English 9

Mr. Pettine

August 5, 2015

Welcome!

Sit at one of the front four tables. Your seat will be assigned within the first week. Once seats are assigned, you MUST sit at your assigned seat.

Chairs will be arranged in different patterns as the class assignment demands.

Introduction Activity

1.) Take out sheet of paper and write 5 things that you think are important to know about yourself. This may include favorite books, music, movies, shows. This may be a list.

2.) On the same sheet of paper, tell me about your last English class. What did you read in class? What did you write for class? What did you like or dislike about the class? This should

be a single paragraph.

Mr. Pettine

Born in New York

Grew up in Acworth, GA

Graduated from University of Georgia (English)

Graduated from Piedmont College (Secondary English Education)

Currently in graduate school at Valdosta State

My Interests

Literature

Baseball

80s music

Teaching English!

What are we doing here?

High school students will employ strong, thorough, and explicit textual evidence in their literary analyses and technical research. They will understand the development of multiple ideas through details and structure and track the development of complex characters and advanced elements of plot such as frame narratives and parallel storylines. Student writing will reflect the ability to argue effectively, employing the structure, evidence, and rhetoric necessary in the composition of effective, persuasive texts. Students will be able to construct college-ready research papers of significant length in accordance with the guidelines of standard format styles such as APA and MLA. Students in high school will have built strong and varied vocabularies across multiple content areas, including technical subjects. They will skillfully employ rhetoric and figurative language, purposefully construct tone and mood, and identify lapses in reason or ambiguities in texts… Students will graduate with the fully developed ability to communicate in multiple modes of discourse demonstrating a strong command of the rules of Standard English. -- https://www.georgiastandards.org/Common-Core/Pages/ELA-9-12.aspx

What does it mean?

We’re jumping up! We’ll be dealing with more “adult” topics and texts – Homer’s Odyssey (8th Cent. BC) and Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet (1595)

You’ll be doing more work independently – I won’t always be holding your hand.

But… We will be here as a guide and resource. We want to help you find answers to your questions.

Units

You will have four units during the school year.

Unit I – Odyssey (Epic Poetry)

Unit II – To Kill a Mockingbird (Research)

Unit III – Novel (Theme / Setting)

Unit IV – Romeo and Juliet (Drama)

What does it mean?

Your papers will be more “professional.” Research paper, creative writing paper, response to literature

Less about “you,” more about the text or topic

Where did you get your information? Credit and cite your sources accurately

Grammar and Word Roots – How does language work? How can I decipher a word that I do not understand?

Why is this important?

The Humane

“these studies are the food of youth, the delight of old age; the ornament of prosperity, the refuge and comfort of adversity; a delight at home, and no hindrance abroad; they are companions by night, and in travel, and in the country.” – Cicero

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The Humane

�”Someone said, the dead writers are so remote from us because we know so much more than they did. Precisely, and they are that which we know.” – T.S. Eliot

“Because of this, the young man or woman writing today has forgotten the problems of the human heart at conflict with itself which alone can make good writing because only that is worth writing about, worth the agony and the sweat.”

Why is this important?

The Practical

All jobs require that you think logically, write in Standard English, and be able to read challenging texts

All colleges and vocational schools expect you to be able to read, write, and think at a high level of achievement

The Syllabus

Read over syllabus

School Rules

No hats

You may not leave class in first 30 minutes unless dire emergency. This is a school rule – not ours. Don’t like it? Talk to administration.

Bathroom breaks will be rare – you have five minutes between classes, use them for bathroom / water fountain.

You must receive permission to leave classroom. You must have handbook and ID at all times in order to receive permission to leave classroom. NO EXCEPTIONS – EVEN IF YOU LOSE HANDBOOK… YOU MAY NOT BORROW SOMEONE ELSE’S HANDBOOK

School Rules

Dress Code WILL be enforced. Make sure you read p. 22-24 in handbook

Tardy Policy:

1-2 Tardies: Warning

3-7: Lunch Detention

8-10: ISS for class

11+: ISS for entire day

Technology

We will be using computers during assigned classes.

