What does an Honors Student look like? An honors English class requires higher-order thinking by self- motivated students who plan to take college- level courses in high school. It is faster-paced with less scaffolding, review, and practice.

C-level percent of points = Minimal/little understanding of standards is evident in all classwork and writing assignments. There is little evidence of progress in writing.

B-level percent of points = Basic understanding of the standards discussed in class is evident in the classroom and in written work. Quality of work shows effort. Writing pieces show a minimal effort to use the good writing traits to improve writing skills.

A-level percent of points = Strong understanding of the standards is readily apparent in the classroom and in written work. Student shows an improvement in writing skills as the year progresses. As a standard is discussed, an understanding of that standard is not only apparent in one writing assignments, but in all successive writing assignments.

Honors English Independent Reading Requirement Students will read a minimum of 800 pages each term. Four hundred of those pages must be from books found on the book list. Students will receive a copy of the book list, and the list will be posted on Mrs. Udy’s web page. Students will be accountable for the pages each term – the form will be posted on Mrs. Udy’s web page.

Students will often be expected to complete the reading assignments and the first-draft of writing assignments at home as well as weekly sentence-combining activities. Students will need to come to each class prepared to move on to the next level. HOMEWORK

 ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS  1 st Term: Is change progress?  2 nd Term: What is success?  3 rd Term: When is it right and just to challenge authority?  4 th Term: What are the limits of relationships?

 ANCHOR TEXTS  1 st Term: Fahrenheit 451  2 nd Term: A Tale of Two Cities  3 rd Term: The Odyssey  4 th Term: Romeo and Juliet

 WRITING Narrative Explanatory Argumentative – the focus will be on argumentative writing, using literary and informational texts as evidence sources

 LANGUAGE  Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English  Use knowledge of language to conform to appropriate guidelines  Accurately use and interpret academic words and phrases; independently gather vocabulary knowledge for words or phrases important to comprehension.

Being in Honors English is a privilege earned by showing appropriate classroom behavior and academic skills. If a student is not able to manage his/her behavior, he/she may be asked to transfer to a different English class. Parents will be notified in time to help the student correct his/her behavior before such a drastic measure would be taken.