English Nine Class Syllabus

Instructor Contact Information:

Name: Aaijea Howard
Email: ashoward@htu.edu
Number: (210)409-2570
COURSE DESCRIPTION
The Grade 9 Literary Units are designed using text from the core anthology, The Language of Literature
and other literary and informational sources. A large portion of the work is devoted to reading, rereading,
discussing, and writing about the selections in order to develop responses to the units overarching
questions. In order to focus on these readings, each unit is designed around three overarching questions
that help students develop interpretations of the text. General comprehension questions and text-specific
guiding questions help students comprehend and interpret text, while additional questions are included to
support analyses of each authors style.

Throughout the units, students will read, talk about, write about, and write like the text, while keeping a
Reader/Writer Notebook to capture their work. Each unit concludes with a culminating assessment.

Instructional Design
The design of the units is based on the Disciplinary Literacy Design Principles. The resulting lessons
exemplify the following ideas:

Rereading is a fundamental part of the way good readers deal with challenging texts.

Reading, writing, thinking, and talking are interrelated processes that support students
understanding of texts, development of complex ideas, and creation of original texts.

Language use and language choices, including grammatical choices, need to be explicitly
highlighted and discussed so that all learners can understand the choices they have when they and
others are making meaning in writing.

Oral language and proficiency for English learners develop faster than their academic literacy
skills and need to be taken into account at all stages of their learning.

Discussion is an essential part of rigorous and effective intellectual work. For discussion to work
well, participants must stay anchored to the texts under consideration, and must have the
opportunity to try out ideas in a setting that values community and that demands rigor and good
thinking.

Learning as apprenticeship to read, write, think, and talk invites students to act and be treated as
members of a community of practice and learning.

COURSE TEXTS
The primary text for this course will be The Language of Literature, Grade 9 (Orange Edition) published
by McDougal Littell. This book will be used for the majority of literature instruction.
For grammar, the textbook will be The Language Network, Grade 9 (Orange Edition), by McDougal
Littell. For additional grammar practice, the Grammar Usage and Mechanics Workbook will be used.

Some of the following supplementary novels will be used:

The Pearl John Steinbeck

Animal Farm, George Orwell
To Kill a Mockingbird (all classes), Harper Lee
The House on Mango Street Sandra Cisneros
Cry, the Beloved Country(Summit), Alan Paton
One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich (Summit) Alexander Solzhenitsy
Things Fall Apart (Summit), Chinua Achebe
The Odyssey (Summit), Homer.

School Supplies
Students are expected to have the following materials:

One composition notebook; spiral bound notebooks are NOT recommended.

One inexpensive, small sized three ring binder to store handbooks, and loose-leaf paper.
A pocket size high school English dictionary; students should bring this to class everyday.
Each student will contribute two Kleenex boxes to the class.

COURSE TIME LINE

Quarter 1

August: Close reading of complex texts, argument and method (a study of the three speeches),
class policies and procedures, writing and scoring of ECR/BCR, introduction to reading
strategies, the writing process,
September: Close reading of complex texts: argument and method: Martin Luther Kings, Bill
Clintons and George Bushs speeches, structure of arguments, rhetorical devices, essence of
speeches, comparing and contrasting speeches, diction in the speeches, parts of speech
(grammar), paragraph structure ; writing a persuasive paper/speech/letter on a local, national or
international topic
1

October: Narrative (fiction and non-fiction), setting in a story, mood in a story, drawing
inferences from writing, elaboration and adding details to writing, sentence structure

Quarter 2
November: elements of poetry, vocabulary, rhyme scheme in poetry, the speaker in a poem,
poetry interpretation, using phrases (grammar), sentence revision
December: Responding to Challenge 1: theme of a story, using clauses (grammar) writing a
character sketch, writing complete sentences, adapting style to audience, personal narrative,
author study: Edgar Allen Poe
January: Epic Poetry (Homers Odyssey), literature response writing
Quarter 3

January: Responding to Challenges 2: personal memoirs, nonfiction narratives, Process

Explanations (Composition), Literature Response Writing (Cont.), Use of Verbs
February: Individuals and Community: Novel: To Kill a Mockingbird Comparison-Contrast
Essays, Opinion Statements, Subject Verb Agreement
March: Individuals and Community 2: Novel: To Kill a Mockingbird, Research Reports

Quarter 4
April: Individuals and Community: Novel: To Kill a Mockingbird Using Modifiers (Adjectives
and Adverbs), Research Reports (cont.), Capitalization
May: The Elizabethan Era, Shakespearean Drama (Romeo and Juliet), Punctuation, Analyzing the
Media, Test Preparation
June: Romeo and Juliet, Persuasive Essay, Final Exam
LONG TERM PROJECTS

Most long term projects will be based on the novel or play being studied.

