Akins High School
Social Services Academy
Mr. Smith
English II Syllabus
(512) 841-9836
Course Description: Students enrolled in English II will increase and refine their writing, communication, reading, and critical thinking skills. High school students are expected to plan, draft and complete written compositions on a regular basis.
Objectives:
1. Students will be able to read, analyze, and understand more complex reading (essays, excerpts, novels, plays, articles).
2. Students will be able to write persuasive, analytical, and argumentative essays.
3. Students will be able to write an analytical response with relevant evidence from the text to support their answer.
Instructor: My name is Mr. Smith, and I will be your English II teacher. I graduated from the University of Texas at Austin in 2004 with a Bachelor’s degree in Kinesiology. I have been teaching in AISD since 2006, and have worked in AISD since 2004. This is my fifth year teaching at Akins High School, and I love it here. In addition to English II, Ihave coached Varsity Football and Freshman Basketball, but will not be coaching this year. If you ever have questions or concerns regarding class, please feel free to email me at and I will get back to you as soon as possible.
Tutoring Schedule:Daily FIT Sessions, B Lunch every day, or by appointment.
Reading Requirements:
Students are required to read both inside and outside of class daily. We will read every day for 25 minutes in class, this time is referred to as SSR (Sustained Silent Reading) time. Students will be required to bring their library books to school every day and take them home every night. If students forget their library books, there will be additional reading assignments as well as grade deductions. They are expected to read a minimum of 20 pages per night in their library books for homework. All students are expected to finish at least one book each six weeks.
PROCEDURES AND REQUIREMENTS
Grading Procedures: The category of the assignment will be stated before it is given to thestudents. In order to pass, a studentmust complete his or her assignments in a timely manner. Grades will be weighted as follows:
- Daily Work (Formative Assessments) 60%
- Reading and Writing Assessments (Summative)40%
This year at Akins, we will be switching to a Standards-Based Grading Scale. There will still be percentage grades, but they will be determined by a set of scales that specify things students should be doing in their work in order to earn a certain grade. The grade categories, percentage values, and Gradebook codes are as follows:
Not Yet Assessed – 50 NYA
No Evidence – 60 NEV
Emerging – 70 EMG
Approaching – 80 APR
Proficient – 90 PRF
Mastery – 100 MST
I will attach a copy of a Scale in order for you and your student to better understand how grading will work. Each individual skill will have its own scale. For example, Theme and Main Idea would have two different scales with different sets of criteria. This method allows for students to have a better chance of success. The scale grade can always be adjusted in the gradebook. For instance, if your student does poorly on a written assignment and scored a NEV, but shows knowledge of the skill in other ways (verbal understanding, good quiz score) throughout the six weeks, their grade can be raised because they have showed proof of mastering the skill. If you would like additional information, I encourage you to attend Back To School Night on September 6th.
Cheating will not be tolerated. Automatic failing grades are given on tests and papers for plagiarism. If students copy someone else's work (including resources such as material off the internet) or allow someone to copy theirs, that is cheating.
Late Work and Make-up Work:Late work will receive a 10% deduction for each day the assignment is late. Make-up work needs to be turned in by the third day after the absence. This should be easy considering much of the work can be done on student-issued laptops, and they have daily opportunities to attend FIT sessions and finish assignments.Long-term projects cannot be turned in as make-up or late work. If a student is absent the day of an exam, he/ she will be expected to take a make-up exam, the day after he/shereturns.
Rules: Students must adhere to the following rulesin class each day or be subject to the school’s discipline plan. Reminders of the rules are posted around theclassroom or found in their student handbook.
- No electronics. No headphones, iPods, MP3 players, cell phones, etc. under any circumstances, unless I have approved it, or told students they may need them for some type of work.
•1st time offender: warning
•2nd time offender: phone is picked up and put in teacher desk. Returned at end of class.
•3rd time offender: phone is taken to office and parents can pay $15 to pick it up. No exceptions.
- Only appropriate interactions with other students and adults
- Be prepared for class with materials (have book, pen/pencil, notebook, and charged laptop)
- Sit in assigned seat at all times (group work, testing, writing, etc.)
- Each student will have 4 bathroom passes per 6 weeks. You must use it or you lose it.
- Students may only exit the class when their area is organized and the teacher dismisses the class, not the bell.
- ABSOLUTELY NO FOOD OR DRINK IN THE CLASSROOM EVER. (Students may have 1 water bottle, but it must have a lid)
Consequences:The following actions may betaken should a student fail to adhere to the rules in place.
- Verbal warning
- After class discussion
- Phone call home
- Detention
- Referral
Substitute teacher clause: Any misbehavior during time with a substitute will result in an automatic office referral.
Tardy Policy:There is a zero tolerance policy for tardies to class. Once a student accumulates tardies, they will have to attend Saturday school.
Gradebook:Parents and students will have access to TEAMS through the parent access website throughout the school year. Grades are updated weekly for assignments turned in by the due date.
Due Dates: Ireserve the right to change due dates and add or eliminate items from thecurriculum should I feel it necessary. Students will be given a minimum of three days’ noticein order for themto accommodate the new due dates and/ or items.
Class Supplies: Studentsneed to purchase the following supplies and bring to class ASAP:
- 1 Composition Book
- Pens and Pencils
- Loose-leaf notebook paper
- One 1-inch 3 ring binder
- Dividers for Binder
- 1 Ream of Computer Paper
- 1 Box of Kleenex
STAAR/EOC Test: Please note that English II is a State of Texas Assessment of Academic Readiness (STAAR) tested course and the students MUST pass this test, as well as the class to graduate from high school. Students will be required to answer a series of multiple choice questions over readings as well as completing one persuasive essay and two short answer, open ended response questions (OEQ).
I have read the class rules and general information for this course and agree to abide by these standards and procedures.
Date: ______
Student Signature: ______
Parent/Guardian Signature: ______
(50)Not Yet Assessed / 0 (60)
No Evidence / 1 (70)
Emerging / 2 (80)
Approaching / 3 (90)
Proficient / 4 (100)
Mastery
Proficiency Scales / Even with help, no understanding or skill demonstrated. / With help, a partial understanding of some of the simpler details and processes and some of the more complex ideas and processes. / There are no major errors or omissions regarding the simpler details and processes, however, the student exhibits major errors or omissions regarding the more complex ideas and processes. / Meets the standard. / In addition to Score 3.0, in-depth inferences and applications that go beyond what was taught.
THEME. 10.2A. Students analyze, make inferences and draw conclusions about theme and genre in different cultural, historical, and contemporary contexts and provide evidence from the text to support their understanding. Students willcompare and contrast differences in similar themes expressed in different time periods. Click here for 10th grade STAAR Question Stems or here for 9th. / Student struggles to define theme and/or cannot identify a thematic concept (topic) of a selection or identifies a thematic concept incorrectly. There is no evidence given to support the thematic concept.
*Performs the following:
- Read and understand the text.
*Performs the following:
- All skills from previous level(s).
- Define theme.
- Identify a thematic one word topic.
*Performs the following:
- All skills from previous level(s).
- Extend the one word topic into a simple thematic statement.
- Find evidence in the text to support their thematic statement.
- Compare and contrast two different texts.
*Performs the following:
- All skills from previous level(s).
- Compare and contrast two different texts to find a similar theme(s) and explains how themes differ and why
- Provide multiple quotes from the text to support their understanding
- Can apply the historical, cultural, and contemporary context of a text to their thematic statement.
*Performs the following:
- All skills from previous level(s).
- Craft multiple thematic statements.
- Can bring in evidence from outside sources, which may include text or information from other genres, to support their thematic statement.