Course Syllabus

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Central Academy of Technology and Arts

 

 

English III- Honors

Gary Anderson

Class Syllabus- Spring 2019

 

Class Description:  Students in English III will be reading, discussing, and writing about both classical and contemporary American literature. We will focus on the cultural significance of each work. In addition, there will be a focus on ACT writing strategies, ACT vocabulary, and ACT testing strategies. All juniors will take an ACT style writing test in early February and the full version of the ACT in the middle of February. This is an excellent opportunity to see how you perform on the ACT and your scores can be sent to the college of your choice if you are happy with the score. Students will also select an article of the week from http://www.kellygallagher.org and analyze the author’s rhetorical strategies using a rubric that will be provided. Articles of the week will be due each Thursday. One additional component of English III will be participating in “Poetry out Loud.” (http://www.poetryoutloud.org) This will give students an opportunity to focus on public speaking. All English III students are required to take the NC Final Exam at the end of the semester.

Curriculum:  In addition to various selections from the textbook, we will use the following major works of literature as the basis for our specific study. The official North Carolina Common Core standards can be found on the following web site: http://www.dpi.state.nc.us/curriculum/languagearts. In addition, UCPS has established a resource called "EmpowerEd Family Portal" that provides parents with links to online resources and apps that students can access. (https://webmail.ucps.k12.nc.us/domain/2917)

First Six Weeks

ACT Writing Strategies

Argumentative Research Paper

A Lesson Before Dying (novel) 

Second Six Weeks

The Great Gatsby (novel)

Cry, the Beloved County (novel) You need to purchase this. 

Literary Analysis Essay

                                                                  

Third Six Weeks

The Crucible (play) 

Walking Across Egypt (novel)

Literary Analysis Essay       

Required Materials

  • Binder for handouts and notes.
  • School issued lap top charged daily.
  • Loose leaf notebook paper.
  • 5 x 8 index cards.

Grading Guidelines

40%- Test, projects, essays

20%- Classwork/Homework

20%- Vocabulary quizzes

20%- General quizzes

*I frequently update grades in Power School and encourage parents to check on their student’s progress weekly. In addition, each student will receive a printed out progress report approximately three weeks into each grading period.

Policies for Homework, Major Assignments, and Make-up Work

  • Homework is due at the beginning of class. Keep in mind that homework may be in the form of reading an assigned chapter.
  • Ten points will be deducted for each day that a major assignment (essay or project) is late. The assignment will receive a zero if not turned in within three days.
  • It is extremely important that you promptly make up missed assignments if you are absent. If you are absent on the day that an assignment is due, please turn it in on the day you return.
  • Make-up test and quizzes must be completed within five days of your return from the absence.
  • Please communicate with me if you have a family emergency or serious illness, so that I can work with you on making up your assignments.

Canvas

The majority of assignments will be submitted on our new "learning platform," Canvas.  Assignments can be submitted a variety of ways including, uploading files, typing into text boxes, and sharing Google documents/presentations.  Students not having used Canvas before should alert the teacher and they will be shown how to submit assignments on Canvas.  Individual assignments will indicate which method of submission on Canvas is expected.  If students need a refresher or have questions, they can access the Canvas Student Guide for specific instructions.  It is the student's responsibility to ensure assignments are submitted on time and to contact the instructor if there is a problem.  The Canvas Learning Platform logs every student log-in on Canvas which provides teachers with a list of when students log-in to Canvas using their user id. 
o   Canvas is used to grade assignments as well, however, the grades in Canvas, while accurate to that assignment, are NOT the teacher’s grade book.  The teacher’s grade book includes categories of assignments that may be weighted differently and may include grades for assignments that did not use the Canvas Learning Platform.  Therefore, students and parents should always check their child’s true average on the Parent Portal on Power school. 

A Final Note:    

English III is available for honors credit or at the college preparatory level.  Students earning credit for an honors level course receive an elevated number of quality points for their grade point average.  Students choosing the honors level course should be aware that this honors level course will include:

  • Required extension opportunities that are directly related to the standard course of study. This includes additional content beyond that covered in the College Preparatory level.
  • More challenging coursework and assessments.  Students will be expected to demonstrate higher levels of understanding for grades.
  • Projects and presentations will be more in depth.  
  • Students will have to focus and study regularly to master the content. 
  • The expectation that students can move through the coursework at an accelerated pace and students experiencing difficulty should quickly seek guidance from their teacher on how they can be more successful.

TARDY POLICY: 

At CATA, instruction is very important. All students are expected to be in their classrooms and ready to receive instruction before the tardy bell rings for each class. Following the tardy bell, students who are not in class must report to the front office for a tardy pass if they tardy to first period.  During the rest of the day teachers will mark student tardy in the Power School Attendance System.   Only students with a Tardy Pass will be admitted after the tardy bell rings for first period.  There is absolutely no food allowed in the classrooms.  Students may not bring in food. 

Tardies will be recorded as unexcused unless an excuse can be verified by staff. Tardies will result in the following penalties:

All students must report to the office when tardy to first period and to class the rest of the day.  Teachers will mark students tardy who are late to 2nd period, 3rd period, and 4th period.  If a student is tardy twice in third period on Cougar Time days (Once before class and once after lunch), then the teacher will  mark them tardy one time in Power School and write it up as a minor incident in Educator Handbook for the second tardy of the period.   

1st/2nd Tardy:  Warning from an administrator in the front office (1st period) and the teacher in the classroom (all periods)

3rd Tardy:  Warning from an administrator in the front office (1st period) and the teacher in the classroom (all periods).  The teacher will contact the parent on the third tardy by phone.  

4th/5th Tardy:  Warning from an administrator in the front office (1st period) and the teacher in the classroom (all periods). The teacher will submit a discipline referral to the administration and 1 day ASD with administration.  The administration will contact the parent.  

6th/7th Tardy:  Warning from an administrator in the front office (1st period) and the teacher in the classroom (all periods).  The teacher will submit a discipline referral to the administration and 2 days ASD with administration.  The administration will contact the parent.  

8th Tardy: Warning from an administrator in the front office (1st period) and the teacher in the classroom (all periods).  The teacher will submit a discipline referral to the administration and 3 days ASD.  The administration will set up a parent conference, create a written plan, and possible additional consequences. 

 

The administration reserves the right to modify consequences on a case-by-case basis whenever appropriate. This may include loss of parking privileges. Students arriving on late buses will not be considered tardy.

 

Contact Information

gary.anderson@ucps.k12.nc.us

CATA Phone #- 704-296-3088

I reserve Wednesday afternoons for make-up work time or extra help from 3:30-4:30.  I am also available most mornings before school (by appointment) and during Cougar Time. Let’s all work together to make this an awesome semester.

 

Course Summary:

Date Details Due