft project | 15% |
| Final Draft | 25% |
| Presentation | 10% |
| Vocabulary (10%) | |
| Vocabulary Quizzes | 10% |
Exact dates of classroom assessed tasks will be given to you by your teacher. Please check the calendar.
Click here for the most recent 124 assessment spreadsheet.
Reading Summaries (30%)
Being able to summarize a reading text is a key skill in English 124.
- You will have 3 readings to summarize. Each reading summary will be worth
10%.
- The reading summaries will be completed in the classroom and take 3
hours of class time. In the first hour students will be able to read the
article and discuss it. Section 1 will be completed during this hour. The
teachers will collect the papers at the end of the hour. In the 2-hour slot
the students will complete sections 2, 3 and 4.
- The criteria for marking will be made up of 3 sections:
- Summarizing the article
- Identifying the main points of the article
- Giving your opinion about the article
- You will also be assessed on the overall quality of your writing and your originality.
Click here for the most recent assessment sheet with grading criteria.
Click here for summary practice worksheets.
Click here for summary practice and samples. This page includes old information about reading summary articles, article review forms, and grading criteria, as well as the articles themselves.
Click here, for links to interactive sites suitable for summarization practice.
Vocabulary 10%
You will complete 10 quizzes on WebCT Vista. The quizzes will consist of 15 questions each. For each question you will need to select the correct word (from Sublists 1 and 2)to fill in the blank. In order to continue on to the next quiz you need to get 65 % on the quiz. Each completed quiz counts for 1% towards your overall final mark for a total of 10%.
Project 60%
The project is a major component of English 124. You will have to
- Choose a topic related to a social, scientific, engineering or business interest.
- Research further information about your topic.
- Find source articles from the library database.
- Develop a controlling idea, or thesis, for your research.
- Write an original research paper of about five paragraphs (Minimum 250 words), to develop your thesis.
- Present your research in academic style, with MLA citations and bibliography.
- Create an effective five-minute oral presentation with an accompanying slide show in PowerPoint.
Project: Skill Development - Tasks 1 to 2 (10%)
Task 1
5 percent, 4 periods
- Introduction to ILC periodicals
- Introduction to the library database
- Introduction to bibliography referencing
- Summarization practice
The students find an article in the periodicals section of ILC. They summarize the article in 150 to 200 words. They create a bibliography reference in MLA format using easybib.com or a comparable tool. Next, the students find an article on the library database and summarize it following the same criteria as with the periodical task.
Click on the task sheet links below to get the worksheets for Task 1.
Task 1 - Sheet A Word
Task 1 - Sheet B Word
Task 1 - Sheet C Word
Task 1 - Sheet D Word Part 2 of the sheet is worth 5%
Click to see a sample Task 1C
Click to see a sample Task 1D
Task 2
5 percent, 4 periods
- Introduction to college periodical database
- Introduction to inline citation
- Summarization from 3 separate sources
- Continued work on bibliography references
The students are given 3 database periodical references from the database about a specific topic (the world’s fastest car). The students find the sources on the database and download them. They use the sources to produce a report about the topic. They are to make at least 3 citations in MLA format and produce a bibliography with the references in MLA format using easybib.com or a comparable tool.
Task 2 - Sheet A Word
Task 2 - Sheet B Word Part C and D are worth 5%Click to see a sample Task 2B
Click for a correction activity highlighting common student errors in Task 2B.
Project: First Draft - Task 3 (15%)
- Planning for rough draft
- Submission a rough draft
The students decide on and record a topic for their project. They then find at least 3 suitable reference sources (at least 2 database sources, one or more others may come from the web). The students decide on a writing format for the report. The students create a rough draft between 250 and 400 words.
- The students must paraphrase rather than copy.
- There should be at least three citations and three sources listed in the bibliography.
- The sources cited in the text must match the sources included in the bibliography.
- At least two of the sources must come from the library database.
- MLA referencing requirements will be enforced.
Task 3 - Sheet A
Word
Task 3 - Sheet B
Word
Click for a supplemental sheet on developing a theme.
Project: Final Draft - Task 4 (25%)
25 percent
- Submission of final draft
The students should make improvements on the first draft based on teacher feedback. They should additionally include a cover page and 1 to 3 pictures or illustrations.
Marking sheets: Tasks 1 - 3 Final Draft
Project Oral Presentations (10%)
You will have to give a short presentation using PowerPoint based on your report. This will be 10% of the final coursework mark.
A PowerPoint on what should be in the presentation.
A PDF / Word file on how to make a PowerPoint
An PDF / Word exercise sheet on preparing a good PowerPoint
A PowerPoint on avoiding PowerPoint pitfalls (for above exercise)
A sample PowerPoint on plagiarism
A sample PowerPoint on steroids
A basic template for your PowerPoint
Current Marking Sheet
Old marking criteria for reference purposes
Please click here for information about Speaking and Oral Presentations
ADMC podcasts on presentations:
Activities and Links
Activities
- Green Cars - Four sample summaries from TJ Everest (MS Word file)
- Six articles for Critical Thinking - from Andrew
- Critical thinking article and worksheet Summary
- WebQuest for Plagiarism (Dubai Men's College)
- Plagiarism download
- Evaluation of Group Work. Students can use this to evaluate how their group worked. Good for integrated projects. From TJ Everest. Word or PDF
- Research on the web - stuff to watch for. New!
- Research exercise Revised
Summarization Practice
This is a collection of summary practice sheets that can be used in class to build up student summarization skills.
- PDF Word summarization on the Hajj and Ramadan
- PDF Word summarization on Dyslexia
- PDF Word summarization on Smoking
- PDF Word summarization review - smoking
- PDF Word review of the comment section - Smoking
- PDF Word practice expanding a report
- PDF Word practice on Junk Food
Referancing
The assignments in the project require referencing in MLA format. Helen Weston in the ILC can provide a seminar for your class on the MLA format.
- Email Helen
- Pod cast on MLA referencing
- Easybib - A webpage which creates standard MLA bibliography references
Paraphrasing
A collection of links to activities on paraphrasing can be found here.
Plagiarism
Official HCT Policy: Plagiarism is unacceptable. Copying and pasting will result in a mark of 0%. Serious case of plagiarism will result in dismissal from the college.
Click here to see the official HCT policy on cheating and plagiarism.
Visit our webpage for articles and activities about plagiarism.
- This is the final report of your project. You can run your final through Turnitin to check your work for plagiarism.
- For older information about projects, click here.
You can find examples and activities for Projects and Reports here.
N.B. Plagiarism is unacceptable. Copying and pasting will result in a mark of 0%. Serious case of plagiarism will result in dismissal from the college.
Referencing, MLA, Citation & Bibliography Links
Click here for links to referencing, MLA format, bibliography and citation
Graduate Outcomes Portfolio
The English 124 teacher will ask you to have a complete Graduate Outcomes Portfolio. This is a separate ring binder from the English binder. It will contain a list of Graduate Outcomes, which the teacher will check and sign as you achieve each one.
Click for more information about Graduate Outcomes.
Thanks to Mohammed Hassan in CRC for spotting errors with this page!
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