Advanced Placement Experience (APEX) English 10
Ms. Debra Leonard
E-Mail:
Phone: (240) 236-7453
The Course
The APEX program, entering its sixth year, offers a rigorous course of study for our students who desire the challenge of more demanding classes and have committed themselves to a dynamic high school experience. While this course in the program still follows the Frederick County Public School English 10 Curriculum, the approach in the classroom and demands of the assignments are designed to challenge the highly motivated college bound student. Students will read, analyze, and discuss a variety of literary styles, both fiction and non-fiction. Course objectives include a survey of American Literature which allows students to critically analyze print and non-print texts and extend research skills to include literary criticism that supports literary analyses. Students will read a wide variety of texts including poetry, essays, short fiction, drama, and novels. Grammar and language usage will be studied in relation to writing assignments. The course will additionally include vocabulary study in the context of the readings and SAT preparation, specifically the new essay section of the SAT. The ninth and tenth grade APEX English courses prepare the APEX Scholars to move into AP English courses. At the end of the tenth grade, APEX Scholars will enroll in English 11 Honors and may take AP Language and Composition in the spring of their junior year after completing English 11 Honors. In the senior year, APEX Scholars must take either AP Language and Composition (if not taken in the spring of eleventh grade) or AP Literature and Composition. AP Language and Composition taken in the eleventh grade will be considered an elective.
Primary Texts
Adventures in American Literature
Holt Elements of Literature
Seagull Reader
Proposed extended Literature
Little Women and Angela’s Ashes: (Pre-Course Reading Assignment)
The Scarlet Letter The Great Gatsby
Of Mice and Men To Kill a Mockingbird
Ethan Frome Our Town
The Crucible Death of a Salesman
A Streetcar Named Desire
Course Requirements
A. Students are required to maintain a 3-ring notebook with notebook paper.
B. Students are required to bring all appropriate materials to class each day.
C. Students will be charged for damaged or lost books.
Assignments and Grading Policy
A. Homework, quizzes, projects, essays, tests, and class work determine grades.
B. Quizzes may or may not be announced. Material subject o quizzes are
(a) daily class work and (b) reading assignments made outside of class.
C. Homework is intended to expand on class discussions or to introduce students to new material. Homework checks may or may not be announced in advance. Homework is due at the beginning of the class, and late homework will not be accepted for full or partial credit.
D. Tests are intended to measure mastery of unit objectives. Tests will be announced in advance. Tests will be in the format of objective, literature analysis responses, and essays.
E. Extended essays and/or projects are assigned with each unit.
F. Grade distribution for the class is as follows:
10% Homework
20% Formative (Warm Ups, reading quizzes, drafts of essays, graphic organizers, vocabulary work, language usage class work, discussions, group activities)
70% Summative (Final essays, tests, and projects)
G. Students will be given Weekly Overviews which list homework, announced quizzes, tests, projects, and essay assignments. The Overviews are also posted on my Drupal Homepage. This may be accessed through the MHS Website. Students are expected to follow the Overview for assignments. Students who are absent from class are expected to have assignments completed according to the Overview. This includes reading assignments. Extended illness or unusual circumstances are to be discussed with me for arrangements.
H. Students will participate in literary circles and self-selected reading
assignments.
Student Responsibilities
A. When absent, students are expected to follow the provided Overview to keep up with missed work. Please see me if a situation occurs which complicates the class requirement. When a school activity results in an absence from class, students should check with me in advance to receive assignments. Please see me before or after school. Students or parents may e-mail me with question and/or concerns at .
B. Late assignments will be assessed a ten point per day penalty unless
arrangements are made. This would include essays and projects (not homework).
C. Work missed due to an unexcused absence will not be accepted. Work missed due to an excused absence must be made up according to the homework contract. A project or essay assigned in advance is due on the predetermined day. If a student comes to school or leaves and misses English class, the student is to turn in the assignment on that day. Failure to follow this procedure will result in the 10 point per day penalty. If the assignment is not delivered to school on the due date, the assignment is due the first day the student returns from an excused absence.
