Mr.

De La Cruzs English 1-2 Syllabus

A reader lives a thousand lives before he dies. The man who never reads
lives only one
George R.R. Martin
North Canyon High School
Mr. De La Cruz- English Department
2015-2016
Email:
hours
School Phone:
Extra Assistance Hours:
Room Number:

Please contact me if any extra

assistance is need, my overall
goal is to help every student
succeed in my classroom.

[email protected] Emails will be responded within 24

(602) 449-5000 Calls will be returned within 48 hours
Monday through Friday 7 a.m. to 7:30 a.m., 11:19 a.m.
to 12:10 p.m. or by appointment after school until 3 p.m.
117

Regular Bell Schedule:

Warning Bell - 7:25

Period 1 - 7:30 8:22
Period 2 - 8:27 9:20
Period 3 - 9:25 10:17
Period 4 - 10:22 11:14
Announcements - 11:14 - 11:19
Intervention - 11:19 - 11:44
Lunch - 11:44 12:16
Period 6 - 12:21 1:13
Period 7 - 1:18 2:10
Course Description:

Hello all students and welcome to English 1-2! My name is Alex De La

Cruz (Mr. DLC) and I am going to be guiding you through your first year of
high school. I will be teaching you how to improve your reading, writing, and
speaking skills within my English Language Arts class, which has been
designed with the Arizona College and Readiness Standards set by the State
of Arizona Education Governing Board, in mind when designing the
curriculum to help you be better prepared for college, and for life. The
essential question that I want you to focus on throughout this class is: what
makes a hero? As freshmen coming into a new school, you will face many
different challenges and opportunities that will influence the person you grow
up to be. The literature that we read in this course was selected to help us
question what we know about heroes and to help you determine if you can
be a hero when you grow up. Of course, we will achieve this higher level of
critical thinking through reading different and diverse texts, voicing and
debating our opinions in speeches and seminars, and by writing both
formally and informally to express our selves on the page. This class will lay
the foundation for the way you write in the future and I want to stress
positive habits so in your educational future, you are as prepared as possible.

In this class, I want you to learn about how to better yourself in English
Language Arts, how to better yourself as a person, and to learn more about
yourself in general.
Important Events and Outcomes:
1. Students will be required to read a book (of their choice) every two
months and to write a 2-page reflection on the decisions made in the
story and how the characters were heroes. The teacher will engage the
student in an informal short discussion to talk about the book once the
reflection has been turned in.
2. The class will read 3 novels and 1 play as a group. The students are
expected to write a 3-page paper selecting a character from any of the
stories that they have read about and defend why the character is a
hero. They will also be required to write a formal speech about a good
character and a character that is bad and explain how they differ and
why they differ.
3. Students will be required to create a presentation to share with the
class and write a paper for their final (3-5) pages explaining how they
can be heroes in their communities. Students will also create a
presentation and action plan on how they intend to be a hero in hero in
the community.
Tentative Literary Breakdown By Quarter
Q1. Mythology and the Heros Journey
Readings include but are not limited to
Mythology by Edith Hamilton
The Odyssey by Homer
The Most Dangerous Game by Richard Connell
The Monkeys Paw by W.W. Jacobs
Q2. Shakespeare and the Art of the Play
Romeo and Juliet by Shakespeare
Selected articles and supplementary resources
Selected student articles
Q3. Frankenstein and Questionable Characters
Frankenstein by Mary Shelly
The Lottery
The Cask of Amontillado by Edgar Allen Poe
Paradise Lost by John Milton
Q4. To Kill a Mockingbird and Community Outreach
To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee

Letters from Birmingham Jail by Martin Luther King Jr.

I Have a Dream Speech by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
Selected student articles

Literary Assessments:
A reading, writing, or speaking test or project that will be discussed at the
beginning of each particular section, will follow all texts. We will prepare in
class for every one of the assessments but receiving a good grade on them is
not the end goal, learning is.
Homework
Students will be given occasional reading to be done outside of class. Time
will be given in class to complete most assignments but if a student is unable
to finish, it is expected by the next day. Students are expected to turn in
work on the day that is due.
Late Work
Late work is any work that is not turned in on the day that the assignment
was due. Late work is not accepted. The only circumstance in which late
work will be accepted is in the case of a student who has an excused
absence.
Teacher Assistance
Students in need of assistance are available to visit me in my room between
the times of 7 a.m. and 7:30 a.m., during intervention between 11:19 a.m.
and 12:10 p.m., or after school from 2:10 p.m. to 3p.m. Remember, I have
access to your grades so I know who should be seeing me during those
hours. I want to help you all succeed and I will do my best but the key is that
you seek out help!

Classroom Grading
End of Unit Understanding Activity

75 points each (150 pts./semester)

Assignments and Activity Sheets

pts./semester)
In Class Work/Projects

10 points each (100

20 points each (100 pts./ semester)

Novel and Short Story Quizzes

semester)

20 points each (200 pts./

Group Presentations
semester)

30 points each (60 pts./

Individual Speeches
semester)

30 points each (30 pts./

Midterm/Final
semester)

120 points each (240 pts./

Participation
semester)

5 points each (200 pts./

Total:

960 points per semester

Grading Scale
90-100
80-89
70-79
65-69
Below 65

A
B
C
D
F

THE KEY TO GETTING POINTS IS DOING THE WORK WHEN IT IS DUE.

