Course Overview and Guidelines

Mrs. Wright’s Course Overview/Guidelines/Contact Information Pull-out English 9

Pull-out English is a course intended to mirror our ninth grade English curriculum. This course is designed to improve reading, writing, speaking, and listening skills. Emphasis will be placed upon vocabulary building, reading and discussing short stories, grammar usage, and the writing process.

DESIRE + DETERMINATION + HARD WORK = SUCCESS

Essential skills for this school year

1) The student should be able to write in complete sentences with a capital letter and an end mark.

2) The student should be able to answer both parts of a two-step question.

3) The student should be able to provide an oral response that displays understanding of the Big Idea.

MATERIALS

EVERY day you will need to have:

 A notebook or notebook paper for notes  A 3 ring binder to keep all work  Pencil or Pen  Your novel for sustained silent reading

READING In this course we will read and discuss a variety of novels, plays, short stories, fiction and nonfiction literature from many time periods and places. We will read the following texts which are required for all ninth grade students in the district:

Epic: The Odyssey

Play: Romeo and Juliet

Selected short stories, non-fiction and poetry from the district selected text book Elements of Literature, third Course

GRAMMAR We will be strengthening our oral and written language skills as we review the eight parts of speech, sentence structure and punctuation. VOCABULARY We will be completing vocabulary lessons and writing sentences. Vocabulary taken from the literary selections will also be discussed and reviewed throughout the entire year and found on literature tests.

WRITING Writing is an important component of any English course, and this one is no exception. You will use a variety of written forms including poems, narratives, essays, and several papers. For major assignments, we will spend a great deal of time working through the process of prewriting, drafting and revising. As part of this process, you will share and discuss your writing in class. Once a week you will participate in a timed journal writing prompt to show your writing fluency and allow you to see and track your own progress.

SUSTAINED SILENT READING

Sustained Silent Reading is a school wide initiative to improve reading skills for the state and local exams. Students are given approximately 15 minutes two times a week to read a book or novel of their choosing. I have added guidelines and given additional reading time to my English classes.

HOMEWORK POLICY Daily homework assignments are due at the beginning of class. Homework completion is very important to achieving success in this class as a large percentage of your nine- week’s grade is comprised of homework points. When you are absent, it is your responsibility to find out what you missed and make up the work immediately You will have the same number of days you were gone to complete the work. Remember to label your work as absent.

CLASSROOM MANAGEMENT Thank-you for displaying the following classroom behavior:

SLANT- Teaches Receptive Listening Skills By: Anita Archer

S- Sit up L- Listen, Lean forward A- Act interested, Ask questions N- Nod, Note T- Track the speaker/teacher GRADES Your grades will be calculated on a cumulative point system. Point totals will be given to daily work and quizzes, homework, projects, papers, and exams. Seneca Valley School District’s grading scale is as follows:

A-90%-100% B-80%-89% C-70%-79% D-60%-69% F-0-59%

Do not hesitate to contact me if you have any questions or concerns. It is very important that you communicate your needs or have an adult help you to contact me. I am here to HELP you. Please contact me through email at [email protected] or via phone: 724-452-6042 ext. 2263 and I promise to get back to you within a 24-hour school day cycle.

Parent/Guardian, I know how important your child is to you and communication is vital. I look forward to a successful semester!

Parent to guardian communication is vital to a successful school year. Please complete the following form and return it with your child. Thank you in advance!

Student Name:

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