Freshman English
Introduction and Course Description:
Welcome Students!
No skills you develop at Tucson High will have more impact on your life than those that allow you to communicate effectively. This class will help you develop the ability to read and understand all genres of literature, think critically, write competently, and listen attentively. In turn, you will become young adults who not only possess the capability to achieve academically, but also effect change in the world that surrounds us.
This is a course in reading, writing, observing, and thinking. You will read and write every day to help you build skills and knowledge necessary for success in future courses. You will use free writing, peer editing, grammar review, and annotation to develop your critical reading and writing skills. You are expected to maintain a notebook for class discussions, vocabulary and grammar development, class notes, and text reflections. Students will be exposed to a variety of authors and genres to learn how writers use literary elements in creating their art. Writing instruction concentrates on paragraph writing skills, basic language mechanics and usage. Writing skills are enhanced through a study of grammar and sentence patterns. Vocabulary development continues throughout the year focusing on core content vocabulary as well as word etymology and making inferences based on context. This course meets every day and is designed to help you improve your reading and writing. Assignments are selected based on data collected from assessments to determine needs and growth.
Through hard work, you will become smart and successful users of reading, writing, listening, speaking and critical thinking strategies. You will develop yourselves as individuals who recognize literary terms and structures, as well as appropriate and effective ways to communicate them, as well as your original ideas, through written and oral language. You will become adept at active reading and constructive notetaking, as well as the writing process and invaluable test-taking skills. You are expected to maintain a notebook for class discussions, vocabulary and grammar development, class notes, and text reflections. Your writing will be evaluated for effective word choice, varied sentence structure, and the use of text evidence to support your argument. We will make great strides together in these arenas through the study of the English language and world literature with an emphasis on non-Western literature.
Goals/Objectives:
Grades are based on a percentage of accumulated points with weighted categories. Your grade for the first semester is the cumulative grade for first and second quarter; your grade does not start over at the quarter. The grade is a combined grade and not an average of the two quarters. Your grade is weighted and determined by the assignments completed throughout the ENTIRE semester.
Students can expect to earn higher grades only if they complete all assignments excellently (not perfectly) and on time. Skipping assignments or doing them poorly or to just turn something in will inevitably result in mediocre, poor, or even failing grades. All assignments earn points; in general, smaller assignments (daily homework, quizzes, language exercises) are worth fewer points than larger ones (essays, research projects, speeches, etc.). Academic dishonesty earns an automatic 0% and cannot be made up or redone.
Being conscientious is a part, not the whole, of effective effort. The simple completion of assignments will not guarantee you an A or B, work that shows you are using hard work and learning strategies to gain knowledge will!
Grades are available on-line to check at your convenience; it is your responsibility to keep up with class grades. Please remember that it takes time to grade and enter all student work. Grades are entered in Synergy throughout the week. Please see me if you are having problems with the class, the workload, or expectations. Do not wait until you have fallen behind.
Grading scale for the course:
A = 90% - 100% Superior work that demonstrates effective effort
B = 80% - 89% Mastered the concept
C = 70% - 79% Average work
D = 60% - 69% Still working on the concept
F = 0% - 59% Not approaching academic goals
Category weighting for the course:
40% Project, Essays, and other independent tasks
40% Tests and Quizzes
20% Participation and practice
*Participation includes independent reading, bell work, notes, and class discussion.
Expectations and Requirements
The key to success in this class is the awareness that we become smarter through "effective effort." I expect you to understand the following:
You will contribute the necessary time, focus, resourcefulness, use of feedback, commitment, and persistence to developing the strategies that will make you smarter and ensure your success in Sophomore English!
I believe all students can learn, demonstrate concern for others, and choose to act responsibly in the classroom. Together, we will create a classroom environment that supports these habits and encourages mutual respect and cooperation, as well as provides you with opportunities to make positive choices regarding your behavior. You will achieve academically as well as learn to take responsibility for yourselves as members of the learning community at Tucson High School.
