San Diego Unified School District
Point Loma High School
Course Syllabus 2017-18
Course Advanced English 1-2 Seminar, M-F, Periods 1 & 2
Instructor Ms. Cynthia Hedges
; 619-223-3121 x2202
Texts Literature, McDougal Littell, 2009
Supplementary novels, plays, essays, non-fiction and poetry
Program Description
The PLHS Humanities Seminar is an alternative English course for 9th and 10th grade students identified by SDUSD as highly gifted. 9th grade Seminar students participate in Advanced English 1-2 Seminar and 10th grade Seminar program participants take Advanced English 3-4 Seminar. Seminar English includes differentiated curriculum, in-depth studies and accelerated pacing.
Academic Goals
A primary academic goal of the program is to provide an exciting and challenging intellectual environment where students develop and exercise higher level thinking skills. In English, the California State Standards for reading, writing, listening and speaking and the California State Standards for Gifted Education provide the foundation for all curriculum design. Readings, assignments and projects integrate each level of Bloom’s Taxonomy with special emphasis on analyzing, evaluating and creating.
Creative Expression
Opportunities for creative expression are also an important part of seminar classes. Students will be encouraged to exercise their creative talents and to try out new modes of expression. Many assignments and projects incorporate critical thinking and creative expression. An understanding of art, music, and poetry of particular cultures and time periods enriches student understanding of the people and their values. Related art, craft and creative writing projects give students hands-on experiences.
Social-Emotional
An additional purpose of the seminar program is to cultivate an environment where students feel comfortable expressing themselves and sharing their interests. Mutual respect for the ideas of interests of others and recognition of the contributions each student makes to the group will be encouraged through discussions, group and partner assignments, projects and presentations, small group and whole class sharing of writing and team building activities.
Course Content
Advanced English 1-2 Seminar includes fiction and non-fiction readings, analytical and creative writing assignments, projects, and responses to music selections. Students also develop the ability to recognize and analyze the commonalities and changes among people of various cultures and time periods.
Course Outline
Advanced English 1-2 Seminar (9th) includes five thematically organized units of study. Each unit includes fiction and non-fiction readings, visual media, process and on-demand writing, creative writing, individual, partner and/or small group projects and presentations.
Units of study include:
-The Power of Language and Storytelling
-Journeys: Adventure, Homecoming, Displacement
-Ambition, Leadership, Restraint and Rebellion
-The Individual, Identity and Society
-Culture, Assimilation and Conflict
Reading Selection Rationale
“To become college and career ready, students must grapple with works of exceptional craft and thought whose range extends across genres, cultures, and centuries. Such works offer profound insights into the human condition and serve as models for students’ thinking and writing. Along with high-quality contemporary works, these texts should be chosen from among seminal U.S. documents, the classics of American literature, and the timeless dramas of Shakespeare. Through wide and deep reading of literature and literary nonfiction of steadily increasing sophistication, students gain a reservoir of literary and cultural knowledge, references, and image, the ability to evaluate intricate arguments, and the capacity to surmount the challenges posed by complex texts.”
(Source: Common Core State Standards, www.corestandards.org)
Class Readings
Some of the works students will study in the course include:
Beowulf, Anon., Seamus Heaney translation
Odyssey, Homer, Robert Fitzgerald translation (selected books)
Canterbury Tales, Chaucer (“The General Prologue” and selected tales)
Macbeth, Shakespeare
Frankenstein, Mary Shelley or Les Miserables, Victor Hugo
All Quiet on the Western Front, Erich Maria Remarque
Selected short stories, poetry and essays
Selected non-fiction articles and essays
Independent, partner and small group novels, plays and non-fiction works.
Instructional Practices
Students engage in a variety of learning experiences and situations:
-large and small group discussions;
-Socratic seminars;
-individual, partner and small group work;
-student presentations (research and creative);
-teacher presentation
Types of Writing
The Common Core Writing Standards for grades 9 and 10 ask students to:
-write arguments to support claims in an analysis of substantive topics, using valid reasoning and relevant and sufficient evidence;
-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;
-write narratives to develop real or imagined experiences or events using effective technique, well-chosen details, and well-structured event sequences;
-conduct short as well as more substantial research projects based on focused questions, demonstrating understanding of the subject under investigation;
-gather relevant information from multiple print and digital sources, assess the credibility and accuracy of each source, and integrate the information into research writing while avoiding plagiarism;
-draw evidence from literary or informational texts to support analysis, reflection and research.
(Source: Common Core State Standards: Writing 9-12; www.corestandards.org)
Students will engage in:
-analytical writing (thematic and comparative essays of fiction, poetry and non-fiction, and passage analyses);
-personal narrative writing;
-descriptive writing;
-persuasive writing (essays, letters, problem-solution);
-informative/explanatory writing;
-research;
-responses to print and visual media;
-responses to readings;
-writing exercises;
-creative writing (short story, poetry, responses to literature);
-critique of peer writing.
