Welcome to Room 5304, English 9 with Mrs. Annie Mazur. 1 Welcome to Room 5304, English 9 with Mrs. Annie Mazur! 1. Please fill out a Parent Questionnaire and leave in wire basket. 2. If you would like to make a donation to our class, please take a sticky note from the door. Thank you very much.

Annie Mazur *B.A., English, UCLA *M.A., American Studies, Pepperdine University *2002-present with GUSD *2 sons

Annie Mazur amazur@gusd.net 9th Grade English Teacher  Schedule Period 1: 9th Grade English Period 2: 9th Grade English Advanced Period 3: 9th Grade English Advanced Period 4: 9th Grade English  Period 5: 9th Grade English

Class Structure Agenda/HW Read / annotate Write thesis-based paragraphs, essays Small-group, whole-class discussions Weekly Vocabulary HW, Quiz

Course Texts First Semester: Holt anthology Sandra Cisneros’The House on Mango Street Greek mythology, including books from Homer’s The Odyssey Second Semester: Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451 John Steinbeck’s The Pearl Romeo and Juliet Arthur Laurent’s West Side Story (regular class only) Charlotte Bronte’s Jane Eyre (advanced class only) NOTE: Students may purchase other versions of these books, however the page numbers will not coincide with our classes. Therefore, if a student purchases another version, he/she is responsible for following along with the homework assignments given in class, even though the page numbers will be different. Course Texts

Reminders from Syllabus Blank fields in gradebook does not necessarily translate to missing assignment Please monitor student progress using portal. Encourage student to check in every week to couple of weeks Consult English notebook for agenda/hw I will announce when hw posted on school website

Keys to Success Speak with child about expectations Core Class Values/Keys to Success: resilience curiosity mindfulness Community-mindedness honesty

Essential Questions for English 9 1 Essential Questions for English 9 1.How does our journey shape our identity? 2. How does a character’s journey influence identity? 3. How does the author use literary devices to convey her/his message? 4. What is the significance of archetypes in literature? 5. How do these archetypes help us understand human nature? Essential Questions

Recommended Books List Importance of reading literary books: Students expected to exhibit close reading skills Literary books = character-driven with the development of an internal story Popular fiction = plot driven Require process of analysis and reflection on nature of characters and decisions that shape story. Develops critical thinking and builds insight into author’s opinions and ideas about the human experience, which in turn, will help improve your essay writings skills.

Teacher Philosophy We can learn from our mistakes. Process of taking responsibility, engaging in self-reflection, and devising a corrective plan of action is what leads to growth. My part / student’s part Stanford Resilience Project (collaboration of different offices at Stanford) Mission statement: THE RESILIENCE PROJECT combines personal storytelling, events, programs, and academic skills coaching to motivate and support students as they experience the setbacks that are a normal part of a rigorous education. We help students learn from failure and hope to instill a sense of belonging and bravery. Our goal is to help change the perception of failure from something to be avoided at all costs, to something that has meaning, purpose, and value. Vptl.stanford.edu