Name: _________________________

Date: ______________
English 7
Period: _____________
2019-20 Syllabus

_________________________________________________________________
PLEASE KEEP THIS HANDBOOK FOR REFERENCE

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1. Contact Information (p3)
2. Online Resources (p3)
3. What to Expect (4)
 Overview
 Daily Routine
 Class Arrival
 Restroom and Drinks
 Building Policies
 Classroom Culture
4. Grading (p5)
 Homework and Late Policy
 Types of Assignments
5. Notes/Questions (p6)

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1.Teacher Contact List
 Mr. Isaac Kain
Isaac.kain@icsd.k12.ny.us
 Mr. Aaron Arm
Aaron.arm@icsd.k12.ny.us
 Mr. Harry Nichols
Harry.nichols@icsd.k12.ny.us
 Mrs. Monica Sherman
Monica.sherman@icsd.k12.ny.us
 Ms. Yanira Stoker
Yanira.stoker@icsd.k12.ny.us
 Ms. Caitlin Redfield
Caitlin.redfield@icsd.k12.ny.us
Note to Students: If you need to reach an English
teacher outside of class time, the best way to do so
is to email us, find us during lunch, study hall, or
before school.
If you are to send an email, use the above address,
please use appropriate email etiquette, and
include all of your teachers (if there are multiple
teachers in the room).
Your teachers generally do not check email outside
of the school day or on the weekends, so be sure
to plan ahead or see us directly with time sensitive
questions.
Note to Caregivers: If you have questions or
concerns outside of the weekly plan emails, please
email your child’s teacher directly and copy all
support and/or co-teachers in the email as well.
We will do our best to get back to you within two
school days.
2. ONLINE CLASS RESOURCES
CLASS WEBSITE:
https://dewitt-english-7.weebly.com/
 Use this website to access all class
documents, resources, links, videos,
and copies of assignments. There are
also video tutorials as well.
SCHOOL TOOL:
https://ithaca.schooltool.cnyric.org/SCHOOLTOOLWEB/
 Use this site to monitor your grades and
check for any missing assignments. This
is not a great place for planning, but it is
a great place to find out if anything is
missing.
 In School Tool, a blank space next to an
assignment means that the assignment
has not yet been graded. If the
assignment has a zero next to it, the
assignment has not been turned in.
 Please contact your teacher(s)
appropriately with any questions or
concerns.
WEEKLY EMAIL FOR CAREGIVERS:
In an effort to keep all caregivers informed
with their student’s assignments in a
proactive way, there is a weekly email sent
out that outlines what is to come. We use
the email listed in the student’s School Tool
account, so please make sure that this is up
to date.
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3. What to Expect
Overview
7th grade is a time of transition. Students have transitioned from elementary
to middle school and from pre-teens to teenagers. With all of these transitions
comes a great need for independence, resourcefulness, resilience, grit, and strong
academic skills, among other things. Because of this, we will be spending the year
together working on these growth points. Our year will begin with the whole class
working as a unit and then gradually introducing more independence as we go with
the expressed intention that by the end of this 2019/20 academic year project
based learning will be the primary method of instruction.
We look forward to this year and can’t wait to see how you all grow as
students, learners, and individuals.

Daily Routine
English 7 will be both predictable and surprising. It will be predictable in
that we will always have a 3-5min activity at the beginning of class, we will have
classroom notebooks and resources that will always be available and our units will
be designed so that all of the work and assignments have due dates listed ahead of
time so that you can plan. However, we will be unpredictable in some instances
because while you are learning and growing, we are also understanding you better
and therefore will make adjustments, changes, and/or additions as we need to in
order to better challenge, equip, and develop you as independent thinkers.

Class Arrival
When you arrive to class you must remember that you are member of the
class and the class is not about ONLY you. You are expected to enter the room
politely and get to work. If you are late you are still expected to catch up on what
you have missed. Please do not make a “grand entrance” but instead remember
that you are part of a community.
You are expected to arrive to class on time, prepared, and ready to learn. If
you arrive AFTER the bell has rung, if even by 2 seconds, then you are late. If you
have a valid pass for a valid reason, you will be marked “Excused Tardy” in School
Tool. If you have a red, “illegal pass” or no pass at all, you will be marked
“Unexcused Tardy”. Once you have 3 unexcused tardies, your parents will be
notified and you will be written up and given either a lunch reflection or another
consequence that is determined by the main office.

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Restroom/Drinks:
Restroom/drink trips must not disrupt class. You may use the restroom or
get a drink during independent work time, during group time, or between
classroom activities. You must sign out and sign in for each trip. You may not us
the restroom or get a drink during the first 5 minutes of class activity or during
assignment explanation or notes.

Building Policies
Each of you will receive a Student Handbook. These further outline building
policies and expectations. You will go over all of these both in this class as well as
in the cafeteria with the administration staff. We will follow what is outlined in the
Student Handbook in this class.

Classroom Culture
Just like all of you, each English 7 teacher and co-teacher has their own
distinct personality and way of doing things. We will try to be consistent in all of
our curriculum and all 7th grade will generally be doing the same thing. However,
each class will have its own distinct way of doing things. This is like a classroom
culture. Pay attention, invest, and participate in making the classroom culture that
you want. You are as important in this classroom as anyone else.

4. Grading Policies
Homework and Late Work Policy
We will have a combination of in-class work and homework. The purpose of
the homework is to either finish what was begun in class or to continue developing
the thoughts or work that was begun in class. We also expect each student to read
independently for 30 min every night when there is no other assigned homework.
This reading can be independent or aligned with the current assignment.
Work is expected to be finished on the due date. If you will have difficulty
turning something in, if there is an unexpected emergency, or if there is some
occurrence that removes the possibility of turning in your work on time, you must
contact your teacher. We are generally very understanding and can work with you
as long as you communicate. We also recognize that some of you have
accommodations. In this instance, we will certainly be advocates for you and make
sure that we are providing that which you need.

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Types of Assignments
There are three types of assignments: participation, effort, and
achievement. Participation assignments are in-class assignments and they cannot
be made up or changed. In the instance that you are absent for these assignments
an absence will not go against your grade. However, you must still make up any
work that is missed. These will count for 20% of your overall grade. Effort
assignments can be completed either in class or as homework. They are important
assignments but they are not graded with a rubric. They could be graded as
completion, as a percentage, or with check grades. These assignments are also
worth 20% of your overall grade and cannot be adjusted or changed once the final
grade has been entered into the grade book. However, late assignments will be
accepted until the 5 or 10 week reports. Achievement grades are worth 60% of
your overall grade. These are work that is graded by rubric, quizzes, tests, and
other culminating activities. If they are turned in on time, there will be
opportunities for revision for higher grades. If they are not turned in on time they
cannot be revised. They can be turned in late as long as they are turned in before
either the 5 or 10 week marking period ends.

Participation = 20%
Effort = 20%
Achievement = 60%

5. Notes & Questions

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