The Virtual Academy

English Syllabus 2021-2022*

Ms. Fodnaess

mafodnaess@cps.edu

Class Meeting Link: g.co/meet/vafodnaess

Conferences scheduled upon request

Ms. Hagy, NBCT

www.learnforjoy.com 

Mrs. Hagy’s Daily Agenda

E-mail: syhagy@cps.edu

Class Meeting Link: g.co/meet/vahagy

Conferences scheduled upon request

Grade Components-English Class

Texts & Websites

Various novels, articles, poems

Teacher websites

Edmentum

CPS Skyline

CPS Databases

NoRedInk.com

Flocabulary

IXL

Word within The Word

Quizlet

learnforjoy.com

Google Classroom/Google suite

Nearpod

Virtual  Learning Class Structure

Content Overview

The Virtual Academy English Department provides a great place for our students to grow as readers, writers and young adults. We seek to empower students and enrich their literary experience. Our program promotes self-discovery, mutual respect, collaboration and unity through readings, projects, publications, and discussions. Our goal is to match curricula to the interests, cultures, backgrounds, and experiences of our students through an exploration of literature, historical documents, media, the arts, social movements, activism, and virtual field trips. English at Virtual Academy is a four year program and a graduation requirement. This year, we will work with our individual students on reading and writing skills using the Edmentum online curriculum as well as various supplemental sources in Google classroom.

Students will cultivate their understanding of writing and rhetorical arguments through reading, analyzing and writing texts as they explore topics like rhetorical situations, claims and evidence, reasoning, organization and style. Our department provides the integration of 1:1 devices and instruction. We will utilize these devices to compose essays, work on projects, conduct research and work towards effective communication. Our department provides a supportive and rigorous curriculum that is rich in diverse perspectives from different cultures and groups of people. Our curriculum also emphasizes improving and experimenting in writing. Required courses include English I, II, III and IV. Students have the option of taking Honors literature as part of our courses where they cultivate their understanding of literature through reading and analyzing texts as they explore concepts like character, setting, structure, perspective, figurative language and literary analysis in the context of literary works.

Each quarter, students will continue to work on developing vocabulary through daily reading and the Word within the Word program. Word within the Word teaches students how to use word stems to figure out the meaning of words. Grammar skills will be covered through the writing and editing process along with NoRedInk. Students will focus on synonyms and antonyms, analogies and context clues. We will be working on literary analysis writing to synthesize information. Students will continue to develop their editing skills.

Students are expected to complete the reading of texts, annotate and complete the assigned work during class. As always, students may ask if they have any questions regarding the assignments.  Specific project requirements and rubrics will be detailed in a separate handout which will be posted on teacher websites.

Earned Honors

To provide equitable access to honors credit, all students will have the opportunity to earn honors credit in this course. Earned Honors assignments, which will require a greater depth of understanding, will be scored in a 0% weighted category in Aspen. At the end of the semester, students who have an 80% or higher in the Earned Honors category will have their transcript changed from a regular-level course to an honors-level course. Students must have an overall class grade of a C or higher to qualify for honors credit.

Expectations for the Parent/Guardian

Communication is the backbone of a collaborative teacher/student/parent relationship.  Not only do you need to know if your child is struggling with a particular topic or concept, but you also want to know when your child is experiencing success.  Please review your child’s English assignments in the student agenda, on teacher websites and on ASPEN to monitor progress and to see how each grade was earned. I post a daily agenda on my website which is available to you. It details both what we worked on in class as well as classwork, long-term projects and assessment reminders. Study guides and assignments are made available electronically in Google Classroom. It is the parent’s responsibility to monitor their child’s progress in Aspen. Grades are entered regularly and reflect your child’s current grade. A progress report will be sent at the five-week period.

It is important to look over progress reports when they are sent because they are of a timely nature.  Please help your child by encouraging them to write down their assignments, go over study guides and classwork and make sure they are ready for class on a daily basis by logging in on time. Please encourage your child to read during their free time.

The fastest, most efficient way to communicate with us is through email. Please do not hesitate to contact me if you have any questions or concerns. Please allow 24 hours for a response from Monday to Friday.

Expectations for the Student

• Students are expected to log in to class on time every day and bring the materials listed below to class every day. Students who are 20 or more minutes late to class will be marked tardy in Aspen.
• All assignments are to be submitted on time using Google Classroom and be reflective of students’ best efforts.
• Assignments that are emailed to teachers will not be accepted. Students are asked to follow directions for assignment submission.
• If a student is in need of login assistance (resetting CPS password, etc.), they must go to portal.id.cps.edu for help resetting their password or contact the Virtual Academy for assistance.
• Students are to be well-behaved, engaged and follow all school rules.
• Students are expected to be respectful and collaborative towards their teachers, their classmates, and themselves.
• Students will have classwork every day and are required to submit assignments on time and participate in learning
• Students will have to annotate the daily independent readings– watch for daily due dates in which the annotations will be submitted in Google classroom.
• The more your child reads the better.
• Students will have vocabulary stems frequently (from the Word within the Word curriculum) to build their vocabulary.
• Please encourage your child to study, this is optional but a great way to reinforce skills.

