| Weeks | Topics |
| 1 |
Introduction to the course
Sharing expectations, syllabus, course pack and resources
|
| 2 |
Getting the Essential Information: How to be an active reader, picking up clues in what you read
|
| 3 |
Finding the Main Idea: Looking beyond the facts, considering the author’s motive
|
| 4 |
Defining Vocabulary in Context: Dealing with unfamiliar words without a dictionary
|
| 5 |
The Difference between Fact and Opinion: Distinguishing between what an author knows and what an author believes to be true
|
| 6 |
Putting It All Together: Practice in combining the skills you’ve learned in Lessons 1–4
|
| 7 |
Start from the Beginning: Chronological Order; Working through passages that start at the beginning and finish at the end of a sequence of events
|
| 8 |
Midterm Week (tentative schedule)
|
| 9 |
Order of Importance: Using the order in the writing to determine what is most important to the author
|
| 10 |
Similarities and Differences: Compare and Contrast; Using comparisons to determine the author’s attitude
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| 11 |
Why Do Things Happen? A Look at Cause and Effect; The relationship between action and reaction
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| 12 |
Finding the Implied Main Idea: Making inferences, determining an unstated purpose
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| 13 |
Assuming Causes and Predicting Effects: Reading between the lines, implied action and reaction
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| 14 |
Emotional Versus Logical Appeals: Being aware of strong and weak arguments
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