Rikkyo - Reading & Writing - Elvin

Dear students, Today your topic is ethics. Ask and answer questions about cheating or honesty with your partner. Please conduct a class survey today and discuss the results as part of your essay. Cheating Honesty and Truthfulness Kind regards, Chris Elvin

Dear students, Please fill out a questiobnaire for my private research. Ability and intelligence Today you will talk about culture or culture shock in pairs or small groups. Culture Questions Culture Shock Questions Your homework is to write about culture or culture shock either by personal experience or from what you have read. You may conduct a survey if you wish. First, plan your paragraphs by drawing your concept map. Then write your essay. Cite your sources if appropriate. Kind regards, Chris Elvin

Dear students, If you didn’t get a receipt for your first homework about graded readers (some students elected not to receive a receipt), please email me. I will try to find it and send you your essay. Kind regards, Chris Elvin

Dear students, Please use the new upload form for your homework. This form should be used for all of your homework assignments. You should fill out only one form. Wait for it to be marked. After your homework has been marked, you may then edit it and submit it again. Therefore, you should have only one copy of the form. You should update the form after each homework. Do not answer different questions on different forms. Fill out the form. Post it. Wait for it to be marked and sent back to you. Edit and post again. New Homework Upload Form Kind regards, Chris Elvin

Dear students, Today you will focus on social issues. First, discuss in pairs or groups by asking some of the questions from those below: Social issues questions Your homework today is to identify a problem or concern, research and cite experts' opinions about the issue, and offer a solution to the problem. Your in-text citations and references should be appropriately formatted in APA style. Here are a list of social issues topics for your perusal. http://www.eflclub.com/rikkyo/socialissues.pdf Kind regards, Chris Elvin

Dear students, Today you will learn about references. Please download the prints and bring them to class. References If there is time at the end of the lesson, you may edit your homework assignments via your email receipts. Kind regards, Chris Elvin

Dear students, Your topic for today is the media. First, you will review APA formatted in-text citations , and then you will have a pairwork activity  about media. Please download the prints and bring them to class. Finally, you will summarize a story in the media and write your opinion of it. Remember to cite appropriately. Homework Form Kind regards, Chris Elvin

Dear students, The quality of your writing is more important than the quantity. However, students who write only a little tend not to score as well as those who write more, as the chart below reveals. If you write long well written essays, your scores may be higher. If you edit your work, your scores may also improve. Kind regards, Chris Elvin

Dear students, I have just graded your homework and it was a mixture of excellent writing and substandard work. These scores are not permanent as I will mark again and do the final grading at the end of the semester. Therefore, you have time to edit and resubmit. One reason for dropped points was the APA formatting was not correct. The main reason, however, was that the essays were either too short or contained too many errors. The pass mark for each assignment is 3 points. Are you sure you wrote enough, and was it your best effort? 5 Excellent 4 Good 3 Pass 2 Fail 1 Are you serious? 0 Copied or Hello again Kind regards, Chris Elvin

Dear students, Please make sure to paraphrase your source when writing. This means you should write without copying the original. If you copy even one sentence this will be considered as plagiarism - regardless of whether you cite your source or not. If you copy, your score for the assignment will be zero and your maximum grade for the course will be "C". Kind regards, Chris Elvin

Dear students, Today is your mid-term test. You should bring a book to class and summarize it and express an opinion. The book should be different to the one you summarized in week one. Your essay should conform to APA format. During the test, you will not be allowed to use your cell phone, so you should be able to write in-text citations and references in APA format without using notes. After this 50-minute test you will practice APA format. Please consider editing your homework assignments if you think that your APA was incorrect. Your grade may improve if you choose to do so. Kind regards, Chris Elvin

Dear students, Today your topic is language. First you will talk about languages. Worksheet 1 Then  will do a quiz Worksheet 2 Then In groups, research the interesting features of a specific language. Write about these features. Kind regards, Chris Elvin

Dear students, Keep up the good work! Kind regards, Chris Elvin

Dear students, Today's topic is human rights. Shadow the (simplified version) of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights articles with a partner. UDHR Investigate one of the thirty articles of the UDHR. The BBC has a good website if you are stuck for ideas, (but it is for native speakers). BBC human rights web page In groups of three, write one part (one paragraph or more) to explain what one of the articles of the UDHR means, one part of a case study of this article, and one part which is an opinion of the case study. For example, article 5 of the UDHR is freedom from torture. a) what does that mean? b) give an example of a case study of torture c) write your opinion. Each person should write about the same. Human rights is very complex. Please do your best. Cite any sources in APA format. Kind regards, Chris Elvin

Dear students, For most of you, great job! Your work is good. The only slight problem is that some of you have not written a graded reader summary from week 1 yet (you did not edit your email receipt from "hello"). Otherwise, everything is fine. Keep up the good work! Kind regards, Chris Elvin

