Language Arts Essentials

Language Arts Essentials

Instructor Information

Instructor: Kendall Flori

Location: Room B47

Work Phone: (503) 366-7431

Work Email:

Teacher Website: http://www.sthelens.k12.or.us/Domain/817

Work Hours: 8:00 AM - 4:00 PM, Monday-Friday

Course Description

L.A. Essentials is designed to increase students reading, writing, listening, and speaking skills in a scaffolded manner through meaningful interdisciplinary tasks. Students will continue to develop an appreciation for literature through the study of literary devices and elements. A variety of modes of writing are addressed, with emphasis on structure and formatting of the paragraph and development of multiple-paragraph compositions.

Common Core Curriculum Standards & Course Objectives

This course works toward alignment with the Common Core Assessment Standards for Ninth Grade English Language Arts. The specific standards to be covered and worked toward are listed below according to the semester which they will be focused on.

First Semester

•  Write narratives to develop real or imagined experiences or events using effective technique, well-chosen details, and well-structured event sequences. (CCSS 9-10 W.3)

•  Present information, findings, and supporting evidence clearly, concisely, and logically such that listeners can follow the line of reasoning and the organization, development, substance, and style are appropriate to purpose, audience, and task. (CCSS 9-10 SL.4)

•  Determine a central idea of a text and analyze its development over the course of the text, including how it emerges and is shaped and refined by specific details; provide an objective summary of the text. (CCSS 9-10 RI/RL.2) Applies to both literary and informative texts.

Second Semester

•  Analyze how complex characters (e.g., those with multiple or conflicting motivations) develop over the course of a text, interact with other characters, and advance the plot or develop the theme. (CCSS 9-10 RI/RL.3)

•  Write informative/explanatory texts to examine and convey complex ideas, concepts, and information clearly and accurately through the effective selection, organization, and analysis of content. (CCSS 9-10 W.2)

•  Demonstrating command of the conventions of standard English capitalization, punctuation, and spelling when writing. (CCSS 9-10 L.2)

Grading Policy

Grades are based on a point system and are cumulative through the semester. They do not reset at the nine-week grading period.

Grade Breakdown: 10% Practice Assignments: Class work, homework, rough drafts, etc.

90% Assessments: Tests, final drafts, projects, etc.

Grading Scale: A 90-100 Excellent Achievement

B 80-89 Above Average Achievement

C 70-79 Average Achievement

D 60-69 Below Average Achievement

F 0-59 Failing

Synergy: Parents and students have the opportunity to view grades through ParentVUE/StudentVUE. Please access the site to view student progress. Student grades will be updated every two to three weeks; however, major papers and projects may take longer to assess.

Assessments: Testing over in class readings, completing in-class tasks, writing an original narrative, producing a library research project with citations, presenting information to the class, and writing an expository essay.

Finals: For the first semester, the final will be independently writing a narrative from the perspective of a literary character. For the second semester, students will presents their findings independently or with a small group of peers on a previously researched subject.

Late Work: Late work is accepted, but only for the current nine-week grading period. To allow me sufficient time to grade late assignments, there is cut-off date 1 week prior to the end of each quarter. This cut-off date excludes final projects and presentations which must be submitted no later than 24 hours prior to the end of the quarter.

Cheating and/or Plagiarism: Any student caught cheating will automatically receive a ZERO on the assignment in question and the parents/guardians may be contacted. Upon a second offense, a conference with the student’s parents/guardians will be held. Cheating includes but is not limited to the following: all acts of academic dishonesty such as supplying or receiving information during a test, copying tests or homework, allowing others to copy your work, obtaining test answers or questions beforehand, using unauthorized materials during a test, using a project or paper in a second class without teacher permission, plagiarism, and turning in work that was not completed by the person to whom it was assigned.

