English 10
English 10 - 2022/2023
Syllabus and Expectations
Mr. Corbo
Evergreen High School
Course Webpage: https://sites.google.com/jeffcoschools.us/evergreen-corbo-english/home
Email: ccorbo@jeffcoschools.us (best way to contact me!)
vm: 303.982.5108
Office Hours (on-line for now):
I will always be available during Access and after school for your convenience; however, you should always touch base with me and make an appointment so that I’m where you need me to be. Always be proactive!
Class Description
This course is designed to explore all genres of American Literature including poetry, short stories, novels, and dramas, but also takes time to focus on non-fiction and the essential skills of active reading and rhetorical study.
Students will continue to develop close reading skills. Reading is done both in-class and outside of class. The texts in English 10 may be challenging. Always ask for help if you need it, but you should ALWAYS try. Students learn and use a variety of reading strategies that help them comprehend texts. We practice reading to understand the author’s purpose as well as identifying HOW the author attempts to achieve that purpose: rhetorical strategies and devices, literary techniques, structure, word choice. Importantly, the coursework also emphasizes the relationship between specific texts and the historical and cultural context in which they were written.
We will also spend time developing writing skills and building on grammar basics. In their own writing, students focus on their own purpose and audience and attempt a variety of strategies, devices and structures to accomplish this purpose. Writing assignments vary in length and purpose. Some writing is used as a tool for reflection; on other occasions, short writing assignments provide practice for skills. Students may write a timed response to a prompt, and students will also write longer formal essays. These essays have a variety of topics and purposes, but they all emphasize the importance of standards based Jeffco writing traits, especially focus and purpose, as well as the importance of revising and editing.
Texts for 2022-2023:
To begin, Instructors will provide pdf copies of texts on-line through Classroom. As we work through this year we will decide how to get students our course novels; however, purchasing a novel for your own class use allows you to fully utilize our new reading strategies. If it’s possible, purchase your own text. If not, NO worries. We'll get you a book to read.
Required Materials:
- CHARGED Computer/laptop is required, of course, in order to access our online platforms. EHS can provide a device.
- Highlighters: blue, green, pink and yellow! We have specific uses for these in class BUT you can just use your highlighter function in your word processor.
-A notebook with paper for both note-taking during online class lectures; otherwise, you will be creating Google docs for upload into Classroom.
Plagiarism Policy
Plagiarism is the most serious academic infraction. A student who practices plagiarism commits a serious breach of ethics and honor. In college, conviction of such an academic crime may get a student expelled. In high school the same rules and punishments apply. In its most basic form, plagiarism is the misrepresentation of information. In other words, if you use (read as “copy and paste”) someone else’s published or unpublished words or information and don’t give them credit, you are plagiarizing. Technically using more than 3 words of another’s work, unchanged, is plagiarism. Ideas are, in fact, the currency of academic exchange. Therefore, plagiarism is theft. Don’t do it!
If you plagiarize all or part of an assignment, regardless of intent, you will suffer consequences ranging from a zero on the assignment with no opportunity to regain those points, to suspension from school. Plagiarism includes but is not limited to, the following:
Turning in another’s work (either published or unpublished) and passing it off as your own;
Failing to put direct quotes in quotation marks and properly citing them;
Failing to cite paraphrasing accurately;
Cutting and pasting any language directly from an electronic source without providing proper citation information;
Omitting a “Works Cited” page.
Anyone having doubts or questions about this policy should consult their Instructor and/or refer to Evergreen High’s Student Handbook. Please choose to be ethical and fair.
Course Expectations and Policies
Be on Time
Be in your seat working when class starts - be prepared to focus on English immediately. Excessive lates could affect your grade and will result in detention.
Be Prepared
You should have your materials/assignments completed as directed for class daily. There is a Google calendar on Classroom that lists some of your responsibilities, BUT please have some understanding that teachers may not be planned 2 months or 2 weeks ahead. You should also come with an open mind, ready to read, write, share, and discuss!
Be a Participant
Every member of our class would benefit from your active participation in class. You bring a unique perspective to class, and I hope that my classroom will be a safe place to share your thoughts. If you don't feel like it is, then we should talk.
Be Productive
It’s your responsibility to make the most of every class and every homework assignment. Late work will be accepted for one week after the original due date and will be given half credit. If you have an excused absence, full credit will be given if the assignment is finished within the allowed number of days (see Jeffco absentee policy). It is your responsibility to find out what you have missed and to make-up work. Late work makes me crazy… You should be learning to meet deadlines – the world is full of them. This is an adult expectation. NEVER come to me the day an assignment is due and claim you didn’t understand the assignment or some such other babble. If you are genuinely having trouble with an assignment, and really need extra time, you must come and see me in an appropriate amount of time before the work is due! An email sent to me in the wee hours of the morning on a due date is not proper notice.
Be Respectful
Respect is the most important element of our class time together. I will not tolerate insensitive language or actions towards another person. I firmly believe that with the right attitudes, we can learn great things from each other and excel.