Dear students, Today your topic is globalization. First of all, please do the worksheet as a warm up exercise. Globalization Then ask yourself how does globalization affect you locally? In groups of four, choose a focus, draw your concept map and research your topic. Your group should write a minimum of a five-paragraph essay (one introduction, three body sections, and a summary). If you use books, newspapers or websites for your research, you should include APA formatted in-text citations for each source. Every in-text citation should also have an APA formatted reference at the end of the essay. Let me check your concept maps and APA formatted in-text citations and APA formatted references. You may label which part you wrote when you upload your homework . For example, introduction and summary, or body part B. Kind regards, Chris Elvin

Dear students, Please use the form below for all homeworks Homework form is now obsolete

Dear students, Today you will complete a worksheet related to brain gender and then conduct a class survey in groups of three. Please think of a question or questions about one topic related to gender that you would like to ask everyone in class. (For example, about jobs, sports, marriage, gender roles, behaviour, school, color, etc.) You will need to download the print below and bring it to class. Gender brain Your homework is to write up your survey. Do one of the following in your group: 1) Introduce your research question(s) (what is the background and why did you ask?). 2) Present the method and results. 3) Discuss the results and express an opinion. Are you stuck for ideas? Here are some questions relating to gender: Gender questions Kind regards, Chris Elvin

Dear students, Your homework from last week was to write a minimum of two paragraphs for an essay of between 150 and 250 words about a graded reader that you read from last semester. Your summary should include an APA formatted in-text citation marker, and you should include a full APA formatted reference after your opinion. Did you also post your homework using the online form? Please keep your written work in a clear file, and post your homework online, too. If you wish to edit your work, you may do so via your email receipt. (Do not use the form for the same homework twice). Today you will start writing about one of your discussion topics, fashion, art, and architecture. Your topics this semester are: Books Fashion Art and Architecture Gender Globalization Human rights Language Media Social issues Culture Ethics Your homework today is to write either the summary and in-text citation in APA format, or your opinion and reference (in APA format). Homework Kind rega

Dear students, Today you will write a two-paragraph essay. The first essay will be a summary of a graded reader that you have read, and the second paragraph will be your opinion of the book. You should include an in-text citation marker in APA format for your summary, and a matching APA formatted reference at the end of your essay. Please upload your homework using the file below: Homework (If you wish to edit your homework you MUST ONLY do so via your email receipt. Go to your email account. Find your receipt for this homework. Click "edit". Submit again. You may edit your homework 1 as many times as you like until the deadline in December. Do not use the form above twice! If this is not clear, please ask.) Kind regards, Chris Elvin

Dear students, Welcome to the autumn semester which is a writing class. Your grading is criteria are: Attendance 30 points Class work and homework 50 points You should keep everything you do in class in a clear plastic file, and upload your homework assignments using the homework form below. Mid-term assessment 10 points Final assessment 10 points Homework Kind regards, Chris Elvin

Dear students, Please take the final survey. Final Survey Kind regards, Chris Elvin

Dear students, The deadline for book summary submissions will be July 20th midnight. Kind regards, Chris Elvin

Dear students, Here is a list of your homework scores sorted by best average. I am reminded of Aesop's "The Hare and the Tortoise". If you continue, you can get to the finishing line. Kind regards, Chris Elvin books score average 1 4 4.00 10 39 3.90 11 40 3.64 12 43 3.58 9 32 3.56 9 32 3.56 2 7 3.50 2 7 3.50 7 24 3.43 7 24 3.43 14 48 3.43 10 34 3.40 9 30 3.33 10 33 3.30 11 36 3.27 7 22 3.14 8 25 3.13 9 28 3.11 9 28 3.11 9 28 3.11 6 18 3.00 4 12 3.00 3 9 3.00 5 15 3.00 4 12 3.00 7 21 3.00 6 18 3.00 1 3 3.00 4 12 3.00 12 35 2.92 10 29 2.90 10 29 2.90 9 26 2.89 7 20 2.86 11 31 2.82 7 19 2.71 13 34 2.62 9 23 2.56 13 33 2.54 13 33 2.54 2 5 2.50 4 10 2.50 7 17 2.43 7 17 2.43 7 17 2.43 5 12 2.40 11 26 2.36 11 26 2.36 3 7 2.33 11 25 2.27 8 18 2.25 8 18 2.25 5 11 2.20 7 14 2.00 5 10 2.00 5 9 1.80 2 3 1.50 3 2 0.67

Dear students, Your final exam will take place during the last lesson of the semester. You should bring a graded reader to class and summarize it and write your opinion. This test is worth twenty points; Ten points for summary and ten points for opinion. You may prepare for the test in advance, but you may not copy from notes during the test. You may use a dictionary if you wish. The test will last 70 minutes. Kind regards, Chris Elvin

Dear students, Below is a list of books which were rated highly. Top 100 Books Kind regards, Chris Elvin

Dear students, Here are the groupings for your next class. Kind regards, Chris Elvin