The following list of rules and procedures will guide our behavior and help provide you with the time and space they need to excel academically.
Required Materials (you will need these by the second semester)
Welcome Students!
No skills you develop at Tucson High will have more impact on your life than those that allow you to communicate effectively. This class will help you develop the ability to read and understand all genres of literature, think critically, write competently, and listen attentively. In turn, you will become young adults who not only possess the capability to achieve academically, but also effect change in the world that surrounds us.
This is a course in reading, writing, observing, and thinking. You will read and write every day to help you build skills and knowledge necessary for success in future courses. You will use free writing, peer editing, grammar review, and annotation to develop your critical reading and writing skills. You are expected to maintain a notebook for class discussions, vocabulary and grammar development, class notes, and text reflections. Students will be exposed to a variety of authors and genres to learn how writers use literary elements in creating their art. Writing instruction concentrates on paragraph writing skills, basic language mechanics and usage. Writing skills are enhanced through a study of grammar and sentence patterns. Vocabulary development continues throughout the year focusing on core content vocabulary as well as word etymology and making inferences based on context. This course meets every day and is designed to help you improve your reading and writing. Assignments are selected based on data collected from assessments to determine needs and growth.
Through hard work, you will become smart and successful users of reading, writing, listening, speaking and critical thinking strategies. You will develop yourselves as individuals who recognize literary terms and structures, as well as appropriate and effective ways to communicate them, as well as your original ideas, through written and oral language. You will become adept at active reading and constructive notetaking, as well as the writing process and invaluable test-taking skills. You are expected to maintain a notebook for class discussions, vocabulary and grammar development, class notes, and text reflections. Your writing will be evaluated for effective word choice, varied sentence structure, and the use of text evidence to support your argument. We will make great strides together in these arenas through the study of the English language and world literature with an emphasis on non-Western literature.
Goals/Objectives:
- Exhibit familiarity with elements of literature.
- Improve analytical skills.
- Build reading and study skills and strategies
- Cite evidence to support a claim.
- Locate, evaluate, and utilize viable sources for research.
- Conduct and present research both written and orally.
- Write and speak using standardized edited American English.
- Use new vocabulary words correctly, using context clues, knowledge of root words, and word origins as well as reference sources to decode and understand new words.
- Define and identify literary terms.
- Explain the format of drama.
- Explain the format of poetry/epic poetry.
Grades are based on a percentage of accumulated points with weighted categories. Your grade for the first semester is the cumulative grade for first and second quarter; your grade does not start over at the quarter. The grade is a combined grade and not an average of the two quarters. Your grade is weighted and determined by the assignments completed throughout the ENTIRE semester.
Students can expect to earn higher grades only if they complete all assignments excellently (not perfectly) and on time. Skipping assignments or doing them poorly or to just turn something in will inevitably result in mediocre, poor, or even failing grades. All assignments earn points; in general, smaller assignments (daily homework, quizzes, language exercises) are worth fewer points than larger ones (essays, research projects, speeches, etc.). Academic dishonesty earns an automatic 0% and cannot be made up or redone.
Being conscientious is a part, not the whole, of effective effort. The simple completion of assignments will not guarantee you an A or B, work that shows you are using hard work and learning strategies to gain knowledge will!
Grades are available on-line to check at your convenience; it is your responsibility to keep up with class grades. Please remember that it takes time to grade and enter all student work. Grades are entered in Synergy throughout the week. Please see me if you are having problems with the class, the workload, or expectations. Do not wait until you have fallen behind.
Grading scale for the course:
A = 90% - 100% Superior work that demonstrates effective effort
B = 80% - 89% Mastered the concept
C = 70% - 79% Average work
D = 60% - 69% Still working on the concept
F = 0% - 59% Not approaching academic goals
Category weighting for the course:
40% Project, Essays, and other independent tasks
40% Tests and Quizzes
20% Participation and practice
*Participation includes independent reading, bell work, notes, and class discussion.
