Composition Workshop
Class Assignments:
Grades for first marking period:
- Summer reading test and essay
- Narrative Essay Unit - responds to "Handling Room 15" (due 9/14), Discussion questions for "I Get Born" and "The Chase" (due 9/17), Narrative essay (due 9/23), Vocab quiz on "Human Faults/Traits" (Fri. 9/24)
- Descriptive Essay Unit - descriptive paragraph (1st garden paragraph, Fri. 10/3), painting description (top 10 details, 10/3), discussion questions for "38 Who Saw Murder," "The War Room," "Time Torture" (due 10/8), Vocbulary list replacing general/vague words (due 10/13), object for descriptive essay (due 10/13), descriptive essay (due 10/17)
- College Essay Unit - combine narrative and descriptive techniques (due 10/29)
- Grammar Review Unit - in class project with handout and examples for the class (11/4); presentation (starting 11/4). Grammar quizzes to follow presentations and in-class practice; 1st quiz on 11/11 (pronouns, run-ons/fragments, commas)
- vocabulary 1 exercise and quiz
Grades for second marking period:
- Grammar Review Unit: second quiz on 11/13 (misplaced/dangling modifiers, shifts in verb tense, coordinating & subordinating conjunctions, faulty parallelism)
- Example Essay Unit: study guide questions for "The Values Wasteland", "The Pick up Line Goes On and On", "Humans and Their Pets"; Notes for video on Pausch's "The Last Lecture", example essay on "The Last Lecture" film and excerpts (due 12/11/08)
- Definition Essay Unit: study guide questions (due 1/6/09); Definition essay (due 1/14/09)
- Vocabulary 2 & 3 exercises and quiz
* All essays are due by the end of the day on the due date in hard copy and on Turnitin.com. *
* If you are absent, you must see me the next day you are in school to make up missed work - it is likely you missed a reading quiz or a set of graded discussion questions. *
Class Materials
Your Notebook: One binder with loose leaf
Handouts: Bring to class whatever handout or text we are working with
Pens, pencils, highlighter
Class Rules
Be on time – Please be in the room and in your seat when the bell rings.
Get started right away – Have your notebook out and be ready to go at the start of class. If there is an assignment posted on the board, start working on it immediately.
Be prepared – Always have your notebook/journal, pen/pencil, text for that day’s class with you.
Hand in assignments on time. All work handed in must be original and it must be your own.
Respect others – Listen when the teacher or someone else is speaking. Negative comments about others will not be tolerated.
Follow all school rules and regulations. The use of cell phones or I-pods is permitted outside of the classroom only. If found in class, items will be handed over to the assistant principals.
Water bottles only (no food or other drink) are permitted.
Consequences
1. Students who are unprepared (i.e., not having your textbook) will lose points towards their participation grade.
2. If a paper or project is late, students will receive one letter grade deduction for each day it is late. Failure to turn in a major assignment results in a zero, a student/teacher conference and an email home – it also endangers your passing the marking period. Even if an assignment is two or three weeks late, hand it in anyway. A “F” is better than a “0.”3. I do not accept plagiarized work. Please do not hand in work that resembles information from online help sites. The result will be a zero for that assignment. If it seems that your work too closely resembles that of another student’s, both students’ work will receive zeroes.
4. Failure to follow class or school rules will result in a deduction of the classroom participation grade and could also result in disciplinary action from the assistant principals.
Procedures
Participation: I strongly encourage active classroom participation and class discussion. If we are having a discussion, even if it is a relaxed one, please just raise your hand.
Bathroom pass: If you need to use the bathroom, please try to go within the first 5 minutes of class. Avoid asking to go to the bathroom in the middle of a discussion unless it is an emergency. Take the pass with you.
Absences: If you are absent, make up the work you missed by the next day. You can refer to our class website from home to check what you missed, or you can email me. Please do not wait until the start of the next class to find out what you missed. Any work missed during a prolonged absence (more than 2 days) will be made up as soon as possible.
Emailing: I understand emergency printer problems happen, and I will accept emailed versions of an assignment via attachment the day an assignment is due. I ask that you still print a copy of your paper and hand it to me the next time you see me. There is always a chance that I will not receive your email/attachment. If you send all emails to me through your Firstclass account, the chances are higher that I’ll receive your message.
Marking Period Grade
I grade on a points system. That means everything you do is valued at a certain number of points. For example, a typical essay or test is usually worth 100 points, while a reading or vocab quiz might be 25 points. Your participation grade at the end of the marking period will be worth 100 points. At the end of the marking period, I will divide the total number of points for that marking period by the number of points you earned.
Let’s say at the end of the marking period a total of 700 points of work was assigned to you. You earned 600 points, so your grade for that marking period would be: an 86%, or a B. You can keep track of your own grade online.
The breakdown is 70% - writing assignments, 15% - reading or vocab quizzes
15% - class participation (timeliness, participation, behavior)
Special Privileges
There are times that you will have work in other subjects, other commitments, etc. Therefore you will be allowed an extension on one paper. If the paper is due on November 5, for example, you will receive an extra two class periods to complete the paper. However, you need to tell me in person at least two days before the paper is due. Do not email me to ask for an extension. Do not ask for an extension the day the paper is due. Remember there is one extension each semester; use it wisely.
I am looking forward to a great course!
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