Freshman English
Course Description: The central themes explored in this course are culture, diversity, justice, human rights and the development of compassion, empathy, and respect for others. The curriculum teaches the skills of reading, writing, research, discussion, language use and 21st century skills through the study of literature. Core readings include novels, plays, poetry and non-fiction articles. As a class, we will focus on the writing process in order to improve your own writing skills with thesis essays, personal narratives and blogs. Digital stories, wikis, blogs and google docs are some of the tools we will be using as a class to demonstrate knowledge and understanding.
Honors Challenge: Each student will have multiple opportunities to push their intellectual capacity with the honors challenge option. You must sign a contract and complete all honors challenge assignments.
Expectations:
-Be prepared for class each day (3 ring binder, writing utensils, charged laptop and open mind).
-Be present each class.
-Do your best.
-Respect our classroom as a community of learners.
-Practice digital citizenship.
Grading:
-Classwork-30%
-Tests/assessments/projects-40%
-Quizes-20% (notebook will count as a quiz grade)
-Homework-10%
Late work: Homework is due the day of class. Late homework will not be accepted. If you have an excused absence from school, you have two weeks to make up an missing work.
Academic Support: On red days I am available in room 122 and on white days I am available in room 108. Please make an appointment with me when making up work. If you are falling behind or need academic support, I will assign a time to meet after school.
Communication: Please use journals or email (ferranta.spsd@gmail.com ) to communicate concerns or questions. My website will contain most handouts and homework. Each student must have a gmail account as well.
Tania Ferrante
