Mrs. Albiniak - Spring 2008 - Course Syllabus

Text Box: Umbrella Question for Grade 9 semester 2:
“How do I take responsibility for my decisions and actions?”

During each unit this semester, the Patterns of Communication student will:

ü Compose a piece of writing using the process approach: prewrite, draft, revise, edit, and revise again)

ü Discuss literature and film in a purposeful manner

ü Learn important elements of a literary analysis, including finding textual evidence, weaving quotes, citing work correctly, and drawing new conclusions

ü Improve vocabulary by learning new words as well as the meaning of prefixes and roots

ü Practice using correct grammar and usage

Unit I: Archetypes/The Archetypal Hero

& Major assignments: Letter of Recommendation, unit test, film analysis

& Other supplemental work: Internet research on Arthurian legends, short stories, poetry, film studies, vocabulary #6 and #7

Unit II: Introduction to Greek Drama—Antigone

& Major writing assignment: literary analysis

& Other supplemental work: history study, tragic hero study, related short stories (“Oedipus Rex,” “Seven Against Thebes”), Reader’s Theatre, vocabulary #8

Unit III: Novel Study—Of Mice and Men

& Major assignments: novel test

& Other supplemental work: history study, reading responses, vocabulary #9

Unit IV: Poetry

& Major writing assignment: poetry portfolio

& Other supplemental work: literary device study, poetry readings, vocabulary #10

Unit V: Independent Reading Project

Unit IV: Criterion-Referenced Test (CRT)

& Week-long in-class essay exam

& 60% of final exam grade

Assessment

Students’ semester grades will be calculated by dividing each student’s total earned points into the total points possible from all assignments, quizzes, papers, tests, and projects. Each quarter is worth 40% of the semester grade. Semester exams are worth 20% of the semester grade.

First drafts of papers are usually worth 70-100 points.

Final drafts of papers are usually worth 30-50 points.

Homework is usually worth 5-15 points.

Quizzes are usually worth 10-30 points.

Unit Tests are usually worth 50-100 points.

Projects are usually worth 25-50 points.