Internet usage is for EDUCATION only. No social network sites, no chat sites, no commercial usage

Please read “Netiquette” on p. 25

Technology

You may have a cell phone

You may not use cell phone in class – It should be present, not seen. This is not a technology class

If I see it, it will be taken for class period. If a recurring problem, you will be referred to administration.

If I ask for your phone, you must give it to us. Failure to give up phone will result in write up.

Don’t Do This!

Format

All work, with the exception of Scantron tests, must be done in pen.

How you head you paper (MLA Style)

Upper left corner:

Firstname Last Name

Mr. Pettine

English 09 or ENGL 09

8 August 2015 (Date in military style)

Classroom Rules

1.) Come to class on time and ready to learn. There will – almost always – be an opening activity on the board. If this is second block, you will have silent sustained reading, followed by opener.

The opener is expected to be completed quickly. This will likely be a grammar or vocabulary exercise. You will be directed as to where you may pick up your needed papers.

Classroom Rules

2.) Follow instructions at all times. Many of the problems encountered in this course result from a lack of following instructions – whether curriculum or behavior-related.

Do not “try” me – everyone has a bad day, but this is not the place for establishing whatever it is you think you’re establishing. “Keeping it real” will go wrong.

Classroom Rules

3.) Remain on task at all times.

You are high schoolers, high school behavior is expected. The Ninth Grade Academy is NOT another year of middle school.

Classroom Rules

4.) Keep hands, legs, and all personal items to yourself. This is self-explanatory.

Classroom Rules

5.) No teasing, bullying, or harassment of fellow students or teachers.

You are here for one reason – to learn the skills needed to successfully complete this course. High School English builds upon itself, the skills learned here will be reinforced and deepened in 10th Grade and thereafter…

Classroom Rules

6.) Do not draw on or deface school property.

Classroom Virtues

Now that we know what we shouldn’t do…

The Greek philosopher Aristotle believed that we learn how to act by practicing what we should do – He call this “practicing virtue”

Virtue – “Behavior showing excellence”

Think about how we can practice these qualities as we look at each “virtue”

Trust

Trust: firm belief in the reliability, truth, ability, or strength of someone or something.

“It is impossible to go through life without trust: that is to be imprisoned in the worst cell of all, oneself.” – Graham Greene

Respect

Respect: a feeling of admiration for someone or something due to their abilities, qualities, or achievements.

“Being brilliant is no great feat if you respect nothing.” – Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe

Responsibility

Responsibility: “the state or fact of being accountable or to blame for something “

“You cannot escape the responsibility of tomorrow by evading it today.” – Abraham Lincoln

Prudence

Prudence: the ability to govern and discipline oneself by the use of reason

“Give thy thoughts no tongue, / Nor any unproportioned thought his act. “ – William Shakespeare

“Think before you act”

Fortitude

Fortitude: strength of mind that enables a person to encounter danger or bear pain or adversity with courage

If you can keep your head when all about you / Are losing theirs and blaming it on you, / If you

can trust yourself when all men doubt you, / But make allowance for their doubting too; /

If you can wait and not be tired by waiting, / Or being lied about / … you’ll be a Man, my

son!” – Rudyard Kipling

Group Activity

In your group, discuss how you can show your “virtue” in the classroom.

Take five minutes to discuss. Appoint a leader to read what you discovered about your virtue.

Letter of Introduction

Letter of Introduction – DUE Monday, August 10

1st paragraph: tell me who you are

2nd paragraph: tell me something special about you and any clubs, sports, after-school activities you’re involved in

3rd paragraph: Your experience with reading. What genres do you read, etc.?

Letter of Introduction

4th paragraph: Plans after high school. If you’re going to college or into the military, have you begun researching entrance requirements, scholarships, etc.?

5th paragraph: What do you expect out of this class? (grade, learning) How do you feel about your grades? (Are you happy with barely getting by (70)? Or do you push yourself to maintain higher grades (As)?

Letter of Introduction

Your letters should include the 5 parts of a friendly letter: heading, greeting, body (above paragraph requirements), closing, and signature.

You will be graded on the presence of these five parts.