Sarah Vanostrand English Department Room 205

Sarah VanOstrand English Department – Room 205

Office Hours: 7:45am-8:55am, 1:15pm – 1:45pm, 2:45pm – 3:30pm (As long as I do not have any appointments or administration directed activities)

Welcome to English!

In this class I hope we can journey together through the wonderful world of literature. I expect you to pepper me with questions and I will do my absolute best to impart to you the knowledge and passion of books I have gained through my years. Below you will find my class rules, a list of required supplies, a general outline of our syllabus this year, and a general outline of how I do my grading. I hope we can all learn from each other and have a wonderful year!

Rules:

 Do not do anything that prevents me from teaching or you and your classmates from learning.

 Treat me, your classmates, your school, and yourself, with politeness and respect.

 The only way you will fail my class is if you:

~ Do not come to class.

~ Do not do the work.

Supplies Needed:

 1.5 in 3-ring binder

 1 set of dividers (Your binder needs to be divided into: Notes, Handouts, and Writing)

 1 black-and-white composition notebook (No Spiral Bounds, Please!)

 Loose-leaf paper

 A Two-Pocket Folder to use for your Independent Reading Log

 Pens (No RED or GREEN, Please!)

 No. 2 Pencils

 Highlighters

 Pocket Dictionary (Recommended)

 Pocket Thesaurus (Recommended)

Syllabus:

 Each quarter we will read at least:

~ 1 major book or play

~ 1 major short story

~ 1 nonfiction work/article

~ 1 poem

All of the above will be determined by the curriculum map put together by the school district.

 In addition, you will have the following writing assignments:

~ 1st Quarter:

 1 Listening Essay following Regents exam format

 1 Research Paper (3-5 pages) following MLA format

~ 2nd Quarter:

 1 DBQ Essay following Regents exam format

 1 Thesis Paper (3-5 pages) following MLA format

~ 3rd Quarter:

 1 2-Genre Essay following Regents exam format

 1 Compare/Contrast Paper (3-5 pages) following MLA format

~ 4th Quarter:

 1 Critical Lens Essay following Regents exam format

 1 Persuasive Paper (3-5 pages) following MLA format

~ 3rd & 4th Quarter:

 1 Career Research Paper, which will be explained in greater detail later.

~ All Year:

 Usually 1 Journal Entry per day (except for Independent Reading Days)

 Vocabulary Quizzes

 Pop Quizzes

 1 Binder Quiz per quarter, during which I will give you a quiz that should be extremely easy to pass if you have kept your binder up to date.

 The Independent Reading Program, which will count as 20% of your grade, and will be explained in greater detail later.

 Your Final Exam, which will count as 25% of your final grade

Grading:

 I grade on a total points system. The number of points you earn each quarter will be divided by the total number of possible points for that quarter. Below are the point values assigned for the various assignments you will be doing this year.

 Attendance: 1pt / day

 Participation: Up to 5pts / day

 Journal Entries: 1pt / day

 Vocabulary Quizzes: 25 pts each

 Pop Quizzes: 25 pts each

 Binder Quizzes: 25 pts each

 Literary Unit Tests: 100 pts each

 I will give you a rubric for each of the assigned essays and papers, however, I will be grading them mostly on the categories the Regents Exam uses to evaluate essays: Meaning, Development, Organization, Language, and Conventions. The rubrics will explain these categories to you more fully, but here is a general idea of how your essays and papers will be graded:

 Any Regents Essay will be scored according to the state rubric for that essay, then will be assigned the following point values:

6 = 100, 5 = 84, 4 = 67, 3 = 50, 2 = 34, 1 = 17, 0 = 0

Research Paper Rubric:Thesis Paper Rubric:

~MLA Format – 25pts~Meaning – 15pts

~Meaning – 15pts~Development – 15pts

~Development – 15pts~Organization – 15pts

~Organization – 15pts~Language – 15pts

~Language – 15pts~Conventions – 15pts

~Conventions – 15pts~Use of at least 3 quotes – 25pts

Compare/Contrast Rubric: Persuasive Paper Rubric:

~Meaning – 20pts~Meaning – 15pts

~Development – 20pts~Development – 15pts

~Organization – 20 pts~Organization – 15pts

~Language – 20 pts~Language – 15pts

~Conventions – 20pts~Conventions – 15pts

~Use of 3 Rhetorical Devices – 25pts

 I give Extra Credit very sparingly, however, each quarter I give a certain amount of extra credit for EFFORT, because I believe that TRYING is just as important as SUCCEEDING!

 I am always willing to discuss problems, ideas, or suggestions with both students and parents. I can be contacted through the main office or at the e-mail listed on the first page.

 I consider this syllabus to be a contract between myself, the teacher; you, the student; and your parents or guardians. I will do my best to uphold the standards I have set for both you and myself. Please, join me in making a commitment to your education by signing below and having your parent or guardian fill out their contact information and sign as well, then return ONLY this page to me.

Let’s have a wonderful year!!!

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