Course Introduction Transcript

In this course, you will read and analyze informational texts. These texts take many different forms, including biographies, personal accounts of events, instructional documents, film reviews, and persuasive letters. The course's reading selections demonstrate ways to understand central ideas and key details, explicit and implicit information, and arguments and claims, among other ideas and concepts. Over the course of ENG6 (1 of 2), you will read The Road by Jack London. You will also examine informational texts to better your understanding of the science behind sunsets, the lives of several important historical figures, the history of the Olympics, and the process of flotation used by archaeologists, among other topics.

As you read the informational texts in this course, you will practice ways to identify central ideas, use supporting evidence, make inferences, analyze word choice, and identify figurative and connotative language. In addition, you will learn about basics in grammar, usage, and punctuation, including correct spelling, prepositions and prepositional phrases, subordinating and correlative conjunctions, varied sentence patterns, and analogies and word relationships. You will also learn various vocabulary words, review context clues to determine word meaning, and learn about Greek and Latin roots and affixes.

In addition, you will learn the elements of informational and argument writing so that you can plan, write, revise, and edit your own informational and argument essays.

Through the lessons provided in this course, you will master techniques that help you more deeply appreciate informational texts.

Course Objectives

• Use context and reference materials to interpret unfamiliar words and phrases. 
• Use correct verb tenses, conjunctions, parenthetical elements, and prepositional phrases to create complex sentences that add to the effectiveness of an informational text. 
• Analyze and compare the use of key individuals, events, ideas, vocabulary, and connotation in related works of literary nonfiction. 
• Use technology to create and publish writing, visual representations of data and a bibliography. Infer the meaning of unfamiliar words using Greek or Latin affixes and roots. 
• Explain the central ideas of a text using explicit and implicit details. 
• Compose and support appropriate responses to collegial discussions. 
• Explain how different organizational structures develop the central ideas and convey an author’s purpose and perspective. 
• Cite and paraphrase credible sources to avoid plagiarism. 
• Support inferences using textual evidence and precise, domain-specific vocabulary.   
• Produce coherent writing that uses development, organization, and styles appropriate to the time frame, task, purpose, and audience. 
• Produce a formal, well-organized argument supported by credible sources. 

Click the link to read through the Student Course Overview, which provides more detailed information on what you can expect throughout the course.