Behavior Expectations
A. Be seated in your assigned seat when the tardy bell rings.
B. Treat yourself and others with respect.
C. Disruptive behavior will not be tolerated.
D. Eating, drinking (except for water) and sleeping are not permitted.
Discipline Consequences
A. Detentions are assigned for tardiness. This is defined as not being in your assigned seat when the tardy bell rings.
B. Other infractions will be dealt with as follows:
-Warning
-Conference with student
-Parent Contact
-Teacher Assigned Detention and Parent Contact
-Administrative Referral
C. The above procedures are for minor offenses. Severe offenses will result in an immediate removal from class with an administrative referral.
Honor System for Middletown High School
MHS Honor Philosophy—The community of Middletown High School acknowledges that learning is a right and responsibility of all students. A successful school experience requires the highest standards of integrity on the part of all involved. A student’s work is a reflection of self-pride. Therefore, the honor philosophy of this community recognizes that ideas belong to those who create and articulate them; that to submit work that is not one’s own is to insult the efforts of one’s peers; that to claim the thought or works of another as one’s own it to steal from the originator and to deceive those to whom the material is presented; that to be dishonest is to degrade oneself.
Honor Pledge—I have neither given nor received unauthorized aid on this assignment. My name on this piece of work affirms my character and honor.
Definition of Cheating:
Using or attempting to use unauthorized materials, information, notes, study aids, or other devices, or obtaining unauthorized assistance from any source or person for work submitted as one’s own individual efforts on any assignment. Cheating is also the act of helping or attempting to help another student commit an act of academic dishonesty.
Examples of cheating include, but are not limited to, the following actions:
1. Copying from another student’s paper or test, or receiving assistance from another person during an exam or other assignment in a manner not authorized by the teacher.
2. Possessing, buying, selling, removing, receiving, or using at any time or in any manner not previously authorized by the teacher a copy or copies of any exam or other materials intended to be used as a instrument of evaluation in advance of its administration.
3. Using materials or equipment, such as crib notes, a calculator, or a tape recorder, not authorized by the teacher during a test or other academic evaluation.
4. Working with another or others on any exam, take home exam, computer or laboratory work, or any other assignment when the teacher has required independent and unaided effort.
5. Attempting to influence or change an academic evaluation, grade, or record by deceit or unfair means, such as: (a) damaging the academic work of another student to gain unfair advantage in an academic evaluation; or (b) marking or submitting an exam or other assignment in a manner designed to deceive the grading system.
6. Submitting, without prior permission, the same academic work that has been submitted in identical or similar form in another class.
7. Gaining an unfair advantage in an academic evaluation by receiving specific information about a test, exam, or other assignment.
8. Providing assistance to another during an exam or other assignment in a way not authorized by the teacher.
9. Copying homework-even one or two answers.
10. Minimizing a computer screen rather than closing all programs during a quiz or test. A minimized screen has the potential to be a “cheat sheet” and violates the honor code.
Definition of Plagiarism:
Representing orally or in writing, in any academic exercise or assignment, the words, ideas, or works of another as one’s own without proper acknowledgement of the source.
Examples of plagiarism include, but are not limited to, the following actions:
1. Submitting material or work, in whole or in part, which has been prepared by another individual or commercial service.
2. Directly quoting from a source without the proper citation.
3. Paraphrasing or summarizing another person’s work without acknowledging the source.
Consequences of Cheating:
Teacher Action Administrative Action
1st Referral, discussion with student, Suspension Pending Parent
parent contact, and zero Conference (SPPC) with ISR
(1-5 days) and National Honor
Society notification
2nd Referral, discussion with student, Suspension (1 day), parent
parent contact, and zero contact and loss of National
Honor Society eligibility
3rd Referral, discussion with student, Suspension (3-5 days), parent
parent contact, and zero contact and notification of
Advisors/Coaches
In signing this Course Description and Requirements, I understand my responsibility as an academic student. My signature also affirms that I have received and read the Middletown High School Honor System. The parent/guardian signature acknowledges acceptance of the Course Description and Requirements and the Middletown High School Honor System.
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Student Signature
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Parent/Guardian Signature
Parent/Guardian e-mail address:
Student e-mail address:
Comment(s)/Question(s):