9 th Grade English Honors Syllabus
Ms. Taleen Hasholian—Room 209
Office Hours: Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday: 3:25-3:45
E-mail: Thasholian@agbumds.org
Welcome to 9 th
Grade English Honors, as well as your first year of high school. In this course, students will begin to build on the reading and language curriculum established at the high school level. Throughout this course, students will have opportunities to develop and expand their knowledge of literature and language as well as demonstrate their mastery level of new learning through performance tasks and assessments. Active reading and critical evaluation are emphasized. Students refine composition and presentation skills by writing essays (persuasive, interpretive, etc) as well as other writing assignments.
Required Texts:

Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare

To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee

Oedipus Rex and Antigone by Sophocles

Great Expectations by Charles Dickens
 Uncle Tom’s Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe

Heroes, Gods and Monsters of the Greek Myths by Bernard Evslin

Prentice Hall Grammar and Writing Exercise Workbook—Level 9
Key Assignments:
Discussion Groups/Socratic Seminars
Working in groups or as a class together, students will prepare for and actively engage in guided discussions of all assigned reading materials. For works of literature, students will summarize, interpret, analyze and make connections to current events, history, literature, the arts, politics, etc. They will also answer and offer questions for class discussions. Participation in class discussions is absolutely essential for full or even partial credit.
Reading and Writing
Students will read grade level appropriate text ranging from non-fiction articles to fiction.
Students will also write several essays throughout the course and will practice the writing process. These essays include compare/contrast, argumentative, analysis of rhetorical or narrative strategies, persuasive, observational, evaluative and reflective. Furthermore, students will practice various modes of answering journal prompts and writing,

dialectical journals and short reading responses. Students will be required to cite sources properly in accordance with the guidelines set forth by the Modern Language Association
(MLA).
Assessments
Students are evaluated on the successful completion of their major essays and other writing assignments, homework and other class assignments. These will be assessed on the quality and consistency of the work produced. Major essays and projects are evaluated with rubrics designed by the teacher. Rubrics are shared with the students and made available on the class page. The criteria and standards are discussed long before an assignment is due.
Student grades are based on an accumulated point system. Each assignment is assigned a point value in consideration of the complexity of the task and its overall significance to the objectives of the course.
Below is a breakdown of the assignments in terms of percentage.
Essays
Tests/Quizzes:
30%
30%
Homework:
Class Work:
Participation:
15%
15%
10%
The grading scale is as follows:
100-90%
89-80%
79-70%
A
B
C
69-60%
59-0%
D
F
Classroom Procedures:
Participation: The concept of class participation encompasses many tasks. Students will be given a daily participation grade, which is based on work completed on time, participation in class discussions, level of preparedness and overall behavior and conduct.
In other words, if a student is disruptive or disrespectful to peers or instructor, he or she is not actively participating in class, and thus his or her grade will be penalized accordingly.

Tardiness: If a student is not in his or her assigned seat when the bell rings, he or she is considered tardy and will be marked as such.
Cheating/Plagiarism: Any student caught plagiarizing (and you will get caught!) will receive an automatic “F” in the assignment and receive the consequences set forth in the
Student Handbook. I strongly urge you to resist the temptation to plagiarize. I have spent a number of years as a researcher and have been published myself…I am very good at locating resources. Think of it this way: if you can find the source online, then so can
I. Further, thanks to the Internet, finding incidents of plagiarism, takes a shockingly low amount of time.
The following constitutes cheating and/or plagiarism:

Copying from the Internet

Consulting an unauthorized source (i.e. Sparknotes, Wikipedia, Cliffnotes,
Shmoop, Classiclit, Bookrags, Homeworkhelp, etc) in lieu of expressing and/or formulating your own thoughts

Copying homework/class work from a peer

ALLOWING a peer to copy your homework/class work
 Looking at another person’s work during individual working time (this includes class work, homework, AND assessments)
Plagiarism is not restricted to length.
In other words, plagiarizing one sentence is equally egregious as plagiarizing the entire essay. (I will not entertain the argument,
“But it was only four lines…”)
Absent: When you are absent, it is your responsibility to keep track of homework or other assigned class work. You have the number of days you are absent to make up the work. For example, if you are absent two days, you have two days to turn in the work.
Late Work: is not accepted; this includes technical difficulties; (everyone’s printer always breaks down the night before an assignment is due). In cases of emergency, late work will be accepted with (and only with) a note from a physician.
All disciplinary issues (cell phones, uniform violation, etc) will be dealt with in accordance with the Student Handbook. If a student’s behavior is not reflective of that of an honor’s class, it will seriously hinder his or her chances of being admitted into the honors level English class the following year.

Please detach this piece of paper and return with signatures.
I have read the policies and procedures listed above and have a full understanding of what is expected out of this course.
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