Course Description: Language Arts 8 is a writing and grammar intensive course. Students generate compositions of varying genres for a variety of purposes. Students will focus on basic grammar and ways to improve sentence structure. The reading selections include literature from all genres with an emphasis on American Literature. When reading literature, students will focus on critical thinking skills.

Texts:

• Interactive Reader
• Grammar, Usage, and Mechanics workbook
• *Crafting Expository Argument (vol. 4) – Michael Degen
• *Animal Farm – George Orwell (class novel for 2^nd nine weeks)
• *Shane – Jack Schaefer (class novel for the 4^th nine weeks)

*Students will need to get their own copies of these texts.

Required Materials:

·         Notebook paper

·         Blue or Black ink pens (Pencils are for rough drafts only)

·         A three-ring binder with at least five dividers.

·         A writing journal (no spirals, please. A composition notebook works best.)

·         The texts listed in the above section

·         Required novels for the class (It is recommended that you purchase these as you will be graded for annotating the novels.)

Grades: For each grading period, grades will be calculated as follows:

      Major Grades:                                                                                   50%

      (Exams, major papers, and projects)

      Quiz Grades:                                                                                      25%

      (Reading check, vocabulary, smaller writing assignments, etc.) 

      Daily Grades                                                                                      25%

      (Classwork, homework, participation etc.)

No-Zero Policy: Zeroes for any kind of assignment will not be accepted. If a student fails to turn in a daily or major assignment, he or she will be required to turn in the assignment the next class day for a grade no higher than a 70.  After this grace period, the maximum grade will drop to a 50 and will remain at 50 until the assignment is turned in. If the student does not turn in missing assignments, his or her grade will be an Incomplete (“I”) until the work is turned in. Receiving an “I” will affect eligibility for extracurricular activities. Please see the Student Handbook for more details on this policy.

Attendance/Makeup Work: Attendance is extremely important to every student’s success in the class. If you know you will be absent, please let me know so I can give you the assignments ahead of time. If you are absent the day a major assignment is due, send it with a friend or relative. If you are absent due to a field trip, or you miss only my class for the day, you are still responsible for turning in work at the assigned time.

You are responsible for finding out about makeup work and turning it in on time.

Honor Code: I expect you to be an honorable student who upholds The North Hills Honor Code. An honorable student does not participate in plagiarism, cheating, or any other dishonest or disrespectful behavior. To remind you of the importance of the honor code, I will require you to HANDWRITE the following pledge and sign your name at the end of each and every homework paper, quiz, test, essay, project, etc.:

"I pledge that this work is my own."

I will not accept any work that does not contain this pledge.

Quality Work: You are always expected to turn in professional, quality work, whether it is a daily or major assignment. Quality work…

·         has the proper heading and title

·         is word-processed or written neatly in blue or black ink

·         is written in complete sentences

·         is proofread and written neatly

Three Ring Binder:  (see Required Materials) You are required to keep a binder with sections for this class. Your binder should be organized in the following order:

1.      The first page in your binder should be your current syllabus. You may throw away any old syllabi.

2.      The second page should be the classroom guidelines.

3.      Divider #1: Daily Grammar Practice packet (DGP)

4.      Divider #2: Class Handouts. This section is for any handouts that we will use throughout the year. All handouts will usually be labeled as a class handout in the upper right hand corner.

5.      Divider #3: Daily/ Quiz Grades: Put all daily assignments and quizzes in this section. You may empty this section at the end of each nine weeks.

6.      Divider #4: Major Grades: Put all tests and major writing assignments in this section. DO NOT THROW THESE PAPERS AWAY! They will be added to your portfolio.

7.      Divider #5: Vocabulary

I will do periodic checks of the notebook for a daily grade.

Writing Journal: (see Required Materials) You will keep a writing journal in class that will be used for shorter writing topics and for Daily Grammar Practice (DGP). This should be purchased within the first week of school.