Syllabus
Welcome to Honors English 9!
Mrs. Alexander Druen mdruen@muhs.com
Course Goal: Students will be challenged to improve their critical thinking and analytic abilities as they become stronger, more confident readers, writers, and presenters. Combined with organization techniques, these skills will improve students’ future prospects, regardless of their career and education goals beyond high school.
Materials
Please bring these items every day.
If money is tight for your family, talk to your teacher. Resources are available to assist you.
Reading
→ Fahrenheit 451, a novel by Ray Bradbury
→ Romeo and Juliet, a tragic play by William Shakespeare
→ “St. Lucy’s Home for Girls Raised by Wolves,” a short story by Karen Russell
→ To Kill a Mockingbird, a novel by Harper Lee
→ Short stories, poems, articles, essays and more
→ As a general rule, you will not be expected to read in front of the whole class, but you will read aloud at times with a partner or small group.
Writing
→ Q1: Two Informative Essays
→ Q2: One Informative Essay
→ Q3: One Argumentative Essay
→ Q1-4: Paragraphs, Poetry, Creative Writing
Testing
→ You will take assessments throughout the year to measure your reading comprehension. Our goal is to use tests in a meaningful way so that you can set meaningful goals and chart your progress.
→ We will work on vocabulary and grammar throughout the school year. Tests to measure your growth in these areas will be given at the beginning and end of the school year.
Presenting
Plan on presentations in a small-group setting and one whole-class group presentation. We will also have informal presentations and debates.
Academic Integrity & Plagiarism
If you stole from a store and got caught, you would expect consequences. The same is true for stealing ideas and copying school work.
→ Your work must be original, meaning it comes from your brain, not AI or a friend’s brain.
→ Plagiarism is not tolerated. You will receive a zero for plagiarized work, an office referral, and contact home. Repeat offenses can result in a loss of credit based on MUHS policy.
Our number 1 rule: BE KIND!
Creating a safe learning environment
→ We want to support each other as learners, and we cannot do that if we do not respect each other. In a classroom setting, we are surrounded by a diverse group of people with different backgrounds, so we each need to do our part to make everyone comfortable. For example, you or your friends may not be offended by a race-related “joke” or a sexual slur, but it is probably hurtful to someone in the room.
→ Under Title IX federal law, we are required to report sexual misconduct of any kind, including verbal or physical aggression or intimidation.
Consequences & Rewards
→ Violating classroom or school-wide policies may result in any of these consequences:
→ Rewards may include positive emails, phone calls, or notes for parents/guardians, student choice for seating, and more.
MUHS Cell Phone/Electronics Protocol
PURPOSE: To create an educational environment free from distractions, improve student focus, and promote face-to-face interactions while still allowing appropriate use when necessary.
Students MAY NOT USE devices:
Students MAY USE devices for:
Emergencies
Consequences of Misuse
1st Offense: Phone/Device turned into the office until the end of the school day + parent/guardian will be notified..
2nd Offense: Phone/Device turned into the office until the end of the school day + parent/guardian MUST retrieve the phone/device.
3rd offense: Phone/Device turned into the office + meeting with parent/guardian + student placed on phone/device contract.
4th Offense: Possible suspension/restriction of device privileges.
Student & Parent/Guardian Agreement
During registration, all students and parents/guardians signed the Student Handbook Agreement, which outlines in detail the cell phone device protocols.
Student phones will be collected at the door in this classroom, a policy strongly supported by school administration.
Absences & Late Work
→ If you are absent, you are responsible for getting any missing work in a timely manner.
→ The teacher is responsible for providing you missing work and instructions after you advocate for yourself. Email is an excellent way to reach out to your teacher. The beginning of class is a difficult time as a teacher to explain previous lessons.
→ You have a week to turn in late assignments. If you were absent, make sure you note “ABSENT” and the date(s) you were gone at the top of the page. After one week, late work will not be accepted unless other arrangements have been made..
→ Turn in all late assignments to the red basket.
Food
& Drinks
→ You may have a snack or drink in class if you respect your area and clean up after yourself. Making a mess will result in loss of privilege.
→ Takis, Cheetos, & snacks of that nature are not allowed, nor are energy drinks.
→ You may NOT have snacks or drinks while using computers.
Parent Permission for Movies
Each year, we like to show movies that correspond with our reading. Sometimes we show the entire film and sometimes we only watch extended clips. These films are not simply for fun, although it’s true that students greatly enjoy them. Rather, this is an opportunity to enhance our students’ learning and critical thinking skills as we analyze differences in literary elements such as plot structure, mood, and tone.. However, the Motion Picture Association of America suggests parental guidance for anyone viewing these films under the age of 13, and our district procedures require us to notify you of this type of film use in our classrooms.
These films may include:
If you would like to obtain additional information on these films, we recommend using the International Movie Database website’s parent guide, www.imdb.com, to learn more. If additional questions exist, please do not hesitate to contact your student’s English teacher. We welcome your communication and your insight into what takes place in our classrooms!
Movie Permission
Reading Permission
Student Name (printed): _________________________________________ English Class Period ___
Parent/Guardian Signature: _______________________________________________________________
Parent Permission for Reading
All of these anchor texts have been approved by our district and have been taught at Mingus Union High School recently. To be as transparent as possible, we still like to inform parents of our reading choice and ask for permission since all of these texts do deal with mature topics, like abuse, poverty, censorship, violence, etc.
These anchor texts are:
If you would like to obtain additional information on these texts, we recommend using Common Sense Media’s website, www.commonsensemedia.org, to learn more. If additional questions still exist, please do not hesitate to contact your student’s English teacher. We welcome your communication and your insight into what takes place in our classrooms!