Absences, Make-up Work , & Retakes/Revisions

·  Communication Regarding Absences: When requesting missing work or informing me of an upcoming absence, please do so outside of class time. This helps ensure that other students’ instruction is not being disrupted and that the inquiring student can receive a more thorough explanation of the assignment(s) in question. The best times to reach me are before/after school or during lunchtime.

·  Pre-arranged/School Activity Absences: When missing class due to pre-arranged or school activity absences, it is the student’s responsibility to inform me prior to being absent. Assignments that are due the class period that you are missing need to be submitted before you leave.

·  Test Retakes and Essay Revisions: If a student would like to improve their score on an assessment, they will have the opportunity to either retake a test or resubmit an essay. Please understand that when appropriate, I reserve the right to issue an alternative assessment. Also, in order for a student to have an assessment rescored, they must do the following first:

o  Turn-in the original assessment;

o  Complete the required qualifiers (practice assignments that are connected to the assessment);

o  Make arrangements ahead of time to complete and submit the assessment. (Possible times would be before school, lunchtime, Academic Achievement Period, or Homework Club.)

Classroom Expectations

1.  Arrive in the classroom on time and prepared to work from bell to bell on material that is for Language Arts. Successful students often use their class time wisely and turn-in their work in a timely manner. They also ask for help when they need assistance. The more work that you attempt to complete during class, the more likely you will be able to ask me any questions if you get stuck.

2.  Show respect for people and property within the classroom (my property, other students’ property, and school property). Swearing, putdowns or derogatory comments about race, gender, physical appearance, ethnicity, sexual orientation, or ability levels create a climate that is not conducive to learning and will not be tolerated.

3.  Keep electronic devices off or silent and placed where they won’t be a distraction. (I will announce if a specific class activity warrants an exception.)

4.  Leave your workspace as you found it. Failure to do so will result in loss of certain privileges, either individually or as a class.

5.  Violating classroom expectations will result in a conference with me, phone call or e-mail to parents/guardians, a detention, and/or a referral to the office. I reserve the right to add or alter rules if a problem arises. Also, please consult the student handbook for more detailed explanations of behavior expectations and discipline.

Course Materials

·  Novels: Students will read novels as part of the curriculum, which will be available for check out through the school or classroom library.

·  Journal: For this class, you will be required to use a spiral bound college ruled notebook. If you cannot bring a notebook, one will be provided to you. This notebook will be used only for this class and can be left in the classroom in a basket at all times. It will be used for journal writing. Writings must be dated and will be graded approximately once a month.

·  Binder: Students should also have a three-ring binder or a section in their binder for Language Arts, where you can keep homework, notes, and other information pertaining to the class.

·  Films: Students will be watching all or part of several movies that relate to the literature we read in L.A. Essentials. Films are used to help students visualize what they have read, as a substitute for seeing a live production of a play, or to allow students to compare diverse presentations of the same or similar literary subjects. As per our district video policy, I am required to inform you of any movies over a PG rating that we will be watching. Parents have the opportunity, if they wish, to come to the school and preview the movies before we watch them in class. Parents also have the option to have their student not watch these movies. The titles of the movies that have a PG-13 rating are listed on the signature page attached to the syllabus.

After reading through the syllabus, please sign this page and return only this page to Ms. Flori. Please keep the other pages of the syllabus as reference throughout the school year. Any revisions made to the syllabus will be available on my teacher website.

L.A. Essential Films:

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone – 2001, Daniel Radcliffe

Divergent – 2014, Shailene Woodley

If you have a special concern or would like to preview one of the films, you can contact me at the high school, or you can email me at the following address: .

¨  YES: My student may watch any of the movies listed here.

¨  NO: I object to my student watching ______.

I have read the attached syllabus for L.A. Essentials and understand the course guidelines, policies, and expectations.

Student Name: ______

Student Signature: ______

Parent/Guardian Signature: ______

Parent/Guardian Email: ______

Parent/Guardian Phone Number: ______

Please return to Ms. Flori by Monday, September 19th.