Composition – Fall Semester 2012

DValenti@portnet.k12.ny.us

TEACHER: Mrs. Valenti

LITERATURE:

We will read the following novels and play:

WRITING:

You will write essays, creative pieces and keep journals. All major writing assignments will be graded according to specified criteria, which will be explained to you beforehand.

You will also be given an opportunity to rewrite any essay in order to improve your writing and grade. However, you are required to meet with me before you produce a rewrite and you must do both within two weeks from the date that it is first returned to you. I will enter the average of the original and the rewrite in my grade book. *Please note that you may not do a rewrite if your essay has been handed in late, nor can you rewrite the last essay assigned in a marking term.

CREATIVE WORK: Occasionally, you will complete a creative assignment that pertains to the literature, such as a Poetry Mitt Project for The Catcher in the Rye, A CD of music for A Separate Peace and a painting/drawing for Lord of the Flies.

REGENTS PRACTICE: From time to time, your assignments will consist of Critical Lens Essays, as well as Paragraphs focusing on Controlling Ideas and Literary Devices or Literary Elements, in order to prepare you for the English Regents Exam at the end of your JUNIOR year.

VOCABULARY, SPELLING, GRAMMAR:

Vocabulary lists might be given in conjunction with the literature we read and tests will follow such study. We will study grammar collectively, as a class, from time to time, particularly just before or just after an assignment is due.

HOMEWORK, TESTS, QUIZZES:

Homework will be given every night and on most weekends. End of Unit Tests, if any, will be announced. Quizzes on reading may be frequent and unpredictable!

SUPPLIES:

Come to class on time and prepared with a notebook, folder, writing utensils and reading material.  Do not expect to go to your lockers once you have come to class. Hold on to any and all handouts, whether they are reading assignments, essay topics, etc. I will not distribute multiple copies to people. If you have lost your handout(s), ask a friend to photocopy his/hers. Of course if you are absent, I will gladly supply you with the handout(s).

MISSING WORK:

If you are absent, it is your responsibility to find out what work you’ve missed. For absences of three or fewer days, the work is due the day after you return to school. On days that we don’t meet, please come to the Resource Room. For longer absences, we will make special arrangements for handing in missed work. If you do not have your homework (including essays) on a certain day, you may turn it in late, but your grade will be affected in the following way: for each day that an assignment is late, your grade will decrease by half a letter grade. After an assignment is one week overdue, you will not receive higher than a 65. You have two weeks to turn in missing work.

UNEXCUSED ABSENCES AND LATENESSES:

Unexcused absences will warrant after school detention.

If you accumulate three unexcused latenesses to class, you will be assigned half an hour of “tank time.”

GRADING:

Your grade will be determined by essays, tests and quizzes, but not necessarily with equal weight.

FOOD:

Please do NOT bring food to class.

HALL PASSES:

Our time together is valuable. You are expected to go to your locker or the restroom in between classes -NOT during class. At the beginning of each marking term, you will receive a certain number of hall passes with your name on them for “emergency” purposes, such as using the restroom and going to your locker. You will not receive replacements. Therefore, keep them in a safe place and use them wisely. 

I want each of you to be successful in this class. For this reason, I am happy to stay after school or give extra-help during the day. I encourage you to show me your essays even before they are due so that I may help you with the grammar/syntax and/or content. Please take the initiative and ask!