What Is This Class

10th Grade Literature and Composition Syllabus

What is this class? 10th Grade Literature/Composition

What is it about? Focusing on a study of World and American Literature, the student develops an understanding of chronological context and the relevance of period structures in literature within cultures around the world. The student develops an understanding of the ways the place of origin of a work of literature affects its structure and how the chronology of a work of literature affects its meaning. The student develops an understanding of literature as both a product of its culture and as a culture-bearer and recognizes the commonalities and differences among works of literature from different times and places in the world.

Who is the teacher? Shery Kearney. Most students call me Mrs. K.

Will you be available before or after school to help me? I have zero period this year, so will be unable for help before school. I will be available most afternoons for extra help. Sign up for appointments in class on the extra-help calendar.

To contact me:

School E-mail:

I will also be using Remind (previously Remind 101) for class communication.

Class website: http://teachersites.schoolworld.com/webpages/SKearney

How do you grade?

Categories / First Semester / Second
Semester
Products (Summative Assessments)
Summative assessments: tests, major projects, presentations, revised writing / 40% / 40%
Process (Formative Assessments)
Formative assessments: class work, quizzes, discussions, in-class writing, drafts, peer reviews / 15% / 15%
Homework / 5% / 5%
Research
Researched and documented essays or projects / 20% / 20%
Exam
Final exams both semesters / 20% / 20%

Exam Dates:

1st Semester: December 16-18, 2015

2nd Semester May 18-20, 2016

Do we have to write in this class? Each semester, students will complete writing samples to include expressive, informative, persuasive, and imaginative. The focus will be on persuasive/argumentative and expository/informative writing. Writing assignments will include a combination of timed in-class essays and longer out-of-class writing assignments. Students should follow the guidelines on the manuscript form handout for all writing assignments. Writing assignments must include evidence of pre-writing (planning and or drafting); evidence of revision, editing, and proofreading; and a final copy in manuscript form unless specified in class. All documentation will be done using MLA format and will be graded for content as well as use of appropriate language, grammar, and mechanics. (A Fayette County writing rubric posted on the class website and attached to the syllabus). Writing assignments may be evaluated through sites such as Turnitin.com for reliable and accurate documentation of sources.

Minor Assignment Rubric

Ineffective / ü- / 1 / 70% / Fails to meet the minimum expectations for the assignment
Competent / ü / 2 / 88% / Meets the minimum expectations for the assignment
Superior / ü+ / 3 / 100% / Exceeds the expectations for the assignment

Do we have a research paper in this class? Students in 10th grade will completed a variety of researched and documented essays. All research will be documented using MLA format. Research (including all related assignments) counts 20 percent of the student’s grade each semester.

Course Policies

·  Assignment calendar: A class calendar will list make-up work; however, no additional reminders will be given.Students are responsible for keeping up with the class calendar on the class website and missing work in Infinite Campus.A daily agenda and calendar of assignments are available on the class website with links to information about assignments when students are absent.

·  Absences: Students should attempt to keep up with reading and writing assignments during absences.Previously assigned assignments must be turned in or completed on the assigned day even if a student has been absent, whether the absence is excused or not.If a student checks in or out on the day a major essay is due, the student is still responsible for submitting the assignment.

·  Class discussions: Class discussions cannot be made up.Students should make every opportunity to be present in class.

·  Completion of make-up work: All make-up work must be completed within five school days after returning to school from an excusedabsence.No exceptions. Students may make up work, but it will not be recorded unless the absence is excused. Students have three days to bring in an excuse to the attendance office.

·  Unexcused absences: Students with an unexcused absence will not be permitted to make up work, tests, or quizzes.

·  Presentations: The teacher randomly assigns presentation dates. If you know in advance you will have a conflict such as a field trip, athletic event, or doctor's appointment; try to change dates with a classmate and notify the teacher. If you are absent unexpectedly and have an excused absence, a make-up date will be scheduled. If you miss both presentation dates, you will be required to make up the presentation before or after school and you will receive a maximum of a 50% on the presentation.

