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Advanced Composition Syllabus

This document provides a course syllabus for an Advanced Composition A class at University High School. The syllabus outlines the following key points in 3 sentences: The course aims to provide enriched experiences in expository writing through analyzing texts across genres and demonstrating understanding through discussion, presentations, and writing. Students will complete a minimum of 8 compositions and read 2 million words annually to refine their skills in narration, exposition, persuasion, and description. Grades will be based on assessments including essays, presentations, tests, projects, homework, and participation, with no late work accepted.

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0% found this document useful (0 votes)
320 views4 pages

Advanced Composition Syllabus

This document provides a course syllabus for an Advanced Composition A class at University High School. The syllabus outlines the following key points in 3 sentences: The course aims to provide enriched experiences in expository writing through analyzing texts across genres and demonstrating understanding through discussion, presentations, and writing. Students will complete a minimum of 8 compositions and read 2 million words annually to refine their skills in narration, exposition, persuasion, and description. Grades will be based on assessments including essays, presentations, tests, projects, homework, and participation, with no late work accepted.

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K.

Mitchell

University High School Charter


English Language Arts Department

Advanced Composition A - Course Syllabus (Grade 12)


Instructor: Ms. K. Mitchell
Email: kdm4952@lausd.net
Website: http://msmitchellsclasses.weebly.com

Course Description
The major purpose of this semester course is to provide advanced and enriched experiences in expository writing characterized by logical and coherent
organization, integration of advanced rhetorical strategies, clarity of expression, and suitability of style, usage, and conventions. Student will read within
and across expository and informational genres (e.g., essays, biographies, critiques, précis, and news and magazine articles) for literal and implied
meaning and to demonstrate through classroom discussion, oral presentation, independent research, written expression, an understanding of the text(s).
Advanced Composition extends and enriches the curriculum of Expository Composition by connecting major themes to contemporary issues explored in
expository and informational text and through in-depth analyses across multiple texts and genres. Emphasis in this course is on expository reading and
writing and the essential skills of revision.

The curriculum of this semester course was developed by a collaborative group of California State University and high school faculty to help students
meet the expectations of college and university faculty, meet the California English/Language Arts Common Core Standards, and develop literacy skills
critical to lifelong participation to the worlds of work and community. Students learn to make predictions about texts, analyze both the content and the
rhetorical structures, and properly use materials from the texts they read in supporting their own oral and written arguments.

Students are expected to write and revise a minimum of eight academic compositions within the twelfth-grade year, including timed writing pieces and
developed compositions. The California Reading/Language Arts Framework states that students in the twelfth grade are expected to read two million
words annually on their own, including a good representation of classic and contemporary literature, magazines, newspapers, and online articles.
Students will apply and refine their command of the writing process, writing conventions, and rhetorical strategies of narration, exposition, persuasion,
and description to produce texts of at least 1,500 words each. Advanced Composition fulfills a B requirement of the UC/CSU Subject Area Requirements.

Focus Standards - For explanation of California Common Core standards, please visit:
http://www.corestandards.org/ELA-Literacy/W/11-12/

English Language Arts Standards » Writing » Grade 11-12


CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.11-12.1 CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.11-12.4 CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.11-12.7 CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.11-12.10

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.11-12.2 CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.11-12.5 CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.11-12.8

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.11-12.3 CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.11-12.6 CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.11-12.9

Representative Performance Outcomes and Skills


In this course, students will know and be able to:
➢ Engage in discussion to prepare oral and written arguments.
➢ Read a wide variety of complex informational and expository texts and genres, organized around themes, topics, or issues.
➢ Demonstrate an advanced understanding of the elements of discourse (e.g., purpose, speaker, audience, form) when completing expository
and persuasive writing assignments.
➢ Analyze an author’s implicit and explicit philosophical assumptions and beliefs about a subject.
➢ Connect ideas and issues in informational and expository texts to universal themes and additional independent research.
➢ Identify, analyze, discuss, describe, and use appeals to pathos, ethos, and logos and other rhetorical strategies that writers employ to craft an
argument.
➢ Analyze the content, complexity, and structure of the language employed to convey a writer’s perspective and the extent to which it reflects
the genre.
➢ Demonstrate advanced control of grammar, diction, and paragraph and sentence structure and an advanced understanding of English usage.
➢ Examine models of effective expository academic, professional, and business writing and speaking: application essays, introductory and
business letters, résumés, and interviews.
➢ Develop presentations by using clear research questions and creative and critical research strategies (e.g., field studies, oral histories,
interviews, experiments, electronic sources).
➢ Reflect appropriate manuscript requirements in writing.
K. Mitchell
UNITS MAY INCLUDE THE FOLLOWING TOPICS
Text: 12th Grade Expository Reading and Writing Course

