Assignments

**1. Weekly Listening Journal**
toc **Objective:** This assignment is designed to improve your listening and note taking skills. **Every week you will:** Listen to a 1 hour documentary or lecture Take notes during the documentary Prepare a listening summary and commentary (about 250 words in total) Discuss issues raised in the listening in class in small groups

**Listening Log Report #1 (Education)**
No Educator Left Behind "No Educator Left Behind" is the title of this lecture by Mark Federman. In it Federman contends that, as a result of the changes the internet has brought to the way students communicate and interact, universities, if they are to remain relevant, must move from the current model of education as skills centered to one that is more focused on connectivity. []

**Listening Log Report #2 (Psychology)**
TBA

**Listening Log Report #3 (Fiction)**
TBA

**Listening Log Report #4 (Business & Society)**
TBA

**2. Weekly Reading Journal**
**Objective** This assignment is designed to improve your reading, critical thinking, and vocabulary skills.

Reading Journal 1 & 2 These weeks you will: § Read the assigned article. § Prepare an academic summary and a critical commentary of the article. (about 250 words) § Complete any other sections of the assignment (offer comments, write a critique, perform language tasks, etc.) § Be prepared to discuss the article in small groups in class.

**Reading Journal 3, 4 & 5**
These weeks you will: § Locate an article on your chosen research topic (750-1000 words) § Read it carefully and analytically § Prepare a brief summary, list of new vocabulary with meanings, and a critique of the article. § Be prepared to discuss the article in small groups in class.

**3. Annotated Bibliography Assignment**

 * These readings can be used as research resources for this assignment.
 * Due week 6

**4. Twitter (microblogging)**
Objective This encourages you to read extensively, develop better vocabulary skills, and gain a better understanding of Canadian and global issues.

**Everyday** you are responsible for a) tweeting an article and write a very short comment about the article (shorter than 140 letters); b) briefly responding to 3 tweets by your classmates This means that at least you will have to read 4 short articles each day.

**5. Presentations**
**Objective** This assignment is designed to improve your speaking skills, presentation ability, and pronunciation.
 * Each student will give 3 presentations
 * You will be graded on:
 * The structure, content and organization of your presentation
 * Your critical thinking and development
 * Delivery
 * Speaking skills including pronunciation
 * Visuals (PowerPoint or Prezi)
 * Preparation including memorization of your content

1. Partner Presentations
You and a partner will **summarize** the content of a documentary film in a **10 minute presentation using PowerPoint.** You will be **penalized 5%** for every minute you are short, and you will be **asked to stop presenting at 12 minutes.** Prior to the presentation, you will **define** **8 relevant collocations** and integrate them into your presentation. After the presentation, you will **provide 5 discussion questions** for the class.

**//The following presentation can be found at://**
 * // [|http://www.cbc.ca/video/#/Shows/Doc_Zone] //**

**//1st Partner Presentations://** //Wednesday, July 20// **//1. End of Men://** //Grace, Bernard// **//2. The “F” Word: Who Wants to Be a Feminist?://** //Bonnie, Cynthia//

**//2nd Partner Presentations://** //Friday, July 22// **//1. Remote Control War://** //Richard, Vikki//, Judy **//2. Are We Digital Dummies://** //Yvonne, Jackson//

**//3rd Partners Presentations://** //Monday, July 25// **//1. Playing God with Planet Earth://** //Shane, Ziqi, Roya// **//2. Carbon Hunters://** //Cisy, Soul, Leo//

**Note: All students are responsible for watching each of the documentaries before the class in which they are presented.**

2. Canadian Current Issues Presentation
You will give a **10 minute presentation.** You will be **penalized 5%** for every minute you are short, and you will be **asked to stop presenting at 12 minutes.** In this presentation, you will present on a **current Canadian issue**. That is, you must use recent information from **within the last year**. Therefore, look in the news, newspaper, TV documentaries, recent books, recent websites, etc.
 * **Choose** from the list of topics**.**
 * 1) Health care
 * 2) Education
 * 3) Economy
 * 4) Politics
 * 5) Environment
 * 6) Arctic Sovereignty
 * 7) Long Gun Registry
 * 8) Immigration & Refugee Policy
 * 9) Natural Resources
 * 10) Canada’s role in Afghanistan
 * 11) First Nations
 * 12) Relationships with foreign countries
 * 13) Sports
 * 14) Language Policies
 * You will need to prepare a **PowerPoint Presentation**
 * **All sources of information need to be identified in APA format.**

3. Research Presentation
You will give a **15 minute** presentation. To present, you must use formal presentation format and Power Point.

