IB English I Course Syllabus and Overview
Mr. Scott
Fall 2013
Contact Information
Email: dpscott@aacps.org
Phone: 410-266-5240 ext. 253 (English)
Availability during school day: 4A, 3B
Help Day: Tuesdays after school
Expectations
 The classroom is an environment for learning. You will be expected to be responsible for
your own actions in class. I will not tolerate behavior which violates your or other students’
ability to learn.
 You must be in class for the full period in order to learn what is required. You should refrain
from asking to go to the guidance office, the main office, or anywhere else during class time.
Remember this when an assignment is due. You will not be allowed to go to the library to
print work during class.
 All school and county policies will be enforced. It is every student’s responsibility to be
aware of these policies by reading the school and county handbooks.
IBO Mission Statement
The International Baccalaureate Organization aims to develop inquiring, knowledgeable
and caring young people who help create a better and more peaceful world through
intercultural understanding and respect.
To this end, the IBO works with schools, governments, and international organizations
to develop challenging programmes of international education and rigorous assessment.
These programmes encourage students across the world to become active,
compassionate and lifelong learners who understand that other people, with their differences,
can also be right.
Course Overview
The Language A1 programme is primarily a pre-university course in literature. Literature
is concerned with our conceptions, interpretations and experiences of the world. It enables an
exploration of one of the more enduring fields of human creativity and artistic ingenuity, and
provides immense opportunities for encouraging independent, original, critical and clear
thinking. The discussion of literature is itself an art which requires the clear expression of ideas
both orally and in writing.
In view of the international nature of the IBO, the Language A1 programme does not
limit the study of literature to the achievements of one culture or the cultures covered by any
one language. The study of World Literature is important to IB students because of its global
perspective. It offers for the appreciation of the various ways in which cultures influence and
shape the experiences of life common to all humanity.
Higher Level Objectives
Having followed the Language A1 programme all Higher Level candidates will be expected to
demonstrate:
 an ability to engage in independent literary criticism in a manner which reveals a personal
response to literature
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an ability to express ideas with clarity, coherence, conciseness, precision and fluency in both
written and oral communication
a command of the language appropriate for the study of literature and a discriminating
appreciation of the need for an effective choice of register and style in both written and oral
communication
a sound approach to literature through consideration of the works studied
a thorough knowledge both of the individual works studied and of the relationships
between groups of works studied
an appreciation of the similarities and differences between literary works from different
ages and/or cultures
an ability to engage in independent textual commentary on both familiar and unfamiliar
pieces of writing
a wide-ranging appreciation of structure, technique and style as employed by authors, and
of their effects on the reader
an ability to structure ideas and arguments, both orally and in writing, in a logical, sustained
and persuasive way, and to support them with precise and relevant examples.
Course Overview
IB Section
Part I: Works in Translation
(1st semester, junior year)
Part II: Detailed Study (1st
semester, senior year)
Part III: Genre Study (2nd
semester, senior year)
Part IV: School’s Free Choice
(2nd semester, junior year)
Part I:
Texts
100 Love Sonnets by Pablo
Neruda
Madame Bovary by Gustave
Flaubert
A Doll’s House by Henrik
Ibsen
Poetry by Robert Frost
Hamlet by William
Shakespeare
Slouching Toward Bethlehem
by Joan Didion
1984 by George Orwell
The Great Gatsby by F. Scott
Fitzgerald
Their Eyes Were Watching
God by Zora Neale Hurston
“Master Harold” …and the
boys by Athol Fugard
Flannery O’Connor: The
Complete Stories by Flannery
O’Connor
Love in the Time of Cholera by
Gabriel Garcia-Marquez
Introduction / 100 Love Sonnets approx. 6 weeks
Madame Bovary approx. 6 weeks
A Doll’s House approx. 6 weeks
IB Assessments
External Assessment:
Written Assignment
(WA)
External Assessment:
Individual Oral
Commentary (IOC)
Internal Assessment:
Individual Oral
Presentation (IOP)
Work will begin on the Written Assignment
Part IV:
“Master Harold” …and the boys approx. 6 weeks
The Complete Stories: Flannery O’Connor approx. 6 weeks
Love in the Time of Cholera approx. 6 weeks
Individual Oral Presentations (IOPs) will begin in the spring
Course Policies
Academic Integrity
To promote the pursuit of academic excellence and learning, Anne Arundel County
Public Schools expects its students to conform to specific standards of academic integrity.
Academic integrity is an integral part of promoting self-respect, trust, student achievement, and
positive relationships among all stakeholders in our school community. Academic integrity
means exhibiting honesty in all academic exercises and assignments. Academic dishonesty refers
to any form of misconduct that occurs in relation to all formal academic exercises.
The academic integrity policy will be strictly enforced. Plagiarism, depending on the
degree and case, may result in a zero without the ability to redo the work. Always cite all
sources used and consulted while completing assignments. Cheating on any assignment will
result in a zero. This includes “helping” another student by giving him or her one’s own work to
copy. This is academically dishonest and will not be tolerated. The student who lends his or her
work and the student who is copying it will receive zeroes on the assignment. Neither will be
able to redo the work.
Knowledge and understanding cannot be handed to you but is earned through hard
work and perseverance. Using Sparknotes, Cliffnotes, or any other “study aide” deprives you of
the learning process. While these may help you complete an assignment, they will not help you
in developing your ability to engage in independent literary criticism.
Assignments
Expectations for all assignments: unless otherwise directed, all assignments should be
written in paragraph form with complete sentences. You will lose points if sentences do not
start with a capital letter or end with proper punctuation. You should always explain your
responses with good reasoning and, if applicable, evidence from the text. Evidence from the
text should be cited with MLA parenthetical citations. Finally, work should be neat and legible;
otherwise, you will be expected to redo the assignment or type it.
