January 6th lesson

Dear students,
Today you will hand in your textbooks so that I can check your intensive reading (5 points). Please write your name and number on the inside cover of your textbook.
After that you will learn about SQ3R and do science news test 2 , which is texts 7 to 12 (8 points).
Kind regards,
Chris Elvin

December 23rd lesson

Dear students,
Today is your third portfolio homework assignment. After it has been graded in class you should upload it to the spreadsheet using the form below.

Portfolio article upload form

After that, you will learn about macro organization (2.6).

Kind regards,
Chris Elvin

December 16th lesson

Dear students,
Today you will have an AWL matching practice test (AWL 1-10) and after that you will learn about note taking. Your third portfolio homework assignment will be assessed next lesson (December 23rd) so please don’t forget to finish it and bring it to class. After it has been graded in class you should upload it to the spreadsheet using the form below.

Portfolio article upload form

Kind regards,
Chris Elvin

December 9th lesson

Dear students,
Today you will take a practice AWL matching test, AWL10. After that you will study more about logical connectors (2.3 and 2.4).
Kind regards,
Chris Elvin

December 2nd lesson

Dear students,
Today you will learn about cause and effect logical connectors and take an AWL matching test, AWL9B.
Kind regards,
Chris Elvin

November 25th lesson

Dear students,
Today you will take science news test 2 (8 points). Then you will show me your second portfolio article. It is worth nine points and will be graded holistically. In order to receive a score you should also upload your assignment to the spreadsheet below.

Portfolio article upload form

Kind regards,
Chris Elvin

November 18th lesson

Dear students,
Today you will take a science news test based on the articles which are posted weekly to the CELESE AR website. Then you will study about skinning and scanning (3.1) and after that take a practice AWL matching test, AWL9A.

Kind regards,
Chris Elvin

November 11th lesson

Dear students,
Today you will study about types of academic texts (3.2) and take another AWL matching test, AWL8B.

Kind regards,
Chris Elvin

October 28th lesson

Dear students,
Today you will take an online AWL matching practice test, AWL8A. Then you will review and practice outlining (3.3).
Kind regards,
Chris Elvin

October 21st lesson

Dear students,
Today you will learn about register (unit 2.5). Then you will show me your first portfolio article, which is worth 9 points. After your article has been graded, please also upload it to the database below.

Portfolio article upload form

Finally, you will do an online practice test, AWL 7B.

Kind regards,
Chris Elvin

October 14th lesson

Dear students,
Today you will have an academic word list online test, AWL7A, and then you will have an exercise about logical connectors. Finally, since the next lesson is the deadline for your first portfolio article, you should let me take a look at it today.
(3 points for summary, 2 for opinion, and 1 point each for in-text citation in APA, reference in APA, highlighting the AWL words in the original text, and making a dictionary of the unfamiliar words).

AWL 7A words

adaptation

adults

advocate

aid

channel

chemical

classical

comprehensive

comprise

confirmed

contrary

converted

couple

decades

definite

deny

differentiation

disposal

dynamic

eliminate

empirical

equipment

extract

file

finite

foundation

global

grade

guarantee

hierarchical

AWL 7A online practice test

Kind regards,
Chris Elvin

October 7th lesson

Dear students,
Today you will start the textbook (logical connectors) and take another online Academic Word List test (6B).

AWL 6B Words

incidence
incorporated
index
inhibition
initiatives
input
instructions
intelligence
interval
lecture
migration
minimum
ministry
motivation
neutral
nevertheless
overseas
preceding
presumption
rational
recovery
revealed
scope
subsidiary
tapes
trace
transformation
transport
underlying
utility

AWL 6B Online Practice Test

For homework you should work on your first portfolio article which is due at the end of the month, study the science news articles appearing once a week on the CELESE AR2 Trending Science News, start working on your intensive reading homework in the textbook, and continue to study the AWL word lists.

Kind regards,
Chris Elvin

September 30th lesson

Dear students,
Welcome back to Academic Reading.
Today you will review the goals and grading criteria of the course. Then you will be reminded to start your first portfolio article. After that you will take AWL 6A matching test.

abstract
accurate
acknowledge
aggregate
allocate
assign
attach
author
bond
brief
capable
cite
cooperate
discriminate
display
diverse
domain
edit
enhance
estate

AWL 6A Matching Test

For homework, please read the article about infants for your extensive reading.

Extensive reading homework

This article will be tested in January as part of your final test.

Kind regards,
Chris Elvin

July 22nd lesson

Dear students,
Today you will have an AWL gap fill test 10 points). After that, you will learn about the final test and review a previous year’s test.
Kind regards,
Chris Elvin

Test 1

July 15th lesson

Dear students,
Today you will have a science news test (8 points) and after that you will show me your intensive reading homework (pg 50-59) (5 points). Please also make sure that you uploaded your portfolio articles to the spreadsheet (see last week’s post) as I will be checking that with you today when you show me your textbook.
Kind regards,
Chris Elvin

July 8th lesson

Dear students,
Today you will learn the difference between skimming and scanning (3.4). Then you will show me your portfolio article 3 for grading (9 points, holistic marking).
Kind regards,
Chris Elvin

Portfolio article upload form

Period 3 retake test

Congratulations!