Expectations and Requirements
The key to success in this class is the awareness that we become smarter through "effective effort." I expect you to understand the following:
- This class, the material it includes, and your participation in it are important.
- You can reach our goals through effective effort.
- As your teacher, I am committed to you and your academic and personal progress.
You will contribute the necessary time, focus, resourcefulness, use of feedback, commitment, and persistence to developing the strategies that will make you smarter and ensure your success in Sophomore English!
I believe all students can learn, demonstrate concern for others, and choose to act responsibly in the classroom. Together, we will create a classroom environment that supports these habits and encourages mutual respect and cooperation, as well as provides you with opportunities to make positive choices regarding your behavior. You will achieve academically as well as learn to take responsibility for yourselves as members of the learning community at Tucson High School.
The following list of rules and procedures will guide our behavior and help provide you with the time and space they need to excel academically.
- Treat each other politely and with kindness.
- Treat school and personal property respectfully.
- Follow all school rules and teacher directions.
- Be prepared to use class time as work time.
- Solve conflicts maturely
- Make an effective effort on all assignments and request help if you need it.
Required Materials (you will need these by the second semester)
- Composition Notebook (two containing at least 80 pages)
- Pencils with erasers (don’t forget to buy extra lead if you choose to use a mechanical pencil)
- Sticky notes (different sizes)
- Highlighters in pink, yellow, green. (Post-it now makes highlighters with flags in the cap)
- Two-pocket folder (graded papers and handouts will go in ISN or two pocket folder)
- Book for reading
- 3-ring notebook
- Dividers or folders to organize the notebook
- Assignment sheet or planner
- Standard size, loose leaf notebook paper
- USB drive
- Index cards
- Good collegiate level dictionary
- Black ink pens (for final drafts if you can’t type them)
- Facial tissue
- Pencil sharpener
Rewrite and Retake Policy:
Students will use the writing process on a regular basis and are expected to participate in writing conferences. Students will work together to improve their writing as well as meet with me for revisions. Essays may be revised once for consideration of a higher grade. Students have a week to complete their revisions. Students must have a conference with me regarding their revisions at least one day before revisions are due. The revision will be accepted so long as it was initially submitted on time, a student-teacher conference has taken place, and the rewritten assignment is resubmitted in a timely fashion (no more than 3 days after the assignment was returned to the student).
Students are allowed to retake tests on which they did not do well, but they may not retake any test more than once. Students are not allowed to retake a test the same day as their first attempt. Students must inform me of their intent to retake a test, so a time can be scheduled.
Plagiarism, Cheating, and Academic Integrity:
Plagiarism is the practice of copying words, sentences, images, or ideas for use in written or oral assessments without giving proper credit to the source. Copying and pasting information from the Internet is plagiarism. Cheating is defined as the giving or receiving of unauthorized help on anything that has been determined by the teacher to be an individual effort. Cheating of any kind will not be tolerated, and plagiarism is cheating. Both are considered serious offenses and will significantly affect your course grade. Any student who cheats will fail that assignment. In addition, credit will not be awarded to students who “share answers,” “do work together,” or copy. I consider this to be academic dishonesty (cheating). I expect you to do your own work during discussions and other cooperative assignments. Do NOT have one person in the group write down answers and pass around the answers for everyone to copy. You need to write down your own answers in your own words.
All written work turned in for a grade must be original or quoted (using quotation marks) and properly cited giving credit to the author. We will be going over this policy and the "how to" of citations during the first weeks of school. Any student who copies directly from the Internet or from another student is in violation of this rule against cheating and is jeopardizing his or her possible success in this class.
