English 9 Honors Syllabus & Expectations English 9 at John Champe High School includes the study of multiple genres and language fundamentals. Mrs. Samantha Hill English 9A/9H/SAT & Etymology Samantha.hill@lcps.org Room 2613 English 9 Standards of Learning http://www.doe.virginia.gov/testing/sol/standards_docs/english/2010/stds_english9.pdf Quarterly Skill Sets will be available on the class Edmodo site as well as on my John Champe teacher homepage. Anchor Text Reading Expectations *All students are expected to be reading one book outside of class, of their choice. This book is required in class during all SHIELD periods for Silent Sustained Reading/Reading for Fun/Focused Fun Reading! First Quarter Collection of Short Stories Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck Choice Fiction Read for first semester (SSR) Second Quarter Odyssey by Homer Twelve Angry Men (Play) by Reginald Rose Third Quarter To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee Anthem by Ayn Rand Choice Non-Fiction Read for second semester (SSR) Fourth Quarter Romeo and Juliet (Play) by William Shakespeare Lit Circle Choice: House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros or Staying Fat for Sarah by Chris Crutcher or Speak by Laurie Anderson Writing Expectations First Quarter Analytic, Creative, Reflective, Timed Writing Second Quarter Analytic, Argumentative, Research-Based, Timed Writing x 2 Third Quarter Analytic, Creative, Reflective, Timed Writing Fourth Quarter Analytic, Argumentative, Research-Based, Timed Writing x 2 Required Supply List 1 inch binder (exclusively for English) Loose leaf paper in the binder for class use One composition book (exclusively for English) Blue and Black pen/pencil Yellow Highlighter Flash Drive (recommended) 1
Classroom Expectations Be respectful of others Keep our classroom an open and safe environment Contribute to our fun learning space Communicate with others Classroom Procedures Arrive to class on time Begin Arrival Ticket at bell Complete class work assigned Raise your hand Teacher dismisses class Absent? Must check Edmodo class site prior to returning to class Know the fire drill location and stay with the teacher (attendance is taken) Adhere to the cell phone rule seriously! No cell phones out without permission from the teacher Check Edmodo for documents and assignments when you have lost something, forgotten things at school, etc. Let your teacher know of any concerns Achieve at your highest potential You are in charge of your grade Always be thinking of your future goals how can you achieve them? Clean up materials used in class Turn in assignments to the appropriate location [box on teacher s desk] Push in your chair Leave your backpack UNDER your desk Limit food/drink in class Throw away all trash Always use the hall pass (your agenda) and adhere to 15-15 rule; have the agenda filled out in full and sign the board as you exit If you need to use the restroom, wait for a break in teaching before inquiring- please, do not raise your hand for this request unless it s an emergency Edmodo Class Website Accessing documents, assignments, and agendas is easy to do with Edmodo.com. Each curriculum I teach has an edmodo.com site. For English 9 Honors, you need to navigate to the following URL and type in the code I provided below. If you have any concerns or issues, please see me immediately. You are required and responsible to check the class edmodo site if you are absent. Look at the agenda and documents for the day(s) you missed. If documents were passed out, I will provide you with a copy with your name on it to complete by the next class. Website URL: https://edmo.do/j/headse English 9 Honors Class Code: nj3vtg Behavioral Expectations Positive behavior makes a classroom a very pleasant place in which to learn. Poor behavior interferes with instruction and learning. Poor behavior will not be tolerated in the classroom or during class activities. Always respect your teacher and peers to gain their respect. If you are acting in a way that is unexpected, re-teaching strategies will be utilized to ensure a conducive working and learning environment for everyone. Daily Arrival Expectations A prepared student comes every day with the materials listed above, is in his/her seat by the bell, begins the Arrival Ticket when class starts, and brings his/her choice book during all English class SHIELD days. You will need your composition book and your English binder in class each day. It is always good to have these two items with you for SHIELD periods as well! 2
SHIELD Expectations Students may only flex out during our English SHIELD periods if all assignments and work has been completed for this class, and the student has an overall average of a 75% or higher. During SHIELD, we will have an Arrival Ticket which all students must complete before flexing out. (Again, bring your English binder and composition book!) Attendance will be taken during SHIELD and if eligible, you are allowed to leave after five minutes/completion of the Arrival Ticket. You MUST sign out on the SHIELD Sign-Out sheet located on the clipboard at the door. When you flex IN to this class from another teacher, you must use the same sheet and Sign-IN. There will be a 15 minute Silent Sustained Reading time during all SHIELD periods for English. Always come prepared with your independent reading book. Plagiarism and Cheating Plagiarism and cheating go against John Champe High School s honor code and will not be tolerated in any form. All work must reflect you or your group's own thinking and effort. Anything borrowed from other sources must be referenced and cited correctly. Any instance of plagiarism or cheating will result in an instant zero for the assignment, followed by an office referral. This rule is taken very seriously. John Champe s Tardy Policy The school s tardy policy is in effect. The first offense will be a warning while the second results in me contacting your parent. The third and fourth offenses will result in re-teaching and continued parent contact. If you are tardy five or more times, then you will be referred to your subject administrator. Grading Procedures and Clarity Grades will be based on a combination of the following four categories: Tests/Quizzes, Applied Practice, Projects/Presentations, and Writing. Student grades will be determined by total points; every assignment will be worth a set number of points. Essentially, the more points a student earns, the higher the student s grade will be. Assignment Category: Major Assessments Applied Practice Examples: Tests, quizzes, essays, projects, Socratic Seminars, oral presentations Guided reading questions, writing process components, vocabulary, class work and activities, discussion participation, workshop documents Minor assignments cover one to two skills and, therefore, are worth fewer points. Major assignments are the culmination of many skills learned and thus receive higher amounts of points. I will be using the minor assignments as checkpoints to be certain students achieve mastery of the material. For example, an essay is a process that takes multiple weeks and the final product is a culmination of all of the parts, thus the parts are worth less than the whole essay. 3
