Download Course: English III

Course: English III
Kofa High School, Rm 303
Teacher: Karene Ess
Fall 2010 – Spring 2011
Syllabus
Mission Statement:
We intend to present lessons learned and tolerance of diversity through the recognition and study of
multiple cultural, religious, and racial discrimination fiction and non-fiction literature themes throughout
the history of the United States.
Course Goals and Objectives:
Following successful completion of this class, students will improve AIMS Reading and Writing
performance levels and make gains toward success in pre-college tests such as ACT and Arizona Western
College Placement Tests. Students will be better prepared to function in workplace environment skills
pertaining to reading and writing. Student skills improvement includes the Arizona Department of
Education General High School Reading Performance Level Descriptors: A basic understanding of both
fiction and nonfiction texts; ability to identify fictional literary elements of character, setting, plot, conflict,
and figurative language; ability to compare nonfiction sources for specific information, interpret author’s
purpose, and identify basic persuasive strategies. For both fiction and nonfiction, students are expected to
use basic reading strategies at a literal and sometimes inferential level by extracting details, interpreting,
connecting information to prior knowledge, and drawing conclusions.
Class Rules, Policies, and Expectations:
1. All Kofa and district rules are strictly enforced. This is a bell-to-bell class; students must be in their
desks with daily materials ready when tardy bell rings. Mrs. Ess dismisses the class, not the bell.
2. It is the student’s responsibility to see Mrs. Ess before or after class for missed class assignments.
Make-up work will not be accepted after one week from absence.
3. Students must have handbook to receive a pass.
4. Students must be respectful of school, principals and teachers, classmates, school materials, and
themselves.
5. Dress Code in handbook is strictly enforced.
6. Cell phones, CD players, MP3 players, and/or headphones are not allowed. Items in use or visible will
be turned into the administration office for Friday pickup.
7. All class work and supplies must be legible and free of tagging, gang affiliations, or drawings.
8. No passes are issued during the first 30 minutes of any class. No passes will be given during 4th period.
9. All work must be done in blue/black ink, one side of the paper or typed, double-spaced.
10. Water is the only drink allowed in class - no other drinks, food, or gum.
11. Tardies are not acceptable. Procedures of administration detentions explained in handbook are strictly
enforced.
12. Student tutoring for this class is available from 7:15 am – 7:30 am every day and 2:30 pm – 3:30 pm
every Wednesday and Thursday. Additional time for tutoring, make-up work, and questions can be
arranged by appointment.
13. Late work will be accepted only by previous agreement with me. Late work will automatically receive
50% of earned grade and will be accepted no more than one week after assignment due date.
14. Each student must have a binder for this class. The binder should have sections for bell work,
vocabulary, assignments, writing, and notes.
15. No name…no credit…no exceptions…NO WHINING!
Attendance:
No credit is given for any class in which a student has more than five unexcused absences during a
semester. No more than nine total unexcused absences are allowed per semester. In accordance with this
district policy, only five Saturday school make-up sessions are offered each semester. Excluding those
absences waived or reduced by administrative review as per Kofa handbook, students must attend
Attendance Makeup School to earn back credit for those classes in which they have more than five
absences. No teacher attendance options will be given for this class.
Materials:
All students must come prepared to work with necessary notebooks, paper, pencils, and pens. Textbooks
and novels from the bookstore include The Language of Literature (American Literature), Language
Network (grammar), The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, To Kill a Mockingbird, The Catcher in the Rye,
Fahrenheit 451 .
