TACOMA SCHOOL DISTRICT
WILSON HIGH SCHOOL
Teacher: Quoc Nguyen
Phone Number: (253) 571-6037
Arrival Time: 7:05
Departure Time: 2:35
Room Number: 308
Planning Period: 6th -1:05-2:05
Email: qnguyen@tacoma.k12.wa.us
Sophomore English
SYLLABUS
I.
COURSE DESCRIPTION
SpringBoard: English Language Arts
The following comments are from SpringBoard:

Welcome to SpringBoard English Language Arts, a college and
career readiness program for all Students.

This new edition of SpringBoard was designed from the start to
meet the needs of the Common Core State Standards for English
Language Arts and was built on current research on best instructional
practices and pedagogy.

A powerful feature of SpringBoard instruction is the robust
alignment to AP Langauge and Literature. While not every student will
take an AP class, we believe strongly that ALL students should be
equipped with the kind of higher-order thinking skills, knowledge, and
behaviors necessary to be successful in AP classes and post-secondary
education.
II.
STUDENT OUTCOMES
 This is a yearlong course that consists of 5 Units:
Units
% of
Grade
Unit 1
Cultural
Conversations
(29 days)
14
Unit 2
Cultural
14
Student Competencies:
*Each unit will also have class assignments that
will be worth 10% of your grade.
*All Embedded 1 Assessment equal 25% of your
grade. (5% for each Embedded 1 Assessment)
*All Embedded 2 Assessment equal 45% of your
grade. (9% for each Embedded 2 Assessment)
Embedded Assessment 1
Write a reflective essay explaining your cultural
identity.
Embedded Assessment 2
Write a synthesis essay to the following prompt: To
what extent does one’s culture inform the way one
views others and the world?
Embedded Assessment 1
Write a narrative, either real or imagined, that
Perspectives
(37 days)
Unit 3:Novel
Cultures in
Conflict
Things Fall
Apart
(26 days)
14
Unit 4
Dramatic
Justice
(30 days)
14
Unit 5
Building
Cultural
Bridges
(39 days)
14
conveys a cultural perspective.
Embedded Assessment 2
Develop an argument about an issue that resonates
across cultures. You will choose a position, target
audience, and effective genre to convey your argument
to a wide audience.
Embedded Assessment 1
Examine one aspect of tribal culture presented in
Things Fall Apart, its significance to the Ibo
community, and compare and contrast how that
cultural aspect changed from pre-colonial to postcolonial Nigeria. You will create a presentation that
reflects your research.
Embedded Assessment 2
Write an analytical essay about Things Fall Apart in
which you examine a character’s response to the
cultural collision caused by the introduction of Western
ideas into Ibo culture. In your essay, analyze how the
collision challenges the character’s sense of identity
and explain how his response shapes meaning of the
work as a whole.
Embedded Assessment 1
Your assignment is to research, analyze, and present an
oral interpretation of a monologue. Your monologue
should represent a point of view or cultural experience
reflected in a work of literature outside the United
States. You will need to use vocal and visual delivery
to convey a complex character’s voice. You will write
a character sketch of the character you are portraying.
You will also evaluate your own and other students’
performances and write a reflection on your oral
interpretation.
Embedded Assessment 2
Write an analytical essay about the effect of character
interaction in the play Antigone. Choose a character
whose words, actions, or ideas contrast with Creon’s
character. Explain how these conflicting motivations
contribute to Creon’s development as a tragic hero and
how the character interactions advance the plot or
develop themes of the play.
Embedded Assessment 1
Present a solution to the environmental conflict your
group has researched. You will deliver a group
presentation designed to contextualize the conflict for
classmates and justify your approach to resolving it.
Independent
Reading (IR)
20
A list of
authors will
be given for IR
#2-5
All IR essays
and
assignments
are due the
day when
Embedded
Assessment
#1 begins.
II.
Embedded Assessment 2
Transform your presentation from the first Embedded
Assessment into a documentary film advocating for a
particular solution to the issue. Use research-based
evidence, persuasive appeals, and documentary film
techniques to engage and convince an audience of your
argument.
IR #1: Color of Water
 Dialectical Journal
*How is James McBride’s or his mother Ruthie
McBride Jordan’s cultural identity discovered in the
novel?
IR#2
*How can cultural experiences shape, impact, or
influence one’s perception of the world?
IR#3
In a double-entry journal track the author’s use of the
narrative techniques in this unit: dialogue, setting,
point of view, theme, characters, and narrative pacing.
IR#4
*How do interactions between different cultural groups
impact a character in the story from the beginning to
the end of the story.
IR#5
Double-Entry Journal
Characterization
Inference it makes
5 Direct characterization
10 indirect characterization
*Designates an essay
MATERIALS REQUIRED
Student Essentials:
 Notebook
 Paper
 Pen (Blue or black ink)
 Colored pencils
 Hi-liters (4 different colors)
III.
INSTRUCTIONAL STRATEGIES:





IV.
Peer Review/Response Editing of essays
Small group reading
Graphic Organizers
Partner Reading and Response
Close Reading
ASSESSMENT STRATEGIES:


Embedded 1 Assessment
Embedded 2 Assessment

V.
VI.
Independent Reading
GRADING SCALE:
93-100 = A
87-89 = B+
77-79 = C+
69-67 = D+
90-92 = A-
84-86 = B
74-76 = C
66-63 = D
80-83 = B-
70-73 = C-
< 62 = E
CLASSROOM EXPECTATIONS:
 Be in class on time
1st tardy-warning
2nd tardy-student and teacher conference
3rd-detention (parent notification)
4th-sent to administration
 Treat others with respect
 Have required materials
 Try your best
 Follow all rules stated in the student handbook (Ex: No food or drinks, no
hats, no visible cell phones, no IPOD or CD player)
IX.
PLAGIARISM:
The object of class assignments and homework (independent reading) is for you
to exercise your mind to better understand the content of this course. By copying
someone else’s work, you cannot attain this objective. Students caught copying
or turning in identical work will receive a “0” on the assignment (which cannot be
made up). Continued copying (plagiarism) will result in a failing grade.
I UNDERSTAND AND PERSONALLY AGREE TO PERFORM TO THESE STATED
POLICIES.
_______________________
Printed Name
_____________________________
Student Signature
___________________________________
___________________________________________
Parent Signature
Contact Phone Number
_____
Date