Instructors Guide

Study Skills 2017

Instructors’ Guide

Tbk: Study Skills for College English

WE: Writing Essays: From Paragraph to Essay

SOS: Speaking of Speech (1st ed.)

SCMS: Speech Communication Made Simple (2nded.)

HW: Homework OP: Optional SM: Supplementary Materials *

W: Writing R: Reading P: Presentation TS: Topic Sentence

* You can download Supplementary Materials (SM) from the “Instructors’ Page” section on our website: . To log on, you will need this year’s password.A master copy can also be found in the Study Skills File, located in the Teacher’ Room (Dokuritsu-kan). Please return materials to the file after you have finished photocopying them.

Part I: Writing and Reading: Paragraph Writing & Paraphrasing

Session 1: Goals and Structure of the Course; Importance of Outlines; Preview of the Presentation Section

➀Overall goals of the course (Tbk, pp. 4-5, 9-11)

・Go over pp. 4-5 (Guidelines, Assignments & Exams, Grading System); stress the attendance policy (Guideline #3).Note that the criteria for letter grades have been changed:

OLDNEW

A = 85 points and aboveS = 90 points and above

B = 70 – 84 pointsA = 80 – 89 points

C = 55 – 69 pointsB = 70 – 79 points

D = 54 points and belowC = 60 – 69 points

D = 59 points and below

You may want to write the new letter grade criteria on the blackboard and have your students copy them on to the blank space in the bottom section on p. 5.

Also, although this is not written in the textbook, warn your students that they would automatically get a D grade if they fail to complete either one of the three assignments (Essay, Reading and Writing Exam (= Final Exam), and Final Presentation) among the five important assignments in the box on p. 5.

・Go over the Introduction, pp. 9-11. Explain the overall goal of SS and show how it is related to the separate goals of the three sections, i.e., P, W and R. Emphasize that P, W and R are interrelated, and that "Outlines" are an important element of all three skills.

②Overall goals of the writing and reading sections (Tbk, pp.13, 49-50)

③Go over WE p. v (To the Student), Introduction (p. 3)

“Academic writing” → This is the sort of writing that university students should produce (p. v). They will “revise and rewrite” their paragraph assignment (p. 3).

④Introduction to Presentation (Tbk, p.69)

Body Language: Posture and eye contact, Tbk, pp.70-71

Practice posture [e.g. SOS, p. 8]
Practice eye contact [e.g. SOS, p.10; SCMS, p. 21 (Activity A)]

➄Self-introduction Speech (Tbk, p.72)

1-minute self-introduction speech in front of the whole class/ in small groups. See instructions in the textbook p.72. You can encourage students to listen to each other by asking them to make a list of what they learn about class members from the speeches.

⑥OP: In-class writing (or in Session 4)

10 minutes. You can suggest a topic, such as “My favorite X ...”

Notes:

There is no need to correct or grade the in-class writing. However, you could keep what the students write as “samples” for (a) checking the overall proficiency of the class and (b) detecting students with particularly poor English skills who might need extra help. In addition, when you are marking writing assignments, the writing samples can serve as a reference if you suspect that a student has committed plagiarism.

HW: Read Tbk, pp. 13-14 (Using dictionaries, E-E dictionaries), p.51 (Two rules for effective reading). Bring an E-E dictionary (electronic or paper) for Session 2.

(Remind students that they are not allowed to access on-line dictionaries (via smart phones, I-pad, etc.) when they sit for exams and that they should rather learn to use electronic dictionaries.)

Session 2: Effective Reading and Writing

①Go over Two rules for effective reading (Tbk, p.51)

Note on Rule 1 (p.51): If there is not enough time to do all of A)-C) in class, you can choose one example ('disrupt' line 12, p.35, or 'startling' line 16, p.36.) and ask the students to quickly do A).

②Effective reading in two steps (Tbk pp. 52-54); Exercise R-1

・Explain the content of p.52. Please emphasize that (1) skimming is a pre-reading activity and hence cannot replace reading and that (2) skimming lets students grasp the rough idea of the passage, which makes the reading easier.

・Exercise R-1. For Step 1(Skimming), preferably please use a stop watch (optional). Please proceed to Step 2 (Reading) only after discussing the sample answers for Q1-3. It is possible in Step 1 to tell students to read the sentence in the first paragraph, then the one in the last paragraph, and sentences in each paragraph (optional). You can have students write down the answers for the questions (please encourage them to paraphrase) or let them share the answers orally in small groups.

・Please compare the two sets of the questions to explain the natures of the information obtained in skimming and reading are different (general/specific).