Types of reading include: short story and novel fiction; biographical, autobiographical, memoirs,
narratives, essays, newspapers/magazines, internet articles, dictionary/thesaurus, charts/graphs, maps,
nonfiction, and poetry
Grading:
Grades are based on the following scale of percentages:
90-100%
A
80-89%
B
70-79%
C
60-69%
D
0-59%
F
Percentages are based on assignment points such as daily class work 10 points, quizzes 25-40 points, essays
50-75 points, tests 100 points, research paper with materials 300 points. These are approximations and may
vary according to individual content and individual class needs. A progress report will be sent home at end
of first and second six weeks period to allow parents to view student’s current progress. The semester
grades are calculated as follows: 30% for Grading Periods 1 and 2, 4 and 5; 25% for Grading Periods 3 and
6; 15% for the Fall and Spring Semesters’ Final Exams. The two semester grades are recorded in the
student’s permanent scholastic record. It is the responsibility of the student to satisfactorily complete and
turn in all assignments and assessments in a timely manner even if he/she is absent.
Learning Activities:
Cornell Notes will be required of the student for all class time and homework assignments. Note-taking
enhances comprehension, summarizing, analysis, and critical thinking inferences and questions.
Motivational activities include brain stretchers to develop higher level thinking such as summarizing,
predictions, inferences, and drawing conclusions. Word builders center on vocabulary development
including context words, prefixes and suffixes, synonyms and antonyms, multiple meaning dictionary
skills, root words and word families. Journal responses relate to grammar review, current reading, current
events, or student’s life experiences.
Reading methods include read-along (tapes or teacher), guided reading, think-pair-share, sustained silent
reading, choral reading, individual class time and/or homework reading assignments.
Historical Short Thematic Units where students develop abstract reading skills by making connections.
Novel Units provide practice with literary concepts such as plot, theme, setting, characterizations,
symbolism, irony, conflict, and foreshadowing.
English III Fall Curriculum Calendar
The fall and spring curriculum schedules may be altered due to individual class needs and/or materials,
library facilities, or computer lab availability.
FIRST SIX WEEK GRADING PERIOD
Historical Background Units:
Accounts of Exploration and Exploitation, First Encounters
The Puritan Tradition, Between Heaven and Hell
Readings:
“Of Plymouth Plantation” by William Bradford
“from The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano”
“from Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God” by Jonathan Edwards
“The Examination of Sarah Good”
The Crucible
Acts I, II, III, IV
Writing:
Review Cornell Notes
Review Prescriptive Writing
Summarize, Paraphrase, Outline
Compare/Contrast
Connections to history and common themes
Review/explain hero’s journey
Analyze character development
Analyze plot development (exposition, rising action, climax, falling action, resolution)
Cause and Effect
Key Vocabulary
Content Vocabulary
Character, setting plot , theme, primary sources, slave narratives, descriptive/sensory details,
meter, transcript, bias, loaded language/questions, persuasive writing, drama, monologue,
soliloquy, aside, stage directions
Assessments:
Graphic organizers, Cornell Notes, bellwork, outlines, essays (one paragraph to five paragraph),
Character Analysis, Cause and Effect essay, quizzes (content, vocabulary, literary terms,
grammar) The Crucible comprehension test
Standards:
R1:C6, R2:C1, R2:C2, R3:C1, W1:C1-6, W2:C1-6, W3:C2-5
SECOND SIX WEEK GRADING PERIOD
Historical Units:
Romanticism and Transcendentalism, Celebrations of the Self
American Gothic, The Dark Side of Individualism
The Vanishing Frontier, Tricksters and Trailblazers
Readings:
“The Devil and Tom Walker” by Washington Irving
“from Walden” by Henry David Thoreau
“The Masque of the Red Death,” “The Raven,” “Fall of the House of Usher,” by Edgar Allen Poe
Mark Twain Background
Adventures of Huckleberry Finn Chapters 1-20
Writing:
Prescriptive Writing
Graphic organizers