UNIT 1 Summer Reading - Station Skills: Themes & Symbols analysis / Elements of dystopian literature / various other
Eleven elements of the novel
UNIT 2 Power of the Press / Skills: Aristotelian Rhetoric / persuasive appeals / persuasive techniques / faulty logic
Persuasion & Satire / satirical elements / thesis development / essay content and structure /MLA
UNIT 3 Language, Gender & Culture Skills: analyzing rhetorical devices and patterns of organization/ Documentation
Strategies / Explain how language and cultural norms shape identities / Analyze and
use personal experience, their own and others’, as evidence / Evaluate and describe
authors’ stylistic choices / Use writing to propose social change
UNIT 4 Racial Profiling / Race, Skills: Argumentation / Research strategies / collecting, organizing and synthesizing
Culture and Ethnicity & The data/ MLA format and citation/ quote integration
New Jim Crow
Unit 5 Making a Change / Life After Skills: Become familiar with college and career expectations for reading
High School– Facing the independently / Become familiar with the intellectual habits necessary for success in
future and confronting the college and careers / Organize information from online research and textual study for
present & past use in developing writing/ Manage information gathered through reading in
preparation for writing / Develop academic vocabulary through reading and writing/
Write prose that is coherent, clear, and organized / Personal statement writing
Unit 6 Juvenile Justice Skills: Identify the main ideas, including the author’s main argument/claim within a
text / Summarize and respond to a text / Analyze the impact of the author’s ethos on
the credibility of an argument / Compare different arguments and the rhetorical
strategies of their writers / Construct an argument using sources / Revise rhetorically
to establish a clear focus for their essay / All skills used in previous units will be
utilized in this unit as you work towards developing and presenting arguments for a
class project.

Units may be changed by instructor if deemed necessary

Grading / Assessments - Note: Your work will be assessed based on quality, not simple completion.
• Teacher-designed quizzes and • Oral presentations and
tests discussions • Homework
• Essays and other student • Participation • Class work
written texts • Group & individual projects

Grading Scale
Numerical Average Letter Grade
90-100 A
80-89 B
70-79 C
60-69 D
below 60 F
K. Mitchell

LATE WORK WILL NOT BE ACCEPTED


***Please be aware that timeliness is of the utmost importance. Tardiness may affect your grade by causing you to miss
assignments given at the beginning of the period. Further, excessive tardiness will result in reduced credit for homework.

Cheating
Cheating is defined as practicing fraud or deceit. It is a person who acts dishonestly, deceives, or defrauds. All of these behaviors are
frowned upon and prohibited in this class, as they display a lack of character and strong moral fiber. Anyone who is caught cheating
(looking at someone else’s test; attempting to use pre-copied notes or electronic devices to answer test questions; copying someone
else’s homework; or allowing someone else to copy their homework will receive an automatic zero on the assignment and will be
suspended from class for 2 days.

Plagiarism Policy:
I take plagiarism & cheating very seriously. Using someone else’s words as your own is immoral, unethical, and does nothing
to further your education. With the availability of search engines like Google that search in-text for documents, it is easy to
catch someone if they have bought or copied information from the Internet.
My definition of plagiarism is:
• Buying or borrowing a paper from someone and turning it in as your own work.
• Extracting the exact words from a document without placing the text in quotation marks and citing the author.
• Using someone else’s published ideas without giving them proper cited credit.
• Having a parent, friend, etc. write part or all of your paper for you.

If you are caught violating my rules on plagiarism, you will receive an automatic zero (0) on the assignment and be referred to
the proper authorities. Make sure your work is your own!

Materials Needed
3 ring binder (NO SPIRAL NOTEBOOKS PLEASE), paper (lined and white computer paper), colored pencils or crayons, black or blue pens,
red pen (for grading only), #2 pencils, flash drive & report covers with three-hole metal clasps (DUE TO DISTANCE LEARNING,
REQUIREMENTS WILL NEED ADJUSTMENTS – SCHOOLOGY PORTFOLIOS MAY BE USED INSTEAD OF REPORT COVERS.), .

