Course Description
Welcome to Freshman English! This course will provide instruction in critical thinking, writing, reading, speaking, listening, and the interpretation of literature and other texts. Students will demonstrate skills through reading, writing, revision, discussion, and presentation. Completion of the course will prepare students for English 10 and for future choices between all English classes, including IB English.
Email: Josh.Edwards@bethel.k12.or.us Phone: 541-461-6401 ext. 4193
Texts and Units
| First Semester The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros Photojournalism: selected texts | Second Semester Night by Elie Wiesel Who Changes the World?: selected texts |
Grading
Grades will be based on a variety of assessments and preparation tasks covering the following Power Standards: Reading, Writing, Speaking & Listening, and Language. Grades will be weighted as follows:
- 80% Proofs: This category encompasses all assessments, including final drafts of essays, short stories, poems, reading quizzes, and graded class discussions.
- 20% Preparation: Graded assignments include guided notes, rough drafts, practice quizzes, study guides, and worksheets.
When students are given an assignment, their teacher will specify whether it is an assessment or preparation work.
Proficiency Grading
We will use the following grades on report cards:
- A, Mastery
- B, Proficient
- C, Approaching Proficient
- D, Progressing
- I, Incomplete
- NG, No Grade (no credit earned)
Incompletes must be resolved to receive credit, or they will be changed to an NG.
Late Work
It is important to stay current in the course. Turning assignments in on time is important for the best learning experience. There will be a two week grace period after the due date on late preparation assignments. Students also have two weeks after the unit ends to complete late assessments without penalty. If there are extenuating circumstances, students must communicate with their teachers.
Plagiarism
All work submitted for this course must be composed by the student for this class. If a student wishes to work with materials they have used in another setting, please see the teacher first to ensure they are appropriately engaging with this material. Although most plagiarism is accidental and can be addressed through increasing the student’s knowledge about proper citation, intentional plagiarism is very serious. In the event that a student passes off someone else’s work as their own, they will first have an educational conversation around what happened and redo the assignment; the second time it happens, they will have a conference and academic contract with the teacher and an administrator.
Finally, all writing must be completed on the Google Docs that are assigned on our Google Classroom page. Copying and pasting writing from outside sources or using AI in any way will be viewed as plagiarism.
Cell Phone Policy
No cell bell to bell. Students learn best when they are free of distractions. In order to honor the student learning environment, cell phones and audio devices are expected to be silenced and put away completely out of sight while in the classroom during class time. Cell phones may be used during break, at lunch, during passing periods, and before or after school. The first time a device is taken, it will be returned at the end of the day. The second time an electronic device is removed, the parent/guardian of the student must come in to claim the device. A third occurrence will result in confiscation until the student, parent/guardian, and administrator agree on a contract regarding cell phone usage at school.
Tardy Policy
It is crucial that students are here on-time, every day. To help stress the importance of punctuality, students will sign-in on a computer when they get to class. This will record and time stamp students’ arrival times. If a student arrives more than 29 minutes late, they are marked ABSENT.
This year, WHS is implementing the following tardy policy:
a. THREE tardies during the 9 week period = 1-on-1 conversation with teacher and potential call home.
b. FIVE tardies = teacher call home and talk with Youth Advocate
c. SIX or more = LUNCH DETENTION for each tardy accrued
d. Missed lunch detention = conference with administrator
Food and Drink Policy
Food and drink is allowed in my classroom as long as it 1) IS NOT A DISTRACTION (handing food out, coming late to class with food, excessive slurping and/or crunching) and 2) all food/trash is cleaned up.
Bathroom and Break Policy
No bathroom passes or break passes will be issued the FIRST 10 minutes of class and the LAST 10 minutes of class. Please be sure to take care of all personal needs during passing periods.
Materials
Students will be expected to keep an organized planner throughout the year. If possible, students should also bring multiple colors of highlighters, lined paper, and writing utensils to class each day. Chromebooks will be provided for use in class, but may not be taken home.
Google Classroom
Students may still be submitting some assignments and receiving course information via Google Classroom. However, many assignments will need to be completed on paper and/or in person this year. Students cannot rely on Google Classroom alone to complete the course.
Land Acknowledgement
Willamette High School is located on Kalapuya Ilihi, the traditional indigenous homeland of the Kalapuya people. Following treaties between 1851 and 1855, Kalapuya people were dispossessed of their indigenous homeland by the United States government and forcibly removed to the Coast Reservation in Western Oregon. Today, descendants are citizens of the Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde Community of Oregon and the Confederated Tribes of the Siletz Indians of Oregon, and continue to make important contributions in their communities, including Bethel, Willamette High School, and across the land we now refer to as Oregon.
