Thursday, August 30, 2007

Friday August 31, 2007

1. Check blog on Sunday evening for next week's assignments
2. Rubric for "Why Johnny Can't Pass His Fitness Test" essay in class
3. "Why Johnny Can't Pass His Fitness Test" essay due on Wednesday, September 5
4. Dialectical Journals are due
5. Questions on online syllabi assigned and due on Tuesday
6. Labor Day Holiday on Monday
7. Parent Letter and Academic/Behavior Standards documents due today, Friday

Wednesday, August 29, 2007

Thursday August 30, 2007

1. Coursework survey due today in class
2. Parent Letter/Academic and Behavior Standards due Friday
3. Dialectical Journals Collected
4. "Why Johnny Can't Pass His Fitness Test" explained and assigned
5. Great job in class today, Wednesday!

Tuesday, August 28, 2007

Opening Day August 29, 2007

1. Coursework Survey
2. Parent Letter/Academic and Behavior Standards
3. Grade Ten Reflective Letter
4. Collect Dialectical Journals

Wednesday, August 22, 2007

Opening Days Academic and Behavior Standards

Students follow classroom, academic and behavioral standards so that instruction proceeds in an organized manner creating a learning environment conducive for all learners. These standards include, but are not limited to, obeying rules set by the school as well as by the classroom teacher. Student progress is demonstrated on periodic reports to parents with marks of excellent, satisfactory, and unsatisfactory in academics, cooperation, and work habits.


Classroom Standards
1. No student sound-emitting devices or cell phones of any type are to be displayed or used during any portion of classroom instruction including homeroom. Headwear policy is stated in the school’s memorandum.
2. School tardy policy requires students who are tardy to be marked so when arriving late to any class. A student is considered tardy when not seated before the bell rings at beginning of classes.
3. Profane language and ethnic slurs are not permitted in classes since both respect and tolerance is expected of students and teachers.
4. Defiance of authority and failure to follow rules will result in a warning to student and subsequently, calls to parents, referrals to counselors, track coordinator, and track administrator.
5. Students are encouraged to enthusiastically participate in class work, including discussions and assignments, and to bring required textbooks to class daily, unless otherwise noted by teacher. Textbooks are loaned to you and must be returned in the same condition as they were issued; if they are lost or damaged, you will be financially responsible.
6. Sleeping in class and inattentiveness is discouraged.


Academic and Behavior Standards
1. Bring notebook, pen, completed assignments,
textbook, and other necessary materials to class.
2. Hand in class work and homework on time.
3. Start assignment promptly; work diligently
without disturbing others.
4. Follow instructions and be courteous at all times.
Name-calling is not permitted.
5. Enjoy food or drinks during nutrition or lunch, not
in class.
6. Leave the class only after the teacher dismisses
students. The bell does not necessarily signify the
dismissal of students.

Assignment and Composition Format
1. Use notebook paper with holes on the left. Torn and/or ragged-edged papers from spiral notebooks are not accepted.
2. The three-line heading written in the upper right hand corner (above the lines) must include first and last name, class and/or period identification (e.g. Period 2, English 10), and the date. No abbreviations are to be used in the heading.
3. Choose an appropriate title for all assigned work. Center and correctly capitalize it on the top line.
4. Skip one line between the title and the body.
5. Most assignments may be typed or completed in neat, legible manuscript or cursive. Avoid work in pencil; use blue or black non-smear ink. Students must run spell and grammar check on typed documents before submission.
6. Use paragraph form. Indent, and observe left and right paper margins.

Grades, Points, and Marks
1. Use the following points/percentages for interpreting scores and marks earned on your assignments. Most will carry a weight of either 10, 25, or 50 points.
A+=100; A>=97.5; A->=92.5; B+>=88.5; B>=86; B->=82.5; C+>=78.5; C>=76; C->=72.5; D+>=68.5; D>=66; D->=62.5; FAIL>=0
2. Assignments and grades include, but are not limited to, homework, tests, quizzes, projects, journals, dispatches, compositions, summaries, listening and speaking activities, research reports, and portfolio entries. Late or missing assignments will adversely affect your overall grade.
3. Work Habits and Cooperation Marks. E-Excellent; S-Satisfactory; U-Unsatisfactory. For a complete explanation of these marks, ask for the Criteria For Marks handout.
4. Ask Three, Then Me. Handouts and class notes missed due to absences should be obtained from fellow classmates the day following the absence. You are responsible for making up any assignments that are due. (See other side for late work policy.)

