A good head and good heart are always a formidable combination.

But when you add to that a literate tongue or pen, then you have something very special.
~Nelson Mandela

Welcome to English 9!
2014-15
Mrs. Ryan
Email: sryan@lgsuhsd.org; School Phone: 408-867-3411 ext. 358
Course Description:
English 9 is a year-long college-prep course that focuses on reading, writing, speaking, and
listening. You will be challenged to think more deeply about yourself, your expectations, and
how you would like to contribute to the world. We will study various forms of literature, several
types of writing, and related subjects such as vocabulary and grammar. Emphasis will be
placed on communication through writing, discussing, and making individual and group
presentations.
1st semester Course Plan:
Literature
Short stories
Of Mice and Men
Romeo and Juliet
Poetry

Independent
Reading

Writing

Description
2 free choice books of at Setting
least 200 pages each Character dialogue
Short story

Other
Weekly vocabulary and
grammar lessons
Weekly journals
Study skills
Reading quizzes

2nd semester Course Plan:

Literature

Independent
Reading

Writing

The Odyssey
Expository essay
2 free choice books of at Poetry
Cyrano de Bergerac
The Curious Incident of
least 200 pages each Business letters
the Dog in the Nighttime
Poetry

Other
Weekly vocabulary and
grammar lessons
Weekly journals
Study skills
Reading quizzes

Class Policies:
1. Be prompt. We will adhere to the schools tardy policy, and missed class time will affect
your participation. Make it a habit to get here early and ready to get started right when the
bell rings.
2. Be prepared. Bring course materials and the appropriate text(s) to class every day. In
addition to occasional open-book quizzes, class discussions will require direct references to
the text. Your participation grade also depends on your preparedness.
3. Be polite. This classroom should be a place where everyone can feel safe to be themselves,
which requires that we treat one another with respect and compassion. Even when we
disagree, it is our individual responsibility to collectively support one anothers diversity.

4. Exercise integrity. We will adhere to the schools integrity policy. No academic dishonesty
of any kind will be ignored in this class. Expect to cite all of your sources all of the timeor
better yet, lets learn to rely on our own minds to do the thinking! When in doubt, ask Mrs.
Ryan whether its acceptable or notbetter safe than sorry.

Required Course Materials:

Notebook paper
English binder (2+) for handouts
Blue or black pens, pencils, & highlighters
Composition notebook for journaling

Optional materials:
Index cards
Book flags or Post-It notes
Stapler

Grading Policies & Scale:

Class grades are determined by student achievement, not just completion of assignments.
It is my expectation that every student will work hard to earn a final grade of A or B in this
course; but hard work does not always mean you will earn an A. You will read more, write
more, and discuss more than you have in your previous English classes.
The grades will be weighted as follows:
10% Participation (includes daily preparedness and active participation)
15% Grammar & Vocabulary (includes unit tests and final)
45% Literature (This includes homework, assessments, class work & journals,
projects)
30% Writing (All major essays, practice writes, and other writing assignments)

The grading scale is as follows:

A+
A
A-

98-100
94-97
90-93

B+
B
B-

87-89
84-86
80-83

C+
C
C-

77-79
74-76
70-73

D+ 67-69
D 64-66
D- 60-63

Grades will be kept updated on Aeries and it is expected that students and parents
continually monitor progress via Aeries. I will post necessary notes on Aeries. Please contact the
office for Aeries sign up information.

Late Work & Missed Work:

No late homework will be accepted.
Major essays or assignments can be submitted late with a penalty of one
letter grade (a 10% deduction) per day. Please submit late work to the front
office on Tuesdays and Thursdays.
Long-term assignments must be submitted on their due dates, even if the
student is unable to attend class unless other arrangements have been made.
In the case of an excused absence, it is the students responsibility to seek
and complete make-up work during tutorial.
If a student has an excused absence on the day of a test, it must be made
up the 1st or 2nd tutorial following the students return unless it has been an
extended absence. (No tests will be made up for an unexcused absence.)
In the case of a personal crisis, please contact Mrs. Ryan directly by email (or in
person). We are only human, and we can work together to come up with a solution.
Essay Requirements:
1. Unless otherwise noted, all writing assignments are due at the beginning of
class the date they are due.
2. All writing assignments need to be turned in BOTH to turnitin.com and on
paper. If a paper has not been submitted to turnitin.com before class the day it is
due, it will be considered late. Likewise, if the paper copy has not been brought to
class, the assignment will be considered late. Plan ahead and be sure to have both
the electronic and paper versions turned in on time.
3. Research of any sort should be cited and properly documented in MLA style
to avoid plagiarism. Anyone elses words or ideas that are passed off as your own
work without citations will result in a zero and be turned into the administration.

More on Plagiarism:

What is plagiarism?

copying word-for-word (without quotation marks) even if you cite the source
paraphrasing incompletely (without quotation marks) even if you cite the sourcesee below
taking ideas or fully paraphrasing without citing the source

How to avoid plagiarism:

When you quote: quote exactly, use quotation marks, and cite your source
When you paraphrase: paraphrase completely and cite your source
When you use someone else's idea: cite your source

An example of incomplete paraphrasing:

Original text: "By 1971, Their Eyes was an underground phenomenon, surfacing here and
there, wherever there was a growing interest in African-American studies--and a black woman
literature teacher" (Washington foreword to the Perennial Library edition x).

Incomplete paraphrase: By 1971, Their Eyes Were Watching God was an underground
event, showing up wherever there was an interest in African-American women's literature.

Complete paraphrase: According to Mary Helen Washington, Their Eyes Were Watching God
was a recognized title by 1971 (x).

