Senior English



What exactly is English II?English II is a state tested course. You must pass the state test in order to graduate. However, this is not a class where I will just teach a test. This is not a class where I lecture and you sit and take notes. This is not a class where I do all the work and you just cruise. The English II state test is not a test for which you can study. Therefore:?This is a class where YOU will work on the tools YOU need in order to pass the test. YOU will get out of the class as much as YOU put in. YOU have to put in the work in order to be successful. In this class YOU will:?Draw conclusions and form opinions based on evidence presented to youMake connections?Be able to express yourself clearly orally and in writing?Understand and respect other people's point of view?Work on using sentence variety, precise diction, and effective transitions to get your point across clearly and effectively?Read challenging, difficult, and complex textsMany of you will ask again and again: Why do I have to read this crap? It's stupid. It's boring. Why can't we read something good? Answer: You can read what you consider to be good in your free time. My job is to expose you to a variety of different texts from different genres, different cultures, and different time periods. My job is to expand your mind and make you think. It will not be easy. Here's a hint. It's not actually about text. It's about thinking for yourself and doing the right thing. Here's the reason:?It teaches you persistence through frustrating roadblocks.? It makes you a better, wiser person.?It teaches you the self-discipline you need.? I promise to help you through it, but I will not do it for you. This class is about YOUR thoughts and opinions, not mine. You have to meet me half way. As long as you are trying and doing your part, you will be successful.?Hernando High SchoolCourse Information2019-2020 School Year English IIINSTRUCTOR: Mrs. Jennifer ParsonRoom #: 209 E-mail: jennifer.parson@Phone Number: 662-429-4170OFFICE HOURS:Daily: 6:45 a.m. – 7:25 a.m.Break by appointment onlyREMIND101:Remind101 is communication tool I use frequently. All students and parents are encouraged to sign up. To sign up, send a text to 81010 and include the message that corresponds to your class: 2nd Block: @parson2nd, 3rd Block: @parson3rd, 4th Block: @parson4th.WEBSITE:Another great communication tool I use frequently is my website. The web address for my site is . On the calendar, I will post what we are working on and any upcoming assignments. MATERIALS NEEDED FOR MY CLASS:Materials Needed EVERY DAY:Wide-Rule, Loose-Leaf Notebook Paper (NO Spirals or Composition Notebooks)1 3-ring binder or folder with pockets and brads (You may share this with other classes.)Pens – Standard Black or Blue Ink ONLYSustained Silent Reading Novel – You must have one in class by Friday, January 10!Materials needed to be purchased once for the class:1 Composition Notebook – 100 pages, wide-ruled – to be left in class – If you do not get 100 pages, you will run out of room. Please do not reuse an old notebook or use one in which you have torn out pages.4 Large Glue Sticks – All Classes – I promise we will need them! We will still run out.***Composition Notebook and Glue Sticks must be brought to class by Wednesday, January 8!GRADING SYSTEM:A100 - 90B89 - 80C79 - 70D69 - 65F 64 and Below*Special Note: Please understand that due to the high standards of this course set by the English II state test that grades are typically around 10 points lower than previous English courses. It is possible to attain the grade you are accustomed to, but you will have to work harder for that grade than you have in previous English classes.DAILY GRADES (15%):Students will be given a variety of daily assignments that will be completed in class. If written homework is assigned, it will count as a daily grade. Daily participation in class activities and discussions is also required. Students will receive a 100 each week for this grade if they actively participate in relevant discussions and sustained silent reading time and contribute to the overall learning of the class. However, students will have points deducted for tardiness, absences in which work is not made up, and anything that takes focus away from classroom activities and discussions, including, but not limited to talking without permission, the use of a cell phone, and sleeping.QUIZZES (25%):Students will be given a variety of quizzes, including those announced and unannounced. Please make note that there will be quizzes every night that there is reading homework, which will be the majority of homework assigned in class. Students will be informed about scheduled quizzes via the weekly schedule on my board, on my website’s calendar, and/or in a Remind101 text. ASSESSMENTS (40%): Students will take a variety of tests on stories, novels, and cold reads. Tests may be given in a variety of forms. Also, students may be given projects that go along with the stories and novels we read for class. Students will be required to complete a