THERE IS NO LATE WORK ACCEPTED AND NO EXTRA CREDIT.
Grading and Recording Student Work
Expect homework, assignments, and quizzes to be posted on the school grading website and
handed back within two days. Tests will take 3 days at most to be posted and essays will take a
week at the most. As the teacher, I will record all the grades first into a personal grade book
while still at school and then upload them when I get home and am able to get into a comfy
reading chair and log the grades into the school website. Having the grades be recorded twice
will ensure that if I were to make a mistake on the schools grade book I can check my personal

records before having to hunt down the initial document. Both my personal grade book and the
schools online grade book will remain current and up to date as I upload all the assignments
within the personally allotted time.

Classroom Rules and Consequences:

As we all know, rules are necessary to establish and create an environment
where learning can thrive and all learners feel welcome within the space.
While I do want us to have fun as we engage in our journey and dive deep
within ourselves and the text to decide what a hero is, there are certain lines
that may not be crossed along the way. Without any rules, the class would
function as a disorganized coalition of youth who probably not learn many of
the things required. The rules will be posted in class from the very moment
you walk in on the first day, until the day you leave the school four years
from now. We will go over the rules as a class to make sure we all have a
common understanding, if need be, we will go over them again.
The 5 Classroom Rules:
1. Only the teacher dismisses the class.
2. Students will arrive to class on time and be prepared when the bell rings.
3. Books and other classroom materials are to be treated with respect.
4. Stay in your assigned seat unless otherwise instructed by the teacher.
5. Keep arms, legs, and objects to yourselves at all times.
The Consequences are:
1st Offense: Warning and student conference
2nd Offense: Detention
3rd Offense: Call Home
4th Offense: Administrative Referral
*The teacher has the right to skip steps based on the severity of the offense despite due process.
IT IS REQUIRED BY LAW BY THE STATE OF ARIZONA TO REPORT SIGNS OF
ABUSE, OR NEGLECT, OR IF A STUDENT THREATENS OR IMPLIES TO HURT
THEMSELF OR SOMEONE ELSE.

Classroom Procedures:
Entering the Class:
The students will walk along the right wall and visit the table that has the
daily material, any graded work that needs to be handed back in an
individualized file folder, and the homework collection bin. The area should
move rather quickly and have an especially fluid traffic flow so students will
be strongly urged to enter class with homework in hand and grab both the
materials and their graded work folder and sort them out at their assigned
desk. When students have all their graded work put into their backpack or
binder they will be asked to hold onto their folder and drop it off as they
leave class. The children will remove all the extraneous objects from their

desks before the final bell rings and promptly begin to work on the displayed
bell work as class begins. Bell work will commence for 3 to 5 minutes.
Popsicle sticks will be used to call on students for answers to the bell work
and the 2-minute conversation about the bell work will directly lead into the
lesson. Immediately following the conversation the teacher would state the
days objective and class would officially begin.
Classwork Procedure:
When participating in work within the class period, students need to remain
at a respectable volume so the others around you can conduct their work as
well. Remain on topic and focused while doing work and things will run
smoothly. Music may be listened to when completing individual work but if
the privilege is abused, I reserve the right to take it away from an individual
or an entire class.
Restroom Procedure:
To use the restroom, I will have to sign your bathroom pass found in your
school issued planner, which would require you to have a planner, which also
means youll need an available pass. Abuse of the policy will result in the
privilege being revoked until further notice or a doctors note is produced.
End of Class
When there are 5 minutes left in class students will be asked to pack
up there belongings and leave only the necessities out, which can range from
a half sheet of paper to a sticky note and pencil. Students will be given 1
minute to pack their things, 3 minutes to write a response, and a 1 minute
discussion will be had as I use popsicle sticks to call on a few students to
share their answers. As the final bell rings students will walk along the same
right wall that the entered in on and leave their Graded Work folder in the
class basket and head to the door where I will be ready to collect their
closure.

A Brief Description of the Standards Covered Throughout This

Course:
Reading:
Determine the meaning of words or phrases as they appear in the text
Analyze the authors decisions
Analyze how characters develop over a text
Determine a theme of a text
Understand the elements and parts of a story
Writing
Write arguments to support claims
Produce a clear and coherent piece of writing
Develop and strengthen writing through planning and mapping
Draw evidence from literary or informational texts
Speaking and Listening
Participate in collaborative discussions
Evaluate a speakers point of view
Present information clearly and concisely
Grammar
Demonstrate command of writing conventions
Demonstrate understating of figurative language
For a full look at the Arizona standards for English 9, head to
http://www.azed.gov/azccrs/files/2013/10/azccrs-9-12-ela-standardsfinal10_28_13.pdf

Parent/Student Contract:
(Please sign and return this form by the beginning of the 2 nd week of class.)

I, ______________________, have received and read this syllabus, and understand that if
I have any questions in regards to its content or any assignments listed, I can always
contact the teacher of this class.
________________________
(Parent Name Printed)

_____________________
(Student Name Printed)

________________________
(Parent Signature)

_____________________
(Student Signature)

OPTIONAL:
I, _______________________, hereby give my consent to send my childs grades to me
through email, for purposes of any questions or necessary progress reports.
_________________________
(Parent Name Printed)

_________________________
(Parent Signature)