Ms. Jones
8th Grade English
jijones@fcusd.org
My class closely follows the California Common Core Content Standards for Reading, Writing,
Speaking, Listening, and Language Skills.
Supplies
Having the following supplies in your backpack every day will help to ensure a successful year:
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Sharpened pencils, blue or black pens, highlighters, colored pencils
Plenty of lined, white, 3-ring binder paper
A small binder (with 5 dividers) that is used exclusively for English
A calendar or FMS Jagenda
A book for silent reading
3x5 note cards for word roots (180 for the entire year)
Book Reports
Students will be required to turn in one Book Report per trimester. Books will be selected by the student
from the District’s adopted list of 8th grade novels. More information (including the list of choices) will
be given soon.
Homework
In addition to reading the books and preparing the reports, students will have various grammar, spelling,
vocabulary, and writing assignments. These assignments will be updated weekly on my website and
should take approximately 30 minutes to complete.
Make-up and Late Work
When you are absent from school, look in your Jagenda or check the website in order to keep up with the
rest of the class. For every day a student is absent, he/she will have a reasonable period of time in which
to make-up the missed work (District policy). Suspended students will have the same courtesy.
Late work, worth up to 70% credit, will be accepted for a reasonable time period.
Rewrites
Students are encouraged to rewrite assignments until they get the grade they desire. Most writing
assignments may be rewritten, and all students can earn up to 100% as long as the assignment was turned
in on time. If a student is required to rewrite an assignment (for sloppiness, not following directions,
etc.), no grade will be given for that assignment until an acceptable rewrite is submitted.
Up to 3 school days will be given for either type of rewrite. This is what I offer as extra credit.
My philosophy is that students simply do the work I assign, not extra work to make-up for something they
didn’t do.
Cheating
When I determine that a student has cheated on an assignment, I give him/her the opportunity to redo it.
When I determine that a student has cheated on a test (including communicating during a test), he/she will
receive a zero and will not be allowed to retake the test.
Citizenship
O = Outstanding
S = Satisfactory
N = Needs Improvement
U = Unacceptable
A student will receive an O when he/she exhibits exceptional behavior, completes work on time, comes to
class on time, AND participates in class discussions.
Grading
Each assignment will be given a point value based on length of time involved and importance of topic.
Grading will be on a straight percentage (90-100% = A 80-89% = B, etc.)
My grades are weighted in the following manner:
Formative work (practice work)
Summative work (showing mastery)
20%
80%
ALL TYPED WORK WILL BE DONE IN THE MLA FORMAT . . . SEE
http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/747/01/ FOR SPECIFIC GUIDELINES.
PLEASE REVIEW THESE CLASS REQUIREMENTS WITH YOUR PARENTS AND LET ME
KNOW IF YOU (OR THEY) HAVE ANY QUESTIONS – the best way to reach me is by email, but
realize that once school is out, I rarely check my email until the next day.
I’M LOOKING FORWARD TO A GREAT YEAR WITH ALL OF MY STUDENTS BEING SAFE,
RESPONSIBLE, AND RESPECTFUL! 
MS. JILL JONES
If you have some of these things lying around the house and would like to donate to the classroom,
we can always use:
tissues
markers colored copy paper
hand sanitizer
Cleansing wipes