Course Syllabus

English III Syllabus

Mrs. Hall   Fall 2019

Room E124    704-290-1520

alison.hall@ucps.k12.nc.us

English III is an in-depth study of U.S. literature and U.S. literary nonfiction especially foundational works and documents from the 17th century through the early 20th century. At least one Shakespearean play will be included along with interdisciplinary informational writing and multimodal presentations focusing on speaking and listening skills.

Major Reading Works:

 The Scarlett Letter a novel by Nathaniel Hawthorne  

 The Catcher in the Rye a novel by J.D. Salinger

Othello a play by William Shakespeare

The Great Gatsby a novel by F. Scott Fitzgerald

*schedule is tentative and is subject to change.  You can also expect a quiz after any assigned reading you have that will mostly be done outside of class… And no, Sparknotes will not get you a passing grade.

Class Assignments

Vocabulary:

If you haven’t figured it out yet, the SAT has a lot of vocab on it.  For this reason, we will do our best to expand yours.  You will be given a set of words each week.  Each day you will have to do a different assignment with the given words.  Monday you will need to simply look up the definitions, Tuesday you will find synonyms and antonyms for the words, Wednesday you will create sentences using the words, and then you will be quizzed each Friday.

Writing:

Guess what?  You also have to write on the SAT and the ACT.  You will take the ACT here at school, so we’re going to practice a lot of ACT writing.  Great news – you will get to hand-write for this.  Some of you have penmanship that needs to be worked on so whoever reads your essay for the test can actually understand what the heck you’re trying to say.  Some of you also rely way too much on the computer to fix your spelling mistakes – another reason you’ll love practicing hand-writing and becoming an excellent on-the-spot writer.  And don’t worry; you’ll also get to write essays for the class J

Grammar:

By now, I’m hoping you at least understand the difference between your and you’re.  We will do some grammar practice because yes, you guessed it, that also shows up on the SAT and ACT, but it won’t be a huge focus in the class.  If grammar is a struggle for you – tutoring is a great thing.

Grading:

I grade on a points system – meaning smaller assignments will be worth less points, and larger assignments will be worth more points.  You will find all of your work is given a point value – such as 5/10.  All you have to do to figure out your percentage grade is divide the numbers… So a 5/10 is obviously a 50%.  But with it only being worth 10 points out of let’s say 200 for the 6 weeks, a 50% will not hurt your overall grade very much.  If you ever have a question about a grade you receive, please come see me before or after class – never come up in the middle of class to dispute a grade with me.

As long as you allow it, we will have fun in here.  You decide the atmosphere of the classroom.  Don’t forget to make use of my tutoring, if necessary.  Just be sure to let me know if you plan to come by so I can make sure I am definitely available.  I am usually flexible in finding a day and time that works with both of our schedules.  If you ever need help, even if it’s not in English, I will always do my best to assist you.  I look forward to a great year!