Period 3 had to take the test again as some students took the test outside the classroom!

July 1st lesson

Dear students,
Today we will check the gap fill exercise homework, learn about paraphrasing (Unit 3.5) and then have an end-of-term AWL online matching test. This test is worth 10 points and covers the sublists from 1a to 5b. After that, if you wish, I will grade your third portfolio article which will not be itemized but based mainly on the effort you put into it.

Period 3 Test

Period 4 Test

Period 5 Test

Kind regards,
Chris Elvin

June 24th lesson

Dear students,
Today you will learn about cohesive expressions from the textbook, then do an AWL matching practice test. After that you will do an AWL cloze practice test (gap fill). Finally you should work on your third portfolio article the deadline of which is July 8th.
Kind regards,
Chris Elvin

June 17th lesson

Dear students,
Today you will learn about context clues to word meaning (unit 2.4). Then you will do a practice exercise about context clues, and finally you will take AWL 5B matching test. For homework you may start your third portfolio article which is due in July. This assignment will be marked holistically rather than itemized.
Kind regards,
Chris Elvin

Portfolio article upload form

Dear students,
After your second portfolio article has been graded, please upload it to the portfolio article spreadsheet database.
Kind regards,
Chris Elvin

June 10th lesson

Dear students,
You will do three things today. First we will check the answers to last week’s print about topics and main ideas (11-20). Then you will show me your second portfolio article for grading - the deadline of which is today. (After it has been graded, you may upload it to the portfolio article spreadsheet database database). Then you will take the AWL practice test AWL 5A.
Kind regards,
Chris Elvin

June 3rd lesson

Dear students,
Today you will practice identifying topics and main ideas. Please download the prints and bring them to class.

Topics & Main Idea

Then you will start working on your second portfolio article which is due in June. Finally you will take the AWL 4B practice test.

(Period 3 students please do AWL 4A for homework).

Kind regards,
Chris Elvin

Science News Test - May 2019

Dear students,
Please click on the link below to start the test.

Science News Test - May 2019

Kind regards,
Chris Elvin

May 27th lesson

Dear students,
Today you will study about summarizing and then take the Science News 1 test online. This is worth 8 points. Please study the news stories on the CELESE website beforehand.
If there is time, you will take the AWL 4A practice test.
Kind regards,
Chris Elvin

May 20th lesson

Dear students,
Today you will study about paragraphs and then show me your first portfolio article assignment. You will receive a maximum of nine points for this assignment.

Summary (3 points)
In-text citation in APA (American Psychological Association) format (1)
Opinion (2)
Highlight the Academic Word List (AWL) words in the original article (1)
Dictionary of technical terms, abbreviations and unfamiliar words (1)
Reference in APA format (1)

After you have been assessed, please upload your assignment to the portfolio homework spreadsheet database so that your work can be analyzed digitally.

Finally, please take the practice test AWL3B during the lesson so that both your attendance and progress can be monitored.
Kind regards,
Chris Elvin

May 13th lesson

Dear students,
Today you will learn about technical terms and abbreviations. Then you will work on your portfolios. The deadline for your first article summary and opinion is May 20th, so today will be the last time for you to let me check your work. After that you will do AWL 3A matching practice test.

***
You should take these AWL online tests in class, using your real name and ID, and submit within 30 minutes so that I have a record of your attendance and progress. Your score is not important at the moment, but if you are not submitting the tests at the right time, you appear to be absent!
***

Kind regards,
Chris Elvin
P.S. Your first Science News Test will be on May 27th, so please make sure to read and understand the articles on CELESE website.

P.P.S.

Here are the results for the 2B AWL test:

May 6th lesson

Dear students,
Today you will learn about reaction statements (portfolio summaries), work on your reading portfolio in class, learn about APA formatted references, and take AWL 2B online test.
Kind regards,
Chris Elvin
PS. Please download the reference print and bring it to class.
PPS. Here are your scores from the previous lesson:

April 22nd lesson

Dear students,
Today you will learn about word types and parts (2.1), topics and main ideas (3.2), APA in-text citations , and take an AWL practice test, AWL2A.
Kind regards,
Chris Elvin

PS. Your scores from last week (missing data about which class) are below:

April 15th lesson

Dear students,
For homework you should have studied the course outline, reviewed AWL 1A, read the trending science news article on the CELESE website, and chosen a portfolio article.
Today you will study about the academic word list (Unit 2.2), take AWL practice test 1B, and start your portfolio, so please bring your article to class.
By the way, for your portfolio you may find AWL highlighters on the Internet which can save time. One example is from the EAP foundation: AWL highlighter.
Kind regards,
Chris Elvin

Waseda Academic Reading - Week 1 - April 8th 2019

Dear students,
Welcome to the course. Before we start, I would like to collect some data on you, if you don't mind.

