RUSHER, MATTHEW

Mr. Rusher

Welcome to one of my classes. If you joined one of my electives, thank you!

I look forward to an excellent year for all of us.

I will provide all assignments on Google Classroom.

My extra help will be on B, C and D days during lunch in room C-12. If you need to see me at another time, let me know and we will work something out.

Grading categories will be 50% major assessments, 30% minor assessments, and 20% homework/classwork.

In English 11 CP, please arrive with a writing implement and a notebook with pockets. You will sometimes take notes.

In Creative Writing, you have a daily writing requirement: your journal. It can be kept digitally or on paper. Be prepared to write in class every day.

In Fantasy Fiction: remember, a circle has no beginning. Please, bring a Chromebook and a novel daily. You are expected to read daily - 5 pages will keep you up with class requirements.

Don't wait for someone to challenge you; challenge yourself.

Course Overview

ENGLISH 11 CP
Credits: 5
Prerequisite: English 10 CP
Grade: 11

This course continues to develop students’ critical reading and writing skills through the workshop model. It is designed to give students extensive choices in the selection of their reading. Students will explore the study of literary genres such as memoir, drama, and nonfiction. Students will analyze literature from diverse authors and read analytically and hone their skills for college and career readiness. Emphasis is placed on the analysis, synthesis and evaluation of text. In this course, students will continue their study of narrative, literary analysis, and persuasive writing techniques. A blend of independent reading, book clubs, and whole-class novels will be employed.

Current unit: 2, Reading Literature

Course Expectations English 11 CP

Mr. Rusher mrusher@wallpublicschools.org

Mr. Fischer bfischer@wallpublicschools.org

Grading:

Major Assessments: 50%. There will be three or more major assessment grades each marking period. Papers, projects and will often be considered assessment grades.
Minor assessments: 30%. There will be at least 5 minor assessment grades each marking period. Quizzes will be the most common examples of this category.
Homework/classwork: 20%. You will have several homework/classwork assignments each week (in-class assignments are often counted as HW).

Attendance is very important.

Expectations:

Be prepared
- Come to class prepared with a notebook, writing utensil and charged chromebook everyday. Preparation will be a quiz grade each marking period. Each day you are unprepared will result in 5 points being removed from your quiz grade.
Be on time
- Every three times you are late for class results in a central detention.
Bathroom breaks
- Trips to the bathroom, locker, or anywhere else will not be allowed during the first and last 10 minutes of class. Otherwise, leaving the classroom will be allowed at my and Mr. Fischer’s discretion. That is, if you abuse the privilege, you will be denied.
Be respectful
- We are a community, so be respectful and demonstrate understanding toward one another. We don’t have to agree with each other’s opinions, but we must respect each other’s right to express them.
No cell phone use in class (unless otherwise instructed)
- We will adhere to the school policy concerning cell phone usage.
- Cell phones will be collected at the beginning of class.

Extra Help:

Mr. Rusher and Mr. Fischer provide extra help during lunch hours or by appointment.

Makeup work:

Tests and quizzes
- Tests and quizzes (major and minor assessments, respectively) must be made up within one week of your return to class, after school or possibly during lunch in C-12. YOU are responsible for making the arrangements. We are responsible for delivering the test or quiz. If you are absent the day before an evaluation which you were aware of prior to your absence, you will be required to take the evaluation. For example, if we notify you of Thursday’s vocabulary quiz on the prior Friday and you’re absent Tuesday, you will be required to take the quiz! Penalties for late projects or papers will vary by the assignment, and will be included with the assignment.
Homework
- Homework must be handed in on time for full credit. We will accept homework one “day” (A or B) late for half credit. Students will be provided with one extra day for every day they are absent. After that, it’s a zero.

Be honest, and take responsibility for your actions. This is college prep. Most, if not all of you will go on to some form of higher education. The expectations we have of you reflect the academic and professional standards you will need to meet to succeed in college and the workforce. By maintaining a high standard of academic integrity now, you will have the confidence to succeed later in life. Take pride in your work, we do.

CREATIVE WRITING 1 Credits: 2.5 Grades: 10, 11, 12 Designed as a writing workshop, this course allows students to explore their own creative potential by writing short stories and poems. Students receive basic tutelage in genre-specific style and structure. Students read and discuss model short stories and poems to assist them in developing their own writing skills. Upon completion of this course, students have a better understanding of creative writing techniques and a deeper appreciation for the writing craft. While creativity is encouraged, emphasis is placed upon the content and substance of the student’s work.

CREATIVE WRITING 2 Credits: 2.5 Prerequisite: Creative Writing 1 Grades: 10, 11, 12 This elective provides developing writers with a forum to further hone the skills they developed in Creative Writing 1. Creative Writing 2 is designed as a writing workshop, much like Creative Writing 1; however, the course will provide a much more focused, intense experience. Creative Writing 2 will focus on three activities. First, students develop the elements of short fiction in their writing, such as plot, characterization, point of view and theme, according to strategies they learned in Creative Writing 1. Second, students provide feedback to one another in writing circles. Third, students read and analyze short stories by professional writers according to several accepted critical approaches, such as psychological, gender, economic and sociological. At the culmination of this class, students are encouraged to publish work.

FANTASY FICTION 1

Credits: 2.5

Grades: 10, 11, 12
This elective combines high-interest material with high-level literary analysis. In Fantasy Fiction Part 1 students will read various works from the fantasy genre, including but not limited to Harry Potter, Percy Jackson, mythology such as the Legend of King Arthur, and shorter works by writers like Neil Gaiman. Film, cartoon, and graphic novel presentations will also be included in class material. An English elective, Fantasy Fiction will introduce students to literary analysis, a method of examining a work of literature through various lenses, including but not limited to biographical, Freudian and Jungian psychology, Feminism, Ecocriticism, and Marxism, through which the works will come alive and the writer’s intentions be illuminated. Students will complete formative and summative assessments, including reading check quizzes, and demonstrate college-level writing ability while making claims, finding evidence, and organizing their writing. Homework will include reading exciting fantasy texts.

FANTASY FICTION 2

Credits: 2.5

Grades: 10, 11, 12

This elective, which is a continuation of Fantasy Fiction Part 1, combines high-interest material with high-level literary analysis. In Fantasy Fiction Part 2 students will read various works from the fantasy genre, including but not limited to Harry Potter, the Lord of the Rings, world mythology, mystical fiction by modern writers, and shorter works by writers like Neil Gaiman. Film, cartoon, and graphic novel presentations will also be included in class material. An English elective, Fantasy Fiction will introduce students to literary analysis, a method of examining a work of literature through various lenses, including but not limited to biographical, Freudian and Jungian psychology, Feminism, Ecocriticism, and Marxism, through which the works will come alive and the writer’s intentions be illuminated. Students will complete formative and summative assessments, including reading check quizzes, and demonstrate college-level writing ability while making claims, finding evidence, and organizing their writing. Homework will include reading exciting fantasy texts.

email: mrusher@wallpublicschools.org

Grading: