Hello everyone!  I hope your weekend is going well.

I have finished grading your Diagnostic Revisions.  They turned out very well.  If you want to see your scores, you can go to Engrade, log in, and find your scores. 

Also, I put a "Graded" copy of your Diagnostic in your Dropbox folder.  Feel free to check it. 

In addition, in your Dropbox folder, you will find a file called "500 Diagnostic Final Rubric (your name)"  I used this to determine your scores.

Enjoy the rest of your weekend and I'll see you on Tuesday when we start Summaries to avoid plagiarism!

Very nice job today in class, everyone!  I think most of you understand paraphrasing very well.  If you can, practice including paraphrased information in paragraphs and essays.  They can be very helpful.

On the right side of the screen, click on the link to Lesson 10 to review my Powerpoint presentation on tips to avoid plagiarism.

On Tuesday, we will talk about Summarizing.  Also, I will introduce a project for our Summarizing lessons we will start on October 9th.  You will have to write 3 summaries based on different sources that I will introduce to you.

Remember to send me your Diagnostic Revisions by 11:59 pm tonight!  After that, it will be considered late and it will affect your grade!

Have a nice weekend and practice putting paraphrases in your body paragraphs!

Good job in class today, everyone!  I know plagiarism is a tough subject, but you all did very well.  I'm sorry I couldn't answer all of your questions, but I will try to find the answers as soon as I can.  Please read the links in the Lesson 9 review on the upper right corner of the screen.

Remember to make corrections to your Diagnostic Revision #1 and submit it to your Dropbox folders before Thursday, September 27th.  If your paper is submitted after midnight on Thursday, it will be considered late.  Please name the file:

ESL 500 Diagnostic Revision 1 Final_(your name)

So, for example, if I submitted it, it would be "ESL 500 Diagnostic Revision 1 Final_Robert Kallister"

Thanks, and I'll see you on Thursday for part 2 of plagiarism!

BONUS!  Remember how I told you about Coldplay and Joe Satriani?  You can decide if Coldplay stole the song from him.  Listen to this:

Coldplay Vs. Joe Satriani

Hello, everyone!

Just a reminder: please do the Transition Exercise practice to help you with connectors.  This assignment won't be graded but it can help you with your paragraphs.  If you put a finished copy in your Dropbox folder, I can check it for errors and give you comments.  If you don't, it's no problem.  This exercise is just for your benefit.

Be ready tomorrow for plagiarism!

Good job in class, everyone!  Practice making paragraphs using good coherence, cohesion, and (of course) unity.  Click the link on the right for Lesson 8 review to help you remember the class, and you click this link:

Transition Practice

Please practice transitions.

Next week on Thursday, we'll start studying plagiarism.  Also, I'll give back your first drafts of your Diagnostic Revision so you can make corrections and submit a final copy of Revision #1 for a grade.

Have a good weekend!

Hello, everyone!

I graded the quizzes.  Everyone did a good job on them.  Your grades are posted to Engrade if you want to see the results.  I will give you back your paper copies on Thursday.

If you want to see the answers, click this link:

Review Quiz Answers

Next class, we will do Cohesion, Coherence, and Unity.  See you on the 20th!

Hello, everyone!  I hope your Diagnostic revisions are going well.  If you have questions about them, please e-mail me (kallist2@illinois.edu)

Tomorrow, we will have a QUIZ! Please review everything we studied from the beginning of the semester.  Click on the links on the right side of the page under Lesson Review and study these pages.

Hello, everyone!  One of the teachers in our department wants information from students in the ESL department.  Please take a few minutes to complete this survey.  Thank you!

Pragmatics Survey

Hello, everyone.  I received some news from our ESL department.  We will have several changes to the schedule.  Hopefully I can make a new calendar for you to see.

The calendar now says that we will study "Unity and Coherence" for next class.  We will change this.  Instead, we will do a review of our lessons from our previous classes and we will do a peer review of our Diagnostic revisions.  Please print them and bring them to class.

I am currently grading your Reflective Essays.  You should get them back on either Sunday or Monday.

On Thursday, we'll study Cohesion.

Good job in class today, everyone!  I think you are all doing very well with Introductions and Conclusions.  Make sure you PRACTICE them.  Use the link on the right side of this page (Lesson 5) to review the main points of today's lesson and write a few introductions and conclusions.

Next class, we will be studying Body Paragraphs.

Hello, everyone.  The Linguistics Department asked me to put this message on my website.

Writing in Academia: International GRAD Writing Groups

Do you want to know more about different aspects of US academic writing? Do you wonder about expectations for graduate level writing? Do you want to communicate more effectively with your professors? Would you like to practice US conventions of using sources?

 

Then you need Writing in Academia, free writing groups hosted by the Writers Workshop. These groups are specifically for ESL writers and will meet in 4-week sessions. Topics include understanding different kinds of writing, responding to different audiences, and effectively integrating sources.

 

In order to participate, you must attend the informational meeting on September 17 (Monday) at 4:30 p.m. to sign up and you must attend all four sessions. Students who have participated in Writing in Academia in the past are not eligible.

 

Informational Meeting:

Monday, September 17, 2012

 

International Grad Writing Group Sessions:

Monday, September 24

Monday, October 1

Monday, October 8

Monday, October 15

4:30 p.m. to 6:00 p.m.

Room 251 Undergraduate Library

Hello, everyone!  Good job in class today.  Please practice the brainstorming techniques we did in class today: Listing, Free-writing, Cluster

On the right, I added links to making essay outlines.  Read these and practice making an outline.  You can use the Outline Template.

Don't forget your assignment!  Your reflective assignment is due on Monday night before midnight.  Please upload it to your Dropbox account before then.  You have 4 days from today to finish it.

Also, go to this website:
http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/545/01/

Read about writing a thesis statement.  This will help you with your essays.

Have a nice weekend, everyone!

New assignment: Reflective Assignment 1
Please check the list to the right to see your next assignment for class!

Good job on the discussion and exercises everyone!  I hope you had a chance to understand the differences between the writing styles of your home country and the US.  Please review the cultural paragraphs and learning styles we talked about.

Next lesson, we'll talk about steps that can help you prepare for writing documents in English.