Major Learning Activities

• Readings, Note Cards, Exercises
• Personal History Poem and Interview
• Indo-European Proverb
• Oral Report
• Abstract
• Annotated Bibliography
• Research Paper
• Final Exam
• Makeup and Extra Credit
• Honor Code and Teaching Philosophy

For each of the above reading assignments, students will prepare a 4" x 6" index card with answers to the following questions from Richard Koch's evaluation heuristic:

1.		What did you learn from the reading?
2.		What did you like about the reading?
3.		What questions do you have about the reading?
4.		What applications do you see to life, language, etc.?

Please, do not read or write homework in class. Cards are due at the beginning of the class for which the reading is assigned. Each card must include your name, the assignment number, and page numbers from the text for each of the comments and questions. To get credit, you must finish the reading and answer all four questions completely.

The Crowley book has exercises that will help you apply principles and tools of diachronic linguistics. No answer key is available, so exercises will not be graded. Enjoy the practice. To get full credit, you must attempt to complete the whole exercise.

Personal History Poem and Interview.  Write a poem that describes your personal and family history. Create the poem with twelve lines and twelve syllables in each line. Then, give a title to the poem. You may also attach a photograph or sketch of yourself. See sample below. Sign up for a ten-minute interview with Sister Hallen. Bring the poem to the interview and read it aloud.

Indo-European Proverb. Using Becker, Watkins, and the Indo-European bibliography, create an original Indo-European proverb of 4-8 lines. Write a five-page paper, presenting your proverb and explaining its historical linguistic aspects. The paper should include the proverb; an interlinear morphological gloss; a free translation in English; an explanation of your choice of IE reconstructed lexical-semantic roots, grammar, syntax, prosody, culture; and a works cited. The proverb will be evaluated with the following criteria: Content and IE Culture (5 points), Sources (5), Linguistic Features (10).

Oral Report. You will present your proverb to the class in a 2.5 minute oral report with a one-page overhead or poster. Please provide a one-page outline of your presentation in a handout also. Include 1) your IE proverb, 2) an inter-linear morphemic English gloss of the proverb, and 3) a free translation of the proverb into English. The report will be evaluated with the following criteria: Content (1 point), Interlinear format (1), Handout (1), Transparency or Poster (1), and Time Management (1). 

Abstract. Write a 200-250 word abstract of your plan for the research paper. The report will be evaluated with the following criteria: topic (1), focus (1), approach (1), methodology (1), and anticipated results (1). 

Annotated Bibliography. The annotated bibliography will help you write the research paper and will help you avoid plagiarism. Choose a topic for a research paper. Find and take notes on at least five journal articles or books related to your topic (not including those assigned for class). Search for information in books, dictionaries, and journals. The 5th floor reference section of the HBLL will be helpful. Use the MLA bibliography and other online search engines. In addition to at least five published sources, you may also use the Internet as a source for your research, but Internet websites do not count for this bibliography. Choose a standard academic style guide, such as MLA, APA, LSA, etc. Write a full citation and a brief description of each item in the style guide format that you have selected. Each annotation should include what you liked, what you learned, questions raised, and your evaluation of the quality of the source. 

Research Paper. Write a 10+ page double-spaced paper. Come to class even if problems arise, and we will resolve them together. Late papers will receive a grade reduction except in cases of documented excuse or emergency. Use library reference tools, reserve materials, the class website, and other resources to do your research. Each paper will be judged in terms of --

Content (10 pts):				detail, support, focus, thesis, accuracy, 10+ full pages.
Organization (2):				introduction, forecast, paragraphs, logical transitions, conclusions.
Creativity (2):				thoughtful, interesting, innovative, original thinking, insights.
Expression (2):				concise, clarity, fluency, coherence, cohesion, standard academic English, tone.
Citation (2):				short direct incorporated quotations; longer indented block quotations; paraphrased summaries of material; works cited page.
Format (2):				title, legible, clean, proof-read, spell-checked, page numbers.

Final Exam.You will take ten ten-item "matching" quizzes covering terminology in the field of comparative historical linguistics.

Makeup.  Another teacher wrote: "I don't want to use class time to do `catch up' for people who have missed." When you are absent, it is up to you to ask other students for the material and handouts covered in class. You can make up the class time for excused or emergency absences. You cannot make up the time for non-essential absences, like sleeping-in or studying for another class, etc. Please let me know by phone, by note, or by email if you have a real emergency or an official excuse. Emergency or excused absences must be made up promptly to avoid penalties. Each makeup assignment must be turned in with a note stating the date of and reason for the absence. Absences not made up will lower your grade by 3 percentage point each. Excessive absences may result in automatic failure in the class. If a major health problem or emergency develops, please consider withdrawing from the class or asking for an incomplete. I trust you to be honest about tardies and early departures, marking them on the roll with an "L." "Late" means that you missed the opening prayer. Excessive tardies or early departures may also affect your grade. 

Any student can earn extra credit on assignments by surpassing the stated criteria with a superior performance. Each student can also earn extra credit to compensate for points missed on essays, tests, or assignments -- a kind of insurance. Extra credit work cannot be used as a substitute in lieu of required essays, exams, assignments and attendance. Extra credit assignments should be identified as such.

Options for Make-up and Extra Credit: