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Course Information:
Course Information:
Instructor: Katie Rotchford Hopkins (learn a little bit more about here here)
Email: katie.rotchfordhopkins@boiseschools.org
Telephone/Voicemail: 208-854-4346 (direct classroom line)
Google Classroom Codes
2nd Period: qatjw7fr
3rd Period: fb6clvgj
6th Period: wwxpvhvb
7th Period: gzcfq7vt
Course Description:
Course Description:
It is easiest to begin describing this course by what it is not, rather than what it is. This class is NOT about sentence diagrams. This class is NOT about multiple choice reading quizzes. This class is NOT about 5 paragraph essays. This class is NOT about reading a book because all juniors read "this" book - your mother's mother, your mother, and now you (because you are a junior). This class is NOT a "typical" English class. Ask anyone you know who has ever had me. They will tell you. And I am definitely NOT telling you this, because I am some edgy, cool, young teacher, who wants to be "different". I am not. Truly. It's just, I have some goals for my students and for this class, and I go about achieving them in the best way I know how, which I think is effective if not always traditional. You can read about them in the section below.
This class IS an English class. It is all about language arts, emphasis on the "art." In this course, you will first learn about the art of crafting language and the presentation of ideas to actually SHAPE how an audience experiences that idea. This class IS about learning to recognize the techniques writers use to do this - in both fiction and nonfiction - so that you can be more independent of thought and better understand our identity as Americans. To do this, you will read critically, deeply, analytically and with purpose. And you will need to respond thoughtfully. This class IS about practicing and learning to hone these same techniques to create writing of your own that shapes experiences for authentic audiences, for authentic purposes, and in authentic formats. Finally, this class IS about exploring literary themes that have modern day relevance and reflecting on what, if anything, they can teach us about our current lives.
Course Description Video.movCourse Goals:
Course Goals:
My hope is that over the course of this year you will:
Never leave my class at the end of a learning cycle without understanding HOW what we learned applies to life outside of the classroom. Or, at the very least, having the courage to ask me (politely :)). I promise I will have an answer.
Read a bunch of stuff you've never read before, and put that stuff in conversation with texts and other ideas, in order to deepen your understanding of an idea, or develop a new idea all together.
Read analytically, so that you can recognize how rhetorical strategies are being used - and, more importantly, how these strategies have different effects on an idea and an intended audience.
Demonstrate your learning in a variety of formats which will both speak to your strengths and diversify your skill sets.
Learn to utilize (and, maybe even, value?) the writing process, in order to compose multiple types of writing for a variety of audiences and purposes.
Make meaningful choices regarding what you chose to read and write about, so that the work we are doing is interesting to you and matters to you.
Feel like our classroom is a community - one where we may have different opinions, interests, styles, skills, understandings, experiences, etc., but where we are compassionate and persistent in the pursuit of understanding important things together.
Required/Recommended Class Material:
Required/Recommended Class Material:
Access to a computer
Your school issued email address, Google Drive, and Google Suite
Google Classroom and this website
LOTS of paper
Writing utensils
Some way to record informal thinking (whether on a scratch sheet of paper or a blank Google Doc)
Some way to organize stuff
A sense of humor and a bit of grace (Let's laugh at ourselves and be patient with each other)
Links to other important course information:
Links to other important course information:
Units of Instruction:
Units of Instruction:
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