ENG 5870 Literature and Composition for Social Action

Instructor: Ian McCreary

Poudre High School
Office hours: 1 hour before school, period __, and 1 hour after school and by appointment
Email: ianjmccreary@gmail.com
Twitter: @ianmccreary
Class website: PHSenvironmentalsocialaction.wikispaces.com
Course Description: This course will address the history of social action initiated through
literature. It will then move on to focus on how various texts (fiction, non-fiction, film, social
media, etc.) have motivated resistance and social action regarding the specific issues of race,
class, and gender. The course study will culminate with a student-generated service learning
project that targets a specific need for local, national, or international social action (PHS
Curriculum Guide 2015-2016).
Objectives:
By the end of the course you will be able to:
- understand the relationship that you have with the environment around you;
- analyze and access a text for environmental concerns;
- write for a variation of audiences about the environment and your personal beliefs;
- analyze and access a scientific report;
- write long term project proposal;
Required Reading:
Books
Henry David Thoreau, Walden
Dr. Seuss, The Lorax
M.T. Anderson, Feed
Josh Neufelds A.D.: New Orleans After the Deluge
Book club texts
Michael Pollan, In Defense of Food
Elizabeth Kolbert, Field Notes From a Catastrophe
Michael Criton, State of Fear
Earnest Callenbach, Ecotopia
Annabel Hertz, Seeing Green
Articles and essays
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Report: Climate Change 2014:
Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability: Summary for Policy Makers
As posted to the class website
Film
James Balog Chasing Ice

Course Projects and Activities

1. Participation (10%)
Students are required to come to class prepared with all written assignments and reading
complete. Students are expected to be actively engaged in the course through the
participation in discussions, asking of appropriate questions, and note taking. Students do
not need to speak in every class to receive participation credit, but do need to demonstrate
an active involvement in daily activities.
2. Blog Posts (10%)
Over the course of the semester you will regularly write on a personal blog 2-3 times per
week. Each post will vary on the content and you will be graded based on the parameters
of the required blog post.
3. Position Statement (10%)
You will write a position statement taking a stance on your beliefs about the environment
and what changes that you believe need to be made.
4. Photo essay (10%)
You will to create a photo essay that evokes the reader to think about the environment and
the world around them. You will be taking quotes from Walden and your book club book
to add complexity to some of the images that you use in your essay.
5. Book Clubs (10%)
You will select a text from the book club reading list and read it with a group of your
peers. While reading the text, individuals will be required to facilitate group discussions,
each facilitator will have to conference with the instructor prior to leading the discussion.
Upon completion of the text, the group will have to create a presentation for that class
that summarizes and synthesizes the text to relevant topics discussed in the class.
6. IPCC Report Graphic Novel (10%)
You and a partner will create a graphic novel depicting one of the concerns that are stated
in the IPCC report. You will select a specific area of concern and create a storyline that
demonstrates an understanding of the risks involved if we continue with business as
usual practices.
7. Statement Paper (20%)
You will be expanding your position statement into a full essay, letter or speech. This
piece of writing will include relevant information from the texts that we have read to
back up your position and what you would like to see changed.
8. Learnscape Development (10%)
Over the course students will determine a full class project to help the development of the
learnscape. Students will need to assess what they believe would be beneficial to add to
the space to make this outside classroom a better learning environment.
9. Social Activist Field Trip (10%)
Students will attend a social activist field trip and will be required to write a 1 page
reflection paper discussing how the field trip impacted them personally, what changes
they believe they can make, and what they want to do after attending the field trip. Those
not able to attend the field trip will be asked to compete an assignment of equal value as
discussed with the instructor.