・If appropriate, please use Exercise R-1A (download from the teacher’s website) and repeat the process, without detailed instruction.

Sample answers (Exercise R-1)

Q1: Public education for young children in Reggio Emilia

Q2: It is child-centered and multi-dimensional.

Q3: By discussing the “crowd project” as an example

Q4: A group of women who started a private child-care program

Q5: Children who participated in the project

Q6: It was chosen when children became interested in the story of a young girl who told them about a large crowd she saw on summer vacation.

Q7: Because they noticed that they do not know how people look from the back or side.

Q8: They made more than 50 clay sculptures of people and put them together to make a crowd.

③Dictionary use in reading, writing, and paraphrasing (Tbk pp. 13-14); Do Activity 1-4 (pp. 56-57)

(Note: if there is not enough time, move ③to a later session as a warm-up activity and give ④as HW.)

Activity 1: Explain abbreviations (V: verb, ADJ: adjective, N: noun, count /uncount noun, etc) in an E-E dictionary entry and go over the examples close (V/ADJ) and hard (ADJ) to make sure the students can locate different usages and meanings. (1) a-e and (2) a-e can be done as group work, one word assigned to each group.

Activity 2: Make sure the students choose fairly easy words they already know.

Activity 3: This can also be done as a group competition, each group writing the synonyms on the board. The group that came up with the most number of synonyms without a mistake will win.

Activity 4: Can be given as HW.

④Introduction to paraphrasing (Tbk, pp. 57-59)

(Note: if there is not enough time for this, have students skim-read pp. 57-59 and ask them the questions in the second bullet point; alternatively, ask the questions first and have students scan pp. 57-59 for the answers.)

Go over paraphrasing (Tbk, pp. 57-59).

Explain when/why paraphrasing is useful. Emphasise in particular that a good paraphrasing skill will be necessary for producing summaries (Tbk, pp.62-63; Sessions 5 and 6); avoiding plagiarism (Tbk, pp. 41-42; Session 21); and for effective communication including speaking.

Tell students that they will learn how to paraphrase and practice it in Session4.

HW: Read WE Unit 1 and Unit 2. Do #2, Unit 2 (p. 13).

(Ask students to find the explanations for the three points written at the top of p. 11, i.e., the definition of a paragraph, the parts of a paragraph, and how to identify and write topic sentences.)

Session 3: Choosing and Narrowing a topic; Brainstorming; Paragraphs and the Topic Sentence

①Go over WE Unit 1, pp. 5-8

・Do #1-5 selectively.

②Go over WE Unit 2, pp. 11-14

・"What is a paragraph?", "What makes a paragraph?", "What is a topic sentence/supporting sentences/concluding sentence?"

・Do #2, using “Switzerland” (p. 11), or any other paragraph.

③Do #4 - #6 selectively.

・Using some items from #4 / #5, point out that a good topic sentence (TS) will contain words that clearly explain the writer's idea (assertion) about the topic. e.g. Indonesia is a very interesting country to visit.

・Emphasize that a clear TS can help you to organize your writing clearly, and therefore to communicate what you want to say. A clear TS also helps you, as the reader, to follow the writer's line of thought. Point out that a TS is not always the first sentence in the paragraph.

・Do #6 selectively.

・OP: Show additional examples of good/bad topic sentences using the exercise in the SM.(See SM “Topic Sentence Exercise.”)

HW: 1) Read WE Unit 3 pp.17-19and do #6 and # 8. Find the explanations for the first two points (top of p. 17).

2) Read “How to paraphrase”, Tbk, pp. 59-61.

Session 4: Paragraph Development; Format and Structure Checklists; Paraphrasing

①Explain Format Checklist, Tbk p. 15; show “The Beginning of the University Year in Japan” in good and bad format (pp. 16-17); introduce Tips for formatting (Tbk pp. 18-19)

OP: If time, go through the passage on p.16 looking for the TS.

②Go over WE Unit 3, pp. 17-19.

・“Paragraph Development”; 3 ways; “a concluding sentence”

・Do#6 and #8.

③Go over Structure Checklist (Tbk, p. 20)

Stress the importance of S2 and S3.

④Go over How to paraphrase (Tbk, pp. 59-61).

・Go over ‘How to paraphrase’ (Tbk, pp. 59-61). Explain when/why paraphrasing is useful.

・Point out that it is not enough to change a few words and that students should aim at changing sentence patterns. At the same time they should not change the original meaning of the text.

・Tell students that they should paraphrase using the words they already know. If they do not know suitable words/expressions, they should use thesauruses to find synonyms and then E-E dictionaries to check if the words they have found are appropriate for the context.

