ENGLISH COMMUNICATONS 12

 

Mr. Scott Bennett                                Rm 1022

sbennett@ns.sympatico.ca OR rsbennett@horton.ednet.ns.ca

 

ECM 12 is a course designed to help prepare students for post-secondary education by using a variety of approaches, from analyzing articles and stories to preparing discussions and debates within the class setting.  Students will further develop skills in reading, writing and critical analysis in this course.  Hard work and meeting deadlines are important in this class, and is essential in order to achieve success in this course.

 

ECM 12 is a required course for high school graduation.  All students in this class will write a provincial exam in June.  Work completed in this course will be aimed at preparing students for this exam.

 

This course will be divided into five parts:

 

1.         Individual reading program

2.         Individual writing program

3.         Study of literature

4.         Use of language

5.         Examination of texts and various ways of representation as they pertain to the students in their community.

 

 

EVALUATION

 

 

1st Term

2nd Term

NS Exam

Reading Portfolio

20%

20%

Na

Writing Portfolio

20%

20%

Na

Tests

15%

15%

Na

Assignments, homework, class work

45%

45%

Na

Final Percentages

35%

35%

30%

 

 

READING PORTFOLIO

 

The main goal of the reading Portfolio is to encourage reading for pleasure while trying to improve reading skills.  In order for reading to be fun, it is important that students find materials that are interesting to them.  Students should bring various items (books, magazine articles, short stories, if possible) to each and every class.  The works that students read will be recorded in their portfolio.  The amount of completed work in this portfolio will be measured against the expected amount of work to determine a student’s mark for the individual reading portion of this class.  One day in particular during the cycle will be assigned as “reading day.”  Students will be expected to bring their reading to class each day to work on it if they have completed tasks early.  It will be necessary, however, for students to do more than in-class reading in order to successfully complete their portfolios.

 

During the semseter, students are expected to complete a MINIMUM number of readings and reading reports.  Reading materials can include novels, short stories, and magazine articles.  This does not include stories assigned as course work.  The minimum standard for the semester is as follows:

 

2 novels (at least 100 pages in length)

OR

4 short stories (at least 3 pages in length)

4 magazine articles (at least 2 pages in length)

 

YOU MUST CLEAR ANY MATERIAL YOU WISH TO USE FOR THIS ASSIGNMENT WITH ME FIRST.  If you do not check with me first, you may end up spending a lot of time on an assignment that is not acceptable.

 

A PORTFOLIO REQUEST must be passed in for each work you wish to read for credit.  The request should offer the following information:

1.  Author’s name

2.  Title of work (and name of anthology or magazine if it is an article or short story)

3.  Length

4.  What makes it an appropriate work to earn credit for a grade 12 communications class?

 

When you have had the work approved, hold on to the request, and pass it in with your finished evaluation.  This helps ensure you get credit for your hard work.

 

Reading Reports:  Each work read by students must be reported on.  Students have a choice in the format they wish to use to report on their story.  They are as follows:

 

·        A review or critique of the work

·        A letter written to the author of the work

·        A new ending to the story

·        An original story written with the same characters

·               A written and artistic advertisement for the work (perhaps a movie-type poster and a written article advertising the reading)

·               A comic book of the story

·               Make up a test that students would take if they were studying the reading

·               A detailed description of a key character in the story (characteristics, as well as physical attributes)

·               A book cover for the work read that includes author information and a summary of the story line

 

The minimum length of written portfolio reading assignments is 300 words for short stories and articles, 500  words for novels.  Students cannot use the same evaluation processes twice for the same style of work (for example, only one comic book for a short story evaluation, but you may use a comic strip again for a novel evaluation).  These assignments can be passed in as they are completed.  Once they are marked and returned they should be placed in your folder in order to keep a good working record of your accomplishments.

 

 

WRITING PORTFOLIO

 

The writing portfolio is an opportunity to express our thoughts and opinions, discuss issues, and tell interesting stories while working on developing our vocabulary, our penmanship and our communication skills.  It can also be a time to write journal-type entries.

 

During the cycle, time will be set aside for students to work on a writing program.  During this class each student will work on a piece of writing for completion for this program.  The type of writing will vary based on whether the student is working on an original piece of work or is participating in a class activity.  All writing, even incomplete writing, must stay in the portfolio folder in the classroom.

 

Some examples of the types of writing students might work on:

 

·               Journal entries

·               Opinion pieces

·               Critical reviews

·               Structured paragraphs

 

 

EXPECTATIONS

 

I expect the following out of all my students to:

 

·               attend all classes unless you have a valid excuse

·               come to class on time prepared and ready to work

·               pass assignments in on time

·                make full use of the time allotted in class to work on projects

·               put forth your best effort for all the work you do for this course

·               If there is a snow day or you are absent from school on a due date or a test date, you are expected to pass in your assignment or write the test, during the next class.

 

Students are responsible for maintaining the integrity of their work.  This means the person who lets his work get copied gets the same zero as the one who copied it!  If you insist on working with a friend on a solo project, make sure the two of you don’t pass in the same (or closely similar) work.

 

At the end of the day, our goal is not only to be English students, but successful English students.  Adhering to these expectations will guarantee that this goal is met.

 

Enjoy your year!!