English I/English I Honors Course Syllabus for
Ms. Norris
Welcome New Students! During our time together, we will read, write, speak, and listen in order to prepare for our remaining years in high school and the rest of life. We will also practice behaviors and listening skills that allow us to improve relationships with others. Always, we will strive to connect our learning to our everyday lives so that we can grow as individuals. With great effort, an open mind, and a positive attitude, this will be a useful course for you! Below is information that will help you be successful in my class and at Broughton.
Good Ways to Contact Me:
Email me at: [email protected].
I will only respond to emails sent from your Wake County email address. I should respond within 2 business days. Ask your Advisory class teacher for a pass to come visit me during Advisory. Bad Ways to Contact Me:
Do not email me last minute. I do not check my email after I leave work or on weekends. Do not ask another teacher or a friend to give me a message.
Do not leave me physical notes.
Do not come to me with a question or assignment during another class, except Advisory. Tutoring/Office Hours: Feel free to visit me at the beginning of first or second lunch Monday-Thursday, 10 minutes before school, or 5 minutes after school. I will try my best to accommodate walk-in appointments, but I cannot guaranty my availability for walk-in appointments. The best way to schedule time with me is to check my availability white board and then email me when you would like to meet.
Website: https://sites.google.com/site/msnorrissclass/ Materials Needed: Please bring:
A sturdy folder with pockets to keep track of notes and worksheets received in class. You will be responsible for maintaining portfolios throughout the course, so do NOT throw out your work or your notes.
Pens or pencils to write with.
4-8 colored pens, pencils or highlighters for annotating activities.
Lined paper. You will not need it often, so I suggest you rip paper out of other classes’ notebooks when you need it.
If you cannot keep track of your materials, expect me to contact home. We can arrange for you to leave your
materials in my room and/or review organizational skills.
If you cannot afford the class supplies, don’t panic! This is nothing a little resourcefulness and creativity can’t
fix : ). See me privately and we will discuss solutions.
Interims and Report Cards: Interims will be sent home 2-3 times per quarter. They will be “sign and return” at my discretion. If you are absent when they are distributed, it is your responsibility to request it. Report cards will be distributed 4 times a year in Advisory. I can and will write comments about your work or behavior on your interims or report cards.
A= 90-100 B= 80-89 C= 70-79 D= 60-69 F= Below 60
Grading Timeframe: Small assignments take a few days to grade and large assignments take a few weeks to grade. If you want something graded ASAP, come and see me outside of class! I will grade the assignment on the spot. Your grades will be updated a minimum of every 3 weeks. I will do my best to help you with your grading needs, but please be considerate of the volume of work I receive. I teach 5 sections of about 30 students. Each class will receive about 15 graded assignments every quarter. This means I grade about 2,250 assignments each quarter.
Common Grading Problems and Solutions:
You think I have lost your assignment: Before you tell me I have lost your assignment, check your backpack, your home, you other classrooms, and the “No Name” box in my classroom. If you do not find the assignment in any of these places, come and see me.
You gave work to a substitute teacher and it is now missing: This problem cannot be fixed, only prevented. NEVER give work to a substitute teacher. Turn it in to me when I return.
Your work is not being graded in a timely manner: Are you writing your name and period on every assignment? Are you turning your work in on time? Are you turning it in to the correct place and at the correct time? If you are doing these things, see me.
Someone has cheated off of you or someone has an assignment that belongs to you: See me discretely and ASAP! You have lost or thrown out all of your work and are unable to complete a portfolio assignment: You will have to
redo some of the work to complete a portfolio.
You switch levels or classes and PowerSchool lost your grades: This problem cannot be fixed, only prevented. Every time a student switches levels or classes, their grade records are DELETED and IRRETRIEVABLE. To prevent this from happening, tell me before you switch, keep all interims, and keep all graded work! Make sure you have a record of your grades and every required signature before switching levels or classes!
You don’t know what corrections to make to an assignment: Check the rubric and assignment for my annotations and comments. If there are none, come see me or email me.
You did not get credit for a group project: Did you put your name on it? Did someone else forget to out your name on it? Were you absent for most of the work time? Check with your group before you see me.
Power School Due Dates: The due dates in Power School are NOT arbitrary.
Power School Tech Support: A librarian or your counselor can reset your account. The main office, librarians, or counselors can give you information about accessing your account.
Power School Errors: Errors in Power School are rare, but they happen. This is because Power School is used by the entire county and operates on a single server. It gets overwhelmed sometimes. The best way to prevent errors like this from hurting your grade is to keep all assignments and every progress report. Also, check Power School for accuracy frequently.
Power School Codes and Grade Entries:
Assignments that have not been turned in will be identified as “NTI,” “missing,” or with an orange square. Assignments that are missing will receive a 0%.
Assignments that contain plagiarism will say so in the comment section. They will receive a 0% until you fix them.
Assignments that are not complete in time for grading may be identified as “incomplete” or with a blue square. They will not be factored into your average until they are ready to be graded. “Incompletes” are given rarely and at my discretion.
Assignments that will take a while to grade may be identified as “collected” or with a green check mark after they are collected. This will eventually be replaced with a grade.
Assignments that you are exempt from will be identified as “exempt” or with a purple backslash. This means you are not responsible for completing the assignments and they will not hurt your average.
