English 7 and Honors English 7
Ms. Taylor DeVries
SMS Room 505
[email protected]
(928) 527-6821
Mrs. Cheri Lewis
SMS Room 510
[email protected]
(928) 527-6826
1 . Grad es an d Assign men ts
Grades will be earned on the quality
and quantity of work turned in. Ms. DeVries
will share and explain rubrics. Grades will
be calculated based on FUSD district
requirements. Practice (homework,
classwork, small quizzes) will be 20% of the
total grade. Performance (projects, essays,
group work, etc.) will be worth 20% of the
total grade. Measurement (essays, tests, etc.)
will be 60% of the total grade. At the end of
the semester, 15% of the total grade will
come from the final exam. Be sure to keep
all graded assignments in your English
folder/binder to use for studying, review,
and to prove that you turned in assignments.
Homework will be assigned two to
four times a week. Assignments may consist
of reading, answering questions, prewriting,
drafting, revising, etc. You will usually be
given time in class to complete these
assignments to minimize the amount of
work required outside of class, so be sure to
use time responsibly!
If you are absent, you are
responsible for making up work. You have
one day for every day missed to turn in
work. If work is a week late, the highest
score that can be earned is a B. If you are
unhappy with your grade, you may turn in
missing assignments, redo assignments with
low grades, and retake tests. Honors
students must maintain an 80% or higher. If
you fall below that, you have nine weeks to
bring up your grade, and if the grade is not
brought up, you will be removed from
Honors English.
Please include your first and last
name on all assignments, especially during
the first quarter. Include the assignment
title, date, and hour. If your work is illegible,
and unable to be easily read, it will not be
graded. Your work will be returned to you
to redo and it will be counted as late.
You are expected to use your
Student View account to check on your
grades and missing assignments. If you need
help accessing your account, ask me for help.
2 . Rules and Expectation s
Respectfully participate in class.
Interact with your classmates and
teacher respectfully.
Use class time responsibly.
Be prepared for class. Be on time
and bring all materials needed.
Get the teacher’s permission before
leaving the room.
Follow SMS rules and procedures
(dress code, electronics, ETL, etc.).
A: 90%-100%
B: 80%-89.4%
C: 70%-79.4%
D: 60-69.4%
F: 0-59.4%
Give and Accept
Homecourt Advantage
Talk like a leader.
Think like a leader.
Move like a leader.
Feel like a leader.
Lead like a leader.
Consequences
Consequences for inappropriate behavior may include:
Minor Infractions: time out, seat change, working by yourself, written reflections, conferences, contact with parents
Major Infractions: RTC, office referral, contact with parents
3. Required
Materials
Loose-leaf paper
Pens and pencils
Highlighters, colored
pencils, or crayons
Folder with prongs
(provided)
*Index cards or
paper for vocabulary
cards
4. Weekly Reading Logs
You will have weekly
reading log packets. These
reading logs are
individualized and are
designed to help your
reading fluency improve,
which will improve your
reading comprehension.
The assignments will also
help you develop your
critical thinking skills.
Fluency, comprehension,
and critical thinking are all
important skills to develop
so you are ready for
whatever life has in store
for you.
To complete a reading log,
you must read each passage
in your packet five times
aloud. You will answer the
multiple choice questions
and fill in your answers on
a bubble sheet. The last
step is to write a T3C
paragraph about the
passage. Reading logs will
be due every Monday. If
there is a scheduled
holiday, you get a free
week.
5. What We’ll Read
Required Novel
Suzanne Collins’ The Hunger Games
Short Stories and Plays
Gary Soto’s“Seventh Grade”
Chaim Potuk’s “Zebra”
Rod Serling’s “The Monsters Are Due on Maple
Street”
Gish Jen’s “The White Umbrella”
6. Skills We’ll Learn
Key Ideas and Details
Analyze main ideas and themes
Cite several pieces of evidence
Analyze how elements (setting, plot, individuals, events) interact in a text
Craft and Structure
Determine the meaning of unfamiliar words and figurative language
Analyze the structure an author uses
Determine an author’s point of view and analyze how it’s different from others
Poems
George Ella Lyon’s “Where I’m From”
Sylvia Plath’s “Metaphor”
William Shakespeare’s “Sonnet 130”
Nonfiction
“What Happened to Emmett Till?”
“The Murder of Emmett Till”
“Happy Birthday, Rod Serling”
“The Little Rock Nine: Battling Segregation”
“Death by Anthrax”
“The Mothman of West Virginia”
Various articles to develop critical thinking from The 6
Way Paragraph
“Tulipmania”
“Acrobatic Worms”
“The Last Soldier”
7 / 8 Le avin g the Room
7. Nurse’s Office
Ask to go to the nurse’s office if you are
sick. Be prepared to tell me the reason
you are asking to visit the nurse. Unless
it is an emergency, you will not be
given a nurse’s pass during 1st or
8th period, as per the nurse’s
request. You do not need to use a
privilege pass to go to the nurse.
Girls: You do not need to visit the
nurse for supplies. I can hook you
up if necessary.
8. Bathroom and Locker Trips
Each student will be given two privilege
passes per quarter. These privilege
passes can be used to leave class to visit
lockers or the bathroom. You will not be
able to use a privilege pass during whole
class or group activities. Lost privilege
passes will not be replaced. Additional
privilege passes will be awarded for
grades, completing reading logs, and for
showing exemplary leadership. Unused
privilege passes can be turned in at the
end of each quarter for extra credit (3
points per pass).
Integration of Knowledge and Ideas
Compare and contrast a text to a filmed version
Compare and contrast historical and fictional accounts
Trace and evaluate an author’s argument and claims
Language
Explain how phrases and clauses are used in sentences and use phrases and clauses in writing
Choose between simple, compound, complex, and compound-complex sentences
Use commas to separate coordinating adjectives
Spell correctly
Use specific words and phrases to express ideas without being repetitive
Use content and academic vocabulary
Speaking and Listening
Engage in discussions by having read materials, posing questions, following rules
for collegial discussions, acknowledge new information, and sometimes change
views
Present claims and findings in a clear and focused manner with clear eye contact,
volume, and pronunciation
Writing
Write arguments , informative texts, and narratives
Produce clear and coherent writing, developing and strengthening writing with
help from teachers and other students
Use technology to produce, publish, and cite sources
Conduct short research projects, gathering information from multiple sources
s
eou
n
lla
e
c
s
Mi
9. Please do
not stand by
the door at
the end of the
period. Stay
in your seat
until you are
dismissed.
10. You may have a bottle of water in class.
Do not eat food or drink beverages other
than water in class.
11. If you need help, ask. Ms. DeVries has
second lunch and is always willing to help
you during lunch. She is also available after
school any day that she does not have a
meeting scheduled.
Ask for help.
12. Please avoid wearing heavy perfumes,
colognes, or body spray due to allergies. Do not
spray anything in Room 505.
Please make sure Ms. DeVries knows about
any allergies, health issues, reasons for
many absences, etc.
Did you find the mistake in this syllabus? I don’t know what it is, or where it is, but somewhere in this syllabus, there is a mistake. Find it and receive a punch!