Syllabus
OPEN TO ALL JUNIORS AND SENIORS
Code of Conduct:
The Henrico County Code of Student Conduct that you signed at the beginning of the school
year is in effect for this course. For more information see http://henrico.k12.va.us/parents/codeconduct.html.
Grading Policy:
 Participation (10%) This includes attending face-to-face meetings on time and
communication tasks.
 Communication Tasks (20%) These are more formal communication assignments that
utilize message boards, email, chat rooms, and blogs.
 Daily Assignments (20%) These are documents and longer pieces of writing. Also
includes quizzes and tests.
 Products (50%) These are major projects that are the center of each unit. All products
will be assessed by rubrics.
All face-to-face meetings are mandatory to fulfill attendance requirements for this course. The
instructor will determine face-to-face meeting dates, as well as the location of the meetings.
Students must provide their own transportation to all face-to-face meetings.
Technology use is an integral part of the course. Students registered for the course
SHOULD NOT turn in laptops during their home school collection. A list of registered
students will be sent to TST’s so they are aware of why the students aren’t turning them in.
Students may get assistance through communication tools provided in the course and at their
home schools by their TSTs (technical support) and ITRTs (instructional technology support).
All assignments are designed so that students may work on assignments at any time during the
day. The typical time for weekly mentor virtual office hours will be determined and may vary
depending on the schedule of the mentor.
The course is used in conjunction with Prentice Hall Literature The British Tradition. Students
should get this book from their home school.
Units will become visible in SchoolSpace as students need them. Lessons within each unit
may be assigned out of order. The mentor will communicate through the Announcements
which lessons must be completed when.
There will be four mandatory face-to-face meetings, the dates to be determined.
To meet attendance requirements, all students must make at least two significant contributions
to the discussion board four days of the week. A significant contribution will be at least 100
words written in paragraph form that adds to the online learning environment. Examples:
relating personal experience to the week’s readings, giving constructive feedback to fellow
classmates, asking and answering questions that give even more depth to the posted topic.
Orientation will be held on June 1, 2011, from 7pm-9pm at Hermitage High School. This is the
first face-to-face meeting and will be the first participation grade. Students should come
prepared with paper, pen, laptop, and textbook.
Finals and laptop collection will take place on July 29, 2011.
Course Introduction: Week 1
In this unit, students will learn to use SchoolSpace and get to know each other.
Driving Question:
How do you make an online environment that is effective for high school learning?
In this section, students will:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Become familiar with SchoolSpace
Create a short movie about themselves.
Learn how to use One Note
Practice Annotation
Communicate with each other in an online environment.
Beowulf Characterization: Weeks 2 & 3
In this unit, students will read the epic poem Beowulf and investigate the characterization of the
major characters.
Literature: Beowulf
Communication Tasks: Blogs of plot, Peer Reviews
Daily Assignments: Beowulf Dialectical Journal, Essay Outline, Essay, Tests
Product: Anglo Saxon/Beowulf Power Point
1. PowerPoint over the characters, plot, and Anglo Saxons:
 Pictures and descriptions of characters
 Short explanation of major plot happenings with pictures.
 Description of Anglo Saxons with pictures.
 Total of at least 20 slides worth 5 points each (2.5 pts. For text, 2.5 pts. For pictures)
2. Peer review of PowerPoint using rubric. At least two.
3. Tests over Beowulf.
4. Dialectical Journal that provides quotes from the text that demonstrate the character of Beowulf.
5. Essay outline about the character of Beowulf written using the quotes and commentary from your
dialectical journal
6. Final essay written in Microsoft Word
Castle Project and Research: Weeks 4 & 5
In this unit students will investigate Medieval Times with a focus on chivalry.
Literature: from Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, from Morte d’Arhur
Communication Tasks: Blogs about the readings, Peer Review of tasks
Daily Assignments: Research One Note, Tests over readings, movie review
Product: Research Packet (Knight Flyer, Castle Brochure, Post Mortem of a knight)
1. Research the path to becoming a knight and create a manual that could be used using Publisher.
 Descriptions of the steps.
 Code of Chivalry.
 Pictures to accompany the steps.
 Total of at least 4 pages 25 points each (use the newsletter template)
 Description of steps (10 pts. per paragraph x 5)
 Pictures (2.5 pts. per pic. x 10)
 Code of Chivalry (25 pts.)
2. Peer review of Manuals using rubric. At least two.
3. Read the literature and take the tests.
4. Research Castles and collect information in a One Note. Create a brochure for a castle of your own.
 Identify all the parts of a castle and their functions.
 Make up a castle of your own and advertise it using Publisher brochures.
 Story of your castle (three paragraphs, 10 pts. each)
 Pictures (2.5 pts. per pic. x 10)
 Descriptions of the parts of the castle and their functions (at least 5 x 5 pts. each)
 Description of the tour (10 pts.)
 Name and contact information (10 pts.)
5. Research Knight Attire. What do they wear and what is the function? Fill in the post mortem of a
knight.
6. Watch any movie that focuses on knights. Write a review of that movie that addresses their portrayal of
knights compared to what you have learned.
British Literature Today: Weeks 6, 7, and 8
In this unit, students will investigate a time period of their choice in British Literature. Students
will create presentations for each other and attempt to persuade each other that their time period
has a lot to offer the young people of today. Students will evaluate each other based on this
criterion.
Literature: One time period from the textbook
Communication Tasks: Blogs of authors and works, Peer Reviews
Daily Assignments: One Note research, test over pieces
Product: Movie about the authors and the works
1. Choose one time period from the textbook and create a timeline of important events, authors, and works.
 Events (at least 5 events with paragraph explanations worth 5 pts. each).
 Authors (at least 5 authors with paragraph descriptions worth 5 pts. each).
 Pictures of events, authors, and works (10 worth 5 pts. each).
2. Peer review of timelines. At least two.
3. Choose a poem, essay, and short story from the time period.
 Read the selections and take the tests.
 Annotate the poem.
4. Create a movie that incorporates the events, authors, and works you chose.
 Time Period information (short description with pictures)
 First author followed by an overview of the poem, essay, or short story with pictures.
 Second author followed by an overview of the poem, essay, or short story with pictures.
 Third author followed by an overview of the poem, essay, or short story with pictures.
 Music that adds to an understanding of the themes.
5. Peer review of movies. At least two.