variety of writing assignments. Those writing assignments will be graded both formally and informally, depending on the assignment. Students will be notified in advance of all tests and writing assignments via in-class discussion, the weekly schedule on my board, and/or on my website. In the event that a student is absent on the day of an assessment (which includes both tests and writing assignments), the student will have to come in to make up this assignment before school, due to the length of these assessments. No assessments will be made up after school.9 WEEKS AND FINAL EXAM (20%):At the end of each nine weeks, you will take a comprehensive exam or project that may focus on more recent material, but will certainly include material from anytime earlier in your entire educational career. Expect the exam to cover grammar, vocabulary, literature, and writing. No student may be exempt from the 1st/3rd 9 Weeks Exam. However, students may be considered “exempt” from the final exam if they have an average of 85% or higher AND have missed no more than two class periods. Three tardies will count as one absence. No exceptions will be given on this exemption policy as the district sets it.EXTRA CREDIT:Choice Journal extra credit is available once per day and is worth 10 points added onto your lowest grade. In order to receive this extra credit, you must complete a page-long choice journal. A list of possible choice journals topics will be provided.CLASSROOM GUIDELINES, CONSEQUENCES, AND POLICIES:GuidelinesBe respectful. Be on time.Be prepared.Negative ConsequencesFirst time: WarningSecond time: Student/Teacher ConferenceThird time: Lunch Detention/Parent ContactFourth time: Referral written and student sent to office. MAKE UP POLICY:Students who are absent have the same number of days to make up work as the number of days they are absent with a maximum of five days total. It is your responsibility to collect any assignments you have missed during an absence. This also includes coming in to make up a missed test or writing assignment. Any and all handouts will be in the designated folder. All quizzes must be taken the day you return to school. You may schedule a time before school or at break the day you return to school or you will be handed the quiz when class begins. It is also your responsibility to keep up with your reading when absent. You will be required to take any quizzes you miss in addition to the quiz the class will take that day.LATEWORK:All assignments, projects, and papers are due on the designated due date. For each day that the assignment is late, 10 points will be deducted from the possible score. This includes weekends and holidays. I will not accept any assignment if it is more than three (3) days late. Example: If you have an assignment that is worth 100 points and you turn it in two (2) days late, the highest possible grade that you could receive would be an 80.Exception - Daily homework that is checked and gone over that day in class may not be turned in for a late grade.PLAGIARISM AND CHEATING: Plagiarism and other forms of cheating will not be tolerated. Plagiarism means to steal and pass off the ideas or words of another as one's own or to use someone else’s words without explaining where the information came from. In other words, plagiarism is an act of fraud. It involves both stealing someone else's work and lying about it afterward. The consequences for cheating will be a zero on the assignment with no possibility of making it up and parents will be notified via PowerSchool notation. Both the cheater and the person allowing the cheating to occur will be punished. It is the students’ responsibility to understand what plagiarism is and how to avoid it. Please note: This also includes borrowing someone’s notebook after an absence and copying the work from class.CELL PHONES:Cell phones are not permitted in English class. There is absolutely no reason to be using your phone. I should not see a phone in your possession during class time at all. Ever. Period. If I see a phone out, I will take it. It should be placed at the designated cell phone station in the room. There is a charging station there for you to use as well. Your participation grade will be affected daily if your phone is not in the correct location at the beginning of class. There may be a rare instance, in which you will need your phone to research something, or there may be an emergency; however, you must ask my permission FIRST. Do not just get up and go check it. Do not try to take it back or argue about it, because you will then be dealing with the administration for the cell phone. OTHER INFORMATION:When the bell rings, your phone should be put up, all of your supplies should be out, and you should be working on the bell work.Yes, you may eat/drink in my room. However, do not bring a buffet, do not share your snack, and clean up after yourself!No, you can’t look at your phone!There is a clock on my wall provided for you so that you can check the time. Learn to read it.No, you may not take photos or post to social media of any kind for the 94 minutes you are in my classroom because phones are not allowed! We have learning to do, people. No, you may not go to the restroom. Go before class! That’s what the time before class is for; it isn’t for socializing. Again, we have learning to do, people.Homework, bell work, the day’s agenda, reminders, and a weekly schedule are located on the boards around the room. Read them. They aren’t there for my benefit.If you are sick or have a family emergency and HAVE to miss class, you cannot just copy someone else’s work. That is cheating and you will get a zero.All make up assessments are done in the mornings before school. You MUST arrive before 7:10. Under no circumstance will make up work occur after school. Do not start packing up while we are still working. Never line up at my door waiting on the bell to ring.No sleeping in English. Ever. If you do, you will receive a zero for participation that day.Be here. Every. Single. Day. AND Stay for the WHOLE block! It’s important! I promise!NOVEL NOTICE: This year each student will be required to read two extended texts each semester. No novels need to be purchased, as the school will provide them. The following are potential novels we may read:Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck: This classic short novel is one of the most affecting portraits of America during the Great Depression. It offers a glimpse of men attempting to hold onto their dreams of a better life when the odds of their success are miniscule. There are mild violence and language.Chew on This: Everything You Don’t Want to Know about Fast Food by Eric Schlosser and Charles Wilson: This non-fiction book unwraps the fast-food industry to bring you a behind-the-scenes look at a business that both feeds and feeds off the young. Find out what really goes on at your favorite restaurants—and what lurks between those sesame seed buns. This book features some upsetting details about how livestock is raised and killed. There are disturbing photographs of rotten body parts. Like Fast Food Nation, from which it was adapted, this book encourages readers to think about what they eat -- and how they spend their money. Lord of the Flies by William Golding: It’s a classic tale of a group of English school boys who are left stranded on an unpopulated island, and who must confront not only the defects of their society but the defects of their own natures. Parents need to know that this book has been described as dark, brutal, pessimistic, and tragic. Yet it deals with a fundamental issue of humanity: Are people naturally prone to evil? This and other issues in this novel would be invaluable for a discussion. There is mild violence.To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee: Lawyer Atticus Finch defends the real mockingbird in this classic, Pulitzer Prize-winning novel—a black man charged with the rape of a white woman. Through the eyes of Atticus's children, Scout and Jem Finch, Harper Lee explores with rich humor and unanswering honesty the irrationality of adult attitudes toward race and class in the Deep South of the 1930's. There is violence, language, and racial slurs necessary to honestly depict the severity of the racial divide. Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury: Fahrenheit 451 is a future American society where books are outlawed and "firemen" burn any that are found. This book deals with realities of a life without what we deem as “common sense.” The characters are consumed with greed and a desire to be perfect. The ability to think and have real emotions has been taken. This could spark a serious discussing about Big Brother. There is mild violence.Parents and students please read, sign, and date the statement below and send only this paper and all supplies with your child to school by Friday, January 10, 2020. The other papers are yours to keep for your records.I have read the course information for English II and I understand what will be required from my child for this class. I specifically understand that my child must adhere to the make-up work and late work policies and that no exceptions will be given. I also specifically understand that Mrs. Parson’s room is a cellphone-free environment and that under no circumstance should my child have their phone out for any reason in her room.Parent Date Student Date Please print the following information:Student’s Name: _____________________________________________________________________________Parents’ Names: _____________________________________________________________________________Phone Number: ___________________________Alternate Phone Number: ________________________E-mail Address: _____________________________________________________________________________Is there anything I need to know about your child? _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________*If your contact information changes, please notify the school immediately in writing so that we will have an accurate way to reach you, in case of emergency. ................
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