You should expect some form of homework every night. Your homework will depend on what is done in class that day. During the week there may also be quizzes related to the literature discussed in class. In addition to these regular assignments, we will have long-term projects. These projects will require planning and time management on your part to ensure you meet the deadlines. If you need more time or are having difficulty with an assignment, you must speak with me before that assignment is due to avoid late penalties. Written assignments may be turned in electronically through Teams. Please do not email them due to the excessive amounts of email I get on a daily basis. Assignments can easily be lost in my inbox or misdirected to my spam folder. Homework should consist of one or more of the following:
Your daily attendance and promptness are key to success and a hallmark of effective effort. Therefore, I closely adhere to T.U.S.D. attendance and tardy policies. You cannot expect to pass a class you do not attend, and excessive absences may result in loss of credit in accordance with district policy. When you miss class, you are not just missing the work but all the instruction and discussion that goes with the assignment. We will be working every day, so one absence will set you back.
If students are absent the day of a scheduled presentation (group or individual) and do not contact their group or me to make arrangements for their part, they will receive a zero for the presentation or project.
You are expected to be in your seats with your materials by the time the bell stops ringing. If you are roaming the hall or hanging out in the doorway when the tardy bell rings, you are tardy. Chronic tardiness will result in progressive discipline. You will be reminded to be on time after the first tardy. You will write an explanation that must be signed by your parent or guardian the second time you are tardy. If you are tardy after that, your parents will be contacted again, and you will be referred for further consequences.
Make-up and Late Work:
If you are absent, you may make up your work. You have time equal to your absence to make up the work you missed. This is in accordance with TUSD Board Policy JE-R. For example, if you are absent on Monday and return on Wednesday, your assignments are due on Friday. If you miss a test or a quiz, you must make an appointment to take the test or quiz within one week of your return to school. Any work due the day before or the day of the absence is due the day the student returns to class.
You need to speak with me immediately upon your return since you may not be allowed to make up work once the time allotted by board policy has passed. You are responsible for making and keeping an appointment to take a missed test. You will not be allowed to make up the test if you do not show up for an appointment and do not contact me to cancel your appointment
YOU are responsible for obtaining missed assignments. You should always check the class LMS or www.batesenglish.weebly.com for information on where to find assignments as well as links to assist you with your work. Unless a day’s lesson calls for student-teacher conferencing or progress updates, do not use class time to find out about make-up work or discuss topics outside the current lesson or activity. The beginning of class is not a good time, as I like to start class promptly. Any copies handed out during class are in the blue sorter in the back of the room. Copies and assignments are also in the class notebook. DO NOT announce that you never received the work when I ask for it to be turned in. It is your responsibility to check the in class these as soon as you return from your absence. Do NOT just copy another student’s work. This is academic dishonesty. You are expected to take your own notes and do your own assignments. Copies of all presentations are available electronically and hard copy.
*Assignments are expected to be turned in on time. Points will be deducted from late work. Any assignments turned in after the due date will receive a 50% deduction. Assignments handed in after a week past the due date will not earn credit. Certain assignments such as rough drafts must be turned in on the due date to earn any credit. No late assignments will be accepted after the quarter ends.
*Cases of extreme emergency or extended illness will be handled on a case-by-case basis.
Electronic Devices:
Tucson High Magnet School believes in maintaining a safe and effective educational environment for all its students, and we as educators understand that cell phones have great utility, but cell phone use has increasingly become a source of distraction in the classroom decreasing student engagement and time spent on learning. To avoid these concerns, I will be enforcing our District Cell Phone Policy. Tucson High Administration has sent home communication regarding the policy explaining how we plan to create a culture of maximizing student learning by enforcing our cell phone free learning environment in the classroom. We believe this will allow our students to be:
Action Levels
Students who violate the classroom cell phone policy are subject to disciplinary action:
Remember to check online on a regular basis for assignments and announcements. Vocabulary is posted on online at the beginning of the week. Several resources to help you complete assignments can also be found on this website.
Students will use the writing process on a regular basis and are expected to participate in writing conferences. Students will work together to improve their writing as well as meet with me for revisions. Essays may be revised once for consideration of a higher grade. Students have a week to complete their revisions. Students must have a conference with me regarding their revisions at least one day before revisions are due. The revision will be accepted so long as it was initially submitted on time, a student-teacher conference has taken place, and the rewritten assignment is resubmitted in a timely fashion (no more than 3 days after the assignment was returned to the student).
