English
9 Honors Syllabus
Dear Parents:
Below
a reader will find a course description and objectives, supplies, grading
policy, assessment, classroom expectations, and communication with the teacher. All materials are available at my main page. Few handouts will be given.
Course Description and Objectives:
Each student can attain
success during this year long English 9 Honors class. During the first and second semesters, the
students will be studying how to create the following types of essays: a
personal narrative, character sketch, response to literature, process
explanation, comparison-contrast, opinion statement, short story, and research
report. We will also cover the writing
process and composing one, five, and multi-paragraph essays. When the semester/year is over, the student
will be able to effectively write all of the essays with little to no
difficulty. With literature, we will study
works like Romeo and Juliet, Night,
A Tale of Two Cities, To Kill a Mockingbird, The Cask of Amontillado, and The
Most Dangerous Game. The students will be
assessed over each story. The Madeline Hunter Process Model of Teaching is used daily. We also work in Gardner’s Theory of Multiple
Intelligences and Bloom’s Taxonomy.
Supplies:
Students will need the following: pens, pencils,
paper, highlighters, and a folder that will serve as a writing portfolio and
contain all writings.
Grading Policy:
Grades are calculated on the board approved grading
scale.
93-100 = A; 90-92 = A-; 87-89 = B+; 83-86 = B;
80-82 = B-; 77-79 = C+; 73-76 = C; 70-72 = C-; 67-69 = D+; 63-66 = D; 60 – 62 =
D-; 59 – Below = F.
Assessment:
Tests are meant to be an accurate reflection of the
curriculum objectives. Make up work
follows the school policy in the student/parent handbook. A child must show his or her admit slip upon
returning. Once back, the student has
the same number of days missed to make up assignments. Please turn these assignments into the
teacher.
Late work receives a one-letter grade deduction per
day late. All students are encouraged to
keep a weekly planner with all assignments written in it.
Grammar/Writings
The students will show what they have learned
through tests and writings. A
multiple-choice grammar pre-test will be given during the first week of
class. Then, at midterms there will be a
post-test given to measure mastery of the material covered. With papers, the students will be given the
following material: a rubric, a due date, and a location on the web site to use
as a reference. I will check their paper
against the rubric, so students can earn a better grade by knowing
expectations. In between the date the
material was given and the due date, students may submit papers and have them
evaluated without a penalty. Once the
paper is graded, if students are not happy with a grade, they may make
corrections, and earn half of the lost points back. Essentially, students choose their own
grade.
Why Do We Do This? Since writing is a process, a key point in
writing is revision. Even great writers
like Harper Lee rewrite hundreds of times. By doing this, students are forced to revise,
rewrite, and follow the process.
Classroom Expectations and Guidelines:
Upon entering the room each
student is to get into an assigned seat, so I may take attendance. If a student is not in his or her seat when
the bell rings, he or she is late. We
will have assigned seats during the first quarter. During the second, third, and fourth
quarters, students may select seats. The
teacher reserves the right to change seats if necessary. At the beginning of class, I will raise my
right hand meaning class is beginning.
In addition, this signal will be used during the class to bring the group
of students to attention for things like announcements.
Once in class, we will
promptly begin. When turning in an
assignment, all paper work will be passed to the side. All lesson plans for each week are posted on
my web site.
English 9 Honors
Yearly Breakdown - Note: if students need more time on a subject, we may adjust
this calendar. Also, at various times
we will cover all of
How is English 9
Honors different?
- We work at a faster pace.
- We cover extra fiction and nonfiction stories
and have a quarterly AP Reading Assignment.
- We have more writing.
- We require summer reading.
- We read Lord
of the Flies and A Tale of Two
Cities.
- We focus on a Standard of the Month.
FIRST QUARTER
FICTION: We will cover 15 works throughout the year.
NONFICTION: We will cover 15 works
throughout the year.
VOCABULARY: We will work through half
of the College Bound Vocabulary book.
PAPERS: 1. Narrative.
2. Character Sketch 3. Literature Response
MAJOR WORK: A Tale of Two Cities. Night.
GRAMMAR: Focus on capitalization, commas, punctuation,
and pronouns (Chapters 1 – 11 in the grammar books).
OTHER IMPORTANT INFORMATION:
·
Take the
class pretest at the beginning and end of the 1st quarter. The exact same test will be taken as the
class midterm.
·
Also, we will
focus on the Acquisition of Vocabulary Standard, the Concept of Print,
Comprehension Strategies, and Self-Monitoring Strategies Standard, and the
Informational, Technical, and Persuasive Test Standard.
·
We will also
do one oral assignment each semester.