Welcome to Fall Term, 2007-2008. I wish you success as you begin your endeavor to complete the coursework necessary to earn a high school diploma and satisfy post-secondary educational goals and requirements.

Monday, August 13, 2007

Fall 2007 Letter to Parents

August 15, 2007

Welcome to the Fall Semester 2007-2008. Parents are encouraged to take an active role in students’ educational goals and to assist them in making certain that all outside reading and homework assignments, note taking activities, test preparation requirements, and individual or group project work is independently completed on time and submitted by the due date. Periodic grade reports will be issued to students who should apprise parents of how they are progressing in their coursework. This periodic assessment can help to identify the emotional and intellectual maturity of the student and signal instructional intervention strategies that may be necessary to avert poor academic performance. Students should expect rigorous studies as they undertake the challenges of demanding Advanced Placement English Language, Honors Ten English and Grade Eleven American Literature and Contemporary Composition curriculums. If parents wish to contact me, I can be reached by e-mail at jcarmicl@lausd.net or on school voice mail, which I check frequently during the semester, at 323-461-3891 Extension 419. Homework and other necessary communication is posted on my web log at hollywoodhighschool.net and is updated frequently.

Late Work Policy

It is the policy of this class that students who are absent and provide an acceptable excuse may make up any assignment or test the day following their return to class; the assignment or test will be scored and returned to students. Students must mark “absent” on the assignment or test. If an assignment or test is not completed on the day following the return to class, the assignment or test will be scored as “credit” only and not receive a letter grade. A “credit” will replace the “0” the test or assignment would have received. That “credit” neither raises nor lowers the students’ overall grade average. Verified truancies and unexcused absences from class are exempted from earning make up work credit; students will receive no credit for any make up work submitted.

Off-track assignments such as AP Long Forms and Dialectical Journals must be submitted on time and will receive a “credit” only and not a letter grade if received past due dates, that is “by the end of the first week of instruction” for the semester.

Academic and Behavior Standards are explained on the reverse side of this letter. This document will be printed and sent home with students the first week of the new semester. Students should review these rules with you, print their names, and ask you to sign and return this document signifying your understanding and acceptance of these classroom directives. If you have questions or concerns, contact me at the voice mail number or e-mail address provided; I will contact you as soon as possible.

Please plan to attend two important school events in the next several weeks. Back-To-School Night and PHBAO Parent Conference Night are both excellent opportunities for you to learn more about what is being taught in the classroom and how your son or daughter is progressing in their coursework.

Respectfully yours,




James B. Carmicle
School For Advanced Studies
Hollywood High School
August 2007

Friday, August 10, 2007

Contact Information for Questions

You may contact me at jcarmicl@lausd.net for questions about this blog.

Wednesday, August 08, 2007

Grade Ten Honors English Syllabus 2007-2008

Instructional Dates/Material To Be Covered/Semester A

August 29-August 31
Coursework Survey; Course Description and Academic/Behavior Standards; Letter to Parents; The Writing Process, Composition Rubric, and Proofreader's Marks; Handbook of Literary Terms (995); Grammar Handbook (1021)

Essay One: "Why Johnny Can't Pass His Fitness Test" Due: Sept. 4

September 3
Labor Day Holiday

September 4-7

Literature Genre: The Short Story
"The Cold Equations" Tom Godwin (9)
Barton, the pilot of a lightweight spacecraft, has only hours to help a teenage stowaway, Marilyn Lee Cross, understand and accept the inevitable and fatal consequences of her action.*
Differentiated Assignment--Changing the Ending: You are a researcher in the year 2196. You discover some pages of an ancient textbook containing a short story called "The Cold Equations." However, the final pages are missing. The last bit of text you can read is Marilyn's "I'm ready" on page 27. Write a plausible resolution for the story that is different from the present ending. Suppose you are an optimistic researcher. Is it possible to find a happy ending?*

September 10-14

"The Bet" Anton Chekhov (210)
In 19th Century Russia, a young lawyer agrees to undergo fifteen years of solitary confinement to prove that imprisonment for life is preferable to capital punishment.*
Differentiated Assignment--Debate: Where do you stand on the question of life imprisonment vs. the death penalty? Do you agree with the lawyer that, "to live anyhow is better than not at all"? Or do you believe as the banker does that a quick execution is more humane than a lifetime of confinement? Write an editorial for the school or local newspaper, expressing your views on the subject. Be sure to evaluate the conflicting claims of the community, of victims, of victims' families, and of convicted individuals. Using your editorial stand as a resource, participate in a classroom debate involving imprisonment vs. the death penalty.* Debate skills are covered on page 1018.