Students are allowed to retake tests on which they did not do well, but they may not retake any test more than once. Students are not allowed to retake a test the same day as their first attempt. Students must inform me of their intent to retake a test, so a time can be scheduled.
Plagiarism, Cheating, and Academic Integrity:
Plagiarism is the practice of copying words, sentences, images, or ideas for use in written or oral assessments without giving proper credit to the source. Copying and pasting information from the Internet is plagiarism. Cheating is defined as the giving or receiving of unauthorized help on anything that has been determined by the teacher to be an individual effort. Cheating of any kind will not be tolerated, and plagiarism is cheating. Both are considered serious offenses and will significantly affect your course grade. Any student who cheats will fail that assignment. In addition, credit will not be awarded to students who “share answers,” “do work together,” or copy. I consider this to be academic dishonesty (cheating). I expect you to do your own work during discussions and other cooperative assignments. Do NOT have one person in the group write down answers and pass around the answers for everyone to copy. You need to write down your own answers in your own words.
All written work turned in for a grade must be original or quoted (using quotation marks) and properly cited giving credit to the author. We will be going over this policy and the "how to" of citations during the first weeks of school. Any student who copies directly from the Internet or from another student is in violation of this rule against cheating and is jeopardizing his or her possible success in this class.
- 1st offense will result in a zero on the assignment, student conference, parent contact, and a written warning.
- 2nd offense will result in a zero on the assignment, parent contact, and a written referral.
- 3rd offense will result in a zero on the assignment, parent contact, and further disciplinary action.
You should expect some form of homework every night. Your homework will depend on what is done in class that day. During the week there may also be quizzes related to the literature discussed in class. In addition to these regular assignments, we will have long-term projects. These projects will require planning and time management on your part to ensure you meet the deadlines. If you need more time or are having difficulty with an assignment, you must speak with me before that assignment is due to avoid late penalties. Written assignments may be turned in electronically through Teams. Please do not email them due to the excessive amounts of email I get on a daily basis. Assignments can easily be lost in my inbox or misdirected to my spam folder. Homework should consist of one or more of the following:
- Complete and review vocabulary assignments - Vocabulary work must follow the required formats. Templates for these formats will be in your notebooks. Vocabulary is assigned on Monday and due the following Monday.
- Independent reading – You are required to read 500 pages each semester with reading checks averaging 65 pages every two weeks
- Grammar practice
- Reduce and review any notes
- Complete reading and writing assignments
- Complete independent practice.
Your daily attendance and promptness are key to success and a hallmark of effective effort. Therefore, I closely adhere to T.U.S.D. attendance and tardy policies. You cannot expect to pass a class you do not attend, and excessive absences may result in loss of credit in accordance with district policy. When you miss class, you are not just missing the work but all the instruction and discussion that goes with the assignment. We will be working every day, so one absence will set you back.
If students are absent the day of a scheduled presentation (group or individual) and do not contact their group or me to make arrangements for their part, they will receive a zero for the presentation or project.
You are expected to be in your seats with your materials by the time the bell stops ringing. If you are roaming the hall or hanging out in the doorway when the tardy bell rings, you are tardy. Chronic tardiness will result in progressive discipline. You will be reminded to be on time after the first tardy. You will write an explanation that must be signed by your parent or guardian the second time you are tardy. If you are tardy after that, your parents will be contacted again, and you will be referred for further consequences.
Make-up and Late Work:
If you are absent, you may make up your work. You have time equal to your absence to make up the work you missed. This is in accordance with TUSD Board Policy JE-R. For example, if you are absent on Monday and return on Wednesday, your assignments are due on Friday. If you miss a test or a quiz, you must make an appointment to take the test or quiz within one week of your return to school. Any work due the day before or the day of the absence is due the day the student returns to class.
