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Welcome to 8th grade English

Miss Kostopoulos Miss Burcyk

Welcome Back!

Welcome back to Great Neck South Middle School. I am very excited about the upcoming school year. I look forward to being your teacher and learning with you this year. I hope you are excited as well. The highest standards of behavior are expected from you both in your personal behavior and your dedication to academic success. I expect students to be motivated; to strive to do the best work possible; to be tolerant and respectful; and to behave in a friendly, cooperative, and responsible manner.

The First Five Minutes

Arrive to class on time.

Take out your planner and copy the HW.

Youll need a pen or pencil to do that so make sure you have one before you arrive to class. Each day when you arrive in the room, there may be instructions posted on the board, smartboard, or visualizer. These may involve placing homework in the HW bin, picking up the days handouts, arranging groups/seats, and starting work on the Do Now. Make sure you have all of the materials you need for class. This includes your binder, a pen/pencil, your Writers/Readers Notebook, any books we are reading, and your planbook.

Classroom Expectations

Be respectful and attentive. Every person has the right to learn in a safe and positive classroom environment.

Raise your hand and wait your turn when you would like to speak.

Listen quietly and carefully when someone else is speaking.

Remember to treat others as you would like to be treated. Our goal is to create a community of learners where we feel comfortable and safe to share with our peers.

Follow instructions and listen actively when the teacher or a classmate is speaking.

Participate Actively

Ask questions, voice your opinion, and react to the comments of others. An interactive classroom enhances our learning experience. Attendance and active classroom participation are required. Once again, you must respect your classmates thoughts, opinions, and right to speak when called upon.

Be Responsible

Everyone must do all the work assigned. Homework is given almost every night.

Your homework should be handed in on time, and be neatly, completely, and thoughtfully done. If you are absent, you are responsible to make up the work you missed.

Assigned reading is homework. You must keep up with your reading to be successful in this class.
If you need help, it is your responsibility to schedule an appointment with me on Extra Help Days (Thursdays) or another time that is convenient for both of us.

Please keep your binder, notebooks, and planner neat and organized.

Your Work

You Must Use Proper Format for All Papers Your assignments must have the proper heading in the upper right-hand corner of the page. You will have assignments returned to you with an Incomplete if you do not place this information in the correct place. Your heading is as follows: Your name Miss Kostopoulos/Miss Burcyk English 8- ____ (Your class period) Date

Use a standard font style for all of your papers. Avoid overly decorative fonts (except on covers) and fonts that use all capital letters. Some examples of acceptable fonts are: Times New Roman, Arial, Georgia, Palatino, or Bookman. Use a 12-pt. font size and 1.5 to 2 spaces for line spacing. Do not use single spacing unless specified.

Grading

Quarterly and final grades will be based on the following: Classroom participation and preparedness Completion of homework assignments- HW must be neat, complete, and on time Completion of classroom assignments- individual or collaborative Completion of writing assignments- essays, short stories, narratives Quizzes- announced and pop Tests- our primary testing day is Monday; the secondary testing day is Wednesday Regularly scheduled notebook checks Readers & Writers Notebooks must be kept organized Projects (Outside Reading, Interdisciplinary, Creative)

Missed Work and Tardy Work

Missed work- If you are absent, you must see me immediately upon your return to receive any and all missed work. I will hold you responsible to make up the assignments.
Late work- I will NOT accept late homework for any reason other than absence. Projects- Unexcused late assignments will be assessed a penalty for each day late. Chronic delinquency of written work or assigned reading requires both a teacher-student meeting and parental contact.

Supplies - HOMEWORK
To every English class, you must bring: A pen or pencil Your English binder. It should be a RED 1 inch loose-leaf binder filled with paper and divided into the following 5 sections: 1.) Notes 2.) Grammar 3) Word Study 4) Homework 5) ELA Your Writers Notebook. This can be a marble composition notebook.

Your Readers Notebook. This can be a marble composition notebook.

Post-Its Your weekly planner

In addition, it will also be helpful to your success in English if you had EITHER a working Google Docs account OR a formatted USB. There will be many occasions when you will be required to complete writing at home that you began in school.

Summer Reading

You will be assessed on your summer reading novel on Monday, September 9th. You will be taking a Quiz on the novel you read. It will be multiple choice and short answer. You must bring in your double entry journals, which will be collected and assessed. These are due on .. You will be responsible for writing an essay on your summer reading novel and the corresponding non-fiction article on Monday and Tuesday, September 16th and 17th. This essay will be collected and graded. Summer reading assignments can be found HERE https://sites.google.com/site/gnsmssummerreading/home/8thgrade-reading-assignment

Plagiarism

Statement on Plagiarism:

Plagiarism is taking someone elses ideas and using them as your own. This includes copying a classmates homework, essay, or answers. It also includes using material from any source, including the Internet, and claiming it as your own work.

E-MAIL

Miss Kostopouloss email address is: jkostopoulos@greatneck.k12.ny.us

Miss Burcyks email address is lburcyk@greatneck.k12.ny.us When you are corresponding with either of us via email, always write your name in all capital letters in the subject line. This will make for easier retrieval if your email is directed into the SPAM folder. When emailing your teachers, please adhere to the standard conventions of English.