This year, we will again be using  StudySync. This will integrate non fiction, fiction, poetry, and plays. Students will be expected to read some of this material independently, and some we will read together in class.  The major works we will be reading together may include:

• The Wave

• The Diary of Anne Frank

• The Diary of a Young Girl

• The Merchant of Venice

• The Poet X

• The Other Wes Moore

• The Outsiders

• Flowers for Algernon

• Refugee

Each piece of literature will include reading check quizzes, book tests, and projects.

We will explore narrative, informative, and argument writing throughout the course of the year.  Most of the writing will coincide with the literature we are reading, ranging from informal journal assignments to creating a polished essay on your own.  Using a writing workshop approach, the students will learn techniques to generate ideas, how to plan and draft for a variety of purposes, and ways to anticipate an audience’s response as they revise and edit.

• Skyward is the official gradebook. Check it regularly.

• Grades are updated regularly, about three times a week.

• Late work will be graded on Tuesday afternoons.

• How to read Skyward:

MISS = student was absent that day; work should be made up

EXC = student is excused from the assignment

0 and missing = student did not complete the assignment

Major Assessments (Tests/Quizzes/Writing): 80%        

Classwork/Homework/Participation:            20%

Each week, you will receive two grades posted on Fridays:

• Warm Ups: These will be from assigned IXL skills. You will be graded on time spent and mastery. You are expected to complete this, even when absent.

• Participation: Each day, you will receive four points for participation. You earn these points by coming to class prepared, participating appropriately, and treating others with respect.

• Late work for the first half of the marking period will be accepted until the mid-quarter. After that, the zero stands.

• Late work for the second half of the marking period will be accepted until the end of the quarter. After that, the zero stands.

• If something is in Skyward as a zero AND missing, it was not submitted.

• Late work will be graded on Tuesday afternoons.

Each semester, students will do a deep dive into a topic that interests them. They will learn, reasearch, write, create, craft, visit, interview--basically, they get to decide (with our guidance!) what and how they will learn. This will culminate in a presentation to the class at the end of the semester.

Examples include: writing a new ending of a novel, writing a short story, coding a website, learning about how rockets work, learning to knit, researching make up companies, turning a story into a play, analyzing an athlete's stats, and determining once and for all what Taylor Swift's best album is.