1. 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.

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

3. 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

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

5. 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

6. 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

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

8. 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

9. 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.

10. 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