English 9 Intensified Course Syllabus and Expectations
Course #21132, Full Year, One Credit
Washington-Lee High School, 2013-2014
Mr. Klein
Room 2228
Welcome to English 9 Intensified! This course should be both challenging and exciting as you embark on your first year of high school. I look forward to working with you!
Course Theme: Identity
Who are you? Do you know? Do other people really know who you are? Are you mostly alike or mostly different from the people around you? What has made you the way you are? Is your identity still changing?
How are you alike people from other places and from other times? What do you have in common with characters in books, including books written centuries ago?
Can you describe yourself? How do writers create characters that are somehow real and believable, characters that we can identify with?
Is there a human identity? What is the nature of “human nature”? How does the individual “I” relate to the universal “we”?
The theme for 9th grade is identity. Our reading, writing, and thinking this year will revolve around these kinds of questions, questions that great literature and great thinkers ask and struggle with.
Course Outline
The Virginia Standards of Learning for 9th grade provide the foundation for the Intensified English 9 curriculum. It is my expectation that students will, by the end of the year, meet and exceed these standards.
Communication: Speaking, Listening, Media Literacy
The key skill areas in communication are speaking, listening, group cooperation, and literacy in a variety of media.
You will make a variety of planned oral presentations on literature you have read for the course, with an emphasis on interpreting dramatic readings.
Good listening habits will be stressed throughout the year so that you will learn to take notes with accuracy, to be sensitive to the contributions of others, to understand assignments, and to fulfill assignments according to oral instructions.
A large part of English 9 involves working in small groups. Cooperating with peers and playing a positive role in group collaboration are key skills to be sharpened during this year.
You will analyze and interpret information from a variety of media, focusing on techniques, purpose, and effect on their audiences.
Standards of Learning:
9.1 The student will make planned oral presentations independently and in small groups
9.2 The student will produce, analyze, and evaluate auditory, visual, and written media messages.
Reading/Literature
You will read and analyze literature – novels, plays, short stories, essays, and poems – with a focus on the theme of identity. Through the study of literature of a variety of genres and from a variety of periods and locations, you will develop a sound understanding of enduring themes and literary techniques that will enable you to appreciate connections between literary figures and ideas and your own lives.
Nonfiction texts, from essays and memoirs to informational and technical texts, are an important part of our day-to-day reading, and will be an important part of your 9th grade English study. Summarizing, identifying the main argument, and making inferences will be some of the skills focused on this year.
Our literature textbook, Holt’s Elements of Literature, will be one of the core reading texts for the year.
Vocabulary
In order to enhance your reading skills, the course will include a focused study of vocabulary, partly derived from the literature we are reading. The weekly list of vocabulary words will also be organized around the study of common Greek and Latin roots.
Standards of Learning:
9.3 The student will apply knowledge of word origins, derivations, and figurative language to extend vocabulary development in authentic texts.
9.4 The student will read, comprehend, and analyze a variety of literary texts including narratives, narrative nonfiction, poetry, and drama.
9.5 The student will read and analyze a variety of nonfiction texts.
Writing
You will improve your skills in a variety of types of writing: narrative, literary, expository, and technical, used to inform, explain, persuade, analyze, and entertain. Frequent writing assignments will aim to advance important skills such as:
1. Planning and organizing writing.
2. Developing a thesis statement.
3. Organizing details to develop the thesis into a concise composition that reflects unity and purpose.
4. Using specific vocabulary and information.
5. Revising and editing writing for clarity and correctness.
You will learn strategies for peer and self-assessment of written work.
Grammar
A key element of improving your writing is refining and improving your skills in using correct, standard English. Lessons in grammar, usage, and mechanics will largely grow out of review of students’ own written work. Our textbook for grammar and writing is Holt’s Elements of Language.
Standards of Learning:
9.6 The student will develop narrative, expository, and informational writing for a variety of audiences and purposes.
9.7 The student will self- and peer-edit writing for correct grammar, capitalization, punctuation, spelling, sentence structure, and paragraphing.
Research
One or more research projects/papers will be completed this year, possibly in collaboration with your world history class. The focus of these research assignments will be on:
· finding appropriate and accurate resources in both print and electronic formats;
· organizing your research into a coherent paper;
· using proper documentation style to cite your sources; and
· developing a clear understanding of plagiarism and how and why it is to be avoided.
Standards of Learning:
9.8 The student will use print, electronic databases, online resources and other media to access information to create a research product.
Schedule
Our reading of major works (in addition to readings from our textbook Elements of Literature) will roughly following this quarterly schedule:
Ist Quarter: Summer readings (Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde)
Greek Mythology and The Odyssey by Homer
Short stories and poetry (on the theme of “Journeys and Heroes: The search for self”)
2nd Quarter: Charles Dicken’s Oliver Twist
Short stories, poetry, and non-fiction (on the theme of “Human Nature and Nurture”)
3rd Quarter: William Golding’s Lord of the Flies
Elie Wiesel’s Night
Short stories, poetry, and non-fiction (on the theme of “The Nature of Human Nature: Where
does evil come from?”)
4th Quarter: Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet
Short stories, poetry, and non-fiction (on the theme of “Growing Up: Loyalty and Loss”)
Class Rules
I will have the following expectations for your behavior in English 9 Intensified:
· Time
Your time, my time, and our time together are limited and valuable. Therefore, you will recognize and respect this class as a time to grow in useful knowledge, skills and values. Avoid behavior that wastes my time, your time, or your peers’ time.