Make-up Work for Excused Absences: It is YOUR responsibility to get your make-up work. You shall receive full credit for make-up work for excused absences if it is submitted within the allotted amount of make-up time.
If you know you are going to be absent, please see me in advance so I can provide you with the work you will miss. This work, and any work due the day you return, is due the day you return. Exceptions will be made at my discretion.
If you do not know you are going to be absent in advance, and you are absent 1-3 class periods, you will have 1 class period day to make it up for each day you were absent. If you are absent more than 3 class period days, you will have 2 class period days for each day you are absent to make it up. Extra flexibility will be given if you were absent due to injury or chronic illness.
Make-up Work for Unexcused Absences: It is YOUR responsibility to get your make-up work. You shall receive full credit for make-up work for unexcused absences if it is submitted within the allotted amount of make-up time.
If you were absent 1-3 class periods, you have 1 class period day to make it up for each day you were absent. If you were absent more than 3 class period days, you will have 2 class period days for each day you were absent to make it up. Extra flexibility will be given if you were absent due to injury or chronic illness. Late Work: No practice assignments will be accepted late. Students will receive 70% of the grade they would have earned if they turn in a process assignment 1-10 school days late and students will receive 80% of the grade they would have earned if they turn in a product assignment 1-10 school days late. Any
process or product assignment turned in after 10 days will receive a maximum of 60% if complete. No late work will be accepted one week prior to the quarter ending.
Suggestions to Avoid Late Work:
You will never have time to print an assignment the day it is due. Make arrangements to print an assignment before it is due with me, a librarian, another teacher, or a parent. If an assignment is complete, but not printed on time, it will be considered late.
If an assignment is due on a day that is canceled due to inclement weather, the assignment is due the day we return to class.
Bathroom Policy: Treat my class like a long movie by going BEFORE the show starts. You are adults now, and adults anticipate having to go BEFORE they need to go. Emergencies do happen, but if you start having a bathroom emergency once a week, expect me to contact home.
Course Description, English I: As English I students, you will study literature, informational texts, poetry, drama, biographical works, and art from multiple genres to come to a better understanding of literary genres, styles, cultures, and perspectives. You will fine-tune the reading and writing skills necessary to write, analyze and evaluate detailed arguments. By the end of English I, you will be expected to read and understand increasingly complex texts at the high end of the 9th grade reading range.
Practice assignments are graded for completion, not accuracy. They will include small vocabulary activities, grammar activities, reading annotations, Latin root activities, and parent signatures. They will be worth 10 points or fewer. Expect a minimum of 3 per quarter. Practice assignments will make up no more than 15% of your average.
Process assignments are graded for accuracy. They are constructed to help you acquire skills. They will include reading checks, vocabulary checks, grammar checks, writing process activities
(research, outlines, and draft(s)), reading guides, viewing guides, guided notes, and small writing assignments. They will be worth about 15-30 points. Expect a minimum of 12 per quarter. Process assignments will make up about 50% of your average.
Product assignments are also graded for accuracy. They are designed to assess skill mastery. They will include essays, group presentations, portfolios, and projects. They will be worth about 50 points or more. They will be graded using rubrics received in advance. Expect a minimum of 2 per quarter. Product assignments will make up about 35% of your grade.
Course
Content (may include but is not limited to):Major Works of Literature Major Non-fiction Works: Major Assignments: To Kill a Mockingbird by
Harper Lee
Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare
Excerpts from The Odyssey by Homer
A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry
West Side Story (1961 Film) To Kill a Mockingbird (1962 Film)
Under the Same Moon (2007 Film)
“The Most Dangerous Game” by Richard Connell
“The Scarlet Ibis” by James Hurst
“The Gift of the Magi” and “Roads of Destiny” by O’Henry
“The Cold Equations” by Tom Godwin
“Mr. Mendelsohn” by Nicholasa Mohr
“The Raven” and “The Cask of Amontillado” by Edgar Allen Poe
“A Dream Deferred” by Langston Hughes
“The Force of Luck” Retold by Rudolfo Anaya
“Why College is Still Worth It Even Though…” by Liz Weston
“4 Do’s and 1 Don’t for Finding Scholarships” by Janine Fugate
“Top 10 Secrets of College Success” by Jacobs and Hyman
“The Case for and Against “Homework” by Marzano and Pickering
“Absences Add Up…” by Ginsburg, Jordan and Chang
“Great Jobs, Great Lives…” from Purdue University
“How to Promote Resourcefulness in Yourself and Others” by Lorie Marrero Excerpts from “They Say, I Say…” by Graff and Birkenstein
Selections from Norton Anthology of Student Writing
“Word Building with Words” from Game Informer July, 2016
“Linguistic Profiling…” from Washington University
“No One Could Describe the Color Blue Until Modern Times” from Business Insider
“Turbulent Times in the Windy City” from Game Informer, September 2016
“Time Management Training Doesn’t Work” from Harvard Business Review “Having Your Smartphone Nearby Takes a Toll on Your Thinking” from Harvard Business Review
Goals Essay
Literary Devices Book Childhood Memoir Argumentative Essay (Research Paper) Web 2.0 Project Character Analysis Essay Literary Analysis Essay Rhetorical Devices Lexicon
Ghost Story or Short Story
“2,800 Years and Still Relevant” by Mary Lefkowitz
