8th GRADE ENGLISH ----- 2020 Ms. Grasso 1 2 3 1 2 3 1 1 2 2 3 3 4 4 5 2019 ----- Ms. Grasso ----- 2020 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- COMMUNICATION with the teacher CLASSROOM MATERIALS to be successful 1 Kristin.grasso@dvusd.org REMIND101 app chat (623)445-5359 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 1 – 1 ½” Binder Pencils/Pens Loose Leaf Paper Coloring Materials 5 Page Dividers Highlighters Glue and Scissors 2 3 --------------------------------- RESPONSIBILITY and preparation --------------------------------------------- ENGLISH LANGUAGE ARTS class grading scale 1 Come to class prepared with your binder, and whatever other materials are listed for that day Start working on bell ringer immediately so class can begin within five minutes of the bell. Participate in all class discussion, all partner and group assignments, and use your time to the best of your ability. 70% 25% 5% 2 Assess/ Quizzes/ Projects Classwork HW ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 3 --------------------------------------------- --------------------------------- WRITING units READING units 1 2 3 4 5 NARRATIVE/DESCRIPTIVE WRITING (Figurative Language Short Story) LITERARY ANALYSIS ARGUMENTATIVE MICROTHEMES (MINI LITERARY ANALYSIS) RESEARCH PAPER 1 2 3 4 5 6 CULTURE AND BELONGING THE OUTSIDERS BY S.E. HINTON (NOVEL STUDY) THE THRILL OF HORROR THE ROAD TOWARD FREEDOM THE DIARY OF ANNE FRANK FAHRENHEIT 451 BY RAY BRADBURY (NOVEL STUDY) --------------------------------------------- GRAMMAR AND VOCABULARY taught and reviewed daily and at the beginning of each unit.

English Language Arts policies and procedures FOOD & DRINK POLICY ABSENCES AND GRADES Grades will be updated at least once a week. Please check grades regularly via PowerSchools and feel free to ask me any questions that you might have about a particular grade. I highly encourage students to take an active role in checking and maintaining their grades. If you are absent, you are responsible for completing your make-up work (one day for make-up for each day absent). Students that are absent should check my website and canvas for all missed work. Any handouts that were missed can be located in the appropriate bin. It is your responsibility to ask a classmate or me for help on making up any assignments and/or to meet with me to makeup any tests or quizzes. If you know you are going to be absent beforehand, you should ask me for your make-up work before the absence. All late work will be accepted for full credit up until the last day of the unit. In general, food and drinks are allowed in my class. This is contingent on it not becoming a distraction in class, and as long as students can handle the responsibility. This policy is subject to change at my discretion, and at any time. _______________________________ ASSIGNMENT FORMATTING All typed assignments must be in 12 PT TIMES NEW ROMAN FONT, double-spaced, and have 1” margins with your name, class period, and date in the top left corner with a centered title, also known as MLA. All Students will be taught how to use proper MLA formatting so that they become familiar with this for high school. __________________________________________________________________________________ _______________________________ BOOK OF THE MONTH __________________________________ Students should read 20-30 minutes every night. In order to accomplish this, students will be responsible for reading one book a month. There are different genres set out for each month that the students will be required to read. With each book, there will be a weekly check-in on canvas. Please note that these will not be accepted late. This is to ensure that students are not falling behind in their reading. The final week of the month, students will work on a One Pager for the book they have chosen and is due at the end of the month. See handout for more details. ELECTRONIC DEVICES Electronic devices should be kept in students backpacks or in the cellphone holder on my wall. Devices should not be out during class or on the student body, unless otherwise instructed by the teacher or with permission. Violations to this policy will result in the marking of the students’ behavior card. If there are extenuating circumstances requiring the student to have their phone on them for the class period (i.e. Family emergencies), I ask that they notify me beforehand.

MIDDLE SCHOOL LANGUAGE ARTS POLICIES AND PROCEDURES Grading Procedures For classwork and assessments/projects/quizzes Work that is incomplete or not turned in will receive a 49% Work that is completed but earns a grade lower than 50% will receive a 50% Missing work may be made up for full credit up until the end of the unit Retakes are available for assessments and quizzes at teacher discretion Homework Homework will receive a grade based on it’s face value. For example, if a student does not turn in an assignment, it will be reflected as a “0” in the gradebook, or if they earn a 3/10 (30%) that is how it will appear Plagiarism is not accepted by any means or circumstances. Students can be sure to not plagiarize by following these guidelines taken from the English Department of George Mason University.   “Plagiarism means using the exact words, opinions, or factual information from another person without giving that person credit. Writers give credit through accepted documentation styles, such as parenthetical citation, footnotes, or endnotes; a simple listing of books and articles is not sufficient. Plagiarism is the equivalent of intellectual robbery and cannot be tolerated in an academic setting. …While direct quotations do need citations, so do paraphrases and summaries of opinions or factual information formerly unknown to the writers or which the writers did not discover themselves (Statement of English Department at George Mason University).” All assignments will be turned in on Canvas through a plagiarism detection site called Turnitin.com. This website detects any all forms of copying and plagiarism and gives a report as to how much has been subject to it. Cheating is punished based on severity and number of offenses. For further details, please see our student handbook. Checking Out Books: I have invested a lot of time and money into my classroom library. I want you to read, so we have to take care of our classroom library so that I can use the books for years to come. You may check out 2 books at a time. You must sign out books as follows: grab the book you wish to borrow, take the library card out of the inside envelop, fill it out with your name and date, and return the card to me Put books back in the book return bin. Another student or I will return them correctly. Books that are not returned/damaged/or lost will need to be replaced by the student borrowing the book Cheating and Plagiarism Classroom Library

Please sign and acknowledge before returning it to Ms. Grasso   I have read this syllabus and I accept the work requirements and policies listed. Student Name (PRINTED):______________________________________________ Period:____________ Student Signature:______________________________________________________ Date:­­­­­­___________ Parent/Guardian Signature:_______________________________________________ Date: ___________ ***Please indicate below if there is any additional information I should know about you or your child*** Syllabus Acknowledgment