· Respect
Treat others as you would like to be treated:
· with respect· with responsibility / · with honesty
· with support
Ways in which we treat each other respectfully and responsibly include:
1) When someone is talking, don’t interrupt.
2) Raise your hand if you have a question or something to add.
3) Disagree in an agreeable way.
4) Treat classroom materials and furniture with care.
5) Do not bring food or drinks (except water) into the classroom.
· Pride and Integrity
- Take pride in what you do.
- Turn in work that is your own. Do not let other students copy your work. Work that is copied
or has been copied from will not be awarded credit.
- In our W-L learning community, academic integrity is at the heart of who we are and how we
work together. On many assignments, you will be required to write and sign the W-L Honor
Pledge: “On my honor, I pledge that I have neither given nor received unauthorized
information on this assignment/examination.”
· Preparation
Come to class prepared. You will be expected to bring the following items to class every day:
· Any completed homework assignments
· A 3-ring binder with lined 8½ x 11notebook paper
· Pencil and pen; colored pencils
· The novel or other book being read at that time
Be seated and ready to work when the bell rings.
I will follow and expect students to follow all APS policies as stated in the Student Handbook. Please read the Student Handbook carefully.
Course Policies and Procedures
Participation
Everyone is expected to participate in class discussions and activities. Your participation allows you to test your own understanding, to sharpen your oral communication skills, and to help others in the class.
Your participation will be assessed regularly, based on the minimum expectations of (1) coming to class on time; (2) coming prepared with necessary supplies and texts; (3) listening alertly; and (4) participating orally in class discussions.
Homework
Each day, you will have something to do at home for English 9, either reading or writing or both. You should budget at least 30 minutes each night for English homework.
Homework and long term assignments should be completed for the assigned due date. Late homework assignments will generally not be accepted. Longer term assignments will lose one letter grade for each day that they are late. In order to keep track of deadlines, you are encouraged to use your planner/agenda on a daily basis.
Assessment
Student grades reflect student achievement and not student behavior. Your work and your growth and progress toward understanding and mastery of skills will be measured frequently, through a variety of means.
· Homework completion 10-15%
· Quizzes and tests (on assigned reading, vocabulary, grammar, etc.) 25-30%
· Informal in-class writing (journal writing, etc.) 10-15%
· Projects and presentations 10-15%
· Formal writing (in-class and out-of-class; preliminary and final drafts) 15-20%
· Quarter exam 15-20%
Quarter grades are computed by averaging all grades. A test, paper, or project will be used to assess progress at the end of each unit. There will be a cumulative exam at the end of each quarter. Quarter grades of .4 or below are rounded down; grades of .5 and above are rounded up.
The weight of an individual assignment toward the quarter grade will be indicated by the maximum point value of that assignment (for example, homework might be worth 10 points and a test a maximum of 100 points).
The quarter grade will be calculated using the standard APS scale:
A = 90 – 100% C+ = 77 - 79% D = 60 – 66%
B+ = 87 – 89% C = 70 – 76% E = 0 - 59%
B = 80 – 86% D+ = 67 - 69%
The year’s grade will be the average of the four quarter grades and the final exam grade. The final exam will cover material studied over the course of the whole year.
Attendance
Consistent attendance to class is critical to success in any course. Specific school rules regarding absences from class are explained in the Student Handbook. I will apply these rules in a just and fair manner. You are required to read them and follow them.
Parents will be notified, by the attendance office, when a student misses class without permission. Such absences are truancies and all work missed will receive a grade of “0”.
Tardiness to class is a serious disruption to class instruction and a loss of learning for you. These will be considered "unexcused” if there is no note from the teacher who caused the tardiness. Any warm up activities missed due to an unexcused tardy will receive a grade of zero.
If a student is late to class, they must sign in on the tardy clipboard and turn in a pass if they have one.
This will be used to change an unverified absence (UV) to either an excused (EC) or unexcused (UC) tardy.
Consequences for unexcused tardies (UC) are:
o 1st offense: Student Phone call to parent/guardian
o 2nd offense: Detention with me and a phone call to parent/guardian
o 3rd offense: After school detention
o 4th offense: SLC community conference and after school detention
o 5th offense or greater: Referral to administrator and after school detention
In order to have an absence(s) excused, a student must bring a note from his or her parent/guardian to the attendance office within two days of the absence(s). Failure to bring in a note within 2 days will result in an unverified absence (UV) AND a grade of ZERO for any work for that day.
Communication Between Home and School
The best way for students and parents to communicate with me is via school e-mail. My e-mail address is .
I will post grades in as timely a fashion as is possible given this year’s large class sizes. Students and parents can access class assignments and grades through the APS Parent Vue and Student Vue.
Each day that the class meets, I will post on my webpage on the W-L website a summary of the class’s activities on that day, a link to any handouts, and details of next-class or on-going homework assignments. In making this information available to students who were absent, it is my hope that all students will be able to come to each class fully prepared.
I have read and understood this Course Syllabus for English 9 Intensified.
______
Student Name
______
Student Signature Date
______
Parent/Guardian Signature Date
Please write the names of two classmates who can give you class assignments when you miss class.
______
Classmate #1 Phone Number
______
Classmate #2 Phone Number