Literature 4th Grade. Miss Marijke van Rosmalen 1

Program: World Literature Period: 2014-2015 Grade: 4th Teacher: Miss Marijke van Rosmalen Subject: Literature

Main objectives: That the student: 1. Satisfies his/her emotional, artistic, observation, and analytical skills in our modern world. It aims to create readers, people who conect with and understand the usefulness of literature and read. At the end of the course, the students will be able to relate to literary texts and use them in their everyday life.

2. Satisfies his/her need of aesthetic experiences with language, and teach them the basics of literary studies and analysis at a level which is useful to them.

3. It aims to create critical awareness in the students for further and constant analysis of him/herself, their surroundings and the world.

4. Comprehension of words, sentences, and components of texts, describes the knowledge and skills necessary to accurately and fluently construct the meaning of words, sentences, and larger sections in texts. 5. Using prior knowledge, context, and understanding of language to comprehend and elaborate the meaning of texts, describes the knowledge and skills necessary to develop a deeper understanding of a text’s content.

6. Author’s purpose, audience, and craft, describes the knowledge and skills necessary to analyze, evaluate, and critique how authors craft texts to achieve specific purposes and effects, including how authors use literary and rhetorical devices, language, and style. 7. Using strategies to comprehend texts, describes a variety of strategies that successful readers use before, during, and after reading to monitor and enhance their comprehension.

Program units:

UNIT I: PLOT, SETTING, AND MOOD

“Harrison Bergeron”, short story by Kurt Vonnegut. “Exile”, poem by Julia Alvarez. “Everyday Use”, short story by Alice Walker.

UNIT II: CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT

“The Teacher Who Changed My Life”, essay by Nicholas Gage.

UNIT III: NARRATIVE DEVICES “The Doll’s House”, short story by Katherine Mansfield.

“The Seventh Man”, short story by Haruki Murakami. “There Will Come Soft Rains”, short story by Ray Bradbury. “The Man in the Water”, essay by Roger Rosenblatt.

UNIT IV: THEME “The Sonnet-Ballad”, poem by Gwendolyn Brooks and “Do Not Weep, Maiden, for War is Kind”, poem by Stephen Crane.

UNIT V: AUTHOR’S PURPOSE

“The Plot Against People”, humorous essay by Russell Baker. “Blowup: What Went Wrong at Storm King Mountain”, narrative non fiction by Sebastian Junger.

UNIT VI: AUTHOR’S STYLE AND VOICE

“The Pit and the Pendulum” (short story) and “The Lake” (poem), by Edgar Allan Poe.

“When I Heard the Learn’d Astronomer” and “The Artilleryman’s Vision”, poems by Walt Whitman. UNIT VII: ARGUMENT AND PERSUASION

“On Nuclear Disarmament”, speech by Carl Sagan. “I acknowledge mine”, essay by Jane Goodall.

UNIT VIII: THE LANGUAGE OF POETRY “Sonnet 18”, by William Shakespeare and “Sonnet XXX of Fatal Interview”, poem by Edna St. Vincent Millay.

UNIT IX: HISTORY, CULTURE, AND THE AUTHOR. “Marriage is a Private Affair, short story by Chinua Achebe.

Outside reading. Third Period: “Neverwhere” novel by Neil Gaiman. Urban fantasy. (Available online & paperback editions) Sixth Period: “Brave New World” novel by Aldous Huxley. Utopian and dystopian fiction. (Available online and paperback editions)

Literature 4th Grade. Miss Marijke van Rosmalen 2

Required Material: 1. Online Text Book to be used in class: Holt McDougal, Literature, 10th grade, Common Core Edition, online. (The

license will be available with Miss Marcela or Miss Cristina and must be bought during the first week of class)

2. Knowledge on the use of Schoology. Most works and material will be sent or received through Schoology. Registration numbers to the course will be given at the beginning of the school year. 3. “Neverwhere”, by Neil Gaiman and “Brave New World” by Aldous Huxley, online or paper editions. 4. Notebook (any size, shape). Can be the notebook provided in the online Text Book. 5. White note block or loose paper sheets for class exercises. 6. Dictionary (paper or electronic format)

7. Photocopies (will be given by teacher when needed throughout the year) 8. Pen & Pencil. Evaluation criteria: Final (continuous) evaluation is composed of six partial grades. The 100% of each partial grade will be graded as

following:

a) A period exam that will count 60% IF during the period a lot of homework and class work was assigned. Otherwise, the exam will count 70%.

b) Homework and class work will count 40 or 30% depending on the case (see above), divided equally in each case (20-20% or 15-15%)

c) In case of evaluation activities (projects) and of 5th period evaluation, the grade will be the adding of all the work done during that period, including partial exams and the presentation of the project.

d) In the third and sixth periods, there will be 2 exams, one on Inside Reading and the other on Outside Reading. The exam grade will count 50% each exam, besides the other activities done during those periods.

If the student does not achieve the minimum grade (according to the General Rules & Regulations of the School) both in the academic and the conduct grades, to exempt the final exam, he or she must present the Ordinary Exam (in first or second round), and, given the case, the Extraordinary Exam. Internal rules and regulations of the class:

Rules Students should refrain from:

Eating food, drinking any liquids or chewing gum. If the teacher catches you doing it, you will get automatically a 5 in conduct.

Using swear words or insulting their peers or teachers in any way shape or form. Charging their phones or other electronic gadgets anywhere in the classroom

Having any kind of material on the desk or their surroundings, without the teacher’s consent. Studying another subject, during the class time. Giving nicknames to either peers or teachers. Leaving the classroom for different activities without the authorization from the person responsible for their

absence.

Regulations Students MUST:

Students MUST understand that grades are NOT subject to BARGAIN. There will be plenty of opportunities to gain extra decimal points, besides doing your work properly. THE TEACHER WILL DEFINITELY NOT LEND/GIVE AWAY DECIMAL NOR FULL POINTS, NOT EVEN IF YOUR RELATION WITH YOUR PARENTS OR YOUR LIFE DEPEND ON THE TINY DECIMAL POINT YOU NEED TO PASS. If you need extra points EARN THEM THROUGH HARD WORK, NOT THROUGH BEGGING!!!

Maintain their classroom clean at all times.

Be in the classroom before the teacher arrives. Two late arrivals are equivalent to one absence, and not having 80% of assistance will cancel the right to the exam (see the school regulations).

Bring the required material (online book, notes, graphic organizers, etc.) to every single class or whenever it is asked for. If student does not have his/her material, particularly the online book, he/she will have a cero in class work for that day.

Remain in their original places in order to help teachers remember their names more effectively.

Turn in their homework, class work and project presentations the day they were assigned to be delivered. Homework and class work delivered one class later, will be graded over an 8 (eight), UNLESS A “JUSTIFICANTE” IS PRESENTED; and later, won’t be accepted (grade will be 0 –zero). No excuses (believe me, I know them all… and I believe NONE, even if they are true).

Find out what was the homework or class work assigned for the day they were absent and deliver it on the date it was assigned for. If not, refer to the above point.

To bring their “justificantes” as soon as possible in order to be able to register their attendance appropriately.

Behave in an orderly manner at all times. Constant distraction, talking, chatting, screaming, or working on something else, is not allowed. After 3 calls of attention in the same class, the student will receive report.

Keep their eyes on their own tests and avoid fidgeting. Keep their study guides and phones out of sight during the exam periods. Cell phones are not allowed in class UNLESS they are needed to read their online book. If the teacher catches

the student playing games, chatting, sending messages, listening to music, or any other activity that has nothing

to do with the class, the student will get a cero in class work for that day and, if behavior continues, a report.