1. DR. SUZANNE SPOOR DR. JENNIFER DIX Introducing ALP at AACC

2. ENG 002: Learning Objectives At the conclusion of this course, students will be able to Edit writing for correct grammatical usage, punctuation, and mechanical conventions; Use appropriate diction; Use prewriting techniques to generate ideas for writing; Use outlining to organize material for a writing project; State a clear and suitable main idea for a paragraph; Provide suitable supporting ideas and evidence to develop a coherent and unified paragraph; State a clear and effective thesis for a multi-paragraph essay; Write an effective introductory paragraph for a multi-paragraph essay; Provide effective topic sentences to support the thesis and control the development of a multi-paragraph essay; Provide adequate supporting ideas and evidence to develop main body paragraphs in a multi-paragraph essay; Write an effective concluding paragraph for a multi-paragraph essay.

3. ENG 002: “Standard Schedule of Assignments” The assignments in the traditional Standard 002 are designed to become progressively more challenging. Paragraph #1: Unified, coherent, and well-developed paragraph. Paragraph #2: Comparison and/or Contrast Paragraph #3: Process Analysis Paragraph #4: Classification/Categorization Paragraph #5: Cause and Effect Paragraph #6: Persuasive Multi-Paragraph Essay

4. ENG 111: Learning Objectives After successfully completing this course, a student should be able to Use prewriting, drafting, and revising strategies to complete college- level essays and other writing projects. Write a college-level essay that has a thesis statement, effective topic sentences, an introduction and conclusion, adequate development and support, and a logical overall pattern of organization. Critically analyze poetry and short stories. Incorporate and document primary textual material according to MLA conventions. Recognize plagiarism, avoid plagiarism, and produce essays that contain no plagiarized material. Recognize and use Standard English appropriate to academic writing. Recognize and use correctly basic punctuation and grammar. Format papers according to current MLA conventions.

5. ENG 111: “Standard” Schedule of Assignments According to the “Standard” ENG 111 syllabus, assignments in ENG 111 become progressively more challenging. Paper #1:Write a fully developed, unified, and coherent paragraph supported by details, examples, and illustrations from your personal experience or reading. Paper #2: Write an essay from personal experience on a topic suggested by reading poems and stories. Paper #3: Explain the meaning of a poem or story. Paper #4: Write a comparative or contrastive analysis of the themes of two poems or two stories. Paper #5: Write a comparative and contrastive analysis of the themes of two stories or two poems. Final examination: Write a paper on the work of a major writer referencing several works by this writer.

6. Implementing ALP 002 Challenge of moving students who are underprepared into ENG 111. Necessity of improving 002 and 111 success rates. First ALP section ran in Fall 2011 Two ALP sections ran in Spring 2011

7. Dix ALP 002 Model Philosophy  Scaffolding  Flexible  Practice Grading  Assignments and their weights were not pre-determined at the beginning of the semester.  Final grades were determined by dividing points earned by the total number of points possible at the end of the semester.  Students needed to earn 70% of the possible points to pass the course with a C.

8. Schedule of 111 and 002 assignments ENG 111 students always have the option of selecting from multiple writing prompts. ENG 002 assignments were designed to help students complete the most challenging of those writing prompts. All major ENG 111 assignments have multiple due dates. ENG 002 students were asked to meet additional deadlines and to begin completing ENG 111 assignments ahead of their peers in ENG 111.

9. Sample ENG 111 Writing Prompt: Select one poem that deals with the experience of being excluded from a larger group (or society in general). Write a multiple paragraph essay that addresses ALL of the following questions: 1. In the poem that you have selected, how do issues of race, class, or culture affect the speaker’s relationship with dominant/mainstream U.S. society? On what basis has the speaker been excluded, and how does the poem portray that exclusion? 2. How does the speaker of the poem respond to this experience of exclusion? What response does the poem encourage, either directly or implicitly? 3. Given the historical context of the poem that you’ve selected, what are the advantages and disadvantages of the response that the poem encourages?

10. Sample ENG 002 Writing Prompt: Claude McKay’s poem “America” (p. 938) presents the speaker’s response to being excluded from mainstream American society. After carefully reviewing your notes from class and rereading the poem, write a paragraph that responds to the following prompt: How does the speaker of “America” characterize his relationship with America, and how does he respond to his exclusion? Your paragraph should include evidence from the poem that supports your interpretation of the speaker’s relationship with America and his response to being excluded.

11. ALP Successes One-on-one time Private conferences Scaffolding assignments Poem analyses Analyses of sample student papers

12. ALP Challenges Integrating grammar Down time Assignment completion Classroom community

13. Plans for Fall 2012 New schedule (002 following 111 on MWF) More extensive syllabus Slower pace and more practice with grammar skills More discussion of sample errors from anonymous student work New policy linking ENG 002 and 111 grades New policy requiring completion of 002 assignments in order to submit 111 assignments Increased student-to-student accountability

14. Questions? Suzanne Spoor: sjspoor@aacc.edu Jennifer Dix: jdix@aacc.edu