Course Overview: English 9/10 (WONDER CORE)
Content
This English course is an exploration of literary themes, analysis, technique, and ideas. It is also a challenging, college-preparatory course, offering students extensive study of primarily prose, poetry, and drama, along with healthy doses of nonfiction and language study (vocabulary, literary terms). Through the reading and interpretation of literature, one hopes students will come to a deeper understanding of themselves and others.
Participation
Students are expected to heartily participate in the learning process; after all, it's no one's education but yours. Learning to ask essential questions and listen to the responses of others during class discussions is required of the engaged student of literature. Active annotation of key texts is another important door into literary understanding. Professor Edward Tayler of Columbia University maintained that the acts of listening to, writing about, and deeply reading great works of literature will change you. “You’re here to build a self,” he insisted, “You create a self, you don’t inherit it.”
Voice
“Life always bursts the boundaries of formulas,” Antoine de Saint-Exupéry tells us. If he is correct, then a curriculum based on committing facts to memory doesn't make much sense. Creating a good set of questions, and asking them, does. Finding out who you are--and making sense of your world--through written and verbal study is an essential practice. Developing an intelligent, investigative, and thoughtful voice remains a fundamental element in a meaningful education. In the English classroom, this is among your foremost tasks.
This English course is an exploration of literary themes, analysis, technique, and ideas. It is also a challenging, college-preparatory course, offering students extensive study of primarily prose, poetry, and drama, along with healthy doses of nonfiction and language study (vocabulary, literary terms). Through the reading and interpretation of literature, one hopes students will come to a deeper understanding of themselves and others.
Participation
Students are expected to heartily participate in the learning process; after all, it's no one's education but yours. Learning to ask essential questions and listen to the responses of others during class discussions is required of the engaged student of literature. Active annotation of key texts is another important door into literary understanding. Professor Edward Tayler of Columbia University maintained that the acts of listening to, writing about, and deeply reading great works of literature will change you. “You’re here to build a self,” he insisted, “You create a self, you don’t inherit it.”
Voice
“Life always bursts the boundaries of formulas,” Antoine de Saint-Exupéry tells us. If he is correct, then a curriculum based on committing facts to memory doesn't make much sense. Creating a good set of questions, and asking them, does. Finding out who you are--and making sense of your world--through written and verbal study is an essential practice. Developing an intelligent, investigative, and thoughtful voice remains a fundamental element in a meaningful education. In the English classroom, this is among your foremost tasks.
Behavior
- Be prepared: be in your seat, have your materials out and read the board before class begins.
- Be a proactive student: have high expectations for yourself, create your own academic goals, and monitor your own progress.
- Be actively engaged: make a positive contribution to class learning and culture.
- Be respectful: use language and behave in a way that is supportive of others in a learning environment. At the end of class, ask yourself, "Was I part of the solution rather than part of the problem?"
- Be resourceful: students who succeed are those who are clear about expectations and are able to communicate by asking clarifying questions. Your peers are a good resource as well. Be an active learner rather than a passive consumer.
Evaluation
Each student’s grade will consist of essays (written both during class and outside of class), oral presentations, study questions, annotations, group projects, reading quizzes, vocabulary work, creative writing, literary term work, and exams based on the reading. Additionally, class participation constitutes from 10%-20% of each grading period. Students who complete every assignment can expect good results. Consult this website for a list of current assignments as well as brief descriptors, links, and other necessary information. For detailed information on individual grades, consult Jupiter Ed.
Late work is never acceptable, but this instructor is aware that extenuating circumstances may apply. If a student experiences an absence, s/he is responsible for consulting this website, fellow students, and the teacher in order to complete any assignments missed. This is especially important in order to receive full credit for your in-class journal. Students are encouraged to speak with the instructor in the event that extraordinary circumstances arise.
Digital Devices
The use of cellphones, tablets, laptops and other digital devices is not permitted in class for recreational use. Because these devices have increasingly become a great distraction to the learning process, they will be confiscated from those students who use them inappropriately.
Each student’s grade will consist of essays (written both during class and outside of class), oral presentations, study questions, annotations, group projects, reading quizzes, vocabulary work, creative writing, literary term work, and exams based on the reading. Additionally, class participation constitutes from 10%-20% of each grading period. Students who complete every assignment can expect good results. Consult this website for a list of current assignments as well as brief descriptors, links, and other necessary information. For detailed information on individual grades, consult Jupiter Ed.
Late work is never acceptable, but this instructor is aware that extenuating circumstances may apply. If a student experiences an absence, s/he is responsible for consulting this website, fellow students, and the teacher in order to complete any assignments missed. This is especially important in order to receive full credit for your in-class journal. Students are encouraged to speak with the instructor in the event that extraordinary circumstances arise.
Digital Devices
The use of cellphones, tablets, laptops and other digital devices is not permitted in class for recreational use. Because these devices have increasingly become a great distraction to the learning process, they will be confiscated from those students who use them inappropriately.
Required Materials
Students are expected to bring the following items with them to class everyday:
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MLA format
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Use MLA format for ALL final essays and typed assignments.
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