Grades will be given a point value and will be based on the Loudoun County grading scale: A+ = 98% - 100% C+ = 77% - 79% F = 59% and lower A = 93% - 97% C = 73% - 76% A- = 90% - 92% C- = 70% - 72% B+ = 87% - 89% D+ = 67% - 69% B = 83% - 86% D = 63% - 66% B- = 80% - 82% D- = 60% - 62% Only assignments that count towards the final grade will be listed in Clarity. Teachers have option to hide non-weighted assignments; however, all teachers will track (either on paper or electronically) student progress on all learning activities. If a student does not complete an assignment on time, a Z will be placed in the grade book. This signifies that the work is incomplete. A 50% floor will not be entered in the grade book until the end of the quarter. Note, the Z computes the assignment as a zero. It is imperative to turn in all work and to keep up with any work missed due to absences. The LCPS English Honors Assessment The Commonwealth of Virginia requires that all courses that are weighted have a common assessment to ensure that students meet consistently high standards across schools and classrooms. In Loudoun County Public Schools, Honors-level high school English classes receive a 0.5 GPA weight (on a 4.0 scale), and we meet the state s requirement through two, year-long assessments. Writing Reflection Essay/Yearlong Portfolio The Honors Portfolio Reflection Essay is the culmination of a year s writing portfolio development and students on-going reflections on their growth as writers. In Honors English, students are expected to be writing a great deal and reflecting on these writings throughout the year. The Honors Portfolio Reflection Essay will have the students gather evidence from their work throughout the year of initial strengths, areas of growth, and skills on which they still need to focus. The student will then write a timed, typed reflection essay on this progress. This writing will serve two purposes for students: (1) for the student to recognize his or her progress over the course of the year and (2) to give the student an opportunity to synthesize documents into one larger reflective essay. The final product for the Honors Portfolio Reflection Assessment will count as a summative grade for the fourth quarter. The Big Question Synthesis Project The Big Question Synthesis Project engages students in a process of increasingly independent inquiry over the course of the year. At the end of the first quarter, students will be required to select a Big Question which is, by definition, difficult to answer, or answerable in a number of ways. After choosing or creating a Big Question, a student will seek out a range of artifacts that address this question over the course of the year. The teacher will offer the student a number of opportunities throughout the year to connect the work going on within the classroom to the individual student s Big Question. The student will also gather material independently from a variety of sources which will also be collected in the student s portfolio. At the end of the year, each student will reflect on his or her individual Big Question. What answers could they come up with? How has the literature they have experienced influenced their ideas about their particular Big Question? The final Big Question analysis will give 4
students a chance to synthesize sources gathered independently with the literary works covered in class and attempt to formulate an answer to their Big Question. The final product(s) for the Honors Big Question Synthesis Assessment will count as 50% of the final exam grade. Late Work Policy All assignments are expected to be turned in on time, no matter the academic level. Keep in mind: * If a student is in school but not in class on a day that an assignment is due, he/she is still expected to turn in the assignment. * If a student is attending a school function, he/she is expected to turn in all work before leaving. * If a student is absent on the day that a major assignment is due, he/she is expected to make contact with the teacher to make arrangements for turning in the assignment (phone or email). Printer problems are not exceptions to the late-work policy. You should plan ahead, have plenty of paper and ink, not wait until the night before to print, and have an electronic version in case he/she needs to find a school computer to print the assignment. Assignments should not be printed off at the beginning of class; work will be considered late if it is not ready for submission at the bell. A 10% reduction will be taken each class period that an assignment is late. Teachers will no longer accept late assignments from the first half of each quarter after one week prior to the interim. The same will apply for the second half of each quarter; nothing will be accepted late from the interim report to one week prior to the end of the marking period. These dates will be posted in English rooms and announced to all classes. Re-takes and Re-learning 1. Students can meet with teacher to discuss retakes/multiple efforts opportunities for process activities (applied practice activities, quizzes, etc.). The purpose of this is for students to demonstrate an understanding of these skills and activities prior to a larger/extended assignment or test. The student must initiate this process by speaking with the teacher within ONE WEEK of a returned grade that scored a 75% or below. A student will then be asked to fill out a reflection sheet. The grade on the retake will replace the initial grade. 2. The only larger/extended assignment that students will have an opportunity to rework is a formal writing assignment. In order for the opportunity to be made available, students must have met all process deadlines for the assignment, must complete a self-reflection form, and must conference with the teacher prior to submitting a rewritten paper. It is the students responsibility to initiate this process. The grade on the rewrite will replace the initial grade. 5