Course Outline: Grade 9 English, Academic Level (ENG1DI)
Teacher: Mr. P. Clifford
Room: 336
Email: paul_clifford@wrdsb.on.ca
Website: paclifford.weebly.com
“This course is designed to develop the oral communication, reading, writing, and media literacy skills that students need for success in their secondary school academic programs and in their daily lives. Students will analyse literary texts from contemporary and historical periods, interpret informational and graphic texts, and create oral, written, and media texts in a variety of forms. An important focus will be on the use of strategies that contribute to effective communication. The course is intended to prepare students for the Grade 10 academic English course, which leads to university or college preparation courses in Grades 11 and 12.” (Ontario Curriculum 2007)
Units of Study:
1.
Short Works - a variety of authors and styles
2.
Drama Study – Twelfth Night (William Shakespeare)
3.
Novel Study – The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time (Mark Haddon)
4.
Culminating Activity – The Hunger Games (Suzanne Collins)
Essential Course Components
To achieve a credit in this course, students MUST complete the following assessment tasks:
Oral Language  Group presentation
 Individual presentation
 Metacognitive reflection
Reading and Literature  Passage Analysis

Reading Response

Metacognitive reflection
Writing
Media

Informal writing (informal paragraph or journals)

Formal paragraph (with quotation integration)

Basic five-paragraph essay

Metacognitive reflection

Creation of a media piece and metacognitive reflection

Media Analysis
Evaluation:
Term Work: 70%
Culminating Activity: 15%
Final Exam: 15%

Attendance Expectations

Regular attendance will greatly contribute to your success in this course. Please be aware that your teacher must report excessive absences to your parents and to the main office.

If you miss a class for a valid reason, it is YOUR responsibility to catch up on missed notes, handouts, and assignments.
Classroom Procedures
 If you are late for a valid reason you MUST bring a note from a vice-principal, teacher or secretary. If you do not have a note, I will send you to get one.
 If you need to go to the washroom, please wait for an appropriate time in class to ask for permission. For example, wait until I am finished talking or for the lesson to end. Only one person will be allowed to leave the classroom at a time.
 Beverages such as water or coffee are permitted, but you are not to leave any garbage behind and no food is allowed in class.

Personal listening devices are acceptable when you are working on individual seatwork but not at any other time.

If you miss a class, handouts will be available for you the day you return but it is YOUR responsibility to pick up handouts and material that you missed.
You need to bring the following to each class:
 a three-ring notebook with lined paper for note-taking
 a USB or memory stick is helpful
 the course text or novel as required
 electronic devices (phones, tablets, laptops) can enhance our learning at appropriate times, but we will identify and hold to a class definition of “respectful use”
Late and Missed Assignments Policy:
Late Assignments
 Each assignment will have a “completion window”. You are expected to submit all assignments in a timely manner.
 In the event that the deadline for a major assignment has passed and no assignment has been received, I may, a) negotiate a new completion date with you (the new due date will exactly one
week after the previous due date unless otherwise specified); b) communicate with your parent/guardian about the outstanding work; c) provide an alternate opportunity for you to demonstrate the knowledge and
skills required in order to earn the credit.
 I will NOT accept any late major assignments without first conferencing with you
 I will NOT deduct late marks

Any late assignments MUST be handed directly to me

Missed Assignments

Each of the units described above will involve a major assignment. Major assignments not handed-in after the negotiated completion date will receive an incomplete mark (I) and the result will be reflected in the Learning Skills section of the report card.

I will not assign a grade of zero for a missed major, summative evaluation.

I will exercise my professional judgment when entering a mark at report card time if major assignments are incomplete.

I will determine a date when the assignment will no longer be accepted for marks. The essential knowledge and skills that the missing assignment was designed to assess must still be demonstrated in order for a credit to be earned.
If all essential knowledge and skills have not been successfully demonstrated by the end of the course, you will not earn your credit.
Plagiarism:
Plagiarism is stealing someone else’s ideas and writing/presenting them as your own. The penalty for plagiarism is dire and you want to avoid it at all costs. You will not receive credit for your
“work” and you will be required to demonstrate your learning on a different assignment at a date/time specified by Mr. Clifford. You may be guilty of plagiarism if…
 you copy someone else’s work
 you lend your work so that someone else can copy it
 you work with another student(s) on an independent assignment
 you use ideas from an outside source – including Coles Notes and sparknotes.com - even if they are re-worded but without providing proper citations
Mark Reporting Dates for Semester 2 -- 2014-2015:
Term 1: April 21 Term 2: June 18
All major/summative assignments not submitted by the above dates will receive an incomplete mark (I) and the student’s report card mark will be determined by the teacher’s professional judgment.
I have read the above and understand how the mark will be determined in the course.
Student name: ___________________________________________________________
Student signature: _________________________________________________________
Parent/Guardian signature: __________________________________________________