Syllabus

Course Syllabus: English IV

Miss Edholm, Period 3

aedholm@monroviaschools.net

626-471-5602

Course Description:

Welcome to English IV, Expository Reading and Writing. We will be looking at a variety of texts, from short stories to poetry to nonfiction to novels to newspaper articles, examining how authors use rhetoric in their writing and then trying to emulate it ourselves. The goal of this class is to increase your reading and writing skills to prep for post-high school life. Hopefully, at the end of the year, you will not only have improved your skills as an English student, but will have gained some appreciation of the literature read and what it has to offer.

Classroom Expectations:

Homework: All students enrolled in English IV are expected to complete all assignments, papers, and projects. Students will do assigned reading as part of their daily homework assignments. Essays and other homework writing assignments should be typed in MLA format. In order to earn full credit assignments are to be turned in complete and on time. Assignments that are incomplete should be turned in completed by the end of the period to receive 75% credit. Assignments turned in the next day, complete, will receive a score of no more than 50% credit. If you have a problem, talk to me.

Participation: This is dependent on our Community Agreements we make the first day of class. However, students are expected to come to class having read, prepared to take part in daily discussions and activities. Participation includes teacher lead discussion as well as small group discussions and activities. While participation does not affect a student’s grade daily participation is a benefit to all students as it is a way of helping to assess the quality of their learning experience prior to use of that knowledge on graded assessments.

Academic Integrity: Plain and simple: Don’t plagiarize. You might feel like you have a lot on your plate, but there are no excuses for stealing another’s work. If you’re having an issue getting work done, talk to me. Any student who is caught doing so will receive a zero on the assignment. If a second infraction should occur disciplinary action will be taken.

Classroom Conduct: Again, these protocols will be examined in the Community Agreement the first day of class, but the classrooms at Monrovia High School are places of business in which you are provided the opportunity to help shape yourselves into independent and critical thinkers. As such the environment needs to be one in which all students are provided an equal opportunity to succeed. In order to see that this occurs the following rules and procedures exist:

• All students are to be in their seats and ready to begin class when the bell rings.
• All students are to be respectful of others in both words and actions.
• NO food or drinks are allowed in class. (Water Bottles are the one and only exception)
• NO electronic devices, including headphones and cell phones, are to be used in the classroom at any time unless specified by the teacher.

Assessments:

Essays: Essays and other writing assignments are not only to practice your writing skills, but to synthesize the information in a different way, helping you interact with it and form opinions about what you’re reading and seeing.

Tests: End of unit assessments that sum up what we’ve learned.

Projects: Occasionally, in addition to an essay or by itself, you’ll be required to present an end of unit project.

Quizzes: In addition to the test and essays that you will be given to check your comprehension and understanding of the novels read, occasional “pop quizzes” will be given to check that you are doing your assigned nightly reading.

Grading Policy:

Grades for each term will be based on a weighted grading system, meaning that points are assigned to a specific category and only affect your grade in that category. The total points for each category will work together to determine your individual grade at the end of each grading period. Although some categories (tests and papers) will carry more weight than others (like homework and quizzes), it’s still important that you give equal attention to each category and attempt to complete each assignment to the best of your ability.

Category scores are as follows:

Tests:  75 – 100 pts. (each) Homework: 10 – 25 pts. (per assignment)

Essays: 50 – 100 pts (each) Quizzes: 10 – 25 pts. (each)

Projects: 100 – 250+

Weighted Grading Categories and Values

Essays - (Formal essays, Timed essays, Paragraph Responses, District On-Demand)	40%
Assessments – (Tests, Quizzes, Projects, Presentations)	30%
Homework / Classwork	30%

GRADING SCALE

A+: 100-98%	B+: 89-88%	C+: 79-78%	D+: 69-68%
A: 97-94%	B:87-84%	C: 77-74%	D: 67-64%
A-:93-90%	B-:83-80%	C-: 73-70%	D-: 63-60%
			F: 59-0%