You need to speak with me immediately upon your return since you may not be allowed to make up work once the time allotted by board policy has passed. You are responsible for making and keeping an appointment to take a missed test. You will not be allowed to make up the test if you do not show up for an appointment and do not contact me to cancel your appointment
YOU are responsible for obtaining missed assignments. You should always check the class LMS or www.batesenglish.weebly.com for information on where to find assignments as well as links to assist you with your work. Unless a day’s lesson calls for student-teacher conferencing or progress updates, do not use class time to find out about make-up work or discuss topics outside the current lesson or activity. The beginning of class is not a good time, as I like to start class promptly. Any copies handed out during class are in the blue sorter in the back of the room. Copies and assignments are also in the class notebook. DO NOT announce that you never received the work when I ask for it to be turned in. It is your responsibility to check the in class these as soon as you return from your absence. Do NOT just copy another student’s work. This is academic dishonesty. You are expected to take your own notes and do your own assignments. Copies of all presentations are available electronically and hard copy.
*Assignments are expected to be turned in on time. Points will be deducted from late work. Any assignments turned in after the due date will receive a 50% deduction. Assignments handed in after a week past the due date will not earn credit. Certain assignments such as rough drafts must be turned in on the due date to earn any credit. No late assignments will be accepted after the quarter ends.
*Cases of extreme emergency or extended illness will be handled on a case-by-case basis.
Electronic Devices:
Tucson High Magnet School believes in maintaining a safe and effective educational environment for all its students, and we as educators understand that cell phones have great utility, but cell phone use has increasingly become a source of distraction in the classroom decreasing student engagement and time spent on learning. To avoid these concerns, I will be enforcing our District Cell Phone Policy. Tucson High Administration has sent home communication regarding the policy explaining how we plan to create a culture of maximizing student learning by enforcing our cell phone free learning environment in the classroom. We believe this will allow our students to be:
- Engaged in classroom activities and assignments
- Less dependent on electronics to do classwork
- Less likely to engage in conversations around bullying
- Less likely to be distracted and procrastinate on assignments in class
Action Levels
Students who violate the classroom cell phone policy are subject to disciplinary action:
- First Offense - students violating the policy a first time are given a verbal warning and asked to place their device in their backpack or purse.
- Second Offense w/in same class period – security or Dean is called & student violating the policy a second time will be escorted with said phone or electronic signaling device to Security Office, at which point the device will be locked in a secure area; however, the student’s parent will have to pick up the cell phone or electronic signaling device from the Principal’s Office. (T150). See Student Code of Conduct for appropriate additional consequence.
- Ongoing non-compliance – students violating the policy multiple times within the same class will have a Parent-Teacher and Administrator conference and to revisit the GB Policy and plan to resolve the violation.
Remember to check online on a regular basis for assignments and announcements. Vocabulary is posted on online at the beginning of the week. Several resources to help you complete assignments can also be found on this website.
The First Two Days of School
- Reflective writing on learning environments
- Fill out information cards
- Class policy scavenger hunt
- Stories with Holes (Ask your child about this)
Week 1
- Interactive Student Notebook setup
Cover Page - page 1
Table of Contents - pages 2 and 3
Bell Work – pages 4-45
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Week Two
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Week Three
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Week Four
Week Five
Week Five
- Vocabulary - callousness, devastate, fiasco, degradation, discordant, bitter
literary terms: myth, hyperbole, foreshadowing, epic - Reading Speed - After ten minutes of reading, take the number of pages read and multiply by 6.
n x 6=pages per hour
Divide by 60 to get the pages per minute - Notebook review
- Levels of language notes - Which sounds more like a fairy tale and why? Story #1 Story #2 What is a Register? The Five Registers
- Bell work – Not Just School Work page 36 “maximum speed: 55 miles per hour”
- Vocabulary – futile, impotent, impoverished, lament, reproach, perverse, poignantly, squalor, ruin, indignation
- ClassDojo
- Language Registers
