“The best way to predict your future is to create it.” Abraham Lincoln.

10​th​ Grade English Course Syllabus 

John Marshall High School
Instructor(s): ​Ms. J. Lopez,​ ​Mrs. S. MacRae, Ms. W. Thompson
Mrs. D. McDonnough, Mrs. C. Hudson, Mrs. Parrish
Location​: Rooms 211, 202, 201 (please consult your schedule)

Teacher Conference Availability - Tentative

Teachers may be unavailable due to duty, meetings, or other scheduled appointments.

1st Block UNAVAILABLE 2nd Block Mrs. Bailey MacRae ​after 8:30 in 202

3rd Block UNAVAILABLE 4th Block Ms. Lopez ​after 9:59 in 211

5th Block UNAVAILABLE 6th Block Ms. Thompson ​after 11:45 in 201

7th Block ALL ENGLISH DEPARTMENT 8th Block UNAVAILABLE

MEETINGS.
Appointments only.

Teacher Email Alternate contact

Ms. Lopez jlopez@rvaschools.net 804-803-5647

Mrs. MacRae sbailey@rvaschools.net 302-505-5647

Ms. Thompson wthompso2@rvaschools.net 646-598-3224

Mrs. Hudson chudson@rvaschools.net

Mrs. Parrish vparrish@rvaschools.net

Mrs. McDonnough dwestry@rvaschools.net

10th Grade Course Syllabus 2017-18 MacRae / Thompson

 Welcome to 10​th​ Grade English! 
Course Description:
10​th​ grade English will help to develop and enhance skills critical in reading and
comprehending texts amongst several genres. Students will participate in planned oral presentations
both independently and in small groups. The student will use these presentations to build vocabulary
and differentiate between persuasive and informative messages. Students will also be engaged in
literature by using literary terms to form thesis statements and aid in research. Through research
projects, students will learn how to properly use electronic databases, online resources and other
reference guides. Students will learn to properly cite sources and learn the difference between
primary and secondary sources. Students will also learn to demonstrate correct use of grammar,
language, sentence syntax, spelling and mechanics in written and oral assignments.

Required Materials:
As a student in the course you are required to bring the following class materials to every class
session for the entire 2017-2018 school year:
● A professional @gmail.com email address (ex. ● College-ruled loose leaf paper
First.lastname@gmail.com​; ● Blue/black ink pens
FirstnameLI@gmail.com​-- Non example: ● Highlighters
cutiepie14@gmail.com​;
greatwizard2k18@gmail.com​) *Teachers will provide 3 ring binders for
o Your email should use your full legal students to organize work.
name to make you easily recognizable

*Note: Binders will be kept in the classroom over the course of the school year for safekeeping, but you
always have access to your notes!

Course Text Overview:

1. Literature: Timeless Voices, Timeless Themes​ by: Prentice Hall (Text Book)
2. Antigone b ​ y: Sophocles
3. Julius Caesar ​by: William Shakespeare
4. Maus b ​ y: Art Spiegelman
5. Night b​ y: Elie Wiesel
6. To Kill a Mockingbird ​by: Harper Lee
7. The Outsiders b ​ y S. E. Hinton
8. Articles on NEWSELA

During the year we will assign supplemental reading material with assignments.

Essential Questions:
1. What are my goals?
2. How do my skills and talents help to define me?
3. How do I relate to my family, my community, and society?
4. How can I make an impact?
5. How can I use literature to support my goals?

10th Grade Course Syllabus 2017-18 MacRae / Thompson

Grading Policies:
English 10 will assess your skills and progress in written, oral and reading competencies
following the English Standards of Learning. Evaluations will include individual, group and oral
assignments. Graded assignments will include written essays, quizzes, homework, oral
presentations, research, class projects and exams.
The course breakdown is as follows:
● Participation - 20%
● Tests, Quizzes - 30%
● Projects & Papers - 30%
● Classwork - 20%

All assignments will be graded in accordance with the RPS grading scale:
RPS Grading Scale:
A (90-100) Outstanding Achievement
B (80-89) Commendable Achievement
C (70-79) Acceptable (Average)
D (60-69) Minimum Achievement
F (59- BELOW) Unsatisfactory Progress

Late Work:
Absent Work Policy: ​You are responsible for your work in this class. If you are absent, check with the make
up work boxes at the back of the class. We ​are not responsible for reminding​ you about turning in work you
missed while you were absent. To be eligible for fuIl credit, work must be turned in within one week upon return
to school. Any work turned in after that will be subject to the late work policy. All makeup work must be turned
in no later than ​1 week prior to the end of the marking period.