・Do Exercise R-2 (Tbk, pp. 60-61). Go over the examples of Sentences 1-3. Tell students that if changing a whole sentence at once is difficult, they can begin with changing words and then move on to paraphrasing at phrase and sentence level.

・Ask students to paraphrase Sentences 4-7 (or a couple of them) and to compare their paraphrases with a partner/in a group. Introduce some of their paraphrases to class. See Sample Answers in SM.

・OP: Divide a class into groups. Assign one same sentence to two or more groups and let them compete in producing as many good paraphrases as possible. The paraphrases will be judged on the basis of accuracy in grammar and in meaning as well as conciseness of expression.

HW: 1) Do Ex W-1 (Tbk, pp. 21-22), paying attention to the Structure Checklist.

2) Read WE Unit 5, do #1.

Session 5: Opinion paragraphs; Spelling and Grammar Checklist; Introduction to summary writing

①Review HW (Tbk Ex W-1): See Answer Key in SM.

②Review WE Unit 5, pp. 33-35.

・Quickly review #1, esp. the role of facts in an opinion paragraph (d), and do individual/pair/group work on #4.

・Go over “Using modal auxiliaries” (p. 35).

・Point out here, or in the appropriate presentation class, the relevance of much of WE Unit 5 in the choice of a topic for the persuasive speech.

・Show some examples of opinion paragraphs in the Tbk (e.g., “The Beginning of the University in Japan,” “Honda C”) or other materials.

・OP: Do #5.

③Explain Spelling and Grammar Checklist (Tbk, p. 23) and go over common errors.

④Explain “Writing summaries” (Tbk, pp.62-63)

Go over two steps: (1) making an outline (2) writing a summary

HW: 1) Write an opinion paragraph for Session 7

・The paragraph should contain three supporting points.

・Students should follow the three checklists: Format, Structure, Spelling and Grammar. (Ignore Unity and Coherence Checklist at this point.)

・Students must type the paragraph and attach a photocopy of their completed Paragraph Writing Checklist, Tbk, p. 30. They should also refer to “Tips for Formatting with Microsoft Word 2010,” Tbk pp. 18-19.

・Give paragraphs in Tbk as models (esp. "The Beginning..." on p.16).

・Remind students to brainstorm and produce an outline before they start writing. (See SM for sample clustering and outline for “The Beginning…”, and clustering for “Hollywood movies are bad” [related to the paragraph on p. 63 in Tbk])

・Tell students to build the paragraph in English rather than translating (i.e., Translation software must not be used. See Tbk, SS Guidelines #5 and pp. 13-14. )

Notes:

・If you give a general topic/a limited choice of topics, this will reduce the possibility of plagiarism of paragraphs from other classes, or from ‘senpai’. If there is time, you could then get students to start brainstorming.

・You can also limit the patterns of TS. See SM “Opinion paragraph instructions.”

・If you have identified weak students on the basis of the writing samples, you can direct them beforehand to pay extra attention to Format, Spelling and Grammar when writing.

HW: 2) Do Ex. R-3 (1) (Tbk, p.63)

Session 6: Producing a summary; Transitions (Connectors)

①Go over Exercise R-3 (1) (Tbk, p.63)

Have the students compare their own outlines with the samples (Tbk, p.64).

②More practice (if necessary) at identifying the main idea and major supporting points and producing outlines.

Use SM or other texts from Tbk or WE.

③Intro toTransitions (Connectors): Go over WE Unit 4, p. 30, What are connectors?” Do #10.

Introduce "Transition Words and Phrases..." in Tbk pp. 25-27.

・Please note that in WE transitions are called ‘connectors’ (p. 30). Point this out to students, explaining that the term ‘transitions’ are also and perhaps more often used.

・Point out the role of transition words/phrases in a summary.

④Do Ex. R-3 (2) (Tbk, p.64)

Have the students compare their own summaries with the samples (Tbk,pp.65-66).

HW: 1) Do Ex. W-3 “London” (Tbk,p.28)

2) Read WE Unit. 11.

Session 7: Unity and Coherence

①Peer-edit and turn in opinion paragraphs. (OP: Make the peer editing the final class activity. Get the peer-reviewers to include comments about unity and coherence.)

Students pair-check and write comments/corrections in pencil on the single paragraph before collection. The evaluating student should write his/her signature at the top.

②Go over WE Unit 11.

・Explain the importance of unity in writing. Exercise #2 (pp. 80-81) can be used to teach students how to edit their own writing for unity.

・Explain the importance of coherence in writing.

・Introduce the three methods of creating coherence (cohesive devices): transitions(connectors), pronoun references, and repetition of key words. Do #6 as a class or in small groups.

