Advanced English 10

2016- 2017 Course Syllabus

Mr. Trantum

Elsinore High School

Course Description:

Advanced English 10 expands students’ reading, writing, listening, and speaking skills in alignment with Common Core State Standards. In addition, this course will provide extensive development of the writing process aligned with the Modern Language Association (MLA) format, critical literary response and analysis skills, and cross-curricular study. Students will learn and use strategies that promote rigor in order to support the College and Career Readiness Anchor Standards.

Course Instructor:

My name is Andrew Trantum. I graduated from Cal. State Fullerton with a Bachelor’s of Science in Human Services and I received my teaching credential from Cal. State San Marcos. I have a Master’s degree in Instructional Leadership. This is my first year at Elsinore High School and thirteenth year as an English teacher in the district.

Course Materials:

1. Loose lined college rule paper and composition book for notes

2. Pens: black, blue, and any color such as red

3. Mechanical pencils (no disruptive sharpening)

4. Assigned textbooks

5. Novels may be checked out from the library; however, I strongly prefer (and request) students have their own copy for annotations.

6. Office 365 account

7. District Email Account

8. Post-its for annotations

Behavior expectations:

  1. Respect yourself. Be on time and prepared to learn with the appropriate materials needed to be successful in class every day. Do the homework!
  2. Respect your classmates. Do not be a distraction to their learning by being disruptive, annoying, or bullying them. Everyone has the right to learn, including you!
  3. Respect the instructor. Put away the cellphone and ditch the earbuds. Listen to what is being said and participate in the discussion. Listen first, then ask appropriate questions.

Grading Policies:

I encourage students to recognize that I do not “give” a grade to them; rather they earn a specific grade by taking responsibility for their education.

Weighted categories are as follows:

  • Writing 20%,
  • Assessments 20% (tests/quizzes/projects),
  • Reading Analysis 20%
  • Classwork 20%
  • Final exam (written) 20%.

A = 90% - 100%

B = 80% - 89%

C = 70% - 79%

D = 60% - 69%

F = 59% and below

Make-up work:

Per the student handbook, if you have an excused absence, you have the same amount of days you were absent to turn in any missed assignments. It is the student’s responsibility to obtain this information, not the responsibility of the teacher. Work missed during unexcused absences may not be made up. This is where parent responsibility comes in: please call and excuse absences right away so it does not hinder your student's ability to make up work.

Late work:

Accepted but the overall score will be reduced by 50%.

Extra credit work:

Mastery learning is demonstrated by a depth of knowledge, not by a number. Therefore, if requested, I may provide an opportunity for revision if a student does not receive a passing grade on an assignment. However, I do not offer extra credit.

Plagiarized work:

Any work that is deemed plagiarized by the teacher is subject to a 0 and this cannot be made up.

Homework:

Students will have weekly vocabulary words which they need to study independently throughout the week. A vocabulary quiz will be given each Friday. In the event a vocab quiz is missed, the student is responsible to write a meaningful paragraph using all of the weekly vocabulary words to be turned in the next school day. The paragraph will be scored on how well the student utilized the vocabulary words.

Reading is frequently assigned so that we can discuss it in class the next day. Some writing assignments will need to be completed at home as well.

Grading:

Online grading is done through Infinite Campus. I will update the portal as frequently as possible.

You will want to download the Infinite Campus app to get immediate information regarding student attendance and grades. The website is: ic.leusd.k12.ca.us/campus/portal/lakeElsinore.jsp

The district code is: ZLLXZJ

Contact:

Please email me at:

I use Remind to send out text class notices. Please text "@tadv10" to 81010 to be added to this class.

I am typically in my classroom from 7:00 am to 3:00 pm if you wish to see me personally.