1. Welcome to Myths and Monsters
Room 116
Debrah Hellen

2. What do we do here?
This class meets Common Core State Standards: Reading, writing, listening, speaking, and language.
The great thing about this class though is we do it while studying and reading mythologies: Egyptian, Greek, Norse mythologies; and related monster stories: vampires, wizards, dragons, hobbits and so on.
We work hard in this class. We will read two novels, we will write essays, study vocabulary, create a research artifact of a mythical beast that your student will teach the class about. Because this class is upper-level, students are expected to participate in discussions, read the required assignments, work productively in groups, with partners, and alone, think progressively and deeply, and write quality papers.

3. Teacher Responsibilities
Establish a safe, fair, equitable, and challenging environment.
Promote active engagement and inquiry.
Use appropriate, rich, and thought-provoking instruction and language.
Promote student self-awareness and clarification of thoughts in writing and speaking.
Equip students with skills such as collaborating, thoughtful questioning, responding respectfully to others, building consensus, compromising, and negotiating.
Foster active engagement.
Commitment to growth.

4. Student Responsibilities
Respect and appreciate others’ ideas.
Develop listening skills by being attentive, open-minded, and respectful.
Increase collaborating skills, consensus building, compromising, and negotiating skills.
Engage in purposeful conversations with a variety of audiences and purposes.
Increase writing skills for either college and/or career by using the stages of writing, avoiding plagiarism, and using viable sources
Commit to growth.
Learn and master the required content.
Be cooperative and have fun!

5. Odds and Ends Grading Scale · 100-90 = A · 89-80 = B · 79-70 = C
Below 60 = F
Supplies needed for this class:
A three ring binder with a few dividers and paper.
Colored pencils (for coloring because I love color!)
1 or 2 highlighters
Pen and pencils.
Final Exam =20%
Class/Group work, writing, quizzes, and tests = 65%
Beast Project = 15%

6. Why Read? Reading is rewarding Reading builds a mature vocabulary
Reading makes you a better writer
Reading is hard, and “hard” is necessary
Reading makes you smarter
Reading prepares you for the world of work
Reading well is financially rewarding
Reading opens the door to college and beyond

7. Graduation is Awesome!
Not a Mythical Beast