Description and Implications of Learning Context
The learning environment for my English 101 Primer lesson is a four-year college classroom. The students will be undergraduate students and most will be taking the course as their first required general education course (not an elective). Advisors usually recommend that students take ENG 101 their first semester of freshman year so it is often one of the first classes, if not the first, that students walk into on their first day. One important implication of this is that the English 101 teacher will make an impression on the students about what college will be like. It is important for them to not give the impression that college is easy, nor give an impression that it is too hard. The students should be warned that teachers will not guide them through learning as much as is done in high school and that the materials will be provided, but that much of learning is often up to them. They must be left with the impression that it is important and beneficial to do the reading, research, or writing assigned in a conscientious manner.
A second aspect of the learning environment besides it being new for the students to be learning at the college level will be that it will be a diverse environment. Instead of having students who are mainly all from one hometown as in most high schools in Maine, the students will be surrounded with different types of classmates from different areas and with different educational and personal backgrounds. The implication of this is that it will be able to be used to our advantage in creating interesting writing and class examples. Because the students are not familiar with each other it will be important for them to get to know each other in order to feel comfortable working together. Also, the students who have a longer background in grammar and who are better writers will be able to help those who are not as successful. The material learned will be applied throughout the students’ college careers as well as in the workforce after they graduate.
Performance-Based Objectives
After the one-hour lesson, students in the introductory session of English 101 should be able to:
·Identify the correct word in a written context when given a choice of the correct word and common mistakes for each item taught in the lesson.
·Explain the reasoning behind the correction in each particular case.
The performance conditions for meeting these objectives will be defined as 90 percent accuracy for the questions and 80 percent accuracy for the explanations. Students will be allowed to refer to the course handouts if necessary in consideration of the fact that they will have these materials available while writing their papers; however, they will not be allowed to work together. They will have 15 minutes to complete the assessment, and will also be given a bonus worksheet. Whoever can correct the most mistakes (or as many people find all of them) will be given 5 bonus points that can be used on any paper. Students who finish early can start working on the bonus worksheet.
Assessment
Follow the instructions for each section. After choosing your answer, write the reason for the answer on the numbered sheet provided. Be as specific as possible. Please do not help your neighbor but you may look at the handouts as necessary. If you’re not sure, try to make a guess and then check whether or not you are right before writing down your answer.
For questions one through ten, please circle the correct word to fill in the blank and make the sentence grammatically correct.
1.The students handed in _________ homework on time.
a.they’re
b.their
c.there
2.I never would _________ gone to your room if I knew Charlotte was going to be there.
a.of
b.have
3.We were planning on going to the film festival on Saturday __ however, Jaime was sick and we ended up staying home.
a.Comma ( , )
b.Colon ( : )
c.Semicolon ( ; )
d.No punctuation needed
4.I would have _________ the exam today, but there was no proctor there when I arrived!
a.took
b.taken
5.If I _________ you were coming to the game, I would have saved you a seat.
a.would have known
b.had known
6.I’m not telling _________ I don’t know where I live. I don’t want unexpected visitors at all hours of the night.
a.anybody
b.nobody
c.you people
7.Lets _________ twizzlers to the movies tomorrow. They’re my favorite.
a.bring
b.take
8.There are no secrets between you and _________
a.I
b.me
9.Jerry, Tito, Suzanne and _________ went to see the movie on opening night.
a.I
b.me
10. Your tastes in music are different _________ mine
a.from
b.than
For questions eleven though twenty-one, fill in the blanks with the words listed. Some may be used more than once; some not at all.
11. Were, We’re, Where
_________ are you going? _________ going _________ you _________ yesterday.
12. Your, You’re
_________ shoes are untied – _________ walking around with _________ shoes untied?!
13. Their, They’re, There
The students rushed to get _________ so they could hand in _________ homework on time. _________ late, the teacher exclaimed. They’d better get _________ priorities straight or _________ never going to make it here.
14. Too, To, Two
“_________ of us are going _________ the concert”
“Can I come _________.? I want _________ see the guitar player: he is _________ good to miss.
“I think so _________.”
15. Than, Then
You are better at chess _________ I am, but I remember when you first learned. I was better _________.
16. Accept, Except
Everyone _________ me got two slices of pie and now there’s none left. Its un_________able.
17. Affect, Effect
Do you think your injury is going to _________ your game tonight?
Do you think late-night partying will have an _________ on your mental state the next morning?
Our efforts on the student committee have _________ed an important change in university policy.
18. Conscious, Conscience
I can’t cheat on the exam because my _________ tells me not to. Besides, I’ve made a _________ decision to earn my grades. Plus, if the teacher found out I might be knocked un_________.
19. It’s, Its
I hear _________ going to be sunny tomorrow. If you’re coming in your convertible can you put _________ top down. I love the feeling of the wind blowing in my hair – _________ the best.
20. Buy/by/bye
You should know better _________ now that I always _________ Kleenex. They sell them at the store _________the Johnsons. Go ahead and get them. _________ now.
21. Who’s / Whose
_________ going to tell me _________ cell phone is ringing?
For questions twenty-two and twenty-three, add the proper punctuation and capital or lower-case letters where the text is underlined.
22.
_he whole class was fuming_ the students books were on backorder and wouldn’t arrive until the second week of class_
23.
_he teacher was upset because the students paper was clearly plagiarized he text was copied verbatim
Answer Key
1.b
2.b
3.c.
4.b
5.b
6.a
7.b
8.b
9.a
10.a
11.Where, we’re, where were
12.Your, you’re, your
13.there, their, They’re, their, they’re
14.Two, to, too, to, too, too
15.than, then
16.except, accept
17.affect, effect, effect
18.conscience, conscious, conscious
19.it’s, its, it’s
20.by, buy, by, bye
21.Who’s, whose
22.The whole class was fuming: the students’ books were on backorder and wouldn’t arrive until the second week of class.
23.The teacher was upset because the student’s paper was clearly plagiarized – the text was copied verbatim.
