1. The Community College of Baltimore County
ACLT 052: Integrating Reading, Writing, and Thinking for Student Success
The Community College of Baltimore County

2. Presenters Professor Sharon Hayes, Reading Faculty and Coordinator
Professor Ryan Donnelly, English Faculty
Dr. Jeanine Williams, Reading Faculty and Coordinator of Reading Acceleration Initiatives

3. Workshop Overview Introduction to ACLT 052 Skill-embedded Curriculum
Thinking-focused Pedagogy
Growth-centered Assessment
Group Activity and Gallery Walk
Discussion and Questions

4. Got Questions? Well, we have answers!
As questions arise, please make note of them on your index card.
We will answer 2-3 pertinent questions after each segment.
We have allotted plenty of time for discussion and questions at the end of the workshop.

5. Introduction to ACLT 052

6. Developmental Reading and English at CCBC
Reading 051 –5 hours (36-60)
Reading 052—4 hours (61-78)
English 051—4 hours (up to 57)
English 052—3 hours (58-89)
Reading 052/English 101 Learning Community—8 hours
English 052/101 Accelerated Course—6 hours

7. Why Rethink Developmental Reading?
Successful accelerated courses in developmental English and math
Persistence issues—compounded by multi-level sequence
Problems with placement testing
Affective issues and changing student population
Lack of skill transfer from developmental reading to credit courses
The Completion Agenda
Changes in federal aid guidelines

8. What is ACLT 052?
5-credit integrated Reading and English course focused on critical thinking
Students with the following placements are eligible to enroll in ACLT 052:
ENGL 051 and RDNG 051 ENGL 051 and RDNG 052
ENGL 052 and RDNG 051 ENGL 052 and RDNG 052
Successful students move directly to credit courses with developmental reading and English pre-requisites
A schedule design for optional periods of time/objectives.

9. ACLT 052 Student Placements
Spring 2012
68 students
23 (34%) R051/E051
35 (51%) R051/E052
4 (6%) R052/E051
5 (7%) R052/E052
1 (2%) R051/E101
Fall 2012
177 students
32 (19%) R051/E051
119 (70%) R051/E052
5 (3%) R052/E051
11 (6%) R052/E052
1 (.5%) R051/E101
1 (.5%) R052/E101
2 (1%) CEED/E051

10. Benefits of ACLT 052 Authentic college-level experience
Multiple low-risk opportunities for students to discuss, think, and write
Increases students' familiarity with academic culture by attending to the affective domain
Eliminates exit points and shortens pipeline for students
Lowers cost of developmental coursework for students
Capitalizes on the heterogeneous class environment and eliminates the mental classifications of 051 and 052
Introductory notes.

11. Skill-Embedded Curriculum

12. Guiding Principles: Curriculum
Not based on the outcomes for the existing courses
College-level tasks with an emphasis on English 101 and other 100-level credit courses
Students “practice college” instead of working on pre-college skills
Whole, complex reading instead of paragraphs
Address affective issues through course assignments and activities
Not a literature course

13. Embedded Course Reading, Writing and Thinking Skills
Academic literacy and academic discourse
The reading-writing process
Organizational patterns and rhetorical modes
Critical reading, writing, and thinking
Reader response
Using source materials
Writing and evaluating arguments
Grammar, punctuation, spelling, and usage
Audience awareness
Essay organization and development

14. Unit Plan Theme Reading Writing Readings Essay Education and Acquiring
Knowledge
Process
Main Idea and
Supporting
Details
THIEVES
Metacognition
Talk-to-the-
Text
Thesis
Support
Prewriting
Drafting
Revising
CARD
Editing
Superman and Me
The Banking
Concept of
Education
from The Narrative
of the Life of
Frederick
Douglas
I Just Wanna Be
Average
Learning to read
Educational Autobiography
Acquiring Knowledge

15. Other Units THEME READINGS ESSAYS Cultural Differences
Myth of the Latin Woman
Night Walker
Veiled Intentions
Fish Cheeks
Assimilation:
Reality or Fantasy
(synthesis)
Social Issues
The Ghetto Made Me Do It
Seeking the Roots of Violence
Is Torture Ever Justified?
Death and Justice
I-Search
(research)
Media and Technology
The Future of the Web
Society is Dead: We Have
Retreated Into the iWorld
Is Google Making Us Stupid?
The Information Revolution Will Not Be a Panacea
Society, Technology, and Our Future
(argument)

16. Materials Central Text: No Impact Man, Colin Beavan
Supplemental readings:
Newspaper and magazine articles.
Scholarly journal articles
Peer writing
Videos: food production system, “Story of Stuff,” happiness, etc.

