INRW-0420 Intermediate Integrated Reading and Writing Strategies

Kate Dean

Credit Spring 2026

Section(s)

INRW-0420-014 (17332)
LEC TuTh 11:00am - 12:40pm RRC RRC1 1208.00

LAB TuTh 12:45pm - 1:10pm RRC RRC1 1208.00

INRW-0420-016 (17334)
LEC TuTh 3:00pm - 4:40pm RRC RRC1 1208.00

LAB TuTh 4:45pm - 5:10pm RRC RRC1 1208.00

Course Requirements

Course Description and Instructional Methodology:

INRW 0420: Integrated College Reading and Writing Strategies

(4 credit hours + 1 hour lab)

Students will improve their college reading and writing skills both in and out of class through integrated reading and writing activities. Daily and major writing assignments will offer students the opportunity to master the reading and writing processes and the critical thinking skills necessary to complete college work. Students will read and write for expressive, informative, and persuasive purposes.

Brief and essay-length writing activities accompanying the readings will enhance critical reading and writing skills. In addition, the readings will provide models for using written language effectively to compose essays. A special focus will be placed on how to read, understand, and apply information in college-level texts and how to plan, organize, and revise an effective college essay. Lab work will include weekly assignments in the Connect skills software.

This course is paired with HUMA 1301: The Great Questions. You should be enrolled in both courses. The curriculum in both classes is designed to support your success.

Course requirements:

1. Personal Essay: 10%

2. Sentence Construction Assignment/Grammar: 5%

3. Response Paragraph (ex. Responding to blogs): 5%

4. Summary of Informational text 5%

5. Paraphrase Assignment: 5%

6. Textbook Chapter Assignment: 10%

(demonstrate reading strategies such as 2 col notes

, annotations, concept map, and answer essay question

--to simulate test essay question-- over material)

7. Final GQ Essay: (Include in Portfolio grade) ---

8. Portfolio: 20%

9. Homework 15%

10: Participation: Question Cards/Reading Journal Entries 5%

11. Computer Labs 20%

Grading Policy

Grades will be earned on the following basis:

A 90-100%

B 80-89%

C 70-79%

D or F Below 70%

(Student must repeat the course.)

Readings

Required Texts:This is a ZTC (Zero Textbook Cost) section. In place of required textbooks, all textbook materials needed for the class will be available online to students free of charge. Students may print copies of the resources but will be responsible for printing costs. You can access the free and open source textbook here:

https://openstax.org/details/books/college-success

This textbook, College Success, may be viewed/read online or you can download a copy.

You will also need a 3 ring binder, 3 pocket dividers, notebook paper, pens, pencils, and highlighters.

Course Subjects

#	MAJOR ASSIGNMENT
1	SENTENCE CONSTRUCTION/GRAMMAR ASSIGNMENT
2	PERSONAL ESSAY
3	RESPONSE PARAGRAPH
4	PARAPHRASE ASSIGNMENT
5	SUMMARY PARAGRAPH
6	TEXTBOOK CHAPTER ASSIGNMENT
7	PORTFOLIO

Student Learning Outcomes/Learning Objectives

Course Rationale

Intermediate Integrated Reading and Writing Strategies (INRW 0420) offers students the opportunity to improve their college reading and writing skills in one three-hour class with two 50-minute weekly lab meetings. Students who successfully complete Intermediate Integrated Writing and Reading Strategies 0420 AND HUMA 1301 will be eligible to enroll in ENGL 1301.

Objectives

STATEMENT OF ACADEMIC BELIEFS, ATTITUDES AND VALUES

After completing this course, students will:

Value reading and writing as a way to learn and study;

Respect independent thinking, diversity, and the individual’s right to hold differing opinions and values;

Appreciate critical reading and writing as a means of maintaining a free society and will use reading and writing as a tool for guarding their democratic rights;

Use their reading and writing skills to participate in academic debate on issues of importance to the society and the world at large;

Exercise their critical reading and writing skills to enhance their quality of life and to support their life-long learning.

Outcomes

Upon successful completion of this course, students will:

Engage in reading and writing as integrated but reciprocal processes.
Comprehend and develop vocabulary effectively in reading and writing throughout the curriculum by determining the meaning of unfamiliar words using decoding, contextual or structural analysis, or by using a dictionary.
Locate explicit textual information, draw inferences, identify purpose, describe and analyze expository texts.
Read and demonstrate comprehension and knowledge of sentence structure by paraphrasing simple and complex sentences.
Generate ideas from assigned readings and gather information relevant to the writer’s purpose, point of view, tone and patterns of organization.
Use strategic operations such as searching, scanning and questioning and self-correcting to identify the main idea and supporting details of paragraphs by writing short essay answers to questions over expository text material or by writing summaries.
Use self monitoring activities (metacognitive) to self-correct reading processes and proof writing activities.
Write essays with a clear lead in, and develop a thesis statement, using an essay map when appropriate.
Realize the importance of revision in writing to improve continuity of ideas and clarity of purpose
Demonstrate developing ability to recognize and apply the conventions of standard English in reading and writing.

Learning Outcomes:

1. Students will be able to analyze, interpret, and evaluate a variety of texts and respond to them in various writing assignments.

2. Students will be able to write a five paragraph personal essay.

3. Students will be able to analyze pairs of sentences and combine and/or reduce those sentences using coordinating and subordinating conjunctions.

4. Students will be able to read several required articles on a topic chosen by the professor and write a 7-15 sentence response paragraph based on the topic.

5. Students will be able to read a brief informational article and demonstrate their understanding of summarizing by composing a 7-15 sentence summary paragraph on their chosen informational article.

6. Students will be able to read informational text from a government website, synthesize and paraphrase the information into a 4-paragraph report with a citation of the source.

7. Students will be able to read a college level textbook chapter and apply their knowledge of four reading comprehension strategies: 2 Column Notes, Annotations, Concept Mapping, Test Question Cards.

8. Students will be able to evaluate and edit their assignments and reflect on their reading and writing strengths and weaknesses in a summative portfolio.

Office Hours

T Th 9:30 AM - 11:00 AM Round Rock Campus 1204.06

NOTE In person office hours are located at RRC 1204.06 on TTH from 9:30am-11:00am and 5:10pm-5:40pm. Virtual office hours are MW from 2:00pm-3:00pm. I can also meet online other times with an appointment. Please reach out if you need help.