Student Expectations
1. Students will come to class on time and be prepared to work (have all necessary materials). I define on time as in your seat
and ready to work BEFORE the tardy bell rings. BE HERE ON TIME. If you are late, you are to pick up and complete a Demerit
for Irresponsible Behavior (to be kept of file by the teacher). For every minute you are late, you will receive 30 minutes of
detention.
2. Students with unexcused tardies may not receive full credit for the previous nights’ homework.
3. Coming to Attention: When the bell rings you are expected to end all conversations, immediately. I need to take roll, and if
I have to wait, you will owe me time, later.
4. When Class Begins: You must be in your seat, quiet, and beginning your daily journal or grammar assignment when the bell
rings. If you are not in your seat ready to start your work, you are tardy. Being tardy three times earns a U in cooperation
on your report card. These will also affect your class participation grade.
5. There should not be anything on your desk except the materials you are working with. No backpacks or purses on the
desks. I would also prefer if they are not in your lap. If the floor looks dirty, feel free to ask to sweep it.
6. Homework is an obligation for this class. Failure to complete your homework will result in a lower grade.
7. Take care of your beauty and bathroom needs BEFORE you get here. YOU HAVE PLENTY OF TIME BETWEEN CLASSES AND
DURING NUTRITION OR LUNCH. HALL PASSES WILL BE VERY LIMITED. *In the event of an extreme emergency, you will be
allowed out of class. However, for every minute that you are gone, you will owe double at the end
8. Turn ALL electronic devices OFF and keep them put away. Any cell phone that rings or radio that comes on during class
time will be confiscated and turned in to the Dean’s Office. THEY ARE NOT ALLOWED UNLESS INSTRUCTED BY TEACHER.
9. There is no eating allowed in class. You may, however, have gum and drink water (no sweet drinks, please)
10. Raise your hand to speak or if you need help. DO NOT YELL across the room.
11. Moving around the classroom: You may only leave your seat with permission from me. NEVER just get up to do anything
unless I have given you permission. Do not raise your hand to ask about throwing trash away. Hold it at your desk until the
end of class. If you sit near a trashcan, do not throw papers in there from your seat. Do not crumple up papers when you
make mistakes. It is loud and disrupts the class; just set that piece aside and throw it away as you leave the room.
K. Mitchell
12. Respect: In this classroom, every student has the right to express his or her opinions, thoughts, and ideas. This should be
done in a thoughtful and genuine manner. Although disagreements will certainly arise, it is never acceptable to attack
another person for his/her opinions.
13. Do not use foul, obscene, or offensive language in this classroom. Find another way to make your point. The use of such
language can hurt you severely in the future, so learn how to control your mouth now. Additionally, when you use those
words, you show a severe lack of respect for whomever you are talking to. Swearing may be a habit of yours, but learn how
to control it now. For every word your say that is a swear word, you will owe me outside-of-class time, during your lunch or
after school. A no-show will also affect your participation grade. A research essay will be assigned to the whole class if
profanity is used. There is a time and a place for everything. School is not the place for the actions listed above.
14. Everything on my desk is my personal property. If you need something that is on my desk (the stapler, hole-punch, or
tissue) please ask, do not just take things.
15. Respect yourself and others. No swearing, teasing, name-calling, pushing, kicking, or yelling. A research essay will be
assigned to the whole class if profanity is used. There is a time and a place for everything. School is not the place for the
actions listed above.
16. Copy your homework upon entering class and then begin the warm up (journal) activity, IMMEDIATELY. Failure to do so will
result in loss of positive participation points.
17. Do all homework and classwork on time. NO LATE WORK WILL BE ACCEPTED. There are deadlines in the real world and
you will practice meeting them, now. Three missed assignments will severely affect your grade, will result in detention and
will result in a U in work habits.
18. No make-up exams will be given. Be here on test days or make prior arrangements for excused absences.
19. Bring your own class supplies.
20. Honesty is the best policy: No matter what the circumstances, always be honest. Even if you have done something wrong,
it is best to admit it, because I will respect that, and often will forget any disciplinary measures because of your honesty.
However, I have the habit of calling those who tell lies liars. If you do not want to be called a liar, do not lie. Take
responsibility for your actions. If you do something and I ask you about it, own up to what you did. This will be good
practice for when you become an adult.
21. Everything else: Before you do something, please consider whether it might be rude to others, including the teacher. Do
not sleep during class, no personal grooming during class (I will confiscate these items), and please do not conduct another
conversation (verbal, visual, technological, or written) while I am speaking. Especially do not do these things when your
classmates are speaking to the class. They are all very rude. Do not write or pass notes in this class. If you need to tell
someone something, do it during the appropriate times, not during class. Do not spend your time drawing.
22. Turn ALL electronic devices OFF and keep them put away. No electronics may be used in this room unless specifically
assigned to do so by me. These items will also be confiscated and turned in to the Dean's Office. THEY ARE NOT ALLOWED
TO BE ON DURING CLASS TIME AT SCHOOL.
23. Dismissal: You may begin to pack up to leave when I tell you to. If you pack up early, I might make you get everything back
out.
24. The bell does not dismiss you, I do. You should leave your area as neat as it was when you arrived. Look around before the
bell rings to make sure your area is clean so I will not hold you after the bell to clean.

Late Work:

I DO NOT accept late work. Turn it in on time, or you will earn a zero for the assignment. Those on a
team are expected to turn work in on the day that it is due – being on a team is not an excuse to turn in
assignments late.

Tests:
There will be a test at the end of each unit. You will need to make arrangements to take it early in the event
of a planned absence.

Thank you for reading and abiding by the rules and procedures of this classroom. These rules will not change, so if
you decide to follow them now, we will all have a better year.

After you have read and discussed this with your parent(s)/guardians(s), please click on the following link to a
Google Form to submit confirmation and communications regarding the syllabus: Syllabus Signature

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