Dear students, Here is a list of popular authors in terms of how often their books were borrowed by you. ##  1 elizabeth laird      15 ##  2 john escott          14 ##  3 mark twain           12 ##  4 philip prowse        12 ##  5 john milne           11 ##  6 richard macandrew     9 ##  7 bernard smith         8 ##  8 stephen rabley        7 ##  9 alexandre dumas       6 ## 10 charles dickens       6 ## 11 jennifer bassett      6 ## 12 mike esplen           6 ## 13 vicky shipton         6 ## 14 antoinette moses      5 ## 15 leslie dunkling       5 ## 16 lewis carroll         5 ## 17 rudyard kipling       5 ## 18 sue leather           5 ## 19 tim vicary            5 ## 20 tonya trappe          5 Kind regards, Chris Elvin

Dear students, You are all doing a great job! Recently, your opinions got longer and smarter, so well done for reflecting and thinking critically. Here is an up-to-date graph of your results:

Dear students, There is no maximum limit for the number of homework assignments that you may submit. The maximum number of points is forty. If your average assignment score is four, you should submit ten assignments (or more, if you wish). If your average score is three, you should submit fourteen assignments. If your average score is two, you will need to read and post twenty assignments to get forty points. Kind regards, Chris Elvin

Dear students, Here is my grading criteria for your book reports: 0 Copying 1 The book was probably read. 2 The summary was not well written and the opinion lacked much thought. 3 The summary was well written OR the opinion showed critical thinking. 4 The summary was well written AND the opinion showed critical thinking. This means that people who read well can get a "3" for smart thinking. People who write well can get a "3" for good writing. You need to do both to get a "4". THREE DISCOVERIES ABOUT YOUR ASSIGNMENT GRADES 1) The variety of words was more important the total number of words. 2) Opinions were more important than summaries. 3) Opinion length wasn't that important. This means that a short intelligent opinion may be better than a long summary. Keep up the good work! I will mark again in July, so if you edit your summaries (use the email response) your score may improve. Kind regards, Chris Elvin

Dear students, Below are the average scores for the class for your graded reader assignments. 0 - copied from the internet, the story, the back of the book, or used translation software 1 - the book was probably read 2 - the summary contains too many errors and the opinion was not particularly interesting 3 - either the summary was well written or the opinion was interesting 4 - both a well written summary and  an interesting opinion Kind regards, Chris Elvin

Dear students, Below is a list of books which are borrowed often. Kind regards, Chris Elvin Book_title count 1 marco 7 2 the house on the hill 6 3 barack obama 4 4 superbird 4 5 the long tunnel 4 6 a christmas carol 3 7 alice in wonderland 3 8 dangerous journey 3 9 extreme sports 3 10 fly away home 3 11 inspector logan 3 12 johnny english 3 13 newspaper boy 3 14 northanger abbey 3 15 tales from the arabian nights 3 16 the adventures of huckleberry finn 3 17 the jungle book 3 18 the missing coins 3 19 the mummy returns 3 20 the piano 3 21 washington square 3 22 a death in oxford 2 23 a tale of two cities 2 24 alice's adventures in wonderland 2 25 american life 2 26 anna and the fighter 2 27 double cross 2 28 dracula 2 29 five plays for today 2 30 jane eyre 2

Dear students, Your first lesson in June will be your mid-term test. Please bring a book to class and summarise it and write an opinion. You may write as much as you like, but you should plan to finish in time. Dictionaries are allowed. Kind regards, Chris Elvin

Week_1 Week_2 Week_3 Week_4 Week_5 Week_6 Week_7 alice 0 1 0 2 1 0 0 asahi 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 atsuhito 0 0 1 1 1 1 0 aya 0 1 1 1 1 1 0 ayumi 0 0 1 1 1 0 1 chacha 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 eishi 0 1 1 0 1 0 0 fumiya 0 0 1 1 1 1 1 genki 0 0 1 0 0 4 0 harumi 1 0 1 1 1 1 1 hide 0 1 1 1 1 1 0 jun 0 1 0 2 1 0 2 kakuto 0 0 2 0 1 1 1 kandai 0 0 1 1 1 1 0 kasumi 0 0 2 1 0 0 0 kazuma 0 0 0 0 4 1 0 kensuke 0 1 0 1 1 0 0 koharu 0 0 1 0 1 1 0 kouki 0 1 1 1 1 1 0 mai 0 0 1 1 0 1 0 mako 0 0 1 1 1 1 1 manabu 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 mayu 0 1 1 1 1 1 1 mike 0 1 1 1 1 1 0 miki 0 1 1 1 1 1 0 miku 0 0 2 1 0 2 1 minako 0 0 1 0 1 1 0 minami 0 1 1 1 0 1 0 mirei 0 1 1 1 1 0 0 moeka 0 0 1 1 2 0 1 moena 0 1 1 1 1 1 0 mri 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 natsu 0 1 1 1 1 1 0 nono 0 1 1 1 1 0 0 rino 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 rio 0 0 1 1 0 1 0 ryo 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 saki 0 1 0 1 0 0 1 sakura 0 1 1 1 1 1 0 sena 0 0 1 2 0 0 0 sera 0 1 1 1 1 2 0 shimpei 0 1 0 2 1 0 1 shine 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 shintaro 0 0 2 1 1 1 0 sit 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 taichi