Persuasion Periodic Assessment Selection: "Ain't I A Woman?" Sojourner Truth

Essay: School Junk Food: Due September 17

September 17-21
"Through the Tunnel" Doris Lessing (277)
While on vacation at the seashore, Jerry learns about an underwater tunnel that older boys are swimming through. Determined to do the same, Jerry spends a week training for the event.*
Differentiated Assignment--Collage: A collage is an arrangement of images (photographs, magazine art, drawings), words, and other objects (sand, shells, stones, and so forth) glued to a surface. Make a collage called "The Wild Bay." Find words from the text that can go with your images. What mood do you wat to convey in your collage?*

September 24-28

Persuasion Periodic Assessment: Speeches by Bill Clinton and Cesar Chavez
Assessment Writing Task

October 1-5
Literature Genre: Nonfiction
"Hair" from The Autobiography of Malcolm X (345)
Malcolm X relates what he learned about himself the first time he conked his hair, turning it straight, like a white person's hair.*
Differentiated Assignment--Research/Drawing: Look up pictures of hairstyles throughout the course of history. Draw four or five of them, and write an informative caption for each. Some possible examples: conked hair; the pageboy; the Afro; cornrows; long hippie hair; punk hair; the crew cut; ponytail; ducktail; powdered wigs; the squash-blossom hairstyle of the Hopis.*

Essay: Violence in Video Games Due: October 8

Administration of the Persuasive Periodic Assessment

October 8-12
"No News From Auschwitz" Rosenthal (410)
A journalist visits the memorial at the infamous concentration camp of Auschwitz.*
Differentiated Assignment--Drawing, Poster, Collage, Exhibit: Maya Ying Lin was a twenty-one-year-old architecture student when she submitted the winning design for the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C.: two long black granite walls inscribed with the names of those who died in the war. Choose an important historic event (it does not have to be tragic) that interests you, and think about the visual ways that could be used to remind people of what happened and why it is important. You may want to brainstorm ideas with a partner or small group. Then, create a poster, a collage, an exhibit, or a model or drawing of a monument to memorialize the event.*


*Credit: Elements of Literature, 4th Course (Holt-Rinehart-Winston Publishing)

October 22-26

Literature Genre: Poetry
Forms of Poetry and Metrical Feet: Iambus, Trochee, Spondee, Dactyl, and Anapest; Marlowe-Raleigh-Housman's "Passionate Shepherd, Nymph's Reply and One and Twenty"; Literary Ballad: "Rime of the Ancient Mariner" Coleridge; Ballade: "She Dwelt Among the Untrodden Ways" Wordsworth; Blank Verse: Hamlet (Act I, Scene 3) Shakespeare; Limerick: "There was a young lady of Niger" Monkhouse; Octave: "Stanzas" Keats; Quatrain: "A Red, Red Rose" Burns; Septet: "Thy Love Unfeigned" Chaucer; Sestet: "She Walks in Beauty" Byron

October 29-November 2

Sonnets: "On First Looking Into Chapman's Homer" Keats; "No. 29" Shakespeare; "No. 116" Shakespeare; "Crossing the Bar" Tennyson; "Shall I Compare Thee to a Summer Day" Shakespeare; "Courage" Sexton; "Mending Wall" Frost; "Mother to Son" Hughes
Differentiated Assignment--Parody: A parody is a work that makes fun of another work by imitating some aspect of the writer's style. In her parody, "Mending Test" Penelope Bryant Turk, meaning no disrespect to Frost, offers her apologies at the outset. Work with a partner or group to parody the style or format of a poem or song lyric.

November 5-9

Wrap-up of Short Story, Nonfiction, and Poetry Genres

November 12
Veterans' Day Holiday


November 13-16
Literary Genre: Play
Introduction to The Tragedy of Julius Caesar, The Elizabethans and William Shakespeare

November 19-21
The Tragedy of Julius Caesar Act I

November 22-23
Thanksgiving Day Holiday


November 26-30

The Tragedy of Julius Caesar Act II

December 3-7
The Tragedy of Julius Caesar Act III

December 10-14
The Tragedy of Julius Caesar Act IV

December 17-21

The Tragedy of Julius Caesar Act V
Persuasive Essay on Mark Antony's Funeral Speech in Act III
Portfolio Preparation; Semester Evaluation; Final Examinations



THIS SYLLABUS IS BEING UPDATED OVER SEVERAL DAYS. STUDENTS SHOULD CHECK BLOG FOR POSTING OF NEW INFORMATION.