Be “Relieved”
When in class, and the urge to use the bathroom, arises. Don’t interrupt; wait for your moment, take the pass, and go. Oh, and I’m kind of like your psycho love interest who can’t stand to be apart from you, so don’t be gone too long, or I’ll start planning my twisted revenge and come looking for you because I’m sure you’re seeing someone else. Abusers of this policy will be put on “lock-down.”
Grading:
Grading will utilize a total point system by the type and scope of the work being assessed. Jeffco policy states that there will be NO ROUNDING UP – an 89.999 is a B. Period. The last week of school is NOT the time to beg for points as your opportunities for success happen every day. You earn your grade every day! I do not typically give extra-credit assignments. We will use a total points system this year.
Late Work Clarification:
Please understand that the late policy applies to when the work was assigned, not when it is due. If you have an excused absence during an assignment process, you get 2 days to make-up that time; however, if you are absent on the day the assignment is due, the assignment is expected on the day you return. My rights as your instructor are: 1 day late = 10% deduction of earnable points, 2 days late = 20% deduction, 3 days late = 30% deduction, and after this I don’t have to accept it or grade it, but let’s not go there. I do have a heart. I just don’t like it to be stepped on.
It is your responsibility to come to me and inquire about what you missed when absent, or check the calendars and websites to see if you can accomplish it on your own! I get it. Stuff happens to all of us. But please be proactive (honest communication)! Daily assignments and assessments and copies of all handouts are posted on my Eng. 12 Google Classroom. If you miss an assessment because of an EXCUSED absence, then you must SEE ME within two days of your return to schedule a time to make it up. If you are present on the day that an assignment is due or that you have an exam, then you are expected to be prepared to turn in your work or to take the exam regardless of past absences. If you need to turn something in late because you are not prepared or you have an unexcused absence, then you will have one week from the original due date to make it up for half credit. Yeah, that means that you can only earn up to 50% on an unexcused late assignment. Ouch. Stuff happens. Also note if you are UNEXCUSED on the day of an assessment, there will be no exceptions to the two-day make-up policy. 0’s will be given for that assessment if not made up within two days. See me in advance if you think you may need an extension on an assignment. I will work with you because I will be so impressed that you planned ahead. The day before something is due is not planning ahead. PLEASE COMMUNICATE with me!! Show me you care about your education, otherwise why should I?
The grading scale is as follows:
A = 100-90% (exceeding Standards)
B = 89-80% (meeting Standards)
C = 79-70% (approaching Standards)
D = 69-60% (below Standards)
What is Active Reading?
Generally when instructors talk about active reading or coding a text, they are referring to any method by which you mark up the text as you read in order to remember key text passages that would help in constructing clearer literary meaning.
Active Reading Strategies: Choose the strategies that work best for you or that best suit your purpose.
You do not need to use them all every time you read.
▪ Ask yourself pre-reading questions. For example: What is the topic, and what do you already know about it? Why has the instructor assigned this reading at this point in the semester?
▪ Identify and define any unfamiliar terms.
▪ Bracket the main idea or thesis of the reading, and put an asterisk next to it. Pay particular attention to the introduction or opening paragraphs to locate this information.
▪ Put down your highlighter. Make marginal notes or comments instead. Every time you feel the urge to highlight something, write instead. You can summarize the text, ask questions, give assent, protest vehemently. You can also write down key words to help you recall where important points are discussed. Above all, strive to enter into a dialogue with the author.
▪ Write questions in the margins, and then answer the questions in a reading journal or on a separate piece of paper. If you’re reading a textbook, try changing all the titles, subtitles, sections and paragraph headings into questions. For example, the section heading “The Gas Laws of Boyle, Charles, and Avogadro” might become “What are the gas laws of Boyle, Charles, and Avogadro?”
▪ Make outlines, flow charts, or diagrams that help you to map and to understand ideas visually.
▪ Read each paragraph carefully and then determine "what it says" and “what it does.” Answer “what it says” in only one sentence. Represent the main idea of the paragraph in your own words. To answer “what it does,” describe the paragraph’s purpose within the text, such as “provides evidence for the author’s first main reason” or “introduces an opposing view.”
▪ Write a summary of an essay or chapter in your own words. Do this in less than a page. Capture the essential ideas and perhaps one or two key examples. This approach offers a great way to be sure that you know what the reading really says or is about.
▪ Teach what you have learned to someone else! Research clearly shows that teaching is one of the most effective ways to learn. If you try to explain aloud what you have been studying, (1) you’ll transfer the information from short-term to long-term memory, and (2) you’ll quickly discover what you understand — and what you don’t.
From: Princeton University's The McGraw Center for Learning (http://www.princeton.edu/mcgraw/library/for-students/remember-reading/)
Units of Study: Links to course content pages...but I'll use Google Classroom to get the information to you. We will not be using some of the information/links below.
The Great Gatsby and Modernism
Stream Biodiversity Lab Intro/Writing Lab Introductions (Co-Curricular Unit)
The Bluest Eye and Writing Comparatively
Independent Reading Assignments