Pre-AP English I Guidelines
Mrs. Lee / Pine Tree Junior High
Philosophy:
It is my belief that my students need to be equipped to compete successfully in the world that each will face after graduation. To enable them to do this, I provide them with many, many opportunities to hone their skills as a speaker, a writer, and a thinker. To be a well-educated member of society, students should be well-versed in a variety of literary genre and my class exposes them to the beginnings of the English language as we know it today, and to the resulting literature that will delight them as they learn about the writers and the controlling forces that guided each in his/her craft.
Course Description:
As most know, Pre-AP English I is a course designed to give students a solid foundation not only to help ensure their success on the AP English exams they will take upon their completion of high school, but especially the academic rigors that accompany college attendance. This year you will be expected to behave and study in a mature and thoughtful way. You can plan on working very hard this year on building vocabulary skills to integrate into writing assignments and other class work which will prepare you for taking college entrance exams and competing at a college level.
You will be expected to get the most out of teacher presentations, student presentations and group projects. The writing process, which emphasizes individual, small-group and large group activities through prewriting exercises, peer editing, and teacher evaluation will also be employed. You will produce one or more independent projects which may vary in nature such as PowerPoint presentations, poster presentations based on the literature being studied at the time, as well as film critiques, literary essays and a few creative writing projects.
You will learn and practice the art of literary analysis through a series of lessons which will take you through style analysis step-by-step until you feel comfortable in writing about literature on your own and diligent pursuit of the writing techniques in this course will give you the tools to success.
Course Specifics:
Students will analyze at least four different genres in American and World literature, as well as authors purpose and style and possible historical and/or cultural influences.
Students will write using the different modes; however emphasis will be placed on expository writing and literary analysis.
Students will become comfortable and proficient in analyzing poetry and prose and will be given opportunity to produce their own original verse.
Students are expected to increase their vocabulary with an ongoing vocabulary study in preparation for college entrance exams.
Students will study and analyze the following major works: Great Expectations by Charles Dickens, The Odyssey by Homer, Night by Elie Wiesel, Lord of the Flies by William Golding, Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare.
Class Rules and Expectations:
My expectations for you are high. I will always expect your best in everything you do. Dont shortchange yourself in failing to at least ATTEMPT the work. I am always available to help you at a time that is convenient for both of us.
Be in class on time with all necessary materials prepared and eager to learn. You will get one free tardy each six weeks; all subsequent tardies will be reported to the office. Bottom line Be on time!!!!
Food, gum and sodas are not allowed in my room. You may keep only a bottle of water handy to drink.
You are dismissed when the bell rings, however you will not start putting materials away until the bell rings or until I give you the go-ahead.
Sleeping in class will not be tolerated! I will give you one warning if necessary and then it will be an issue for me and your parents to discuss. Be mature and respectful and stay awake!
Always treat others with respect! It is extremely important for all students to learn to be open-minded and listen to the view-points of others, even if they do not agree. Students need to feel comfortable and safe enough to express their opinions and insight without fear that they will be persecuted by others in the class. Therefore, you will not be disrespectful to me or any other student in the class.
Procedures:
You are required to keep an English notebook in which you store notes, writings, activities, vocabulary, handouts and a calendar. Everything you are given for your notebook must be kept until the teacher allows them to be discarded.
The school provides every student with copies of supplemental texts that we read in class (novels, plays and such) however, I encourage my AP students to purchase their own copies so that they can annotate them and get comfortable with the texts.
Make-up work will be done as quickly as possible. All work which was assigned before your absence will be due upon your return. Any assignment given in your absence will be due according to the Handbook rules. If your make-up work is not completed by the time the assignment is handed back to the class, provided you have been notified of the deadline, you will not be allowed to submit the work. Only under extenuating circumstances will late work be accepted. Part of the criteria of being an honor student is that you are responsible to complete on time all work as assigned. Any tests that are to be made up will be set up with me, usually the earliest date after the absence and only after school. If you are absent on the day of an announced exam, you are expected to take that exam after school on the day of your return unless alternate arrangements have been made with me.
You will turn in written assignments on loose-leaf notebook paper only. Please do not use spiral-bound paper unless you enjoy cutting off the fringes before you turn in the work.
You may write in any color ink as long as I can read it, and you may write on the back of all assignments and tests except hand-written, final-copy essays.
You will put your heading on all assignments including a title indicating the nature of the assignment. Your heading will be put in the upper left-hand corner of the paper and will include: name, date, class, and block number.
When taking tests, you will always write your answers on your own paper. You will never write on the test unless otherwise specified by me.
Grading consists of the following: daily work 40%, major work 60%. Daily work consists of quizzes and homework (depending on the assignment, I may sometimes count the grade twice or even three times). Major grades consist of tests, certain projects and essays (again, sometimes an assignment may count more than one grade). I will let you know ahead of time the weight of any given assignment.
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