English 10.2

Instructor: Courtney Gaylord

E-mail: cgaylord@indiana.edu

Online Office Hours: Monday-Friday 1-2:00 pm ET, by appointment

Zoom office link:  https://iu.zoom.us/j/2480351754

 

Required Texts: 

In this class, we will not use a textbook. However, much of the course is centered around the book Sugar Changed the World.

• You can find the book's full information on Amazon.com by clicking here.
• You can check out an e-book version of Sugar Changed the World, by clicking here. You will need to set up an account with Open Library to check out the book, but both the account and the book are free.

All texts or other readings we use will be provided in online form. 

Course Description:  

This one-semester course, intended for 10th grade students, will hone students’ reading, writing, and research skills, as they work toward their Capstone Project - producing a podcast.

An outline of the course is available here.

Feel free to use this Pacing Guide Links to an external site. – this will allow you to create an individualized study schedule for this course, or any class you are taking.

This course is skill-based. It will not focus on memorizing names of authors or characters; neither will it primarily test students on the recall of plot details. Instead, it will satisfy the Indiana ELA learning standards for grade 10, the guiding principle of which is as follows:

 

Guiding Principle: Students read a wide range of fiction, nonfiction, classic, and contemporary works, to build an understanding of texts, of themselves, and of the cultures of the United States and the world; to acquire new information; to respond to the needs and demands of society and the workplace. Students apply a wide range of strategies to comprehend, interpret, evaluate, and appreciate texts. They read a wide range of literature in many genres from a variety of time periods and cultures from around the world to build an understanding of the many dimensions (e.g., philosophical, ethical, aesthetic) of human experience. They draw on their prior experience, their interactions with other readers and writers, and reading skills that they have developed and refined.

 

Course Learning Outcomes: 

Upon successful completion of this course, students will be able to interact with fiction and nonfiction in the following ways:

1. Locate reliable information using appropriate online tools.
2. Use and cite the sources that they find. 
3. Recognize and understand literary and poetic terminology including figurative language, imagery, alliteration, allusion, characterization, and theme. 
4. Connect the cultural context of a text to its literary meaning.
5. Recognize and analyze tone and biased language.

Upon successful completion of this course, students will be able to produce written texts that do the following:

1. Summarize and evaluate what they read.
2. Focus and structure a narrative, including appropriate use of sensory language, strong verbs, and dialogue. 
3. Focus and structure a piece of informative writing, based on reliable, properly cited information.
4. Construct fluid sentences that vary in structure and in length.
5. Use knowledge of the writing process to write, rewrite, revise, and edit informational and narrative texts. 
6. Employ appropriate technologies to locate and correct errors and weaknesses in their writing.

Upon successful completion of this course, students will be able to use digital media that display original ideas and connections in a form appropriate to their audience and purpose. 

 

Grading policy:

Lessons: For each lesson, you will be graded for completion. If your work on any one part of the lesson is incomplete, you will not receive the points for that part of the lesson. 

Proctored exams and reflections: At the end of each module (usually called a “unit” in brick-and-mortar classrooms), you will take a proctored assessment. The proctored assessment will give you multiple ways to demonstrate what you have learned in the module. If you have worked hard, asked questions, and studied your teacher’s feedback during the regular lessons, you will be prepared for the assessments. Tests will not require you to “cram” or even to study, beyond making sure you have fully understood the work of the lessons. These will not be tests of memorization but rather assessments of your learning. 

Final project: Your final project for this course will be a polished, engaging podcast. Your podcast should showcase all that you have learned during this course.

Annotations: In this course, you will make notes on the required online texts using a free program called Perusall. 

 

Grading Breakdown

Type of Assignment	Percentage of total grade	Points possible
Lessons	20%	70
Proctored exams and reflections	50%	175
Final project	20%	70
Annotations	10%	35

 

Grade Scale

 97-100            A+

96-93               A

92-90           A-

89-87           B+

86-83           B

82-80           B-

79-77           C+

76-73           C

72-70           C-

69-67           D+

66-63           D

62-60           D-

59-0             F