·  Turning in work: Assignments are due on the date posted by the beginning of class. Some online assignments will be due by 8:35 AM (beginning of school) on date posted, others at 11:59 PM.Assignments which are not turned into the folder in Mrs. Kearney’s room or the online submission sites by the designated time and date are considered late.Turn in your own work. Make sure your name is on the assignment, and you sign the assignment card in the folder to indicate you turned in your work. DO NOT LEAVE AN ASSIGNMENT ON MRS. KEARNEY'S DESK OR LECTERN. DO NOT HAND IT TO HER DIRECTLY.

·  Bring your own technology (BYOT) policy. Mrs. Kearney follows the policy in the MHS Agenda. A sign in the front of the classroom indicates whether technology will be used in class. Sometimes the teacher will make an oral announcement to use technology. To avoid distraction in class for the teacher and students and subsequent disciplinary consequences, Mrs. Kearney has provided a clear plastic cubby for your phones. You will be assigned a student number in class. When you enter the classroom, notice whether the sign indicates technology will or will not be used. If it will not be used, place your phone in the cubby. It is your responsibility to retrieve the phone as you exit class.

·  Late work penalties: Late work (work not turned in by students who were present) receives a 10% penalty for each school day it is late up until five days past the posted due date.After five days no credit will be given.

·  Extra help: I have a zero period class, so extra help is not offered before school. A help calendar lists days that is available Mrs. Kearney for make-up work and extra help. It is the student’s responsibility to check the calendar and schedule accordingly. You may e-mail Mrs. Kearney at . I will respond as quickly as possible. If you do not receive a response within 24 hours, please e-mail me again.

·  Extra credit: No extra credit is offered.

Credit Recovery

·  Options for credit recovery following the conclusion of the semester may be available should credit for the course not be obtained. Requirements and criteria, including a minimum failing grade, will be determined at the end of each semester and must be satisfied in order to participate in credit recovery.

Fayette County Schools Plagiarism and Academic Dishonesty Statement (Grades 9-12)

Plagiarism

Rationale: Plagiarism and academic dishonesty are serious violations of the principles of academic integrity. They represent a form of theft rather than genuine learning, and undermine the learning process. Plagiarism and academic dishonesty demonstrate a breach of character that is at odds with the values and goals of Fayette County Public Schools as an agency of College and Career readiness. Students must become adept at gathering information, evaluating sources, citing material accurately, reporting findings from their research, and analyzing sources in a clear and cogent manner. Plagiarism and academic dishonesty will not be tolerated.

Plagiarism and Academic Dishonesty include the:

● representation of another’s ideas or writing as one’s own, by withholding credit through the omission of parenthetical documentation and/or a works cited page

● submission of work copied in part or whole from the work of someone else and submitting it as one’s own, by withholding credit through the omission of parenthetical documentation, specific source citations on a works cited page, and/or works cited page

● use of material—copied directly, cut and pasted, summarized, or paraphrased--without providing the author’s name and title of source

● submission of purchased papers or papers downloaded from the Internet as one’s own

● submission of papers written by some other person—including tutors, parents, siblings, or friends--as one’s own

● provision of one’s work in any discipline or subject matter to others, whether one believes the work will be copied or not unless the teacher has given specific permission for collaborative effort

● stealing of examination or course materials or cheating on an examination

● falsifying of records, laboratory results, or other data

● assistance of another student in any of the areas above, including assistance in an arrangement whereby any work, classroom performance, examination, or other activity is submitted or performed by a person other than the student under whose name the work is submitted or performed.

Penalties for Plagiarism:

A. A student who has plagiarized all or any part of a major writing assignment in any class will receive no credit for the assignment. No substitute assignment will be given.

B. A student who submits an assignment that requires documentation with no parenthetical citation and/or works cited has effectively and purposefully committed plagiarism; therefore, the student will receive a grade of zero for the entire research or writing assignment. No substitute assignment will be given.

C. A student who allows another student to copy his or her assignment in any discipline, or assists in the act of plagiarism or academic dishonesty, will be subject to disciplinary action and will receive a grade of zero for the assignment. No substitute assignment will be given.

D. All incidents of plagiarism will result in a disciplinary referral, parents will be notified, and the assignment will receive a grade of zero for the assignment. No substitute assignment will be given.

