Course Syllabus

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English III AP Language and Composition American Literature 2016-2017 Syllabus.docx

ENGLISH III:  AP LANGUAGE AND COMPOSITION/AMERICAN LITERATURE 

Instructor	Email Address	Room Number
Mr. Hatch	hatch.jordan.t@muscogee.k12.ga.us	200

ABOUT THE COURSE

Welcome to your Junior year English class, AP Language and Composition and American Literature. AP Language and Composition is a class designed to encourage students to “write effectively and confidently in their college courses across the curriculum and in their professional and personal lives” (The College Board, AP English Course Description, June 2014, p.1). The course is patterned after the requirements and guidelines of the AP English Course Description. Students are evaluated on their ability to read, think, write, and communicate critically and analytically.

This class is devoted to the intense study and application of writing styles and modes along with an overview of American Literature in order to ascertain and evaluate our identities as Americans. The first semester of this course includes grammar and usage review, an overview of the writing process, and then a progressive move through various modes of formal and informal writing: description, narration, exposition, research, argumentation, and synthesis. This study of writing involves examining the work of published authors of non-fiction as models for students. Students write in a writing journal (notes, dialectical journal entries), out of class essay assignments, and in class essays. In addition, students study rhetorical devices, examine vocabulary through the readings and use them in their own writing and speaking, and take quizzes on the readings patterned after the questions on the AP Exam.

In the middle of the second semester of AP Language and Composition, the focus of the class includes activities tested on the AP Exam including in class essay writing using a variety of released writing prompts and multiple choice practice using published guidebooks and released exam questions. The culminating activity for the advanced placement class is taking the AP English Language and Composition Exam in May. All students are expected to participate in this challenging activity.

GOALS OF THE COURSE

1. Analyze and interpret samples of good writing, identifying and explaining an author’s use of rhetorical strategies and techniques;
2. Apply effective strategies and techniques in their own writing;
3. Create and sustain arguments based on readings, research and/or personal experience;
4. Write for a variety of purposes;
5. Produce expository, analytical and argumentative compositions that introduce a complex central idea and develop it with appropriate evidence drawn from primary and/or secondary sources, cogent explanations and clear transitions;
6. Demonstrate understanding and mastery of standard written English as well as stylistic maturity in their own writings;
7. Demonstrate understanding of the conventions of citing primary and secondary sources;
8. Move effectively through the stages of the writing process, with careful attention to inquiry and research, drafting, revising, editing and review.
9. Write thoughtfully about their own process of composition;
10. Revise a work to make it suitable for a different audience;
11. Analyze image as text; and
12. Evaluate and incorporate reference documents into researched papers.

By meeting the ambitious goals above, students will be well-equipped for college writing and, of course, to score at least a three on the AP exam taken at the end of the course.

My goal is to offer you the opportunity to succeed academically and personally in an environment that is warm, friendly, engaging, challenging, meaningful, safe, and interactive.  My sincere hope is that you will become more of an enthusiastic and insightful reader, keen analyzer of the written word, effective oral and written communicator, precise editor, critical thinker, and active participant in the learning process.

ASSIGNMENTS

Students will complete assignments from the categories below. Additionally, in accordance with new school policies, fifty percent (50%) of your overall grade will come from FORMATIVE assessments; fifty percent (50%) of your overall will come from SUMMATIVE assessments.

ASSIGNMENT TYPES

1. Essays
2. Tests and Quizzes
3. Projects
4. Dialectal Journal
5. Class Message Board
6. Classwork and Homework

GRADES

A: 100-90

B: 89-80

C: 79-70

F: 69-0

GEORGIA MILESTONE

At the end of the year, as per state requirements, all students will take the Georgia Milestone Exam in American Literature. Performance on this exam will account for twenty percent of their final average for the class.

