English 11 www.mattawanschools.org Instructor: Mrs. Kyle Boswell Email: kboswell@mattawanschools.org Phone: 269.668.3361 ext.1103 Website: www.boswellkm.wordpress.com Availability: After school (by appointment) COURSE DESCRIPTION The goal for English Language Arts 11 is to continue to build a solid foundation of knowledge, skills, and strategies that will be refined, applied, and extended as students engage in more complex ideas, texts, and tasks. In English Language Arts 11, students will add to the list of various genres including classic and contemporary narrative and informational texts that will be read and analyzed throughout high school with a special focus on British and World literature and SAT success. Eleventh graders will connect with and respond to texts through transformational thinking. They will learn to use forward thinking to help make better decisions to generate new ideas for solving problems, and to find wisdom. They will build a context for change in their lives and develop realistic plans for the future. COURSE GOALS Throughout the course, we will be guided by the following goals as we analyze literature and explore writing: 1. To carefully read and critically analyze imaginative literature. 2. To understand the way writers use language to provide meaning and pleasure. 3. To consider a work s structure, style, and themes as well as such smaller scale elements as the use of figurative language, imagery, symbolism, and tone. 4. To study representative works from various genres and periods (from the sixteenth to the twenty first century) and to know a few works extremely well. 5. To understand a work s complexity, to absorb richness of meaning, and to analyze how meaning is embodied in literary form. 6. To consider the social and historical values a work reflects and embodies. 7. To write, focusing on critical analysis of literature including expository, analytical, and argumentative essays as well as creative writing to sharpen understanding of writers accomplishments and deepen appreciation of literary artistry. 8. To become aware of, through speaking, listening, reading, and, chiefly, writing, the resources of language: connotation, metaphor, irony, syntax, and tone. MICHIGAN CURRICULUM FRAMEWORK: TEACHING AND LEARNING STRATEGIES The Teaching and Learning Standards describe the minimum expectations of students in the learning environment. Mattawan Consolidated School expects students to demonstrate higher-order thinking, to pursue ideas in-depth, to discuss them with each other at appropriate times, and to make connections among ideas and between academic ideas and work-based experiences beyond the classroom. The following standards will be applied in every classroom and to most major tasks/ assignments. 1. Higher Order Thinking: Instruction involves students in manipulating information and ideas by synthesizing, generalizing, explaining, diagnosing, describing phenomena/occurrences, hypothesizing, predicting (conjecture), applying knowledge, reflecting on the merits of arguments, or arriving at conclusions that produce new meaning and understanding for them. 2. Deep Knowledge: Instruction addresses central ideas of a topic or discipline with enough thoroughness to explore connections and relationships and to produce relatively complex understandings. 3. Substantive Conversation: Students engage in collegial and extended conversational exchanges with the teacher and/or their peers about subject matter in a way that builds an improved and shared understanding of ideas or topics 4. Connections to the World Beyond the Classroom: Students make connections between substantive knowledge and either public problems or personal experience.
ASSESSMENT STRATEGIES Class and small group discussions Prompt/journal and timed writings Process essays Grammar and vocabulary exercises Tests and quizzes (reading and vocabulary) Speeches/presentations Independent reading and participation Research projects and papers REQUIRED TEXTS AND MATERIALS Required Texts: Lord of the Flies by William Golding The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald Frankenstein by Mary Shelley Beowulf translated by Seamus Heaney Night by Elie Wiesel Short fiction and essays as selected Poetry as selected Required Materials: Three-ring binder w/dividers Lined loose leaf notebook paper Various pens and pencils Computer access outside of school GRADING EXPECTATIONS As in the Student Handbook, the grading scale is as follows: A 100-93% A- 92-90% B+ 89-88% B 87-83% B- 82-80% C+ 79-78% C 77-73% C- 72-70% D+ 69-68% D 67-63% D- 62-60% F 59% and below Occasionally, you will receive credit or no credit for various assignments. The assessments are divided into categories this year. Your class grade (100%) with a weight of 85% overall will consist of the following elements and percentages: Writing: 50% Literature: 35% Listening, Speaking, Expressing: 15% Exams: 15% Cheating on ANY class work will result in a zero for all participants involved. CLASSROOM PROCEDURES AND EXPECTATIONS 1. Conduct: Learning and reaching one s potential is only possible within a safe environment, which is mandatory for students to respect. Though I have few rules for students, I firmly enforce the ones I have. You will be expected to follow these rules in my classroom: Be respectful: This includes respecting yourself, your classmates, your environment, and your teachers. Be prepared: Being mental prepared, emotionally prepared, and physically prepared are vital to your success. Tardy means you are not in your assigned seat when the bell rings. Have a positive work ethic: This entails being willing to work, putting in quality effort, and having high expectations for class learning. *Note: Students are also held accountable for rules found within the Student Handbook.
