Course Overview: 

This year, in English I, we will be creating literacy notebooks to use throughout the year. This notebook will serve as a reference guide to assist in improving the overall growth of the students’ learning.  All reading and writing lessons will be added to the notebook, with the expectation that all students maintain its accuracy. Additionally, we will be attacking expository, persuasive, and reflective/narrative essays, practicing and analyzing the writing process using our knowledge learned through multiple mini-lessons (thesis statement, comma rules, sentence variety, etc.). All acquired concepts will be assessed through multiple-choice tests, formal essays, and independent or group projects. Lastly, the students will also complete a district exam- demonstrating their mastery of comprehension and skills they have internalized throughout the school year. 

 
Materials needed for my class:

• 2 Composition notebooks (1 for Reading and 1 for Writing) 

• Multi-color pack of highlighters 

• 1 pack of jumbo markers (8 count)

• Pencils (either standard or mechanical)

• Blue or black ink pens

• Glue sticks

• Hand sanitizer

• Folder

Grading:

Summative: Major projects/Tests – 60%

Formative: Class Work/Homework/Quizzes – 40%

Teachers must follow the standards set forth in the Humble ISD Parent/Student Handbook. In order to provide academic feedback, teachers must update grades weekly with a minimum of 2 grades per week. No more than 3 grades should be taken each week. Courses that have formative and summative grades must have at least 3 summatives within the 9-week grading period. Teachers should provide assignment feedback within a timely manner.

Grades must be uploaded in TAC by the deadline designated by the Associate Principal. Please ensure that there are no blanks in the gradebook before IPR and report card uploads.

Rules: 

**ALL students will adhere to the rules in the Humble High School student handbook **

1. Be respectful.

2. Be Responsible. 

3. Try your best.

4. Put all electronic devices away (unless otherwise instructed) per the freshmen academy rules.

5. Hall passes are scarce, meaning students will only be allowed to exit the classroom once per week, unless there is emergency documentation. 

6. Plagiarism will not be tolerated and will result in a zero.

7. Have fun.

Absences:

For each day of absence, one day is allowed to turn in missed assignments. It is the student’s responsibility to check for missed work. 

• If you miss a test or project due date, you must take the test or turn in the project the day you return.

• Students must be PRESENT IN CLASS 90% of each semester in order to earn credit for English 1.

• Students must have a tardy pass to enter late.

• 3 tardies equals 1 full absence. 

Cell Phone Policy: 

Cell Phones - Student Use
In the 9th Grade Academy (1100 / 1200 hallways), cell phones are not allowed during class time.  I will review the policy with students, making sure they understand the expectations. Cell phone use in class should be limited to instructional purposes and must be noted in lesson plans. Teachers should monitor students and hold them accountable for using cell phones for educational purposes only.

Make-Up Work:

The student is responsible for any work missed due to tardiness and/or absences.  It is the student’s responsibility to obtain the work from the teacher, complete it and submit the work within the time frame noted in the HHS Parent/Student Handbook.  Failure to adhere to this policy will result in a grade deduction or loss of credit for the given work.

Late Work:

Assignments and tests must be completed and submitted on the assigned due date in order to receive full credit.  Work turned in after the designated deadline will receive a grade deduction of 10 points per day for each day their assignment is late (as per district policy). Students will be required to stay for after-school tutorials in order to make up for all missing work. Homework is considered late if it is not turned in at the start of class. 

Retest Policy:

A student who receives a summative grade below 70% may be eligible for one retest.  Before a student can retest, he/she must attend a tutorial session for re-teaching.  Retests are given outside of class time, such as tutorials, and must be taken no later than one week from the date the original test was given.

Tutorials:

Tutorials are scheduled every Wednesday after school from 3:30 pm – 4:30 pm. Students that do NOT take class time seriously are NOT allowed to come to my tutorial sessions, because that time is strictly for WORK AND NOT PLAYING! This is not a social hour. If you attend tutorials, you must come to tutorials with a specific question, assignment, or concept on which you would like assistance. Additional tutorials are available upon request.  

Expectations for Reading and Writing: 

You will be expected to read and write every day in this class. At times, both reading and writing are expected to be completed outside of the classroom. Over the course of this year, we will read two novels in their entirety. A copy of each will be available for you, but you will have to purchase your own copy to annotate in the book itself. 
 

Plagiarism Policy: 

The world of literature is one of ideas, so the protection of someone’s original ideas is of the utmost importance. Thus, in this class, you will be expected to avoid plagiarism at all times. Plagiarism can take many forms. They can be some of the following: 

• Trying to take someone’s ideas as your own

• Copying someone’s work verbatim without proper permission or citation

• Failing to put a quote in quotation marks

• Submitting someone else’s work as your own

• Copying more than five distinct words from a source without proper quotation marks and citation 

We will discuss plagiarism at length throughout this year, but it will not be tolerated at any time. Any student who turns in plagiarized work will receive an automatic zero on that assignment, regardless of assignment grade weight.