Grade 9 English 2004-2005

Teachers: Mrs. N. Abisamra, Ms. B. Rundell, Ms. D. Yassin

Dear Students,

The emphasis for this year’s program will focus mainly on journeys of self discovery and themes present in ancient and modern literature. Much of this literature is connected to your ancient cultures studies in history class. You will study a variety of genres over the course of the year with strong emphases on the skills of reading, writing, presenting, viewing and listening. 

 

Required Readings

Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck   

Greek Myths/Short Stories                  

Excerpts from Gilgamesh and Homer’s The Iliad           

The Odyssey by Homer (translation by Fagles)

Poetry 

Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare        

We will continue to use Grade 8 grammar workbooks and Writers’ Inc .

 

What we expect of you:

·         To be in class on time, ready to start with all materials, notebook, binder, etc;

·         To participate in all classroom activities enthusiastically and to always produce your best work;

·         To ask forhelp when you need it and to be prepared to spend extra time working on problem areas;

·         To ask when instructions are unclear;

·         Tospeak only in English in this class;

·         To complete all homework, assignment, presentations and be prepared to hand in assignments at the beginning of the period on the date given, unless otherwise specified;

·         To complete written assignments on a word processor using Times New Roman, 12 pt, 1.5 spacing and 1” margins, unless handwriting is specified;

·         To respect the feelings of class members and their property;

·         Toshow respect for the physical surroundings;

·         To bring only water to class in closed containers;

·         To not eat or chew gum in class, unless there is a special occasion.

 

What can you expect of us?

·         To be prepared for all classes;

·         To be enthusiastic and positive;

·         To respect you and your views; 

·         To return graded work quickly with constructive comments;

·         Toalways be available for extra help; 

·         Contact emails are: nabisamra@acs.edu.lb, brundell@acs.edu.lb, dyassin@acs.edu.lb

 

What are the implications of not meeting expectations?

Simply, you will not receive the grade that you are capable of achieving.

You will be allowed one free tardy per semester. The second tardy will earn an after school detention that same day of 30 minutes. Any subsequent tardies will earn automatic Saturday morning detention. 

Read the Student Handbook page 9 for the policy on absences. Note that 10% of classes missed may mean you will not earn a course credit.

Late assignments incur a 10% daily penalty, which will be deducted from your participation grade (20% section). After three days a zero will be awarded, and this impacts on a 40% section of the grading schedule.A weekend equals two days so assignments may be emailed. You are expected to hand in the paper copy of all assignments on time but if you experience difficulty printing, you may email you homework as a precaution against late work. However, if is up to you to print this off at the earliest possible time and give to the teacher concerned.

You have the opportunity to complete a rewrite of an assignment, as long as you receive a ‘D’ or better on the first attempt AND you have handed the work in on the due date.

 

How is your work to be graded? 

A to F grades will be awarded according to the descriptors on page 11 of the Student Handbook. 

 

How is the grade made up?

            Major written assignments, tests-- 40%

            Quizzes, vocabulary (+ SAT words), spelling, homework-- 40%

            Daily participation, attitude, effort & motivation, group work, meeting deadlines-- 20%

 

Materials Needed:

            Spiral bound hardcover notebook with 5 divisions

            Binder to store completed tasks

Ring reinforcements, pens, pencils, eraser, ruler, white-out, 

Optional: scissors, scotch tape, computer transfer file device* 

*Students without home internet access use floppy disks to transfer materials from home computers. As these floppy disks frequently fail or become corrupted, a more reliable method is a USB key drive or finger drive. A 64MB drive (equivalent to the storage on 55 floppy disks), would hold any projects you would need for school, such as power point or files from different classes. This is only a suggested purchase.

                                                                                     

Nada Abisamra             Bridget Rundell             Diana Yassin

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Caregiver and student: Please read, sign, and return to class teacher.

We have read and understood the material outlined above. 

 

Name_________________________              Caregiver___________________