American Studies 324: American Immigrant Cultures

Reading Journal
When we think about the term “reading,” we often automatically turn to the mechanics of the act, the action or skill of reading. However, reading is also about interpreting, shaping experience,
identification, and making meaning.

The goal of your reading journals is to move beyond the mechanics of reading, and instead to
approach the reading for this class in new and creative ways, examining each of our texts in ways that
make the most sense to you.

To do this, students will keep a reading journal which will include at least one entry per module of
assigned reading. Each 500-word entry should be dated and include the title of the reading that has
inspired the response (you can respond to as many or as few of a module’s readings as you desire).
While you are obviously welcome to discuss the media included in the modules, you must always also
discuss a written text in each journal entry.

Your journal entries can take many forms, this is your space to explore the texts in ways that work for
you.

Some ideas for journal entries (please note, this is by no means an exhaustive list):
• Ask the author questions
• Collect your favorite quotes from the text
• Define terms that you didn’t previously know
• Put the text in conversation with a current event
• Explain something you didn’t understand and what you did to try and figure it out
• Tell me what made you think and what made you angry

As should be clear, you have a lot of flexibility in what you use your journal space for—whatever you
choose these entries should not just be a summary of what you read. Feel free to include sketches,
cartoons, memes, or anything that helps you to make sense of the readings. The possibilities are limitless.

Students will compile their individual entries into two documents for submission on March12th (journal
entries covering modules 1-7) and May 7th (journal entries covering modules 8-14). Please note that
because these journals are typed out, I expect you to always utilize spell-check!

The Research Proposal
You will not be expected to conduct any primary research. The report should cover the following areas.
Provide a full summary of the research brief, including the aims of the research.
Demonstrate an understanding of the market or business context as well as any other publicly available research done in this area.
Detail how the fieldwork would be conducted i.e face-to-face, telephone, online, focus groups, mixed-mode etc
Explain the proposed sampling method as well as other sampling methods considered, including details on any sampling frame to be used.
Detail the information that would be gathered and collected by the research.
Explain how you would use any customer of operational data supplied to you by the client.
Describe what multivariate analysis techniques you propose and how these would help the client’s research aims.
Detail the proposed sample size necessary to construct confidence intervals around the survey estimates.
An appropriate questionnaire which would capture suitable data to perform the proposed multivariate analysis,

Addressing Case Study Discussion Questions
Part 1 For this Discussion, there are two case studies to assist you with real-life examples of improving reading and math skills. Read the case study on Sharon Smart. After reviewing the study, discuss with your classmates how Sharon's instructors can address the following: What are the characteristics of good versus poor readers? What does this suggest about the skills that Sharon will need to learn in order to be successful? If you were Sharon's teacher, discuss strategies you might use to teach specific reading skills. What demands must both Sharon and you meet in order for these to be successful? Examine the graphic organizers presented in the text. How might these be incorporated into Sharon's classroom?

Part2 Writing Assignment: Reading Strategy Instructional Plan Purpose: Reading is the foundation of all other academic skills and can often determine whether a student is successful in school. The skills associated with reading include phonics, vocabulary, comprehension, and interpretation. Students with learning disabilities often struggle with reading and have deficits resulting in dyslexia. For that reason, teachers working with these students need to have a good understanding of reading strategies that are applicable to this student population. Directions: For the Unit 2 Assignment, you will create a Reading Plan to be used with learning disabled students. Review several reading strategies appropriate for learning disabled students and select one to apply to a specific grade level. Use the Reading Plan Template to complete this assignment. Include the following in the Reading Plan Template: The definition of dyslexia and characteristics of this learning disability. The strategy you have selected and why. Include how it addresses a need of students with learning disabilities. The process for teaching this strategy to the student. Outline your lesson with Language Objectives and Vocabulary within the lesson. What instructional plan will you use for this lesson? List your instructional strategies, learning tasks, literacy skills, and strategies. Discuss how you will measure the successful implementation of this strategy. What is the timeline for this lesson?
Part3 The prior case study focused on reading skills; in this case study, you will examine how to improve math skills. Read the Unit 2 essay by Melissa, a young woman who has struggled with dyscalculia. After you read the essay, discuss how you would address these issues with Melissa if she had been your student when she was at the grade level(s) you teach or plan to teach. What guidelines would you have followed in developing appropriate mathematics curriculum for students like Melissa? What formal and informal assessment strategies might you have used to determine the math skills of a student like Melissa? Describe some of the affective and motivational deficits students like Melissa will most likely face. What strategies might you use for overcoming these deficits? Compare and contrast the math strategies you have read about. Why might these be effective methods for teaching students like Melissa at your grade level? You have focused on math strategies in this discussion, explain if or how you would use these strategies for science and social studies. What changes would you need to make within your strategies for these two subjects?
You can place an order using the link in case you need help with this discussion assignment.

Complete the Tableau case in Chapter 4 of the Cengage MindTap e-content. Please explain your choices or rationale behind the Tableau viz you have created. There is no need to publish the resulting viz to the Web; just make sure you save the viz as a PDF document and upload it to the course when complete. See detail on creating a viz in the case.
Your case study assignment should be completed as a cohesive written essay (i.e., complete sentences, proper mechanics, etc.). There is no mandatory length, but you should fully address all required aspects of the case. If you choose to support your answer with references (or if it is required in the case) include your references in APA format along with in-text citations showing how those sources were used.

Term Paper:

A Case Analysis Paper (Final Paper) is due on the last class session.

The case study analysis paper must be submitted using APA-style formatting. Students must address the topic in sufficient depth, and are expected to supplement their analysis with research that goes beyond what is presented in the case and textbook. Good writing, consistent logic and cogent arguments are positive traits of any written assignment and will be considered for grading purposes. Students are required to use proper APA-style in-text citations and referencing.

The case study analysis paper must contain the following sections:

APA style cover page.
Introduction.
Briefly summarize the key facts, scope and aspects of the case.

Body of the paper.
Conclusion.
Summarize your findings and recommendations.

References. (A minimum of 3 References).

Note: The paper should not exceed ten (10) pages in length, inclusive of all sections. The introduction should provide a brief but sufficient foundation for understanding the case, its key facts and pressing issues. Students should focus their efforts in the body of the paper by providing adequate analysis based on the facts of the case, as opposed to an elaborate description of such facts. The body will consist of the following; the management style that the student selected, why the student selected that particular management style, and how the employees under the student’s supervision will benefit from the type of management styles that were selected. Remember, you are writing the paper from a managerial standpoint.