Materials Needed for Each Class Session

• A charged chromebook or laptop
• Student agenda/planner
• Assigned novel (assigned at various times through the year - novels need to be brought to class daily)
• Annotations, Socratic seminar questions
• Pens (dark blue or black)/pencils, markers/colored pencils/crayons
• Post-its
• One three ring binder (two inch) or accordion folder
• Loose leaf paper (to be replenished through the year)
• Composition notebooks
• 2 highlighters of different colors

Late Work/ Make-Up Work

Both Edmentum and Google classroom assignments must be turned in as detailed by the teachers, on the day/time they are due. Teachers will work with students to ensure that they remain on pace. Due dates reflect students’ specific academic needs. Assignments that are not submitted on time are considered late. Major long-term projects are always due on the assigned date, even if the student is absent. If there is an extreme emergency, please contact the teacher and make an alternative arrangement.  Computer and internet problems do not constitute extreme emergencies as we will work on all Edmentum and long-term assignments during class time throughout the quarter.

Students who have not completed assignments and their work is more than one day late will receive one-on-one guidance and support to complete; it is the student’s responsibility to turn it in to the teacher no later than one day past the due date. It is the student’s responsibility to turn in assignments on time in Edmentum and in Google Classroom. Teachers will work with students to help them meet these deadlines and due dates.

Absences

Students are allowed one day only per excused absence day to make up assignments.  Students who miss virtual learning sessions are considered absent. It is the student’s responsibility to get make-up work the following day.  If absent, students are expected to check the teacher websites to go over missed material, Google classroom and ask a classmate for missed class notes.

Any quizzes or tests missed should be made up before or after school so students do not miss any additional classroom instruction. Upon returning to school, students have a maximum of three days to make up quizzes or tests. This is due to the timely nature of the assessments and the sequential order in which our Edmentum curriculum is structured. Students tend to score poorly if a prolonged period of time lapses between instruction and the time in which assessments are taken.

Academic Honesty & Integrity Policy

The Virtual Academy expects academic honesty and integrity of all students. The educational program at Virtual Academy stresses more than simply the acquisition of skills and knowledge. Students explore the ethical and moral implications of many issues, yet no issue is more important than the student’s own honesty and integrity.

It is the responsibility of the faculty and parents/guardians to educate and ensure students demonstrate ethical and moral behavior through honesty and integrity. All teachers explicitly teach students what Academic Honesty means in the context of their class at the beginning of the course.

The Virtual Academy community expects that students assume responsibility for their own learning and demonstrate the breadth and depth of that learning honestly. Any submission of assessments that are not one’s own efforts harms one’s ability to fully learn and improve skills.

Any demonstration of one’s learning should be a product of the student’s own efforts. To offer someone else’s work as if it were one’s own is dishonest and is a serious breach of the “Honesty and Integrity Policy.”

Assisting another to be dishonest is also a serious breach of judgment. The Virtual Academy uses various software tools to scan student assignments to identify any plagiarism.

If a student does not demonstrate Academic Honesty the following will occur:

• 1st Occurrence

• Teacher, Student &  Parent conference. After a conference with parents, the teacher must log notes on the conference and share it with the Dean.
• Dean is notified & enters occurrence into Aspen
• The student is required to complete and submit a new assignment demonstrating required skills & proper citations
• The grade for the assignment is at the discretion of the teacher. The teacher has the ability to give a zero for the assignment.
• Restorative consequence: The student watches an Academic Honesty tutorial with the Dean and writes a 250-word reflection of what they will do differently next time.

• 2nd Occurrence (in any course during Virtual Academy enrollment)

• Teacher, Student, Dean & Parent conference
• Dean is notified & enters occurrence into Aspen
• The student is required to complete and submit a new assignment demonstration required skills & proper citations
• If this occurrence is in the same class, the teacher has the ability to give a zero.
• Warning letter placed in the student record file
• Restorative consequence: The student is required to create a video presentation or write a 1000 word reflection explaining the type of academic dishonesty they engaged in and advice for how to avoid this type of dishonesty in the future.
• Suspended from all extracurricular activities for 5 weeks

• 3rd Occurrence (in any course during Virtual Academy enrollment)

• Administrator, Student & Parent Conference to discuss student’s ongoing enrollment relationship with The Virtual Academy
• Dean is notified & enters occurrence into Aspen
• The student is required to complete and submit a new assignment demonstration required skills & proper citations
• Warning letter placed in the student record file
• The student will not receive credit for the course.
• Suspended from all extracurricular activities for 1 season

Student Bell Schedule 2021-2022

*This syllabus is subject to change.