Essays: Essays must be typed and follow MLA guidelines. This includes the following
components: Times New Roman, 12-point font; double-spaced; 1” margins; parenthetical
citations; and a Works Cited page as necessary. Also, include a header, page numbers, and put
your name, date, course/period, and teacher in the top left-hand corner. Use MLA guidelines for
formatting papers and citing sources.
Be sure that you have a reliable printer, ink cartridge, flash drive, etc. Computer or
printer problems are not an acceptable excuse for turning in an assignment late. In this
circumstance, you will need to print out your paper in the library before class begins. Please
plan in advance and make sure to have a backup of your paper. If you are having computer
problems, please see me before the due date.
Homework: Homework will be assigned most every night and is posted with the
outcome.
Reading: I highly recommend that you purchase your own copy of the works that we
will be reading this year. This will allow you to annotate in the text.
Grading Policy
Students will receive grade sheets every two weeks to monitor their progress. Students will
receive a .1% if a missing assignment may still be submitted for credit. A student may receive a zero
(0%) if he or she refuses to do an assignment five days after the due date. When a student turns in
an assignment that does not meet the standard, he or she will receive a grade no lower than 50%.
The AACPS grading table is as follows:
A 100%-89.5%
(Outstanding level
of achievement)
B 89%-80% (High
level of
achievement)
C 79%-70%
(Satisfactory level
of achievement)
D 69%-60% (Low
level of
achievement)
E 59% and
below (Failure)
Report card grades for this IB English I course will be comprised of the following elements:
 Homework 10%
 Assessment 90% (classwork 10%, mastery writing 40%, tests/quizzes/projects 40%)
Per county policy, semester grades will be weighted using percentages, not a trend. Each marking
period is weighted 40% and the final exam is 20% of the final grade.
Parent Notification
Parents will be notified at least three weeks prior to the end of a marking period if a student
is currently earning a failing grade. At any time, parents may check parentconnect.aacps.org to see
their student’s grade. Please contact the guidance office if you do not already have a login.
Late work and Re-do Policy
 Late work penalties may not exceed a 10% drop in the grade up to five business days after the
assigned due date.
 If an assignment is turned in after the assigned due date, students will not be allowed to redo
the assignment to improve the grade. Therefore, it is highly encouraged that students who turn
in late work meet with the instructor to ensure that the work turned in is of high quality.
 After five business days if no effort has been made to turn in missing assignments, students will
earn a 0%.
 Students are encouraged to be responsible and discuss any issues that cause assignments to be
late, and on occasion, extensions will be allowed for extenuating circumstances. Students must
inform the instructor why the deadline was not met.
 The instructor will contact parents or guardians when work is not being submitted in a timely
manner. If the behavior continues, guidance and administration will be informed.
Since the objective of the course is to master the standards, there will be occasions to redo
assignments. It is important to maintain the integrity of this policy. Having the ability to redo
assignments should not lead to not studying for assessments and turning in halfhearted attempts at
work with the intention of redoing it later. This policy is to support the development of mastery of
standards. If the spirit of this is violated, this privilege will be denied to any students violating the
intent of the redo policy. Opportunities for redos are done at teacher discretion.
Students, please note:
 If you want to redo an assignment, you must have a conference with me within two weeks of
when an assignment is returned with feedback.
 Before a redo will be considered, you must have completed any formative assessments related
to that assignment and any missing summative assessments.
 Depending on the nature of the assignment, you may receive an alternative assignment that
assesses the same standards rather than merely revising the work previously submitted.
 Finally, we will set a due date for the new assignment. You must turn in the assignment by the
agreed upon date in order to have the assignment re-graded.
WARNING: There are very few opportunities to redo reading checks. This being stated, you should
come prepared each day.
Required Supplies
Students must bring the following to class everyday:
1) required reading texts (no extra copies will be handed out)
2) 3-ring binder / Notebook (either a spiral notebook or marble composition book)
3) college-rule loose leaf paper (required for reading quizzes and other work to be
turned in during class)
4) blue or black pen
5) planner for homework assignments and due dates
Supplies that are not needed everyday:
6) colored pencils
7) highlighter
8) post-its
Attendance Policies
The school tardy policy and county attendance policy will be enforced. Absence notes
should be given to me at the beginning of the first class back. If you have three or more
unexcused absences in a quarter, you will fail, regardless of your grade in the class. It is your
responsibility, not mine, to receive and submit make-up work for any days that you miss.
You have an equal number of days to make-up work as days missed. Complete all
missing work within the allowed time limit. You should see me before or after school to ask
questions about missed assignments.
NOTE: If you are absent when a major assignment is due, then it is your responsibility
to turn it in at the beginning of the next class in order to avoid deductions in points. If you are
absent the class before a due date, you still must turn in the assignment or take the
assessment on time if it was announced prior to your absence.
Cell Phone Expectations
There will be opportunities for students to use their cell phones during class for academic
purposes. During these times a green sign will be displayed at the front of the class, signifying that cell
phone use is permitted.
During non-cell phone use times a red sign will be displayed, informing students that cell phones
should be away and on silent mode.
We have read the course syllabus for IB English 1 and understand the course expectations and
policies.
Student Name: __________________________________ Date:______________
Student Signature: __________________________________
Student Email: _____________________________________
Parent/Guardian Name: ___________________________________ Date:_____________
Parent/Guardian Signature: ________________________________
Parent/Guardian Email: __________________________________________
Parent/Guardian Phone Number: ___________________________________