Welcome to Ms. Gostlin's English 9 page!

Visit this page for class procedures, assignments, grades, and announcements.

 

Announcements/Assignments/Handouts
Fourth Nine Weeks Writing Portfolio DUE: Friday, June 1!
Pointers for Citing Texts
How to Create a Bibliography in MLA Style

Reading Journal Guidelines

 

Weekly Schedule

English 9 meets first period (8:00-9:15) Tuesday-Friday. 

    Tuesday/Thursday: Writing Workshop

    Wednesday/Friday:  Reading Focus

Class Expectations

In order to help class run smoothly and aid in your learning, these expectations must be followed:

    1) Show, at all times, respect for other students, the teacher, and yourself.

    2) Be on time.  That means in the room and at your seat before class starts.

    3) Come to class prepared.

 

Grading Policy

All work is due at the beginning of class on the day required, unless otherwise instructed.  Because it is extremely important to learn good work habits, any work turned in after the assigned time will be deducted 10% (one full letter grade) for each day it is late.

 

Absences

If you are absent, you are the one responsible for finding out about any missing work and turning it in.  For each day you are absent, you are granted two days as a grace period to make up work before it is counted as late.  If you are absent two days, you would have four days to make up missing work.  If you are absent for more than three days in a row, we will work together on a special make-up plan.  If you have a planned absence and would like to request work before you leave, you must do so a minimum of two days before you will be out. 

 

Thinkwave

I have a computer grade book program that allows me to quickly figure out your grade, see how many days you’ve missed, and many other nice features.  One thing it does is let me publish your grades on the internet, allowing you to access them any time you are near a computer with an internet connection.  Sometime in the next few days I will give you your own login name and password.  Once you have those, you may begin checking your grades.  You will also be able to change your login name & password to something that is easy for you to remember.  I will also issue separate login names & passwords to your parents or guardians, so they will be able to check your grades online as well.  Visit Thinkwave at http://www.thinkwave.com.

 

Reading Expectations

    Free Choice Reading: Beginning the second week of classes all students are required to read at least 100 minutes per week—20 minutes a night for at least five out of seven days each week.  Students are to record each reading session in their reading logs.  A parent or guardian must sign the logs at the end of each week in order for you to receive credit for the reading.  Extra reading will be rewarded with extra credit, as long as it is documented and signed on the Reading Log sheet.  I will check these logs each Friday at the beginning of the class period.  Students will be accountable for this reading through group and individual projects, writing and assignments, and conferences with me.  Your nightly reading will be worth 25 points each week.

    Reading Journal: At the beginning of the period every Friday you must turn in a Reading Journal in response to your free reading.  You will be given a notebook in which to write these journals.  These notebooks must be used.  The Reading Journals will be worth 20 points each.

    Yearly reading requirements:  You are required to read at least eight books of 100+ pages by the end of the school year.  That equals 2 books per nine weeks.  Unless otherwise stated, this does not include assigned class reading.  This will factor into your grade.  Each week, as discussed above, you will have a nightly reading assignment.  You will also be given some time for reading in class.  You will be given a reading record sheet where you will list and rank all books you read this year.  This is to be turned in at the end of each nine weeks.

    Specific Assigned Reading:  You will also be given reading assignments.  Unless otherwise stated, these are to be done in addition to the outside reading assignments as listed above.  This will generally depend on the length and difficulty of the piece selected for assigned reading.

                

Writing Expectations

    Writing Workshop:  The bi-weekly Writing Workshops will be discussed in greater detail during class.  On these days we will begin class with a short lesson on some component of writing.  These lessons may involve group work, class discussion, individual work, or lecture.  The rest of the period you will work on a piece of writing.  A large portion of your grade will be dependent on how well you use your class time.  During these workshops I expect you to either be working on a draft, discussing a draft in a peer review conference, or conferencing with me on the status of your draft.  You will work at your own pace and on a piece of your choosing, but must keep in mind the quarterly Writing Portfolio as mentioned below.

    Writing Portfolio: You will build a writing portfolio each nine weeks.  To be eligible for an A or B, your portfolio must contain at least two new, completed pieces the first two nine weeks and at least three new, completed pieces the last two nine weeks.  By the end of the year your portfolio must contain at least twelve polished, completed pieces.  Each piece in your portfolio must be typed in order for you to receive credit for it.  By the end of the year, your portfolio must contain at least one of each of the following pieces, in addition to any others you decide to include.  You may write so that some of the topics overlap.  For example, you may write a research paper that uses scientific facts (8) to try to persuade someone not to start smoking (2).

 

Types of writing for portfolio:

1) One memoir essay of at least eight paragraphs

2) One persuasive essay/letter of at least eight paragraphs

3) One comparison/contrast essay of at least eight paragraphs

4) One imaginative story of at least eight paragraphs

5) One poem of any style

6) One newspaper article of at least eight paragraphs 

7) One English-related research paper of at least two full pages

8) One interdisciplinary research paper of at least two full pages

9) One play (full or an act) of at least two full pages

10, 11, 12) Your choice.  You may repeat one of the above assignments, or choose another type of writing such as: song lyrics; movie/TV show/commercial script; television news article; National Enquirer type article; speech script; another type of writing if approved by me.

Parents and students: check grades at http://www.thinkwave.com/!

Email me at cgostlin@colosys.net.

Visit my class web pages at http://www.oocities.org/cgostlin.