Honors English III – English Language and Composition



Honors English III – English Language and Composition

What is the author saying and how is he/she saying it?

Instructor: Mrs. Mueller—mrsmueller1@

Website:

Office Hours: M-F 7:00-7:50; 3:15-4:00/M-F Lunches A and B/by appointment

Course Description and Objectives

Honors English Language and Composition is a course that has borrowed a number of its goals from the AP Language and Composition course. It is a unique course in the Chicago Public School system that will provide you with the rigorous training and skill building in reading and writing that will give you a competitive edge and establish a solid foundation for successful written and oral communication in college.

The following objectives from the AP Language and Composition will be adapted to fulfill the goals of the Honors Language and Composition course:

o Help students become skilled readers of prose written in a variety of rhetorical contexts and to become skilled writers who compose for a variety of purposes

o Make students aware of the interactions among a writer's purposes, audience expectations, and subjects as well as the way generic conventions and the resources of language contribute to effectiveness in writing

o Write about a variety of subjects and to demonstrate an awareness of audience and purpose

o Emphasize the expository, analytical, and argumentative writing that forms the basis of academic and professional communication

o Engage in the personal and reflective writing that fosters the ability to write in any context

Course Requirements and Expectations

Attendance:

• Daily attendance is critical. If you are absent, you will undoubtedly miss valuable information that cannot simply be replicated on a future date. You are responsible for any class notes, assignments, quizzes, or exams that you miss while you are absent. Look at my website for homework and keep up with the due dates. If you cut the class or have an unexcused absence, you will receive a zero on any assignments that were assigned or due on that day.

• Come to class on time. Tardiness will not be tolerated.

• Please note: If you are tardy to class,

o and the class is taking a quiz, you will not receive any additional time for that quiz.

o and you miss a quiz, you will receive a zero for that quiz.

o and you attempt to turn in an assignment that is due on that day, that assignment will be considered late.

Homework:

• Complete ALL homework assignments. Homework will be accepted at the beginning of the period on the day that it is due. *If you are tardy, your assignment will be considered late. All homework assignments will be posted on my website.

o If you are absent the day that an assignment is due, that assignment is due on the day that you return to school (whether we have scheduled class or not). You are responsible for coming to see me on your own time.

o Late work will earn 50% of the total value if work is turned in past the due date; it will be accepted up to one week beyond the original due date unless we have already discussed the submitted assignment in class.

o Homework Incompletion Log—Students will fill out when they have not done an assignment. I will contact parents each time.

o Do not place any homework in my mailbox. It will be considered late if you do.

During Class:

• Bathroom, water, random wandering— Passes to lockers and restroom will be limited as you have plenty of time between classes to attend to your personal needs. Please do not ask for a pass unless you have a true emergency.

• Participation – When the bell rings, please be in your seat and ready to participate. In addition to attending class promptly, participation means to contribute thoughtfully to in-class discussions, writing assignments, journaling, etc. Any participation to the class that is not deemed positive participation will result in a lower than desired participation grade.

• Preparedness -- It is important that you come to class prepared (with books, notebook, pen, and any class work), having given careful thought to readings and preparation of assignments, so that class discussion and exchange will be of high quality. Remember to bring a pencil on days we have a vocabulary quiz—no pencil = no quiz = failing grade.

• Please do not eat or drink in class. That means no gum, candy (raise money on your own time, please), pepperoni pizza or last night’s leftovers. It’s distracting, makes a mess and I am not your maid. You may however, bring water. That’s it—water.

• Also distracting (and therefore prohibited) are iPods and cell phones—anything with an on/off switch. Turn them all off, put them in your bag or else they become mine. This is not only a Mueller policy, but this is a school policy as well.

Our Learning Environment:

• Accept Personal Responsibility:

This applies to:

o Your work— “The easiest thing to do, whenever you fail, is to put yourself down by blaming your lack of ability for your misfortunes.”

o Your attitude— “If you don't like something, change it. If you can't change it, change your attitude.”

o Your attendance— “Man is fully responsible for his nature and his choices”

o Your comprehension of the material— “The important thing is not to stop questioning.”

Who has shared these great thoughts about personal responsibility? Find out for yourself by doing a little research.

Bottom line: Look to your actions, your words and your attitude. Acknowledge each of them and then address the challenge before you. Do not make excuses or lay blame on others. This is truly a sign of maturity.

• Behavior – Within the community of the classroom, you are expected to behave appropriately. We all know what is deemed appropriate classroom behavior. Let us act accordingly. Maya Angelou said, “I've learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.”

• Honesty and Integrity Policy: All of a student’s work--homework, quizzes, tests, essays and research papers should be a product of his/her own efforts. Copying homework, taking information from another student during a quiz or test, downloading a paper from the Internet and presenting it as one’s own, and plagiarism are all a serious breach of the honesty and integrity policy. Assisting a person to be dishonest is also a serious breach in judgment. Any student offering someone else’s work as one’s own or assisting another student to be dishonest will receive a zero for that assignment. Any talking during a quiz/test will also result in an automatic zero.

Please Note: These transgressions will be documented and handed over to the Dean Williams upon which he will apply the consequences set forth by the Student Code of Conduct.

Required Materials

o Binder: Students will keep a binder of their notes. Binder will be divided into 3 parts: General Notes, Vocabulary and Grammar, Handouts and Rubrics.

o Portfolio: This will be provided to you and kept in the classroom. You will collect all of your written work in here and analyze it throughout the year.

o Composition Book/Notebook: This will be for daily reflection and kept in your portfolio. You need to provide this.

o Flash Drive (Please don’t rely on emailing your papers back and forth)

Evaluation

The grading scale is as follows: The breakdown of the grade:

A 100—90 Essays and Projects: 40%

B 89—80 Exams and Quizzes: 20%

C 79—70 Journals, Homework, In-Class Assignments: 20%

D 69—60 Participation: 10%

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