17. Major Assignments 4 Essays (including a research project)
Weekly discussion board posts
1 Educational autobiography
1 Presentation
1 Final Portfolio

18. Unit Format Themes and Texts Reading/Writing Skills Mini-Lessons
Pre-reading/Pre-writing Activities
Independent Reading w/ Guide Questions
In-class, Post-reading Activities
Unit Exam (In-class Writing Assignment)
Essay

19. Everyday is different—“No Autopilot”
Typical Class
Quiz on homework
Small group comprehension-based activity
Quick-write on theme-related critical thinking question
Mini lesson on a timely reading/writing skill
Exam preparation— “Speed Dating”
Essay planning and drafting
Peer editing
Instructor-student conferencing
Everyday is different—“No Autopilot”

20. “We Don’t Need No Education”: The Politics of Schooling
Essential Questions—provide the larger context for critical thinking and discussion
Embedded Skills—introduce students to the “academic state of mind” and basics of academic reading and writing
Affective Issues—address lack of “student posture”, provide space to interrogate previous educational experiences, and provide an opportunity to create a new “narrative”
College-level Texts—examine various educational narratives as a springboard for self-examination
Exam and Essay—focus on “big ideas” and critical thinking

21. Embedding Skills
Brief, but explicit discussion of academic habits of mind to set the stage
Students move to immediate practice of college-level tasks via class work and homework assignments
Focusing on the big ideas of the reading selection students practice:
Activating prior knowledge
Annotation and note-taking
Finding main ideas
Questioning the text and hypothesizing
Inferences and conclusions
Basic writing/ paragraph structure
Supporting Assertions

22. Thinking-Focused Pedagogy

23. Guiding Principles: Pedagogy
 Turn our assumptions on their head or “before they can do this, they have to do this.” Start with the real academic tasks right away—not baby steps
Use a thematic approach
Use active learning techniques
Use triage to deal with student areas that need support rather than lowering the entire curriculum to sub-skills—“just in time remediation”
Have a “growth mindset” towards students and their progress
Help grow student sense of responsibility

24. The Syllabus
Scavenger Hunt
Scenarios
What happens if you and your friend “share” the answers to a homework assignment?
Your friend, Mario, asks to see your homework. He tells you that his mother was sick and he had to take her to the hospital and couldn’t do it. He promises that he’ll only ask to copy this one time if you would just help him out now. How do you respond to his request?

25. The Integration Reading Integrated Discussion of fast food and obesity
Read “Weight of Blame”
Identify the main idea and supporting details
Intervention:
Use of quotation marks?
Who is the author? Publication? Audience?
Revise main idea and supporting details
Entry 1: Free write: “fast food and obesity”
Discussion
Entry 2: If you were the editor of Restaurants and Institutions, what point would you make about eating out and obesity?
Read “Weight of Blame”
Entry 3: What was the author’s point and why do you think that?
Discussion (agreement or discrepancy between entries 2 and 3)
Small group/pairs: analyze the major point in ¶6.
Entry 4: Analyze ¶7 or ¶8.
Entry 5: What is your “take away” from this reading experience?

26. Comparison of Results Reading Integrated Main idea practice
Supporting details practice
Read carefully
No future transference or even
memory of the intervention
discussion (purpose, audience,
etc.)
Main idea practice
Supporting details practice
Read carefully
+ Author’s purpose and
audience
+ Critical thinking
+ Accountability for learning
+ Transference of concepts
(purpose, audience, etc. ) to
future discussions

27. Critical Thought Questions
The “So What?” Factor
Guide Questions
Critical Thought Questions
How did Douglas’ mistress change? 
 What role did bread play in Douglas’ reading instruction?
How did the understanding of the term abolition change Douglas?
Why did Douglas begin to envy his fellow slaves?
How did Douglas learn to write?
Why would slave owners want to ensure that their slaves were kept illiterate?
Why would the ability to read and write become so important to Douglas?   
Why did Douglas “[come] to feel that learning to read had become a curse rather than a blessing”?
Who might have been the audience for Douglass’ work?
What similarities exist between Douglas’ experience and that of Malcolm X or Sherman Alexie?

28. The Art of Revision Given a “before” and “after” model
Large group discussion
Given a “before” and “after” model
In groups, evaluate which is better and why
Share results with class
Video:
Discussion of the video
In groups, identify areas in first drafts could be rewritten for more effectiveness.

