8th Grade Honors English Course Syllabus

Teacher:
Office Hours:
Email:
Phone:
Class Website:

Mr. Linares
11:03 12:03
anthony.linares@leonagroup.com
Contact school at 313-382-3422 ext. #210
www.linaresabt.weebly.com

Course Description
The 8th grade Honors Language Arts class at ABT is aligned with the Common Core State
Standards. Strands of reading, writing, speaking, listening, and using technology as a
communication tool are the integral parts of this course. All students will work toward
increasing their abilities to understand and communicate information through various
means. Students will continue to practice the writing process and demonstrate several
different types of writing genres. In addition to continuing to develop and practice writing
skills, students will also increase their reading and comprehension levels in both literature
and informational texts.

Textbook/Materials
The class will use The Language of Literature, McDougal Littell, 1997 ed. In addition, there
will be teacher-created material and novels to be read.
*Because of the number of textbooks, students will not be assigned a book. Textbooks are
to stay in the classroom unless a student asks to take it home.
Students will need a folder with paper for daily Think and Dos, vocabulary words,
and other class notes. Class assignments should also be kept in this folder.
Students will also be required to have a notebook with paper to complete
assignments.
Students MUST bring a pen or pencil to write with. (If pens, black/blue ink
preferably)

Course Work
Participation:
Students must be active participants in this class. It is an extremely important part of the
learning process. Taking part in class discussions and activities will be essential to
succeeding and mastering content. This will be figured into your grade!
Assessments:
Students will be assessed throughout the year, with our major assessments being the Naiku
test (taken quarterly), along with the states standardized test (taken in April). Besides
these major assessments, students will be demonstrating understanding and knowledge by
completing quizzes, projects, writing assignments, and other activities. Students will be
given notice ahead of time for any test or quiz.
Midterm and final exams come at the end of the semester. A student may be eligible to be
exempt from taking the midterm or final exam by meeting the following criteria:
1)Student must have a 95% in the class (as calculated in PowerTeacher)
2)Student must have 95% attendance for that semester

3)Student must not have any ISS (In School Suspension) or OSS (Out of School
Suspension)
4)Student must not have any discipline referrals that pertain to cheating/plagiarism

Writing Assignments:
As a major component of English, students will be writing often throughout the year, and
keeping a writing folder to save major assignments. The following are a few of the major
writing assignments, but others will be assigned as the year progresses:

Persuasive Essay
Narrative (Story)
Literary Essay

Informational Essay
Research Paper

Class Discussions or Presentations:

Discussing or presenting ideas will be a part of this course. Students will
practice effectively communicating and delivering their ideas about various
concepts to the class. Being respectful during class discussions and/or
presentations is a must!

Late Work:

Work turned in after the due

Grading Policy:
date within one week will
Your grade will be calculated
receive a 10% deduction,
on the following
within 2 weeks a 15%

50% Assessment
deduction, and three weeks

20% Quizzes
plus a 20% deduction. Work

20% Classwork/Homework
submitted after a units end

10% Participation
will receive a zero.

Academic Honesty
Honesty is extremely important in all aspects of your lives, including the
academic setting. Cheating and/or plagiarizing will not be tolerated in this
course. Copying or allowing others to copy your work, or copying during a
test will result in a zero for all students involved.

Plagiarism is when you copy the language, structure, ideas and/or thoughts of
another and represent them as your own original work or ideas. This includes
copying and pasting from websites or books. Your ideas must be your own!
Refer to the ABT Student Handbook for the consequences for this offense.

Course Outline
Below is a general outline of the coursework. Please note that changes may
be made as the year goes on!

1st Semester:
Personal Narrative Poems
Independent Reading
Argumentative Paragraph
Narrative Reading
2nd Semester:
Literary Essay
Informational Reading
Informational Essay
Writing the Argument

PBIS: Positive Behavioral Interventions and Support

Students will be held accountable for adhering to the PBIS expectations in all
areas of the school. Please reinforce the ideas of being respectful,
responsible, and safe with your child. Our focus is to create a safer and more
effective school by improving our ability to teach, model, and support the
positive behavior of all students.

Dear Parents/Guardians,

Please review this syllabus with your student, sign

and return to school as soon as possible. I will be fair
and consistent in administering the rules and
expectations in my class. If any item is unclear,
please feel free to contact me.

By signing this, you and your student are agreeing to the class rules,
PBIS expectations, as well as reinforcing the student handbook rules. I
hope to stay in contact with you throughout the year to ensure your
students success. Thank you!

Sincerely,
Ms. Dallos
Please sign and return the bottom of this sheet.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

My signature indicates that I have read, understood, and accept the

policies of Ms. Dalloss language arts class as outlined in the attached
syllabus.

*____________________________________
_______________
Students signature
Date

As the parent/guardian of ____________________, I have fully understood

the expectations of my student in this language arts class. I will do
everything possible to support my student in having a productive and
enjoyable school year.

*___________________________________
_______________
Parent/Guardians signature
Date

_______________________________________________________________________
_______
Preferred method of contact: phone number and/or e-mail address

Any other comments or things you would like me to know:

_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________