·
We will do
one independent reading assignment per quarter.
The students will pick a book off of the AP reading list.
SECOND QUARTER
FICTION, NONFICTION, and VOCABULARY: See above.
PAPERS: 1. Letter.
2. Process Explanation. 3. Job
Application. 4. Compare/Contrast
MAJOR WORK: Lord of the Flies and Night.
GRAMMAR: We will cover chapters 1 – 11 in the grammar
books. We will focus on phrases, clauses, subject/verb agreement, and using
modifiers.
POETRY: We will do a poetry unit during the second
quarter.
OTHER IMPORTANT INFORMATION:
·
We will take
the posttest/midterm (the exact same test as the pretest).
·
We will focus
on the Literary Text Standard and the Writing Process Standard.
·
We will also
do one oral assignment each semester.
·
We will do
one independent reading assignment per quarter.
The students will pick a book off of the AP reading list.
THIRD QUARTER
FICTION, NONFICTION, and VOCABULARY: See above.
PAPERS:
1. Opinion
Statement
2. Short
Story
MAJOR WORK: Romeo and Juliet
GRAMMAR: The students will be held accountable for
chapters 1 – 11 in the grammar books. Our focus will be on capitalization,
commas, punctuation, pronouns, phrases, clauses, subject/verb agreement, and
using modifiers.
OTHER IMPORTANT INFORMATION:
·
We will focus
on the Writing Application Standard and the Writing Conventions Standard.
·
We will also
do one oral assignment each semester.
·
We will do
one independent reading assignment per quarter.
The students will pick a book off of the AP reading list.
FOURTH QUARTER
FICTION, NONFICTION, and VOCABULARY: See above.
PAPERS: Research Report
MAJOR WORK: To Kill a Mockingbird
GRAMMAR: The students
will be held accountable for chapters 1 – 11 in the grammar books. Our focus
will be on capitalization, commas, punctuation, pronouns, phrases, clauses,
subject/verb agreement, and using modifiers.
OTHER IMPORTANT INFORMATION:
·
We will focus
on the Research Standard and the Communication: Oral and Visual Standard.
·
We will also
do one oral assignment each semester.
·
We will do
one independent reading assignment per quarter.
The students will pick a book off of the AP reading list.
Computer Lab
Procedure:
A
student may sit where he or she likes, but I reserve the right to change
seats. Also, a student may listen to
music while typing provided it does not distract from finishing an assignment;
also, he or she must have headphones. A
student may not listen to music without headphones.
Hall passes are available from me. A pass will be given to a student two times
(unless there are extenuating circumstances) a semester. They will receive a slip from me at the
beginning of the semester that must be signed with each use. If a pass is lost, the student may still use
the pass, but he or she must serve a detention.
Classroom Expectations and Guidelines:
Upon
entering the room each student is to get into his/her assigned seat, so I may
take attendance. If a student is not in
his or her seat when the bell rings, he or she is late. We will have assigned seats during the first
quarter. During the second or fourth
quarters, students may select seats. The
teacher reserves the right to change seats if necessary. When turning in an assignment, all paper work
will be passed to the side. Once in the
room, all people in the room are expected to work together to ensure a safe
environment. If a student has a
question, please raise a hand; also, if we are working in groups or if another
student is presenting a project, a student is expected to stay on the
educational objective. My classroom guideline
is as follows: A student must work to reach the educational objective for each day.
In order to guarantee that
your child and all students in my classroom can reach each day’s educational
objective in the excellent learning climate they deserve, I am utilizing the
following assertive discipline plan starting
today. If a student chooses to break the
above guideline, the consequences are as follows:
First consequence: Verbal
warning.
Second consequence: A
talk with the teacher and a detention.
Third consequence: A call
home and two detentions.
Fourth consequence:
Parent/teacher conference.
Fifth consequence: An
office referral.
The tardy policy follows
the parent/student handbook.
Parent/Teacher Communication:
By working together, your
child will have a better chance at success.
Midterm and quarter notices will be sent and state a child’s
progress. Also, his or her grade can be
checked 24 hours a day, seven days a week through grade book wizard. If you have questions, please feel free to
contact me through grade book wizard or at Vincent.Marsala@avonlakecityschools.org, or at (440) 933-6290. All communication will receive a response
within 24 hours unless there are extenuating circumstances. The phone number and email address shown are
for educational use only by parents/adults.
Student phone calls and/or emails will not receive a response at any
time
Disclaimer:
This is not meant to be
all encompassing. As the year
progresses, there may be a need for additional assignments or modifications to
expectations.
Sincerely yours,
Vincent Marsala
Teacher