Mr. Gillen’s English 12 Course Outline

Welcome to English 12:

First and foremost: this class is designed for you. Yes, there will be writing and reading, but it is my hope to engage you in activities that you find interesting. In other words, this shouldn’t be your typical English class in many regards.

Supplies:

Folder

Pen or Pencil (obviously.)

Notebook for in-class journal

Grading Policy:

Homework: 15%

Everything else: 85%

“Everything else” includes but is not limited to:

  • Thematic Essays
  • Oral Discourse--fishbowls, socreatic seminars, oral presentations, recitations, textual explications
  • Creative Projects
  • Research Papers
  • Unit Tests
  • Quizzes

“Homework” includes the following:

  • Day to day classwork
  • Reading Checks

Late homework and classwork will only be accepted given extenuating circumstances. If you are absent, please refer to Google Classroom.

Major Works:

Diary of a Part Time Indian (Sherman Alexie)

The Mist (Stephen King)

Hamlet (Shakespeare)

Persepolis (Marjane Satrapi)

The Alchemist (Paulo Coelho)

Superman Red Son (Mark Millar)

Fill the Lines:

For this class, we’ll follow a ‘fill the lines philosophy.’ If I give you an assignment (an in-class essay for example), there will be clearly denoted lines that you are expected to fill. Mostly, if you fill the lines with valid writing, you’ll receive a decent grade.

Technology:

Technology will be a large part of succeeding in this class. Sometimes, you’ll feel lost with new programs we’ll use for projects, but stick with it, and you’ll figure it out. Programs we’ll use include: weebly, prezi, google docs, google slides, google classroom, popplet, vocabulary.com others.

News Day:

Every Monday (or the first day of the week) is a news day. On these days, you will mostly work independently. You will choose an article to read from a noteworthy news source (New York Times, Washington Post, Chicago Tribune, NPR) and you will write a response. The response will be approximately one page of writing. These assignments will be in the “everything else” category.

Independent Reading:

Most Fridays will be independent reading day. Make sure you bring a book to class on these days. You’ll be expected to read roughly one novel per quarter (aiming for 200 to 300 pages). There will be an accompanying assignment with the independent reading.

Film Study:

Film study will be a healthy portion of this class. At times, we will watch film in class, as a class. Other times, you’ll be expected to choose and view films independently at home. We will study at least one film in class and one independent film per quarter.

Study of Music:

Instead of delving into collections of Robert Frost and Ezra Pound, we’ll lean towards examining music as poetry. Some of this will be studied as a class, and I’ll pick the song (I hope you like Bob Dylan). More frequently, you’ll be asked to choose an artist and examine lyrics independently.

Study of Strategy:

We will study and attempt to master at least one strategy game per quarter. Games will include Ultimate Werewolf, Catan, and others. You will be expected to participate just as if we were studying a novel. There will be accompanying assignments with these units.

Plagiarism: Just don’t do it. For more specifics, please refer to page 7 in your agenda.

Oral Discourse: Yes, you will be expected to give speeches in this class. The good news is most presentations (probably all) will be given using technology. Even better news: I’m more than likely not going to march you up in front of the class one-by-one; rather, you will get into groups of 4 – 6 when presenting in the interests of time.

Quizzes/Tests: Make sure you stay on pace with assigned reading. This shouldn’t be too hard as all assigned (at least almost all) assigned reading will be done in class. I do intend to hold you responsible for the readings that are assigned. Which means you will probably be expected to write or answer questions about the reading.

Parental Advisory: Because students in English 12 are nearly adults in the eyes of society, some material we engage with will be mature in nature and may include adult themes. At times, there may be profane language, violence, or allusion to human sexuality. Don’t worry; these themes will never be addressed gratuitously, and I’d wager most would find what we study in my class tame compared to cable TV. There will always be a greater educational purpose for studying such subject matter. If you have any concerns, please feel free to email or call at your convenience.

I have read the above course outline. I understand the classroom procedures and agree to abide by Mr. Gillen’s classroom policies.

Student’s Signature X

Parent/Guardian Signature X