What Can I Expect in Ms. Dolan’s English 8 Class?

English 8 will be a mixture of reading, writing, discussion/speaking, grammar, vocabulary, and, of course, lots of critical thinking!

   Information:

• Ms. Jane Dolan
• Voicemail: 645-3451 box 778
• Email: jane.dolan@nfld.k12.mn.us
• Web Page: http://www2.nfld.k12.mn.us/dolan (“What Did We Do?” section updated daily)
• Skyward is updated several times a week!

  Our Units This Year:

• Brief review of concepts from 7^th grade
• The Outsiders (novel)
•  Short stories
• Speeches
• Miracle Worker (play)
• Poetry
• MCA test prep
• To Kill A Mockingbird (novel)
• Greek mythology

On-Going Routines:

•  “Bell Ringers”at the start of class: vocabulary and grammar
• SSR Books(Silent Sustained Reading): Self-selected books, reading contract
• Planner usage: We write in our planners every Monday!

Basic Materials for English 8:

•  1 inch three ring binder, used ONLY for English class! OR If you are using a large binder for ALL your classes, you are still expected to have a section for ONLY English with five dividers. 

• English binder should have loose-leaf paper and five dividers (Dividers should be labeled: Vocab, Grammar, Handouts, SSR, and Notes)

• School planner

• Pencils, hi-lighters and a calculator in your pencil bag

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 Grading policy:

8^th graders, you will be entering high school next year. Soon after that--gasp!--you will be doing things like driving a car and getting your first summer job! Therefore, it’s good practice to learn responsibility. Responsibility in English 8 means: 1) speaking up for yourself 2) being on task and 3) turning things in on time. Please know that I want you to be successful in school. If something comes up at home or in your personal life, I understand. Please tell me promptly and we can figure out when you will turn things in. Otherwise, please plan to follow this grading policy:

If you have an excused absence, you will have two school days to make up work for every one school day you were absent. For example, if you were absent for two school days, you will have four school days to make it up.

If you have an unexcused absence, you will not be able to make up your work. You will receive a “zero” for any assignments that day.

Daily Work: Daily work is a category for assignments that cannot be made up after the due date. These assignments are essential to have on the due date to be successful for class that day. For example, completed reading guide questions that show you did the reading homework may be considered daily work. Students will know in advance if an assignment is considered daily work (DW).

Unit Work: Unit work is a category for assignments that can be made up after the due date.  Partial credit will be assigned for late work. Students will have five school days to earn up to a “C” for the late assignment. For example, if an assignment is due on a Tuesday, the student would have until the following Tuesday to earn partial credit. Students will know in advance if an assignment is considered unit work (UW).  

Final Projects/Final Papers: Late final projects and final papers will be docked 10% for every day they are late! Get them in on time!! For example, if you turn a paper in one day late, the highest percentage you can receive is a 90%. Students will be given plenty of time in-class to work on projects and papers.