NOTE TO PARENTS: “County Guidelines for Student Behavior” outlines the punishments for academic dishonesty; plagiarism is academic dishonesty. Teachers give instruction orally, in writing, and through specific examples as to what constitutes plagiarism to all students.

NB: Writing assignments may be evaluated through sites such as Turnitin.com for reliable and accurate documentation of sources. Students will be given a chance to submit and evaluate rough drafts for originality prior to submission for grading of major written assignments.

Materials/textbooks needed for class EACH DAY:
●  Large 3-ring binder
●  Single subject composition or spiral notebook
●  Dividers
●  Notebook paper
●  Blue or black ink pens
●  Pencils
●  Textbooks/Workbooks
Optional but recommended:
●  Post it notes
●  Highlighters
Required Texts:
Collections $97.95 (replacement cost)
Close Reader
Performance Assessment $15.95 (replacement cost)

What are we going to read? Students will use Collections as the main textbook for the course. The replacement cost is $97.95. All reading assignments and literature notes should be reviewed daily as part of regular homework routine. Students should understand that reading for a literature class and reading for pleasure require different levels on involvement. Students are expected to read, re-read, annotate, and review the reading selections assigned for class. Use of online and supplementary notes (CliffsNotes, Spark Notes, e-Notes) may helpful but cannot be used as a substitute for careful reading and study of the assigned literature. Students will complete special projects and assessments (quizzes, unit tests, writing assignments) on the literary works studied.

First Semester
First Nine Weeks / Second Nine Weeks
Anchor Text: The Inferno by Dante Alighieri
Supplemental texts for The Inferno
Excerpts from Julius Caesar, Letter to Con Grande Myth: Excerpts from Gilgamesh
Fiction: “What of This Goldfish, Would You Wish” by Etgar Keret
“The Wife’s Story” by Ursula LeGuin
“The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson
Informational Texts:
“This is water” by David Foster Wallace (speech)
Texas v. Johnson Majority Opinion
American Flag Stands for Tolerance
Films/videos/visual texts
The Danger of a Single Story (TED TALK)
Catching Hell (ESPN 30 for 30)
My So Called Enemy (trailer) / Anchor Text: Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi
Poetry: From The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka
From The Metamorphosis by Peter Kuper
“The Starry Night” by Anne Sexton
“Starry, Starry Night” by Don Maclean
Informational Texts:
“Life After People” by Dolores Vasquez
From Simplexity by Jeffrey Kluger
Films/videos/visual texts
From Rivers and Tides by Thomas Riedelsheimer
Starry Night by Vincent Van Gogh
“Vincent Van Gogh Visits The Gallery,” Doctor Who
Second Semester
Third Nine Weeks / Fourth Nine Weeks
The Theban Plays
By Sophocles
Poetry:
Poems by Emily Dickinson
Poems by Billy Collins
“Musée des Beaux Arts” by W.H. Auden
Fiction:
“The Night Face Up” by Julio Cortazar OR
“The Handsomest Drowned Man in the World” by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
Informational Texts
“Coming to Our Senses” by Neil de Grasse Tyson
“The Math Instinct” by Keith Devlin
“Whale Sharks Use Geometry to Avoid Sinking”
Films/videos/visual texts
Landscape with the Fall of Icarus by Pieter Bruegel the Elder
Is Your Red the Same Red as My Red by Vsaure
“Beauty is in the eye of the beholder” Twilight Zone / Night
By Elie Wiesel
Reading groups: Things Fall Apart, Cry, the Beloved Country, A Day in the Life, The Joy Luck Club
Fiction: “Bile” by Christine Lee Zilka
“The Briefcase” by Rebecca Makkai
Informational Texts
“Letter from Birmingham Jail” by Martin Luther King, Jr.
Speech by Josephine Baker
“No News From Auschwitz” by A.M. Rosenthal
“Letter to Lord Viceroy” by Mohandas K. Gandhi
Films/videos/visual texts
Oprah and Elie at Auschwitz
From Gandhi: The Rise to Fame
American: The Story of the March on Washington
Life is Beautiful

Behavior

Students are expected to follow all McIntosh and Fayette County School rules as outlined in the student handbook and on the McIntosh High School website.