REQUIRED SUPPLIES

1. Flash Drive for Saving and Transferring Digital Files
2. Binder
3. Ruled Paper
4. Pens (Blue or Black Ink Only)
5. Highlighter(s)
6. Scissors
7. A Composition Notebook
8. Markers or Crayons
9. Glue or Glue Sticks

SUBMITTING WORK

Work should be submitted on the day that it is due. All work must be completed in ink or pencil and legible. Work written in crayon, or marker will not be accepted.

MAKE-UP WORK

Make-up work is due (3) days after an excused absence. Please check the class website, talk to your class partner, and see Mr. Hatch upon your return to get your missed work.  It is YOUR responsibility to do this. All make-up work should be turned into your teacher with a completed make-up work form attached to it.

LATE WORK

To encourage that all work is completed in a timely fashion, late work will be accepted, but students cannot receive more than a 70 percent on ANY work turned after the due date. Please turn in late work in the basket marked, “Late Work.” Late work from prior nine weeks will not be accepted.

TUTORING

Mr. Hatch will be available for tutoring every Monday and Friday after school until at least 4:30. Please email Mr. Hatch at least one day in advance if you need to meet with him for tutoring on any other day. If you need help or have a question about anything outside of these hours, please email Mr. Hatch.

PLAGARISM AND ACADEMIC DISHONESTY

Plagiarism is taking credit for someone else’s work whether deliberately or unintentionally. This includes but is not limited to: turning in all or part of an essay written by someone other than yourself (a friend, an internet source, etc.) and claiming it as your own, including information or ideas from research material without citing the source, etc. Plagiarism and other forms of academic dishonesty are a serious. Avoid plagiarism by carefully and correctly citing your sources whenever you use someone else’s words, equations, graphics, or ideas. If you are unsure of something and are worried you may be plagiarizing, come see your teacher.

TEST REVISIONS

Students have 10 days after they receive a summative score to retake or resubmit it if you scored lower than a 70. Mr. Hatch will input the average of the two test scores.

CELL PHONE POLICY

Cell phones SHOULD NOT BE VISIBLE during class unless directed by your instructor as part of the daily lesson. Students USING PHONES or with their phones visible will have their phones collected by the teacher and sent to the office. Continuous infractions will result in phones being turned in to the front office.

CLASSROOM EXPECTATIONS

1. Respect your peers, your teacher, and yourself.
2. Please follow all directions the first time they are given.
3. No eating, drinking, or personal grooming is allowed in class.
4. Be prompt in arriving to class.
5. Come to class prepared and ready to learn every day.
6. Cellphones should not be used in class without permission from a teacher.

CLASSROOM CONSEQUENCES

1^st Time: Warning

2^nd Time: Detention

3^rd Time: Detention and a Parent Conference

4^th Time: Administrative Referral

GENERAL CLASSROOM PRACTICE FOR ESSAYS

Formatting:

All final drafts, unless otherwise specified, should be typed in 12 pt., Times New Roman Font, double spaced, and have one inch margins.

Rough Drafts:

On the due date of major essays, you are required to turn in all drafts of that essay in order to show evidence of revision and receive full credit.

File Saving and Transporting:

As you will often be working on the same document at school and at home, it will be in your best interests to save it on a portable storage device.

Due Dates for Essays When Absent:

Because you are given ample notice of due dates for assignments, you are expected to turn assignments in regardless of your presence in school.  Be aware that email cannot always be relied upon.

Printed Assignments:

Please note that you are responsible for printing your typed assignments before you arrive in class on the date they are due. 

Paper Heading

Matthew House                         08 August 2016                                                 3rd Period             Mr. Hatch                                                 1

(Use to head all of your work.)

 

A NOTE TO PARENTS

As with all Advanced Placement courses, AP Language and Composition is a demanding course which will require a heavy workload of both reading and writing outside of the classroom.  Please review the requirements listed in the previous pages with your student as he or she prepares to take part in this learning experience.

 

Thank you for your support, and please feel free to contact me at hatch.jordan.t@muscogee.k12.ga.us with any questions or concerns.