③ Go over Unity and Coherence Checklist (Tbk p. 24); Do Ex. W-2 (Tbk, p.24).

④ Review various transition words and phrases in Tbk, pp. 25-27 and compare

answers to Exercise W-3 “London.”

HW: 1) Read WE Unit 6, do #3 and #4.

Session 8: Comparison/Contrast Paragraphs or Problem/Solution Paragraphs; Summary Writing

①Go over WE Unit 6 (Comparison/Contrast Paragraphs).

・Point out the difference between comparison and contrast paragraphs. Do #2 as a class.

・Introduce words and phrases that are commonly used for writing comparisons and contrasts (pp. 42-43).

・Quickly go over the answers to exercises #3 and #4 (which were assigned for homework).

・Explain the two methods for organizing a comparison / contrast paragraph (pp. 44-45). Do #6 and #7 as a class or in small groups.

OR

①Read and discuss WE Unit 7 (Problem/Solution Paragraphs).

・Quickly do #1 and #2 (p. 50) as a class.

・Using the article from a website on p. 51, explain what is involved in a problem / solution paragraph.

・Review the use of conditional structures (p. 52).

Explain how to link a solution paragraph to a problem paragraph (p. 53). Do #10 in small groups.

Notes:

Please choose one of the two types (comparison/contrast or problem/solution) and explain the chosen one in detail in class.

Please try to introduce other types of paragraphs as materials for practicing other skills such as summary writing.

②Practice writing summaries (“London” or other passages taken from the Tbk or SM)

Notes:

・It is better for students to have some practice at summarizing a long passage (of about 600 words).

・Various reading materials for summarizing are found in the SM. You may either choose to use one of these passages or look for your own material to suit your classes’ English level.

・PLEASE remind the students to avoid copying directly from the original reading passage. “Plagiarism Exercise” and “Elephants in Asia” (Problem/ Solution Passage) found in the SM can also be used to draw students’ attention to the dangers of plagiarism.

HW: 1) Summary writing exercise(s). Use SM or other texts from Tbk or WE.

Session 9: Review

①Return opinion paragraph with comments; give rewrite assignment.

・Ask students to rewrite/revise their paragraphs, correcting any mistakes [due Session 11].

・Remind the students to photocopy the checklist on p. 30 (Tbk), fill it in, and staple the original draft and the checklist to the revised, typed version of their paragraph.

・Ask the students to revise / edit their opinion paragraphs in class, paying close attention to unity and coherence.

②Summarize a passage and brainstorm your opinion. The answer can be discussed at the beginning of next class.

Notes: You can ask the students to summarize a passage and brainstorm their opinion (by making a list or using freewriting or mapping techniques). Alternatively, you can ask students to brainstorm for a written review of a book or movie (possibly the one they will use for the mid-term presentation). In this case, the first paragraph will be a summary of the book or movie, and the second (and subsequent) paragraph(s) will be their opinion.

③A brief introduction to essay writing (WE, Unit 8): What is an essay? Review the skills learned in Part I and link them to Parts II and III.

Note that in learning how to make presentations (Part II), they will build on their self- introductions (Session 1), and their ability to explain their ideas according to a logical structure (brainstorming, outlines, Structure and Unity and Coherence Checklists). In Part III, they will further expand their writing and reading skills.

④Preview of the presentation section: Tell students to decide what to bring in for the “Show and Tell” speech.

HW: 1) Rewrite opinion paragraph for Session 11.

2) Review Tbk, pp. 69-71; read Tbk, pp. 73-77.

3) OP: Give further passages for summary writing.

Part II: Presentation

Session 10: Introduction to Presentation

Introduction to effective presentation skills (Tbk, p.69)

A) Review Body Language: posture and eye contact (Tbk,pp. 70-71)

B) Body Language: Gestures and voice control, Tbk, p.73

Practice gestures [e.g. SOS, pp. 16-18; SOS, pp. 20-21; SCMS, pp. 23-24]

Practice voice control [e.g. SOS, pp. 27-33]

C) Use of prompt cards: Tbk, pp.74-75 (This may be postponed to the next session.)

D) Observing time limits: Tbk, p.77

Advise students to rehearse in order to ensure that their speeches will keep to the time limits.

E) Overcoming fear: Tbk, p.77

<Positive Image Training Activity at Home>
Tell your students to practice mind-training at home occasionally:
"With your eyes closed, imagine the following situation: You are about to make a presentation in front of your class, and you have just started your speech. You are carrying out your job quite successfully, keeping the time limit. When carrying out this activity, sit on a chair feeling relaxed, and concentrate on the activity for about one minute or so."