English 3 Honors: Mrs. Topham
(revised 2009)
Contact Information
E-mail addresses: e3h@sunspark.com ,ktopham@lfschools.net.
When
emailing, place “e3h” in subject line along with the specific assignment.
General
Strictly speaking, this is not a syllabus but a
general outline of what we will be doing in this course. Class time will be
divided among literature, Writing Workshop, and Reading Workshop, but
philosophically I consider them all a part of the same class
construct: each supports the others. Each of you will be working on assignments in all three areas, and,
although you obviously will be working on only one of them at a time, there
might be many different assignments you are juggling. The one thing that is
constant is this: there is always an English assignment, even if it is
one that you have created yourself.
In general (although not always) the weeks will divide as follows: Monday will
be Reading Workshop; Tuesday will be Writing Workshop; other days will be for
work on literature. A thing you need to know: We will have more than our "required" number of each type of workshop even if we skip some here and there. Don't worry!
What You Need
In addition to required texts, you need a Writing Journal. The Writing Journal
is a permanently-bound journal for keeping scraps of your thoughts, ideas you
might have, playful jottings, and pieces of writing we will discuss this in
class. You also should have a pocket folder or (preferably) a loose leaf binder
for use as a class notebook and as a working portfolio for Writing Workshop.
Literature
On days not assigned to workshops, we will discuss the literature, which may
include such works as Macbeth, The Theban Plays, and Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, as well as a
short story book and a poem book, handouts, and several optional novels or
plays which we may read, including My Name Is Asher Lev and others.
We will discuss issues and techniques in these books, and you will be writing
several major analytical pieces during the year as well as some quicker
overnight papers.
Reading Workshop
Each Monday, we will have Reading Workshop.
First of all, the single most important thing you need to do on Monday is to
come to class prepared to read; that means be sure you have your reading
material ready when you get here!
Each Reading Workshop day will begin in a different way. Sometimes we will start
with a mini-lesson, most of which will probably be of the "let's introduce
a genre or author" variety. I have tons of authors (short story writers,
poets, novelists, essayists, etc.) to whom I can introduce you; feel free to
suggest others. Sometimes the class will begin with a book discussion led by a
student in the class. Other times the workshop session might revolve around a
project that someone is trying to do. In any event, you can expect that the
"pre-reading" part of the workshop will occupy us for at least the
first ten or fifteen minutes of the day.
Assessment
Each quarter we will change the means of assessment of RW. We will discuss
these assessments together and determine as a class which of several options we
will undertake.
Make-up
In quarters for which the reading itself is the entire assessment, class policy requires you to make up any missed RW sessions in the Resource Center.
Writing Workshop
Each week, on a designated day (usually Tuesday), we will have
Writing Workshop. This will focus on individual student writing, and each of
you will be working on pieces you have created. You will be drafting or
redrafting pieces either in class or in the computer lab, or perhaps you will
be conferring with me or a classmate for feedback on a piece in progress.
Specific details about revision, submission, and conferencing of pieces will be
discussed separately.
Until the portfolio, most of the WW grade will be based on my observations of
your use of class time, your Workshop Summaries (discussed
separately) and your conferences. Several each semester, I will assess your
progress in WW, sometimes by observation and sometimes by collecting a Work In
Progress and grading your achievement. At this time, you will turn in all drafts
of your selected work in a single folder. You may, of course, continue
improving the piece later. You will decide ultimately when the piece is
finished, but you should pay attention to feedback from all sources if you
decide to include a piece in your portfolio. (Note: even if I opt not to have any deadlines at all other than the portfolio itself, you my choose to have personal deadlines if that helps you. Many students have asked me for them in the past and I always am happy to oblige. Please know, however, that once you set deadlines you are responsible to meet them.)
The goal of the Workshop is to improve your writing and to make you more
responsible for that improvement. You will work on pieces that are not
"assigned"; that is, you choose the topic and form of the piece,
whether it might be a personal response, a poem, a story, an essay, or even an
analytical paper. You determine whether and to what degree to proceed with
revision, but you should not simply abandon everything after a single draft.
In general, your work will proceed as follows:
You will begin writing something, possibly brainstorming it in conversation or
clustering, possibly beginning as a journal piece or some other less structured
piece of writing. If you decide you like a piece, you should type it into a
computer and begin the workshop process, which involves bringing it to
classmates and to me for formal conferences in which we will discuss ideas you
or we have for revision. The word
"revision" means to re-see; it doesn't mean to fix an error or two or
even to add a paragraph. Early revisions might involve completely starting
over with a new format or point of view, just to see where the piece would go.
Eventually, you will decide how you want the piece to look and what form it
will take.
Conferences with me will most likely be held outside of class time. I am
available at specifically designated times and places; each of you has a
bi-weekly scheduled appointment and you are encouraged to schedule additional
conferences. All pieces that find their way into a portfolio must have
undergone at least two conferences with me. (Note, though, that “two” conferences is merely a minimum eligibility requirement; it is unlikely that barely meeting
this minimum will create strong work.)
Analytical Writing
We will have one or two major analytical pieces each quarter, and these pieces will be subject to the workshop process and open for revision afterward. Revised essays will be averaged with the grade of the first submitted version.
Other, less formal, analytical writing will be done much more frequently on our class bulletin boards. These online forums, located at www.sunspark.com/smf , are in nearly constant use during the year for discussions of literature, as well as for feedback on student writing, on vocabulary, on grammar, and on pretty much anything on your minds. Students are expected to make liberal use of these forums throughout the year.
Topham’s Attic
The class blog, located at www.tophamsattic.blogspot.com, is the daily source for information pertaining to homework and in-class activities, as well as some entertainment and links to the bulletin boards, the conference schedule, the class pages, and other important places. Students are expected to check it daily. You should bookmark this page and/or subscribe to it using the link provided.
Class Discussion
Here’s the thing: I know that the primary goal of many people is to fade into the background and not get noticed. I know that the greatest fear in a classroom environment is to be wrong. So here is my challenge to each of you:
Climb out on a limb in the
discussions. Take a risk in your
interpretations. Go out so far and so
dangerously that it’s extremely likely that at some point you will crash and burn. And if you do, I promise, we will celebrate you for it.
In this class, I want every student
to risk crashing and burning at some point during the year, both online and in
class. Are you up to the challenge?