2. Assignments: Assignments are due when class begins (that means no scrambling to finish something as it is collected!). Use the Modern Language Association (MLA) format. Skip every other line when you write compositions, so there is room for comments. If you type your work, please double space the entire piece and use Times New Roman with a size twelve font. All your work should be neat and complete. If an assignment is incomplete, messy, or misguided, I will give it back to you to do again. Your redo may not be worth full credit. Some daily assignments lose meaning if they are not done on time; with this work, you will lose credit if the work is not turned in on time. Other work, including SPEECHES and PRESENTATIONS, require that you are ready to present on the first day or on an assigned day. If you are not prepared or decide not to go when you are called, you will receive a zero on that assignment. Other work, such as research papers and essays, can be turned in up to three days late for only 70% of the credit you would have earned had the work been turned in on time. Mrs. Boswell understands that extenuating circumstances exist; please discuss all late work with Mrs. Boswell. We will also use the school sponsored program Turnitin.com: All major papers must be submitted to receive a grade in my gradebook. 3. Absences: Attend class every day. If you are sick or must attend some other function, see me before the absence, if possible. I will do my best to make each class session a meaningful learning experience; you cannot learn as much as possible if you are not in class. If you are unexpectedly absent for the entire day, it is 100% your responsibility to see the agenda sheets listed on the board for you class, and check for handouts you missed upon your immediate return. Most information will be self-explanatory, but see Mrs. Boswell if you have questions. Writing Prompts are also part of your responsibility if you are absent; you must complete them even if you are absent on the day they are assigned. You have two days to make up work for each day absent. 4. Tardies: Class begins when the bell rings. You are tardy if you are not in your seat ready to begin when the bell rings. We will observe the Student Handbook s definitions and guidelines in this class. As a reminder, three tardies equal one unexcused absence. I am very strict about this... please adhere to the expectations. 5. Conduct: We will treat each other with respect, listen to each other, allow everyone to participate, and show kindness. We will not attack people s character, consistently dominate class discussion, or make disruptions. The only reason to leave your seat without permission is to go to the bathroom. If we cannot reach an understanding on appropriate classroom decorum, we will involve your parents and the administration to reach an agreement. If you have to use the bathroom for an emergency only, please ask. Please do not use our class time as a scheduled break, for our short time together is valuable. 6. Appointments: Please do not hesitate to set up an appointment with me; sometimes a short meeting can clarify issues or confusion you have that could otherwise become an obstacle to learning. I check my email frequently, so it is also another communication tool you can use. 7. Preparation: Bring a pen, pencil, journal, English binder and the appropriate texts and other aids to class every day. If you are unprepared for class, you will receive a tardy. Lack of preparedness for an AP level class is simply unacceptable. 8. Turnitin.com: If you do not turn in your paper to turnitin.com, you will receive a zero. A final paper grade will NOT be posted until your paper is uploaded. Mattawan High School English Department Plagiarism Policy Plagiarism is a serious offense and will result in severe consequences. Not only is it cheating, it is a form of theft. Any time you take something written by another person, whether on the web, in a book or magazine, from lyrics, or anything not your own and you do not cite the author of that material, you have committed plagiarism. Plagiarism includes copying an outside (Internet, professional, artistic) source or another student's work, claiming one's entire or partial work or ideas as one's own, or noting work without proper citation. Plagiarism will initially result in an immediate zero until review by the English department committee to determine course of action. That course of action may still result in a zero. Mission Statement: Mattawan Consolidated School will be a collaborative learning community in which every individual is valued, engaged and successful. Belief Statement: We believe every child has a right to intellect and a right to be connected.
Syllabus Signature and Photo Release Form English 11 PARENT/GUARDIAN SYLLABUS SIGNATURE After reading the syllabus carefully, please sign the bottom portion of this page and have your student return it to me by FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 9 th. This is important, as your student will be held account for knowing the information enclosed in this packet. This also includes the classroom procedures on the attached page. Thank you for your support, and I look forward to a successful year with your student. Please return this sheet by September 9, 2016. Please keep the rest of the syllabus for your own records. Parent/Guardian Signature Student Signature Student Name (Print) Hour PARENT/GUARDIAN PHOTO RELEASE Throughout the school year, I will take pictures of your student engaged in various activities in our classroom. This includes discussions, working on projects, or presenting in front of the class. These pictures may be displayed: on the walls of my classroom, on bulletin boards, on my classroom webpage (www.boswellkm.wordpress.com), in conferences/presentations about my classroom practices in our school newsletter Please indicate below your permission to have your student s photo taken and/or displayed by signing below: I give my permission to have s picture taken and utilized for educational purposes only. Parent/Guardian Signature OR I am 18 years of age or older and I give my consent. Student Signature Thank you!