Course Syllabus

9th Grade Literature and Composition

August 2018 – December 2018

Monday-Friday

1st Period: 8:35 – 10:10

4th Period: 1:55 – 3:25

Learning Objectives: The goal of this course is to accomplish and master the 9th-10th Grade English Language Arts Georgia Standards of Excellence (ELA GSE).

Tutoring Hours:To receive tutoring, students must sign up in advance on my website. Students can use this time to receive help, ask questions, express concerns, or simply work on an assignment for this course. If you would like to sign up for tutoring, please choose a date that best fits you and come prepared to work!

Location: The Classroom

InstructorTutoring Hours

Ms. MossMon. and Wed.

Room 121 3:30 – 4:00

(see website to sign up for tutoring)

Email:

Website:

Supplies:

  • Jumpdrive/USB drive
  • Journal or composition notebook
  • Binder
  • Pen/pencil
  • Highlighters

Reading Materials:

Students will read the below 4 pieces of literature, including other short stories and poems.

  • Romeo & Julietby William Shakespeare
  • The Odyssey by Homer
  • To Kill a Mockingbirdby Harper Lee
  • The Course: We will read the above materials. All texts will be provided by either your teacher or the Media Center.
  • 4 Tests
  • 4 Essays
  • 1 Independent Reading Project

Class Resources:

I will have multiple tools available for parents and students to use in order to receive communications about the class; however, parents and students must sign up for at least one of the below listed tools, as this will be the best way to stay updated in the class.

RemindTo join, text @Moss121to 81010 or see website for link

Remind is another way that parents and students can receive class information, reminders, and updates directly on Remind or through text. I cannot count rewards with this program.

Sign Up GeniusPlease use my website on the sign-up tab) to sign up for extra help or tutoring.

Rules, Expectations, and Policies

This classroom has THREE simple rules:

  1. Be Respectful.
  2. Be Kind.
  3. Be Responsible.

These three rules cover everything you need to be successful in this class. Just in case you need clarification, let’s go over what each one means.

  1. Be Respectful.
  2. Being respectful to the classroom environment (do not litter my classroom, do not mark on my desks, clean after yourself, be gentle with my books, etc)
  3. Being respectful to your peers (do not yell at each other, insult each other, interrupt someone while speaking, ABSOLUTELY no fighting in my classroom, do not use foul language towards each other, etc)
  4. Being respectful to yourself (come to class prepared, use your time wisely in class, do not cheat or plagiarize, etc)
  5. Ultimately, being respectful to your teacher (I will always respect you, so I expect nothing but respectful behavior towards me at ALL times, communicate any issues you may have respectfully to me, DO NOT interrupt me while I am speaking, when I begin speaking, PLEASE stop all miscellaneous conversations until I am finished, and DO NOT complain about any instructions given)
  6. Be Kind.
  7. You must speak kind words to each other in this classroom. If you do not have anything nice to say, then do not speak. If there is an issue, politely and respectfully wait until I am available and speak with me about it.
  8. Aim to help others in this classroom.
  9. Kindness requires empathy. Remember everyone in the classroom is learning and adjusting to new things, just like you are. We must uplift one another.
  10. Be Responsible.
  11. You are responsible for completing ALL assignments. Make it a point to use ALL and ANY resource provided to succeed in this class.
  12. When you have missing assignments, be sure to go to my website or Edmodo to find those missing files.
  13. You are responsible for knowing your grade and/or if you have missing work.
  14. We are all human and we all make mistakes. If there is an issue or you have fallen behind, come speak to me to receive help.

Policies:

-I will have a 3-part lesson created every day. This includes an opening, work session, and closing. Once you enter the classroom, report to your seat and begin your opening.

-Do not PACK UP your bag until instructed to do so. We will spend the last five minutes of class doing our closing.

-Do NOT line-up at my door. This will only cause you to not be able to leave until everyone is seated and I WILL NOT write you a pass.

-Once my room door is closed, after the bell rings, you will have to report to ISS for a pass.

-You work from BELL-to-BELL meaning, I expect you to be working on something from my class at all times during the 90 minutes we share.

-I WILL NOT EXCEPT LATE WORK – any formative assignments we work on in class are to be completed in class. Unless I verbally say otherwise, incomplete assignments will be given a zero immediately! If you have any issues, please speak to me.

-You don’t work, you walk – if you are sleeping in my class, staring off into space, texting on your phone, or continuously being disruptive, you will be sent to the Media Center to complete your work. The Media Center Specialist will then email me whether or not you are there. If you are there and not completing work or if you do not show up, you will receive ISS.

-NO PHONES DURING INSTRUCTION EVER! – using your phone in this classroom is a PRIVILEGE. You will have to explicitly be told by me that you can use your phone in my classroom for anything other than a pocket warmer.

-No EATING in my class and you must SIGN OUT to use restroom (policy subject to change if students cannot handle this).

-I welcome emails from students, but students must use EMAIL etiquette when emailing me. Emails between student and teacher must ALWAYS be appropriate and strictly related to the course. I receive emails immediately, so if there are any issues, feel free to email me at any time. I will try to respond within the next EIGHT hours.

-Emails should include a message subject, a greeting, a body, and a signature. Without those four things, I will not respond to your email.

Example:

Message Subject – Help with To Kill a Mockingbird Project

Greeting – Hello Ms. Moss,

Body – I cannot find the link for the TKAM project. Could you forward the link to me? Thank you.

Signature – Johnny Apples

Signature PAGE

I ______(student’s name) have read and fully understand the expectations of Ms. Moss’s classroom. I understand that anytime I go against these expectations I am subject to classroom and administrative discipline.

I ______(parent’s name) have read and fully understand the expectations of Ms. Moss’s classroom.

Date Signed

______

RETURN by Monday, August 6, 2018