Allegorical analysis, Color analysis, Theme analysis, Character analysis
Connections to history
Cause/Effect
Timeline
Key Vocabulary:
Content Vocabulary
Literal language, figurative language, metaphor, simile, personification, visualization, imagery,
observation, inference, macabre, allegory, alliteration, internal rhyme, end rhyme, irony,
implications, dialect
Assessments:
Graphic Organizers, bellwork, quizzes (story content, grammar, vocabulary, literary terms),
timeline, one paragraph to five paragraph essays
AIMS Writing Test October 26; AIMS Reading Test October 27; AIMS Math October 28
Standards:
R1:C1, C4, C6; R2:C1, C2; W1:C1-5; W2:C1-6; W3:C2, C5, C4
THIRD SIX WEEK GRADING PERIOD
Historical Unit:
The Vanishing Frontier, Tricksters and Trailblazers
Readings:
Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
Chapters 21-29, 30-38, 39-43
Writing
Cause/Effect
Theme, Character, Self Connection Analysis paragraphs and essays
Key Vocabulary
Novel Specific Content
Literary Terms review
Assessments:
Cornell notes, grammar quizzes, vocabulary and comprehension quizzes, End of Novel essays,
Final Comprehension Multiple Choice Test on novel, Character analysis essay
Standards:
R1C4, C6; R2C1,C2; W1:C1-5; R2:C1,C2; W1:C1-5; W2:C1-6; W3:C1-5
FINAL EXAM
Final Exam Character Analysis Essay and Final Exam Semester Comprehension Multiple Choice
Test
English III Spring Curriculum Calendar
FOURTH SIX WEEK GRADING PERIOD
Research Paper
All students will choose an approved American Literature author and read
a variety of that author’s works (books, short stories, poems, and/or essays). The students will then analyze
features found of that author’s writing style. The final research project must be MLA format and at least
five type-written pages in addition to a title page and a Works Cited page. All body paragraphs must be
prescription writing 2, 2:1 chunk structure. Source cards, note cards, an outline, and a rough draft will be
due at specified times prior to the final draft.
Key Vocabulary
Primary and secondary sources, bias, plagiarism, source cards, note cards, outlines, rough drafts,
final drafts, MLA format, Works Cited page
Readings:
Individual student’s approved American Literature author’s materials for research paper.
Historical Unit:
Postwar Society 1950 – Present, American Contemporary Literature
Reading:
To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
Key Vocabulary
Novel specific content words
Literary terms: conflict, figurative language, form, imagery, modernist
characters and techniques, persuasion, point of view, setting, style, theme, tone, ironic humor,
implied social criticism, anti-hero
Assessments
Research Paper source cards, note cards, outline, and rough draft
Research paper final draft with title page and Works Cited page
To Kill a Mockingbird chapter, vocabulary, literary terms quizzes
Completion of novel with associated essay and final test
Standards
Reading: S1 C4. C6; S2 C1, C2; S3 C1, C2; S3
Writing: S1 C1, C2, C3, C4, C5; S2 C1, C2, C3, C4, C5, C6; S3 C2, C4, C5, C6
FIFTH SIX WEEK GRADING PERIOD
Historical Unit:
Continuation of American Contemporary Literature
Reading
The Catcher in the Rye by J. D. Salinger
Key Vocabulary
Novel specific content words
AIMS Literary Terms review and application
Assessments
The Catcher in the Rye chapter, vocabulary, literary terms quizzes; final novel essay, final novel
multiple choice exam
AIMS Writing Test March 1, AIMS Reading Test March 2
Standards
Reading: S1 C4, C6; S2 C1, C2, S3 C3
Writing: S2 C1, C2, C3, C4, C5, C6; S3 C2, C4
SIXTH SIX WEEK GRADING PERIOD
Historical Unit:
Continuation of American Contemporary Literature
Reading
Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
Assorted poetry from textbook
Key Vocabulary
Novel specific content words
Literary Terms review and application to novel
Literary terms applicable to poetry
Assessments
Fahrenheit 451 chapter, vocabulary, and literary terms quizzes; final novel multiple choices test
and essay
Poetry portfolio and project
Creative writing assignments, including poetry and/or narratives
Standards
Reading: S1 C4, C6; S2 C1, C2; S3 C3
Writing: S2 C2, C2, C3, C4, C5, C6; S3 C2, C3. C4
SECOND SEMESTER FINAL EXAM
Comprehensive semester essay and multiple choice exams