Furthermore, ​if a student is absent or misses class ​for any reason,​ a tutoring session or appointment with the
teacher is required to turn in work. These sessions may be completed ​by appointment​ after school, or during
the teacher’s planning period ​with notice! It is no longer acceptable to come get the assignment, fill it
out, and turn it in late without speaking to the teacher. I​ f a student does not follow this procedure, then the
work may not be accepted; additionally, the work may be considered plagiarism. Also, students may be asked
to complete an alternate assignment at the teacher’s discretion​.

Papers | Projects | Tests | Quizzes​: We ​will offer a reasonable amount of time for the completion of
assignments and projects. If a student fails to meet the assigned deadline (barring extenuating
circumstances), the student will lose 10 points per class meeting. After ​5​ ​class periods, the
assignment/project will receive no higher than a ​60​.

Class Work:​ Students will earn ​up to an ​85​ for a late daily assignment. Assignments over a week late
will be given an automatic 60.

Participation​: ​In order to make our year the most successful, participation will be a graded
component of our classroom. Each day, students will begin with a participation grade of 100. At the
teacher’s discretion, the maximum number of extra points over 100 may fluctuate during the year to
benefit the student. Participation will be graded both positively and negatively. For example,
contributing positively and appropriately to class discussion ​may​ yield additional positive points, while
conversely, speaking out of turn, bullying, or disrupting the classroom will yield negative points, not to
surpass 0.

10th Grade Course Syllabus 2017-18 MacRae / Thompson

Homework
Homework assignments will be given in order to extend the scope and depth of the topics explored in
the course. Students are responsible for keeping current with homework assignments and should be
aware of test/ quiz dates. Homework assignments will be collected and graded either using a total
points scale or are marked as pass-fail. There will be unannounced quizzes and tests, so be sure to
do all of your homework to get practice.

Cheating and Plagiarism:

As this class will act on the governing principle of integrity, cheating will absolutely not be
tolerated.​ Please note that students who neglect to uphold the standards of integrity through their work will be
failed​ on the assignment that was plagiarized. Cheating is defined as receiving unauthorized help on an
assignment; the help must be authorized by the teacher of your course. Additionally, cheating can also be
defined as ​providing u ​ nauthorized help on an assignment. ​For example, if a student allows another
student to copy his or her work, both students are guilty of cheating.​ Furthermore, turning in another
person’s work as your own is also cheating (this includes copying and pasting things from the internet).
Plagiarism is the act of taking another person’s work without properly crediting the author of that work (to avoid
this, pay close attention to lessons on ​citation!​ ).

Classroom Rules and Expectations

We expect each of you to behave like high school students. There will be so much going on
this year that there will be no time for anyone that cannot conduct themselves in an educational
environment and/or decides to interfere with another student’s learning environment​. It is our goal
for everyone to be successful​. A failure to follow our class rules and procedures will result in a
phone call home to a parent, or guardian, and/or referral to administration; additionally, the student
will then find their-self in jeopardy of not passing for the 2017-2018 academic school year.

The classroom rules are as follows:

1. Above ALL you must respect yourselves, the teacher, and each other.
a. If you are unwilling to listen to others, to be courteous in class, to pay attention, or if you
are participating in tomfoolery or other things covered in the school handbook, you will
be subject to the appropriate school discipline procedures.

2. According to the student code of conduct, cellular phones and other electronic communication
devices are prohibited from use during the school day. If we see a student’s phone -
regardless of whether or not he or she is using it - we will confiscate it for that class period. If
this becomes a habitual problem we will collect the phone at the beginning of every class and
make a call home.

3. We are all responsible for everything we think, everything we do, and everything we say.

*Hall passes will be far and few between, and are reserved for emergencies and special
circumstances.

10th Grade Course Syllabus 2017-18 MacRae / Thompson

Classroom Expectations:
To Be discussed during class.

Students: ________________________________________________________________________
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Teacher(s):_______________________________________________________________________
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Class: ___________________________________________________________________________
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Caveat:​ ​As instructors of this course, we reserve the right to make amendments to this syllabus at any time.
“Our greatest glory is not in never failing, but in rising up every time we fail.”
– Ralph Waldo Emerson

(Please complete and return the entire syllabus to your teacher.)

I have read the following course syllabus and am fully aware of the expectations that Mrs. Bailey
MacRae or Ms. Thompson have set for this 10​th​ Grade English class.

Student Signature: Name (Printed) Date:

_________________________________________ ___________________________________________ ____________________

Parent Signature: Name (Printed) Date:

_________________________________________ ___________________________________________ ____________________

10th Grade Course Syllabus 2017-18 MacRae / Thompson