English 4: Challenging Convention 2024-2025 PDF
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Kingswood Oxford School
2024
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Summary
This is an English syllabus for a high school class in its 2024-2025 academic year. The class is designed to help students improve their reading and writing skills, and develop critical thinking. Course materials will include various readings and writing assignments.
Full Transcript
English 4: Challenging Convention Ms. Moriarty 2024-2025 Classroom: Seaverns 010 Office: Seaverns 009 (enter through my classroom) eneral Information/Course...
English 4: Challenging Convention Ms. Moriarty 2024-2025 Classroom: Seaverns 010 Office: Seaverns 009 (enter through my classroom) eneral Information/Course Objectives: G This year will be an opportunity for self-discovery as you challenge conventions in the texts you read, in the writing you tackle, in the ways you think critically and creatively about the world around you. This course is designed to help you take your reading and writing skills to the next level of sophistication while challenging your own assumptions about yourself as a learner, reader, critic, writer, and performer. Course Goals/Objectives: Cultivate your compassion: Through reading, writing, listening, speaking, and negotiating, our work will bridge the distance between our world and others. Explore a range of voices and styles, thinking critically about how authors challenge conventions and how we can challenge conventions in the ways we think about these authors and texts. Reflect on your identity, learning process, and reactions to the texts we read and the work we do. Learn how to organize and develop an argument in a logical way Develop your writing and speaking voice to be clear, concise, and engaging — and hone a distinct, unique voice Practice giving and receiving feedback in constructive, meaningful ways. Practice the craft of revision: in your thinking and writing and speaking. Practice critical thinking habits (taken fromUniversityof Tennessee Chattanooga) ○ Seek Truth: ask questions and follow evidence ○ Be Judicious: make your own judgments ○ Be Inquisitive: Work to be well-informed on a wide range of topics, be curious ○ Be Confident in Reasoning: Trust your own skills to make good judgments ○ Be Open-Minded: Be tolerant of different views and sensitive to your own biases Develop your creativity valuation: E Summative (major) Assessments 1. Writing: 35% 2. Speaking/Performing/Presenting: 25% 3. Projects/Creative Work: 30% Formative (minor) Assessments 4. Other (quizzes, revisions, and other odds and ends): 10% Grading In the English Department o ensure consistency among classes and across various sections of a shared class, the English T Department at Kingswood Oxford will follow the same grade scale. The grading scale in the English Department is as follows: + A 7 - 100 9 A 92.5 - 97 A- 89.5 - 92.5 + B 6.5 - 89.5 8 B 82.5 - 86.5 B- 79.5 - 82.5 C+ 76.5 - 79.5 C 72.5 - 76.5 C- 69.5 - 72.5 D+ 66.5 - 69.5 D 62.5 - 66.5 D- 59.5 - 62.5 F < 59.5 he English Department does round up. As you can see above, an 89.6 earns an A-. However, the line T for an A- begins at 89.5; students who have earned an 89.47 will have a B+. One exception to the rounding rule is the A+. The A+, as the highest grade a student can earn, begins at 97% in order to keep this grade the highest distinction possible. In other words, a 96.99 is an A; a 97.0 is an A+. Materials Required: ) a chromebook or laptop. All of the materials will be available digitally. Digital folders should be 1 well-organized, as I will be giving you plenty of resources and materials. 2) a curious and open mind. ourse Texts: C Semester 1 Units: Station Elevenby Emily St. John Mandel MAJOR ASSIGNMENTS - Quiz, In class essay, Presentation Vampires in the Lemon Groveby Karen Russell (symposium author’s text) MAJOR ASSIGNMENTS - Essay, Passion Project Speakers’ Forum (no specific text needed) MAJOR ASSIGNMENT - Interpretive public reading Poetry (all poetry provided to you) MAJOR ASSIGNMENTS - In class essay, test, creative writing S emester 2 Units: Macbethby William Shakespeare MAJOR ASSIGNMENTS - In class analysis, Adapted screenplay, Harkness discussion The Great Gatsbyby F. Scott Fitzgerald MAJOR ASSIGNMENTS - Harkness discussion, Essay There Thereby Tommy Orange MAJOR ASSIGNMENTS - Presentation, Essay What You Can Expect From Me: ❖ I am eager to hear your ideas and opinions about the texts and the course. I will always listen and am excited to experience these texts with you. It keeps them fresh. ❖ I will try to create an environment in the classroom that is respectful, comfortable, intellectual, and (hopefully) entertaining. I’ll, of course, need your help. ❖ I will always be prepared with an intentional lesson for the day, and will post those plans on a Slides presentation to the Classroom assignment for the day. ❖ I will experiment with new techniques, approaches, assignments, assessments for the class. I will be open to your feedback and suggestions along the way. ❖ I will be respectful, fair, and honest with you. ❖ I will give you detailed feedback on your writing and will work with you at any point in the writing process to support you in your growth as a writer. ❖ I believe that you are all capable of improvement and success. I will both encourage you and challenge you along the way. My Expectations for You in the Classroom: Classroom Culture: ❖ This class will be a success only if everyone commits to creating and maintaining a supportive community