Syllabus for Juniors

Dr. Carolyn
Fortuna[1]
fortunac@franklin.k12.ma.ua
508. 541. 3200, extension 3013

Syllabus for Junior College Preparatory English, 2009-2010
Franklin High School (MA)

www.drcarolynsblog.blogspot.com
www.societyissuesidentity.blogspot.com
www.franklin.ma.us/auto/schools/fhs/depts/english/Fortuna/default.htm

“… (E)ducating students to be critical rather than merely good citizens must recognize the multiple narratives and histories that make pluralistic societies”
(Freire & Giroux, 1989).

Course philosophy
This course will help students to be more fully literate in all aspects of their lives. Literacy instruction in the junior year will have many components and will reconcile literature within a subset of literacy. We will develop familiarity with reading new information communications technologies and multimodal, multiliterate, and transcultural representations (Collins & Blot, 2003) in our society.

We will constantly pose new questions. What is a text? How do different texts produce certain meanings? How do literate identities emerge within certain sociocultural contexts? The cultural aspect of literacy asks readers to consider texts in relation to context and to recognize the socially constructed components in all human acts and practices. Texts in this course will include all forms of symbolic expression that create meaning for readers. As a result, texts will transcend print and will include visual, digital, and audio sources. This definition of literacy is sometimes referred to as multimodality (Bourdieu, 1977; Kress & van Leeuwen, 2001).

Course reading texts
Junior college preparatory English requires that you read and analyze text 30 minutes every day, including outside reading. The following print texts are required:
Ø Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby;
Ø Hemingway’s The Sun Also Rises;
Ø Salinger’s The Catcher in the Rye;
Ø Miller’s Death of a Salesman; and,
Ø Lawrence and Lee’s Inherit the Wind.
Juniors will study vocabulary, parts of speech, and SAT prep through Vocabulary Power Plus. Juniors must subscribe to “The Official SAT Question of the Day” at the website called, http://www.collegeboard.com/student/testing/sat/prep_one/prep_one.html
Juniors will study grammar through Elements of Language.

Curriculum policies
Unless otherwise stated, all assignments are due at the beginning of class. You should have the assignment printed prior to class and ready to share. If you’re late to class, so is your assignment. Students should always write in pen for in-class assessments. All English class students at FHS will be held accountable for originality through the computer program, Turn It In.

Course description: In this course, you will:
Ø Grow as literate learners by naming and defining key constructs of literacy, including communication models, communication technologies, literacy terminology, message design, and symbol systems;
Ø Compare and contrast different theoretical frameworks;
Ø Define structural features and intents of multimodal texts;
Ø Reconceptualize learning as a long-term, thinking-centered process;
· Speak, listen, interpret, read, and write as significant means in which to reflect on our own thinking processes;
· Develop structures for discussing, analyzing, and composing texts;
· Compose and deliver several presentations to the class of varying lengths;
· Survey online research databases;
· To help you think more clearly and effectively by:
* Organizing your ideas in a well-structured, succinct, and creative manner
* Designing argument statements
* Realizing that what you write is an extension of you and your ideas
* Understanding that good writing comes from rewriting
* Improving your writing and thinking and rethinking

Student rights, responsibilities, policies, and procedures
Please note that all FHS Student Handbook rights, responsibilities, policies, and procedures apply to Dr. Carolyn’s/ Ms. Fortuna’s junior English classes.

A composer’s digital portfolio
You will keep throughout the year a record of your progress as a writer, thinker, analyst, learner, visualizer, and composer. All composition for English class must be saved in digital form. Aside from full-length curriculum assignments, your digital portfolio is an open field. Please bring a laptop to class if you have one available. You are also welcomed to bring earphones to class for times when audio feeds are available.

Grading
One day assignments: 5 points
Extended day/ process assignments: 10 points
Quizzes: 20- 25 points
Projects: 50 - 100 points (depending on complexity)
Presentations to the class: 20- 100 points (depending on time requirements)
Research paper: 125 points
Extra credit: max. 10 pts. per term, including signed lass progress reports, signed

[1] Ph.D. in Education from Rhode Island College: dissertation defense autumn 2009