Syllabus

English 2 Literature and Composition 2016 - 2017 Mr. Braman

1. Tenth Grade Literature and Composition is the second of four English courses required for graduation in Muscogee County.The focus of this course is to help students develop their reading, writing, and thinking skills necessary for subsequent high school English courses. Mastering the skills used in English 2 will provide students with a strong foundation for English 3 and 4. The skills taught and practiced in English 2 will also help SATs taken during the junior year. 2. The goals of this course are: a. To help students learn the importance of correct spoken and written grammar. b. To help students understand the importance of reading and writing in real world situations. c. To learn proper research and writing techniques necessary for advanced English courses. d. To begin working on higher level problem solving skill for interpretive understanding of material.

Assessment 3. Students will be evaluated on the quality of their submitted work. Students will occasionally be required to prepare a short oral presentation to the class on specific topics. Work is evaluated on organization, quality of information, mechanics, paragraph construction, and appearance. The grading scale for this course will be as follows: 69-below = F; 70 to 79 = C; 80 to 89 = B; 90 to 100 = A.

Requirements 4. In English 2 students will be required to complete all assignments. These assignments will address the skills necessary for improving the students reading and writing abilities and mastering the Common Core Performance Standards. Students will be required to write throughout the semester. Students will be required to conduct research and write at least one research paper. **All work must be completed and turned in on time**. All writing assignments **will** be typed (except assignments written in class) using New Times Roman font 12 pitch and submitted on a flash drive (I strongly suggest students should purchase a flash drive). Students will be required to turn in written work and to post assignments to turn-it-in. 5. Students must come to class prepared to work, this means they will have a pencil or pen with them at all times. Students will also have paper, textbook and assignments due. Students will also need a 2” three-ring binder to keep their work and to maintain their class notes (no other material will be kept in the English notebook). Students who fail to have the necessary tools, materials, and assignments will be assigned detention. 6. While in class, students will receive a teacher lecture for which they will be required to take notes. There will be occasions where the teacher will intentionally attempt to stir student emotions on topics to facilitate the thinking process and help students to develop verbalization skills in accordance with established common core standards. Each day, students will receive a warm-up activity, which will be maintained in their notebooks. Warm-up entries will vary from written topics (journal type entries), sentence correction (grammar), logic type questions and hands on activities (higher order thinking skills), and analogies (word recognition, definition, and relationship). Note books will be divided into five distinct sections, they are: warm-up, class notes, quizzes and tests, handouts, and vocabulary. 7. Students will receive several writing assignments throughout the year (see paragraph 4). Students will receive detailed instruction in the writing process and turn-in each portion of the writing assignment. **Writing is a weighted grade in this class and missing one or more writing assignment(s) may cause a student to fail the course.** Students will begin to research topics for the research paper in the first semester and begin accumulating necessary information for the research paper. Throughout the first nine-week period different due dates will be established that students must meet. Little class time will be allocated for research. 8. All class work and homework will be completed in either pen or pencil, all work can be typed. Essays will be typed and saved on a flash drive and submitted using turn-it-in. The work submitted by students will be downloaded into turn-it-in which will check for plagiarism. 9. Please go to the class website and read the home page for more information pertaining to the class and the procedures that will be followed throughout the semester.


 * PLAGIARISM – THE END RESULT OF THIS OFFENSE WILL BE A ZERO FOR THE ASSIGNMENT **** . ** (See paragraph 7 above)

10. IAW Shaw High School’s student handbook, there will be no eating or drinking in classrooms. This rule will be strictly enforced. Past history has taught me that students tend to be unable to find the trash can with candy and gum wrappers. These wrappers thrown behind tables tend to draw ants into the room; these ants can be quite disruptive. Gum is usually unacceptable in this classroom. On numerous occasions I have tried to let students chew gum in the classroom; unfortunately some students when finished chewing the gum stick it to the underside of the desks. This is unsanitary and I have had students get this gum stuck on their clothing. If we, as a class, decide that chewing gum can be done in a mature manner we may permit the chewing of gum; however, the final decision is the teachers. The consequences for the first and second offenses will be teacher detention held before, from 7:15 a.m. to 7:45 a.m, or after school from 3:30 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. IAW the student handbook. All subsequent offenses will be referred to the assistant principle for blatant defiance.

Rules/Policy 12. **All work must be turned in on time and complete.** Parents and students must understand in English 2 skills are scaffolded and which means we build on previous skills to master the curriculum goals. If work in not completed and turned in important drill and practice opportunities are lost before moving on to the next skill. Failure to complete the work will put the student behind his/her peers. We do not stop we always move forward. Students will be permitted to make up missed work for an **excused absence** only; however, it is the student’s responsibility to get the assignments from the web site and the class notes from a peer. Please remember missed instruction CANNOT be made up; so, please ensure students are in class on time everyday. Handouts will be given to the student upon request. The students will be held responsible for keeping all materials that pertain to the course ** (all material disseminated and discussed in class is testable, and all test questions will come from the assigned work, class notes, and class discussions) **. Students who have unexcused absences or who may be suspended will not be able to make-up the work and will receive a “0” for the assignment. 13. I have a class website you can and should visit often. This provides both parents and students a place to find the latest information on the class such as: homework, assignments, due dates, project information and vocabulary. Visit Infinite Campus often to see your grade and to determine which assignments are missing.
 * 11. ** Students will be required to follow all of the Muscogee County School District’s, Shaw High School’s and the class rules. Outside of the published MCSD and Shaw High School rules of conduct I insist on respect for others. Students will keep their hands and feet to themselves. Sometimes words said in jest may invoke a negative reaction from others; students should practice the axiom “treat others the way you wish to be treated.” Classroom disturbances will not be tolerated!

mrbraman.wikispaces.com

14. Materials required for this course: a. 2 – Ink pens (blue or black ink only), pencil b. 1 – red ink pen; this pen will only be used for editing and revising purposes c. 1 – 2: three-ring binder and notebook filler paper d. 2 – packages of 3X5 cards for research writing

During the semester students may need: Poster board Markers and/or colored pencils

MATERIALS THAT ARE UNACCEPTABLE a. Whiteout b. Multi-colored pens c. Spiral notebooks


 * Work completed using the unacceptable materials will not be accepted. Students will be permitted to redo the work; however, the deadline dates for each assignment must be met. NO EXTENTIONS WILL BE GRANTED FOR THIS REASON! **

Please review this syllabus with your student, and I would appreciate it if you would return this letter not later than August 12, 2014. I look forward to having your son or daughter in my class. If you wish to receive a weekly progress report through email, please give your email address below and print clearly. Please cut along the dotted line and return the bottom portion to me as soon as possible. ---

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