English III Syllabus

Teacher: Ms. Morris

Course: English III
Room: 422
Email: rmorris1@pasadenaisd.org
Website: longhornenglish.weebly.com

COURSE DESCRIPTION
Welcome to English III! The purpose of this course is to further develop the reading, writing, speaking, listening,
and critical thinking skills so necessary for your academic, professional, and personal success. During this school
year, we will focus on literature study, vocabulary development, writing, grammar, and research/reference skills. We
will explore a range of genresfiction and nonfictionfrom both a reading and writing standpoint. There will be
various readings, activities, writing assignments, quizzes, etc. throughout each six weeks, and there will also be an
exam at the end of every six weeks. Each six week exam, as well as the mid-term and final exam, are written by the
district. The district bases these exams on skills covered in classes throughout each six weeks.

REQUIRED MATERIALS
Students must bring to class DAILY:
Blue or black pens or pencil
A spiral notebook or binder
Loose leaf paper
Two Pocket Folder
Assigned materials
o ______________________________________

GRADING PROCEDURES
Your grade will be based on a combination of the following areas:

Daily Work = 30%

o Various daily work and activities (daily writing, worksheets, etc.)
o Group participation and class discussion
Quizzes = 30%
o Reading Quizzes/Journal entries
o SAT Quizzes, etc.
Major Points = 30%
o Essays/Journal entries
o Major projects/presentations
o Exams
Participation = 10%
o Homework
o Various daily activities

CLASSROOM POLICIES
Responsibilities and Behavior
Your responsibilities in this class are:
To attend class regularly;
To be on time;
To be prepared for class;
To meet deadlines (all assignments due at the beginning of each class on the due date);
To use your time wisely;
To be actively involved as a member of a group
To have a positive attitude;
To pay attention and listen; and
To be respectful of others and not be disruptive.

General Rules/Guidelines:

Tardy Passes
o If you are not INSIDE my classroom when the tardy bell rings, you are considered tardy. If you
are more than 10 minutes late to class, you will be considered absent. If that happens, you
should still come to class so that you do not fall behind or get caught in the hallway.

Exams
o -Make-up exams can be different from in-class exams.
o -If you know you will be absent, you may talk to me about taking the exam early.
o -Do not wait until the last week of the six weeks to complete missing exams!

Absences/Late Work Policy

o -You are responsible for all missed work, notes, and handouts.
o -Assignments are late after 2:30 on the due date, unless you have an excused absence.
o -You have one day from the date you were absent to make up an assignment. If its turned in any
later than one day, then you will not receive full credit.
o -DO NOT wait until the last week of the 6 weeks to turn in late work!
o -10 points deduction per day up to 50%. *Any assignment completed fully and correctly will
receive a maximum grade of a 50 after 5 days.
o -70% maximum on all retakes on quizzes and tests. ****Any grading issue that overlaps with a
discipline issue will be addressed on an individual basis by the teacher, student, and other
necessary parties.

Homework
o
o
o

At the beginning of each week, you will receive homework. It is called the Article of the
Week (or AOW).
We will complete the first AOW together so that you know how to complete it each week.
This homework will be due at the end of the week every week for a grade.

General Rules:

Take care of your personal needs before class.

Stay in dress code and HAVE YOUR ID: You must be aware of and follow the school dress code. You
WILL BE sent out of class for inappropriate clothing, holes in your jeans, pajamas, etc!

Do your job and respect others.

Arrive prepared everyday with required materials.

Hall Pass:

Hall pass is located on the whiteboard by the door. It may be used to leave for the restroom or other teacher
approved reasons, and it must be returned to its place upon return.
Teacher reserves the right to change the hall pass policy according to need. If the pass is abused or
overused a stricter policy will be instated, limiting passes to two per six weeks per student.

Cheating Policy:

Cheating is completely unacceptable and is defined as: passing off someone elses work as your own,
letting someone else use or copy your work, or engaging in any form of plagiarism.
Cheating will result in a ZERO for that assignment. This zero CANNOT be replaced.

Electronics

Cell phones and any/all other electronic devices must be ON SILENT and PUT AWAY for the entire
duration of the class unless otherwise directed by the teacher. Disciplinary action will be taken if any
device is used in the classroom without permission.