Stanhope Elmore High School 4300 Main Street Millbrook, AL 36054 April 10, 2019 SEHS English Department Dear Parent/Guardian: We are very excited about teaching your child during the 2019-2020 school year. Our goal for the upcoming school year is to prepare students for whatever steps they decide to take beyond our classrooms. This year, we are focusing on the importance of reading and its impact on our students’ futures. In order to encourage students to take ownership of their reading experiences, we are implementing a new summer reading program. Each student will be responsible for choosing one novel from the list provided and completing a reading journal. When students return to school in August, they will submit their journal and be asked to present their novel. Presentation assignments will be designed and graded at the individual teacher’s discretion. These will be counted as major grades. The requirements for the reading journal are as follows: 1. Book must be chosen from the provided list or approved by student’s teacher. 2. Student must divide the novel into TEN sections, and identify the sections with page numbers at the beginning of his/her journal. 3. For each section, students must respond in complete sentences to one question from each of the three provided prompt lists (Book, Head, Heart). 4. Journals can be typed or written as long as student responses are clearly legible. Example: Atonement by Ian McEwan Section 1: Pages 3-39 Book: This novel is told from the perspective of Briony, a bright and precocious girl. She desperately wants the attention and recognition of her family members, but is often left alone to her own devices. Head: I was very surprised by her cousin Lola. Even though she is only a couple of years older than Briony, she acts so much more mature. She is almost too mature. She doesn’t fit in with the kids in the house. This may be because of her parents’ divorce. I think it is sad that she and Briony can’t get along. I would want to be close to my cousin if she came to live with me. Heart: This reminds me of my childhood. I am also the youngest child, and often felt like I had to entertain myself or do things for attention. I am worried about Lola and Briony in the future. I think that like most people, their loneliness and isolation may lead them to make bad decisions. Stanhope Elmore High School’s Academic Honesty policy located in the Student Handbook & Code of Conduct on page 41 states: It is expected that all academic work completed by any student in the Elmore County School System will be his/her own work. Elmore County Schools will not tolerate cheating in any form. Students will not engage in any act of deception or falsification of work product. This includes, but is not limited to: • Cheating by receiving unauthorized aid or assistance. • Giving or receiving of unfair advantage on any form of academic work to include use of electronic device(s) to text/take pictures of/convey exams and/or answer sheets. • Possessing materials that invalidate any academic course work either during or prior to the work being assigned (test or course work). Any student completing any academic work dishonestly will receive a zero for that assignment with no opportunity to make it up. Plagiarism is a form of academic dishonesty. Students who provide information and/or commit cheating will be disciplined in accordance with Class 1 Offense AK. The teacher will also contact the parents/guardians of the student and inform them of the student’s actions. Plagiarism Teachers in all subject areas, especially those assigning research, must inform and instruct students regarding plagiarism and the seriousness of the offense. A variety of resources are available for teacher and student use to aid in preventing plagiarism such as the following websites: • http://smallseotools.com/plagiarism-checker/ • http://www.duplichecker.com/ According to the Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, to “plagiarize” means: • To steal and pass off (the ideas or words of another) as one’s own • To use (another’s production) without crediting the source • To commit literary theft • To present as new and original an idea or product derived from an existing source All of the following are considered plagiarism: • Copying words or ideas from someone else without giving credit • Failing to put a quotation in quotation marks • Giving incorrect information about the source of a quotation • Changing words but copying the sentence structure of a source without giving credit • Copying so many words or ideas from a source that it makes up the majority of your work, whether you give credit or not Attached you will find the list of works, questions for student’s journal, and other charts that may assist students as they read. All of the information can also be found at www.mysehs.com. If you have any specific questions regarding the novels or the assignments, please contact English Department Chair Johanna Angelo at johanna.angelo@elmoreco.com. Have a restful summer! Stanhope Elmore High School English Department