NOTE: You must use your own diction and syntax in paraphrases. Changing a few words to
synonyms is not sufficient!

English Department Assessment Standard

The English Department of Saratoga High School believes in:
Aligning assessment with instruction

This means our tests, while not necessarily exactly duplicating material presented in class, will,
nonetheless, ask our students to recall information we have taught and use skills we have taught prior to
the test. Sometimes this material is contained in assigned reading that may not have been discussed prior
to testing, as in reading quizzes, which primarily ascertain whether a student has read and thought about a
literature assignment, but may include more challenging questions that involve analysis, interpretation,
and evaluation.
Using assessment as part of the teaching process

Once tests have been taken, we review results with students in the interest of furthering their learning.
Often full review of a test question-by-question consumes a great deal of time with proportionately little
benefit, so we may, instead, choose to go over the questions that most students missed, go over key test
answers as a class, go over individual tests with students singly or in groups in tutorial, ask students to
respond to the questions they missed, or we may choose to revisit the material in the test, depending on
what the assessment indicates is the class level of learning.

Any parent or student may ask to review a test individually (usually during tutorial), provided the request is
made within a week of the grade posting/test grading announcement.

Final exams will be held until the beginning of the next semester.

We encourage students to take essays home to reflect on and share, but we ask that they be returned to
their classroom writing folder in a timely fashion. These writing folders are terrific teaching tools!
Maintaining the integrity of the test

We do not send department or team (i.e. English 9, English 10, etc.) tests home. This usually applies to
finals, vocabulary, and grammar tests, but may apply to literature unit tests, as well.

There are times we will not want to send home our own tests, too, as it takes years of administration,
modifying, and refining test questions to come up with tests that are fair, clear, and representative of both
what our students have learned and what we have tried to teach. Writing a good test is not simply a
matter of asking some questions and checking to see if the students have the answers. If we do not send a
test home, students should certainly avail themselves of other opportunities to review how they performed
on the assessment during tutorial.

Honoring testing modifications

We make every effort to ensure that testing materials are in the Learning Center (previously Resource)
when students IEPs/504 plans call for such modification. We ask that students with the option to take tests
in class or in the Learning Center please make every effort to let their teachers know in advance when they
would prefer to test in the Learning Center, to facilitate transfer of testing materials.

**Final Note: Talk to me! If you need extra help, dont understand
something, or are having a problem, please come talk to me. Your success
in learning is important, and you deserve to receive the help you need. **

Participation Rubric
Participation is interaction. It means coming to class prepared, being respectful, responding to the comments
of others, asking questions, helping other learners, and being involved and on task throughout the entire
class period. You are expected to participate and be an active member of class and your own learning.
Outstanding

Good

Attendance /
Promptness

Student is always
prompt.

Student is late to
class one to two
times per
grading period.

Level Of
Engagement In
Class

Student
proactively
contributes to
class by offering
ideas and asking
questions two or
more times per
class.

Fair

Poor

Student is late to
class two to four
times per
grading period.

Student is late to
class more than
four times a
grading period.

Student
proactively
contributes to
class by offering
ideas and asking
questions once
per class.

Student
occasionally
contributes to
class by offering
ideas and asking
questions.

Student rarely
contributes to
class by offering
ideas and asking
questions.

Listening Skills

Student listens
when others talk,
both in groups
and in class and
incorporates or
builds of of the
ideas of others.

Student listens
when others talk,
both in groups
and in class.

Student
occasionally
listens when
others talk, both
in groups and in
class.

Student does not

listen when others
talk, both in
groups and in
class. Student
often interrupts
when others
speak.

Behavior

Student almost
never displays
disruptive
behavior* during
class.

Student rarely
displays
disruptive
behavior* during
class.

Student
occasionally
displays
disruptive
behavior* during
class.

Student almost
always displays
disruptive
behavior* during
class.

Student is almost
always prepared
for class with
assignments and
required class
materials.

Student is
usually prepared
for class with
assignments and
required class
materials.

Student is
occasionally
prepared for class
with assignments
and required class
materials.

Student is almost
never prepared
for class with
assignments and
required class
materials.

Preparation

*examples of disruptive behavior: talking at inappropriate time, eating or drinking anything

besides bottled water, doing work from another class, doing the homework from this class, being rude
to another student or the teacher, trying to sleep/head down, packing up early, using Ipod/phone
(texting/games), phone sounds (keep phone off and put away)

Syllabus Acknowledgement & Contact Sheet

Please return this sheet only to Mrs. Ryan by next class.

STUDENT:
I have read and understand the course syllabus, agree to abide by the expectations of
English 9, and will contact Mrs. Ryan with questions. I have checked that my information is
correct on Aeries.
Student name ________________________________

Email ________________________________

Student signature_____________________________

Date __________

PARENT/GUARDIAN:
I have read the course syllabus and will contact Mrs. Ryan if I have any questions or
concerns. I have checked that my contact information is correct on Aeries.
Parent name ________________________________
Parent signature_____________________________

Email ________________________________
Date __________

The following information will help me contact you, if the need should arise.
Home Phone: _________________

Cell Phone: __________________

Dear Students, Parents, and Guardians,

Please share any additional information that might be he helpful as your/your students
teacher. For example, are there any special needs (vision, hearing, social concerns, organization,
language/speech) that I should be aware of? Is there a specific learning style that I should be aware
of? Is there an IEP or a 504 plan? If so, please summarize so I have an early start. Is there anything
you think I could do in order to better you/your students experience/success in this class? Please
share! This information will be kept confidential.
Thanks, Mrs. Ryan