"KNOWLEDGE IS POWER."--Francis Bacon
Are you ready to appreciate the power and beauty of words? Are you ready to realize that writing and reading well will help you to develop a deeper understanding of yourself and the world in which you live? I am so excited to have the opportunity to teach you this trimester. You are an incredibly important person and I cannot wait to learn more about you.
Goal: to become skillful readers, writers, and speakers of English. We will read and analyze texts together, and we will use the writing process to write our own texts. As we do this, we will review and learn the meanings of words as well as the rules of written and spoken English.
Overview
|
Trimester |
Theme |
Writing Assignments |
Reading Assignments |
|
1 |
What is Power and How Do People Use It? |
∙ A Brief History of Me as a Reader and Writer
∙ Response to Literature—“Power in A Midsummer Night’s Dream”
· Independent writing pieces |
· “A Retrieved Reformation”, · “Raymond’s Run”
· “A Midsummer Night’s Dream”
· Literature Anthology
(units 1, 2, 5:1), folktales |
|
2 |
How Does Political Power Affect People? |
· Someone Else’s Story
∙ Response to Literature—“Night”
· poetry collection
· Independent writing pieces |
· Maus
· Night
· Lit. Anthology (Units 3:1 & 5:2)
· Poetry from various sources |
|
3 |
What Power Do I Have to Make a Difference in the World? |
∙ Persuasive essay
· Debate / speech
· Independent writing pieces |
· Editorials & persuasive speeches
· Literature Anthology
Units 3:2 & 4
· “A Raisin in the Sun” or “Flowers for Algernon”
or Beetles & Angels or
The Pearl |
Grading
Assignments and tests will have a point scale as follows:
· A 100-90%:
· B 89-80%:
· C 79-70%:
· D 69-60
· No credit 59-0%
Materials
- A notebook to serve as your Reader’s/Writer’s Notebook. This could be a 5 subject notebook or a 3 ring binder with 5 sections.
- A folder for class handouts
- A pen and pencil
- A book of your choice that you will use for independent reading assignments. Also, for this class, you are expected to read at least 30 minutes per day outside of school.
Make-up work
See me before or after class to find out what assignments were missed during an absence. You could also email me if you are concerned with a particular assignment.
Behavior
I expect you to respect yourself and others. Each student in this classroom possesses the right to learn. If students disrupt/block that right, there will be consequences.
If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me at anne.becvar@spps.org.
FOR THE STATUS OF ASSIGNMENT COMPLETION AND CLASS GRADES, PLEASE SEE THE PARENT PORTAL AT WWW.SPLEARNS.ORG.
FOR SPECIFIC DAILY PROJECTS AND HOMEWORK, PLEASE CHECK YOUR CHILD'S STUDENT PLANNER.
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