**Objective**
These assignments are designed to improve both your informal and formal essay writing skills in different formats, improve your research ability, and work on accuracy in writing through editing. In-class Writing Tests Each of the 4 in-class writing tests will be given equal weighting. The total average of the 4 tests must exceed 65%.
 * Comment Paper
 * Take-home compare/contrast essay
 * Research Essay

**Objective**
Just like you will be in university, you are responsible for keeping up with and completing the assigned readings that go along with your lectures These readings are your responsibility. You must take the time to read and understand the materials as they will become an important part of your writing (assignments, in-class tests and essays). This assignment is designed to improve your § Reading skills § Note taking skills § Grammar and punctuation § Self-discipline and self-study skills § Team Communication skills **Every week you will:** o Complete the assigned readings before the workshop day. § Take notes on what you read. § **Note:** Do **//not//** complete the “Practice What You’ve Learned”, “Assignment” or “Questions on Content, Structure, and Style” sections o Complete the assigned grammar readings and exercises. § **Note:** Complete the “Practice What You’ve Learned” sections o Come to the workshop class with a good understanding of what you read and with any questions you may have. o Come to the workshop class ready to discuss with a group and complete exercises that practice what you have read. o Receive answers to the grammar exercises you have completed so you can check your answers individually. § **Note:** A common strategy used by students in university is to create study groups. University classes assign readings and exercises to practice the knowledge the students need to know. It is very effective to complete the readings and exercises individually, and then meet with a study group after you have completed the exercises or receive the answers to the exercises and help each other to figure out why the answers are correct. Remember, if you can explain why an answer is correct, you really know the material. Helping your classmates helps you to improve your skills. It’s a win-win situation. **Assigned Readings & Grammar**
 * Therefore, set up a time to meet with your group every week. If you meet at the same time every week, it will make it routine and will also help you to be self-disciplined in your self-study skills.

**Weeks 1 & 2 -Textbook Reading Workshop 1** § Readings o **Note:** Remember, do **//not//** complete the “Practice What You’ve Learned”, “Assignment” or “Questions on Content, Structure, and Style” sections § Grammar o **Note:** Remember to complete the “Practice What You’ve Learned” Sections for grammar o **Week 3 - Textbook Reading Workshop 2** § Readings o Development by Example (pages 195-200) o Development by Process Analysis (pages 209-212) o Development by Comparison and Contrast (pages 227-248) § Grammar o **Week 4 - Textbook Reading Workshop 3** § Readings o Development by Definition (pages 248-260) o Development by Division and Classification (pages 261-273) o Development by Causal Analysis (pages 274-282) § Grammar o **Week 5 - Textbook Reading Workshop 4** § Readings § Grammar
 * Chapter 1: Pre-Writing (pages 3-29)
 * Chapter 2: The Thesis Statement (pages 31-46)
 * Chapter 3: The Body Paragraphs (pages 47-79)
 * Chapter 4: The Beginnings and Endings (pages 81-93)
 * Chapter 5: Drafting and Revising – Creative Thinking, Critical Thinking (Pages 95-124)
 * Chapter 15: Writing In-Class- Steps to Writing Well Under Pressure (pages 441-447)
 * Do Parts of Speech, Sentence Components and Classifications, Errors with verbs, nouns, pronouns, adverbs and adjectives (pages 541-561)
 * Chapter 6: Effective Sentences (Pages 125-152)
 * Chapter 9:
 * Chapter 14: Writing a Paper Using Research (pages 371-389)
 * Errors in Modifying Phrases, Errors in sentences, The Period, The Question Mark, The Exclamation Point, The Comma (pages 562-579)
 * Chapter 7: Word Logic (pages 153-177)
 * Chapter 8: The Reading-Writing Connection (pages 179-191)
 * Chapter 9:
 * The Semicolon, The Colon, The Apostrophe, Quotation Marks, Parentheses, Brackets, The Dash (pages 580-592)
 * Chapter 10: Argumentation (pages 287-299)
 * Chapter 13: Writing Essays Using Multiple Strategies (Pages 357-368)
 * Chapter 14: Writing a Paper Using Research – Preparing an Annotated Bibliography (pages 391-397)
 * The Hyphen, Italics and Underlining, Ellipsis Points, The Slash, Capitalization, Abbreviations, Numbers, Spelling (pages 592-606)

This assignment is designed so DY students can get some exposure to life at York University in both academic and social settings.
**Requirements** You need to attend
 * 6 Activities
 * 2 Lecture s
 * Write a short report for each activity (about 200 words) that a) describes the activity and why you chose the activity; b) explain what language skills you practiced in the activity; and c) whether this activity has been useful in your language development.

**Possible Activities** o DY students can attend any of the following for University Life Activities § YUELI trips § YUELI clubs in the afternoons § ACSSY workshops § Any of the York University events noted in the weekly announcements **Possible Lectures**
 * These workshops will cover extra-curricular concerns (housing, life in Toronto, banking, course selection and advising appointments, etc- see afternoon calendar), and are conducted by Chinese students studying at York - some of them former DY students. Space will be limited, so sign up will be necessary.
 * You will receive more information on when and where these lectures take place when the schedule is available.