where we can uplift and challenge one another, offer feedback constructively and receive it openly and graciously. Engagement: ❖ Be fully presentas best you can and be ready to connectwith your classmates — whether it’s through a discussion or digital activity. We’ll be using laptops constantly in the classroom and out, so it’s important that you remain focused on the task or discussion at hand. Put headphones away unless you’re working independently Only have the appropriate tabs, apps, programs open for what we’re doing in class. ❖ Have fun and don’t be afraid to become passionate about what we read. The texts will surely elicit reactions, and please let us hear yours! My Expectations for You Outside the Classroom: Homework: ❖ While I won’t be grading homework assignments, it’s important that you keep up with the reading assignments and any other homework. Keeping up with these nightly assignments will put you in a better position to thrive on the major assessments. Bring your questions, your opinions, and your reactions. If you can’t complete the nightly assignment, let me know through an email or conversation in advance of class. Otherwise I will assume you are prepared. Missing Class: ❖ If you miss class, it isyourresponsibility to catchup with me. Most of what we’re doing will be available on Classroom, but make sure you check in with me, too. Deadlines/Late Policies: ❖ Whenever possible, I will offer flexible deadlines for major assignments. Late work may be submitted for a reduced grade, and missing work that is not submitted prior to the deadline for the next summative assessment may only earn a 50%. It’s important that you’re anaging your time so you can learn from the assignment at hand, spending the m appropriate amount of time on it and processing feedback so you can do your best work. If you have outstanding assignments, it will be challenging to keep up and do your best work. Plagiarism: ❖ There is no tolerance for academic dishonesty of any kind. Plagiarism includes blatant offenses like copying another’s words and passing them off as your own, but it also includes inadequately citing another’s words and ideas (we will go over proper citation in class). Submitting something you’ve written for another class is also considered academic dishonesty. If a student plagiarizes in any way on an assignment, the student will receive a “0” on that assignment; they can redo (not revise) the assignment for 50% credit within a specified timeframe. ❖ Never look to Sparknotes or the internet when you are struggling with a text or feeling lazy. Authentically grapple with the texts as you read them on your own, discuss them, and write about them. This class is all about your personal growth as a reader and writer, so it’s essential that you commit fully and don’t take shortcuts. ❖ In order to uphold the academic integrity of our English classes and to identify areas of growth in your approach to writing, all work completed during the writing process must be accessible to your teacher. To make this easier for you, all notes, drafts, and subsequent revisions must be completed on the Google Doc assigned to you by your teacher. Microsoft Word documents and PDFs will not be accepted. At times, extensions that enable us to see your editing history may be used. Large portions of unquoted or unattributed text that have been pasted into your doc will raise suspicions about the use of AI or websites in generating that text. All work must be submitted via Google classroom (not shared via email). ❖ I will use “originality reports” in Google Classroom in order to encourage making positive choices. You may run your own reports prior to submitting assignments and address any errors you may have made in creating your own work. AI: ❖ Limitations: It can produce inaccurate, incomplete, or simply wrong information (uses predictive algorithms to generate text). There is no critical thinking. It can produce inaccurate or made-up citations. It can include plagiarized text without proper citation. It reflects human biases (discriminatory or non-inclusive language). It can’t compete with human perspective and expression! ❖ H ow and when can we use AI in this class?I’ve designed assignments as a way for you to develop your close-reading, writing, and critical thinking skills, so these efforts are undermined if you submit work written by someone else, reuse your own work from another class, or use AI to generate or edit your work. You are not permitted to use ChatGPT or any other AI software for this course's assignments, including plug-ins or native tools that create text automatically in word processing programs unless I have specifically given you permission. At times, we will experiment with AI together and learn how to use it responsibly. It should never be used simply as a crutch. Unauthorized use of AI is considered a breach of academic integrity. Remember that your growth and development is most important, so your work should be an accurate reflection of your skills. Let’s learn how to use AI responsibly together as we all grow as readers, writers, thinkers, and speakers. Extra Help: ❖ Please reach out whenever you are in need of extra help or simply want feedback. We can schedule a time to meet in person, or at the very least, I can offer some assistance digitally.. Feedback: ❖ If you are ever confused about my comments or grades, please meet with me so I can clarify anything you do not understand. My door is always open, and I would love to receive an email asking for a specific time to talk when we are both free.