Pre-course survey

WEEK 1

At the end of the term, there will be two assignments based on the Academic Word List; a matching exercise and a gap fill test. These tests will be based on 10 matching exercises that you will do in class. Please study these words carefully in preparation for the tests in July.

Academic Word List 1A matching practice test
(these matching tests - as practice -do not count towards your final grade)

This term you will also be required to write three science article reviews (one per month), which will be worth nine points each. For details, read the previous post.
In order to understand what you have to do, it may help if you take a look at last year's students' homework. Please study it until you are familiar with what you have to do.

Last year's AR portfolio assignment homework

Kind regards,
Chris Elvin

P.S. Here are your results from Week 1:

Welcome to Academic Reading - Spring 2019

Dear students,
Welcome to Academic Reading.
In order to succeed in this course, you should familiarize yourself with what the requirements are. Please read the course outline carefully.
Kind regards,
Chris Elvin

AR syllabus

Academic Reading 1

Spring 2019

Chris Elvin

Contact:before or after class, or email via CELESE website

Class blog: http://elvinar.blogspot.jp/

Required textbook:

Rose, R. (2016). Academic Reading in Science and Engineering Book 1. Tokyo: Waseda University.

Course Description

Welcome to Academic Reading 1. This course has been designed to help you improve your academic reading ability through study and discussion of newspaper, magazine, and journal articles of varying lengths related to important issues in science and engineering. Emphasis will be placed on developing a deep understanding of sentence and text structure, and on developing micro and macro reading skills, so that relevant information can be found quickly and effectively without the need for translation into Japanese. In particular, you will be urged to start understanding English in English. You will also be encouraged to read beyond the target texts to gain a deeper understanding of the topics covered. After completing the course, you should be familiar with a wide range of academic texts, be able to understand and apply a wide range of reading skills necessary to tackle such texts, and have an understanding of recent issues in science and engineering.

Course Goals

Goal 1: To Learn the first 300 words of the Academic Word List

Goal 2: To guess word meaning from context

Goal 3: To recognize technical word definitions

Goal 4: To understand pronouns and restatements

Goal 5: To understand logical connectors

Goal 6: To understand topics and main ideas

Goal 7: To develop fluency in comprehending academic texts: your portfolio.

Grading

a) Portfolio

Your portfolio should contain 3 articles*. Make sure to include the source and date of your article, and do not use articles that were published earlier than the date of the beginning of the semester. If you read an article from a website, please cite the URL, as well as printing it out. You should number the articles, and for each article, you should highlight all the academic words (those which appear in the Academic Word List 570). You should identify the technical and unfamiliar words and write a definition of these words, or translate them into Japanese. Finally, in your own words, you should write a one paragraph accurate summary of at least 150 words, and a reaction statement of similar length. This means that you should not copy from the original text (not one sentence, or even part of a sentence). At the end of the semester (or earlier), you will hand in your portfolio to me for final assessment. Your portfolio should be entirely your own original work, and it should not be recycled from other courses or colleagues.

* The length of the articles that you read should be over 1000 words.

* Do not recycle old articles from previous semesters or from fellow students.

* Do not use the CELESE Trending Science News articles.

* Do not use English language learning websites that provide learning support.

(You may use such sites for studying English, of course).

* Choose articles which you find interesting.

* Your portfolio should demonstrate your integrity: responsibility, respect, trust, honesty, fairness, and courage.
• Each article should include its in-text citation and its reference in APA format.

How to avoid plagiarism:

Do not copy sentences.

Do not copy sentences and change the words.

Do not copy strings of words of more than five words long.

Your summary should be in your words.

Portfolio Grading Procedure:

There will be three deadlines for grading your portfolio this semester. Please show your portfolio article to your teacher who will grade it out of 9 points. 

Highlighted academic words - 1
Dictionary of unfamiliar words - 1
Summary - 3
Opinion - 2
In-text citation - 1
Reference - 1

After that, you should upload your article to a database using the portfolio article upload form below. 

Portfolio Article Upload Form

b) Science News Quizzes

There will be two tests during the semester. These tests will be based on the linked articles that are uploaded to the CELESE website on a weekly basis.

Science News Test 1 (8 points)

Science News Test 2 (8 points)

c) Intensive Reading

Students should complete five intensive reading exercises in the textbook and show them to her teacher. (5 points)

d) Academic Word List Quizzes

There will be many practice exercises for you to master the Academic Word List. At the end of the semester, you will have two Academic Word List tests.

a)  Match Academic Word List words with their definitions. (10 points)

b)  Fill in the blanks of a text with Academic Word List words that you can choose from the list provided. (10 points)

e) Final Test

This test is prepared by CELESE department and is scheduled after our final lesson as a class. For further information, and to view previous copies of the test, please check the CELESE website. (32 points)

Evaluation and Grading Criteria

a)  Portfolio: 27%

b)  Science News Quizzes 16%

c)   Intensive Reading 5%

d)  Academic Word List Quizzes 20%

e)  Final Test: 32%

Cheating:

The maximum grade for anyone suspected of cheating will be “C”.

Please do your best, be honest and diligent, and good luck!