Homework
Homework will be regularly assigned and is due at the beginning of the class period.
Types of homework include:
-reading assigned literature and nonfiction;
-written responses to reading assignments;
-preparation for whole class and small group discussions;
-research;
-long-term project and presentation preparation;
-vocabulary assignments and study for tests;
-essay drafting (pre-writing, rough, revised and edited drafts);
-in-class essay preparation;
-creative writing.
Assessment and Grading
Scholarship Scholarship grades reflect the quality and completeness of written assignments, reading responses, group and individual projects and presentations and in-class tests. All assignments are graded in points and converted to a percentage basis.
100-90%= A
89-80%= B
79-70%= C
69-60%= D
59.9% or less= F
Assignments in each category will be weighted as follows:
Homework & Class Work= 45%
Essays & Tests= 15%
Creative Writing, Projects & Presentations= 40%
This is a semester course, and progress reports reflect a student’s scholarship grade at the 6 and 12 weeks. Fall and spring semester grading periods end on:
October 13, 2017- 6 week
December 5, 2017- 12 week
January 26, 2018- 18 week (end of fall semester)
March 16, 2018-- 6 week
May 4, 2018 -12-week
June 13, 2018- 18 week (end of spring semester)
Individual student grades are posted on Parent Connect. Students should regularly check their progress.
Citizenship
To ensure individual student success and create an exciting and engaged learning community, all students must make a personal commitment to be prepared to participate in class every day.
Citizenship grades are determined by a student’s:
-punctuality and attendance (see PLHS school-wide tardy and attendance policies);
-preparation of materials for class;
-participation and engagement in discussions, small group activities and individual work;
-interaction with classmates and instructor;
-adherence to the PLHS school-wide Academic Honesty policy (student handbook).
Citizenship grades are calculated separately for each 6-week grading period of the semester, and the semester citizenship is an average of the three grades.
Note: Cell phone and other personal electronic devices are major distractions and interfere with the learning environment. Unless students have permission to use cell phones to work on a specific assignment, they must be muted and put away during class. Texting for any reason during class is not acceptable. Phones and other electronic devices used during class will be picked up by school security and delivered to the vice-principals’ office where parents must pick them up. Use of personal electronic devices in class will affect citizenship grade. Students will be assigned a netbook for in-class use. Off topic/inappropriate use of netbook (games, shopping, social media, etc.) will affect citizenship grade.
Classroom Procedures
-All homework assignments are due at the beginning of the class period, unless otherwise noted. Except in the case of a cleared absence, the maximum score a student can earn on a late homework/class assignment is 50% of the total points. All late work must be completed one week before the end of the grading period in which it is assigned (for example, for the first grading period, all late homework/daily work assignments must be turned in no later than October 6, 2017).
-Long-term projects, presentations and process essays will be accepted late for full credit in the case of a cleared absence. If late for any other reason, 10% will be deducted for each day late.
- Daily and long-term assignments are posted regularly on the PLHS website.
- If absent, it is the responsibility of the student to check the PLHS homework website regarding missed work. It is the student’s responsibility to make up assignments missed during an excused absence, including missed in-class essays and tests.
In-class essays and tests must be made up within one week of the student’s return from a cleared absence, or they will be recorded as an “F” grade/ 0 points. Individual exceptions may be made depending on the circumstances of the absences.
Organization
-Students should have either a separate 1 ½-2” 3-ring binder or a separate section in a larger 3-ring binder for this class. It should contain all handouts, assignments and notes for the class. Organization is essential, and students should save all work completed, handouts and notes printed from the PLHS website.
-Homework and daily in-class work will be stamped on the day it is due and kept in the student’s notebook. Students will keep a running log of all assignments in the front of their binders (template for assignment log is posted on homework website). To receive full credit for homework and daily work assignments when binders are scored, students must have had them stamped by the teacher on the due date. Upon return from an absence, it is the student’s responsibility to get any missed homework or in-class work stamped; otherwise, the work will be considered late.
-Organized binders of homework and in-class work with a table of contents will be scored every two weeks during the grading period, and students will receive points in the homework/class work category for all completed assignments. Students will receive full credit for homework and daily work assignments that were stamped as complete on the due date, partial credit for those assignments checked off on the due date as incomplete, and half credit for late assignments that are complete.
Parent and Student Communication
Please contact me via email or voice mail regarding any questions, concerns or information you would like to share, and I will do my best to respond to you during the week within 24-hours. My contact information is: ; 619-223-3121 x2202.
I am available after school for conferencing with students and parents by appointment.
Parents and students are encouraged to use the PLHS website for information regarding long and short term assignments. Grades are posted on Parent Connect.
Parents: please complete the information form and sign the sheet indicating that you have reviewed the course syllabus with your student. Your student should return these papers to me by Tuesday, September 5, 2017. All handouts are posted on the homework website.