English 4

Teachers: Mrs. Urbina Email address: brooke.urbina@raypec.org Room Number: 301 Mrs. Courtney Paul

courtney.paul@raypec.org

OBJECTIVES: Upon completion of English 4, students will: Demonstrate understanding of writing as a process by using such strategies as prewriting, drafting, revising, editing, and proofreading; Demonstrate critical thinking skills, analyze texts, and employ such rhetorical strategies as comparison/contrast and argument in producing essays of varying lengths; Write essays demonstrating an understanding of audience, voice, purpose, and a variety of writing contexts; Carry out the stages of the research processincluding locating, evaluating, analyzing, and integrating sources; Write essays that include quotations, summation, paraphrases, and citations in their essays and avoid plagiarism; Write essays that conform to standard U.S. English and reflect developed editing skills. TEXTS: Williams, Tennessee. The Glass Menagerie Gardner, John. Grendel Stevenson, Robert L. Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde Nye, Robert. Beowulf: A New Telling Shakespeare, William. Hamlet MATERIALS: The following materials are needed in class every day. Colored Pens for Revisions Paper Pencils Highlighters Folder or Binder to keep your work & materials organized CLASS POLICIES: All school rules will be followed in this classroom. If it is against a school rule, it will not be allowed. Treat everyone and everything with respect. Disrespect will not be tolerated. We will be using Neos and/or Laptops to complete assignments. With either device, you will be assigned a number, and this is the number of the device youre required to use each time. You will be held responsible for any problems/issues pertaining to the number of your device, so make sure YOU are using your assigned device! CLASS TIME USAGE: The expectation for the majority of the work in this class is that it will be completed IN CLASS. You will be given ample time to successfully fulfill this expectation, so USE IT. You will NOT be given more time outside of class because you failed to use the time youre given in class.

ATTENDANCE: If you are absent, it is your responsibility to get the work you missed upon returning to class. Any assignments missed while you are sick will go into the grade book as zeros. LATE WORK POLICY:

At Raymore-Peculiar High School, academic achievement, student responsibility, and student success are of paramount importance. In an effort to pursue these ends, RPHS is revamping our policy for late work. Beginning with the 2013-2014 school year, all homework, and assignment or project deadlines will be strictly adhered to as defined by the classroom teacher. Student failure to complete work by an established deadline will result in a corresponding grade that matches the completed nature of the content being submitted at the time of the deadline. Students who fail to submit any work at the time of a deadline can expect that a zero will be entered for their grade.
PLAGIARISM AND CHEATING: Plagiarism includes copying or paraphrasing anothers words, ideas, or facts without crediting the source; submitting a paper written by someone else, either in whole or in part, as ones own work; or submitting work previously submitted for another course or instructor. A disciplinary sentence will be assigned as administration determines necessary. The assignment will NOT be allowed to be completed during this time. Re-Do Policy: At Raymore-Peculiar High School, we believe that students should be afforded every opportunity for academic success and fully understand that all students learn at different rates. With this mind, the staff at RPHS would like to afford our students the opportunity to relearn information based on teacher feedback. The purpose of this policy is to provide students genuine opportunities to relearn information, not to provide unlimited opportunities to redo materials. Before students are allowed to redo any material, they will be required to fill out an Academic Contract outlining how they are going to demonstrate their effort to relearn the information in order to demonstrate improvement or mastery. Summative assessments, used as final measures of what students have learned, may not be eligible for retesting unless a specific course deems it appropriate and necessary. Once the Academic Contract has been filled out by the student, it will need to be discussed with the classroom teacher and modified, if necessary. When student relearning has been adequately demonstrated, the teacher will provide specific guidelines and a timeframe for completion of the redo task.

GRADING: Your grade for this class will be an accurate representation of your skills, or at least of the skills youre choosing to exhibit. It will not be padded with fluff points or extra credit. Your final exam for each semester is worth 10% of your overall grade for that semester. Your assignments throughout the semester will be divided into two categories: 60% - Summative Assessments (approximately one every 5 weeks), 25% Community Research Project, and 15% Formative Assessments (will vary by unit). Common Core Grading Rubric Description: With the districts move towards Common Core, your writing will be assessed using the Common core Grading Scale of 4, 3, 2, 1. Below is the general description for each level of score.

Score 4 3.5 3 2.5 2 1.5 1

Description Exceeds expectations: this includes ideas, analysis, structure, grammar, mechanics, etc. Meets expectations: this is the level youre expected to be writing INDEPENDENTLY Approaching expectations: with some assistance and direction you could be where youre expected to be independently, but youre not quite there without help Not meeting expectations: with a great deal of assistance you could eventually get to where youre expected to be, but you have difficulty producing independently