Grading and Comments

-

Students should expect to receive feedback on all submitted work.

o Smaller assignments like blog posts and reading responses will receive less
detailed feedback, unless requested by the student for specific feedback
o Larger assignments will be graded and given feedback within three weeks of the
due date.
Extra credit: There is no extra credit in this class. On all major assignments students will
have a 5% stake in their grade. For each of these assignments there will be a write in
section in which students choose what they would like to be graded on. This does not
mean that students will automatically receive a 5% increase towards their grade. This
section of assessment is for the students to choose what they believe they want to be
graded on. If students receive a 100% on any assignment and any percentage of their 5%
stake in grading, they will not receive 100+%. The purpose of this portion of grading is
for students to reflect on what they would like to receive credit on for all major
assignments based on previous performances and to create personal relevance to the
assignment.
I use a +/- grading system 100-94 = A; 93-90 = A-; 89-87 = B+; 86-84 = B; 83-80 = B-;
79-77 = C+; 76-73 = C; 72-70 = C-; 69-67 = D+; 66-62=D; 61-60 = D-; 59-0 = F.

Late Work Policy:

- Late work will not be accepted for small assignments such as blog posts and reading
responses.
o Failure to complete 10 small assignments will result in a reduction of the students
grade and a student teacher conference will be held.
o Failure to complete 15 small assignments will result in a call home or parent
teacher conference.
- For major projects and papers, late work will be accepted with a penalty of -5% of the
overall grade for every day that it is late. Students will have up to 7 days to complete the
assignment from the day it was due before resulting in a failure of the overall project.
o Failure to complete 1 major assignment will negatively impact the students grade
based on the overall percentage of the assignment and will result in a call home or
parent teacher conference
Attendance Policy (PHS 2013-2014 Student Handbook, 9-10)
Class attendance is one of the most important aspects of a student's educational program. There
is a strong correlation between consistent class attendance, parental involvement and academic
success. Student attendance is primarily the responsibility of the student and parent/guardian.
The previous days absences are posted daily across from the Attendance Office. It is the
STUDENTS responsibility to check the attendance list for individual class absences. If the
student believes an error has occurred, they must notify the teacher immediately. After 10 days,

the absence cannot be changed. Students are strongly encouraged to use StudentVUE to monitor
their attendance. See Academics for specifics.
TARDIES Excessive tardiness will be reported to the Dean of Students for disciplinary action.
Students who are 10 minutes late to class or more are marked ABSENT. Students who receive
five or more tardies in one week will be assigned one hour of community service to be served
during Wednesday morning late start. Students who miss more than 10 minutes of class will be
marked absent. Students are strongly encouraged to attend class even if they have missed more
than 10 minutes of class.
EXCUSED ABSENCES = A parent or guardian may excuse an absence from class. Students
may not be excused from class and remain on campus. *Students will be given the same number
of days absent to make up work that was missed (i.e. out two days ill, two days to make up
work.) *Please pick up a form in attendance for all prearranged absences.
SCHOOL-EXCUSED ABSENCES A staff member authorizes the absence due to a school
function. This absence does not impact the students finals exempt status. Students are expected
to find out what work will be missed while they are gone and to hand in missed assignments
upon their return to class (i.e. out of school Thursday for a choir concert, work is due on Friday.)
Academic Honesty (PHS 2013-2014 Student Handbook, 13)
In education, we are continually studying the ideas of others. In our speaking and writing,
it is important that we acknowledge these ideas and give credit where it is due. Plagiarism is
using other peoples ideas and words without clearly stating the source of that information.
Plagiarism and cheating are serious offenses and will result in disciplinary action. The following
penalties will apply for plagiarism and cheating:
1) The student(s) will earn a zero on the assignment, project, or test. The student(s) who
contributed to the offense (i.e. shared information or answers) will also earn a zero, whether or
not the student benefited personally from the information. Parents or guardians will be notified,
and the Dean of Students and the appropriate counselor(s) will be informed.
2) Documentation of the incident will be placed in the students permanent record.
Throughout the students years at PHS, if two incident reports are accumulated, a meeting with
the student, parent/guardian, counselor and/or dean will be scheduled to determine further
disciplinary action.