GRADING POLICY
Category

Brief Description

Percentage

Class Work

This category includes all work begun and/or completed in class,

class discussions, group activities, student journals, warm-ups, and
other assigned tasks.

25 % of quarter
grade

Homework

This category includes work completed outside of the class setting:

assigned and independent readings and/or accompanying tasks,
written assignments, and practice exercises.

25% of quarter grade

Assessments

This category includes quizzes, long-term projects, short and long

essays, tests, and culminating assessments.

50 % of quarter
grade

OTHER POLICIES

Attendance

Class begins promptly when the bell rings.

If a student is tardy to class without a pass, it will be considered unexcused. The school
procedure for reporting excessive unexcused tardiness will be followed.
If a student is absent, he/she is expected to bring an excuse note on the first day that
he/she returns to school. Without the note, the absence will be considered unexcused.
School-wide procedures will be followed for dealing with unexcused absences.
Students whose tardies or absences are unexcused will receive a ZERO for any work
they miss or fail to turn in on time. Late work due to unexcused tardies or absences will
not be accepted and the student will receive a zero for such work.

ID Policy

Students are required to wear their IDs to class and have them visibly displayed every
day. Failure to wear IDs properly will result in implementing school-wide procedures for
such violations.

Homework

Unless stated otherwise, homework is due the next day that class meets.
Students will NOT be allowed to make up homework that is not submitted on the date
that it is due. However, a student with an excused absence is allowed to make up missed
homework, according to the absence policy.
Students are totally responsible for making sure that they accurately copy the homework
assignments from the chalkboard. Failure to accurately copy homework cannot be used
as an excuse for not completing the homework.
If a student fails to present his or her homework assignments, he or she will receive a
zero for those missing assignments.

Contraband Items

Contraband items are items that are not allowed in the classroom. These include cell
phones, portable CD players, MP3 players or Ipods, portable video game systems (like
Gameboys), PDAs, playing or trading cards (baseball cards, Pokemon or Yu-gi-oh cards,
etc.) or gambling paraphernalia (such as dice) and any electronic devices as specified by
school rules.
In case contraband items are found in the classroom, school-wide policies for dealing
with such items will apply.

Hats are considered a contraband item. They are not to be worn in class, with the
exception of headgear worn for religious reasons. Any hats worn in class will be
confiscated.

Food and Drink

Food, drinks and chewing gum are NOT ALLOWED IN CLASS. Opened food items will be
confiscated and thrown away.

Hall Passes

No student will be allowed to leave the classroom without a pass.

Passes will NOT be issued to conduct personal business, meet with teachers, or retrieve
items from lockers.
Students should use the bathroom during class changes. Students are expected to stay in
class for 45 minutes before asking for a bathroom pass. Repeated bathroom requests will
be denied.

Plagiarism and Cheating

Plagiarism is taking another persons work and presenting it as your own. This includes
copying homework assignments, copying from websites without acknowledgement,
buying or using internet term paper sites, using essay writing services, allowing your
parents to write your papers or complete your homework, or copying from a textbook,
encyclopedia or other reference work without acknowledgement.
Plagiarism is considered stealing in this class and will not be tolerated. Students who
plagiarize will receive a zero on the assignment.
Students caught cheating on an exam, test or quiz will receive a zero.

Student Conduct During Tests and Quizzes:

To ensure that tests and quizzes truly reveal a students mastery of material, students will
not talk, confer, exchange notes or act in any manner that could lead to the exchange of
information during tests and quizzes. A student who violates this conduct will be awarded a zero
on that particular test or quiz. Similarly, a student who disrupts a testing environment in any
manner will be awarded a zero on that quiz or test.

**The Student Code of Conduct will be enforced at all times**

---------------Cut along this line and return the signed section to Ms.Howards class------

I/we, the undersigned, have read and fully understand Ms. Howards class expectations and
grading policies.
Print students name
Signature.Date.
Print Parents/Guardians Name..Signature.
Date