29. The Challenge of Critical Thought
How can you relate this group to this class?

30. Growth-Centered Assessment

31. Guiding Principles: Assessment
Holistic approach to assessing student work—look at content as well as grammar
Progressive approach to grading: tolerance for less than perfect work early in the semester
Provide a lot of “low-risk” opportunities to talk, think, and write before graded, higher-stakes assignments
Embrace 3 Goals:
Independently read and understand complex academic texts
Critically respond to the ideas and information in those texts
Write essays integrating ideas and information from those texts

32. Assessment Structure
Three stages
Pre-reading
Reading
Post-reading

33. Pre-Reading Free-write Watch video Class discussion
Goal: Tap into existing knowledge
Free-write
Watch video
Class discussion
Key concepts and terms

34. Pre-Reading Example: Prep for a reading on importance of biodiversity
Free-write and discussion
What is a food web? Why is it important to understand?
During discussion:
How do food webs work?
What is extinction and why is it a problem?
What would happen if a disease killed all the spiders in the world?

35. Pre-Reading
Lecture:
Reinforce concept of systems and how they function.
Reinforce “relationships” of organisms to each other.
Introduce “biodiversity” as a term.

36. Reading Goal: Guide students to facilitate comprehension. Annotations
Guiding questions
Dual-entry journals
Written responses

37. Reading Article: “Will we soon be extinct?” by Josh Clark. Annotations
Guiding Questions:
Why is nitrogen important to humans?
How do worms keep up us alive?
What will happen if species continue to die?
How much biodiversity is in your neighborhood? Count as many different kinds of life as you can (think about large animals like humans, about small ones like insects, and about bacteria, mold, and fungus as well.)

38. Post-Reading Goal: Assess comprehension and engage with concepts.
Quizzes
Response papers
Discussion
Group activity
Further research

39. Post-Reading Short Quiz: Discussion: Follow-up:
How do many advances in technology depend on nature?
Discussion:
Why is biodiversity important?
What places might have high and low levels of biodiversity?
Follow-up:
How bio-diverse is our campus?

40. Post-Reading Essay Problem:
How can we increase biodiversity on the community, national, and international level?
Make a case for biodiversity
Offer solutions for species extinction
Individual action
Collective action

41. Discussion/Essay Prompts
Integrated
Directly address content
Prompt sophisticated writing
Critical Thinking
Students should cognitively engage with content
(e.g. craft an argument)

42. Discussion/Essay Prompts
Article: “Sex Selection Should be Regulated,” by Hattie Kaufman.
 Dr. Steinburg and Dr. Caplan disagree on this issue. Explain each of their ideas, and then write an argument in which you take a side on the issue of if we should have government regulation of this issue.

43. Discussion/Essay Prompts
Article: “Will we soon be extinct?” by Josh Clark.
How can we increase biodiversity on the community, national, and international level?
Make a case for biodiversity, citing Clark’s article.
Offer solutions for species extinction.
Remember to think about individual action as well as collective action.

44. Responding to Writing Emergent skills Engaging with content
Focus on heavily…
Focus some on…
Emergent skills
Engaging with content
Gauging comprehension
Sentence complexity
Academic tone
Major grammar issues
e.g. sentence boundaries, subject-verb.

45. Responding to Writing
Incorporating quotes.
Engaging with those statements.
Drawing inferences.
“Thousands of dollars”?
How do you think Walton feels about the “low-benefit model”?
Should you introduce the paragraph material first?
Tone.
Walmart founder Sam Walton once said, "I pay low wages. I can take advantage of that. We're going to be successful, but the basis is a very low-wage, low-benefit model of employment." So what does that tell you? Well I can tell you, what I think of that statement. I think that, If Wal-Mart wants to continue making thousands of dollars per year, than Walmart should not only worry about how much money Walmart can make, but how successful Walmart employees could be, what they can learn, and employees can make more money by working full time schedules, if that’s what the employee prefers.

46. Responding to Writing The Grammar Question Triage / Just-in-time
Most urgent needs first
Assess group needs
One-on-one or brief lectures
Always practice grammar in context

47. Group Activity and Gallery Walk

48. Workshop Directions: Develop a lesson plan.
Remember integration, embedding, & critical thinking.
Use the following organizational model:
Pre-reading
Reading
Post-reading
Create group poster

49. Discussion and Questions

50. ACLT 052 Final Grades Spring 2012 27 (40%) S 33 (48%) U 1 (2%) I
5 (7%) FX
2 (3%) W
Fall 2012
101 (57%) S
45 (25%) U
1 (1%) I
23 (14%) FX
7 (3%) W

51. Pass Rates by Placements
Spring 2012
49% R051/E052
35% R051/E051
40% R052/E052
Fall 2012
60% R051/E052
50% R051/E051
82% R052/E052
60% R052/E051

52. Fall 2012 to Spring 2013 Retention Rates
Total Cohort 72%
Passing Students 83%
African Americans 72%

53. Contact Information
Dr. Jeanine L. Williams
Coordinator of Reading Acceleration Initiatives
Prof. Sharon Hayes
Prof. Ryan Donnelly