Springvalley Middle School

350 Ziprick Road, Kelowna, BC, V1X 4H3 Phone: 250 862-3274

Course Outline-English 9, 2014-2015

Instructor: Janine Collinson

Email: Janine.collinson@sd23.bc.ca

Website: Mscollinson.weebly.com

Course Description
Language is fundamental to thinking, learning and communicating in all cultures. Each day we will try to strike
a balance between improving your skills and enjoying language. Overall, I wish for you to develop or continue a
love of lifelong learning.
This course is designed to foster intellectual curiosity, enthusiasm for language, appreciation for literature,
analytical and critical thought, and effective reading and writing skills. Public speaking skills will be developed
through presentation, writing skills will be developed through teaching the process of writing along with aspects
of using Standard English, including solving communication problems in usage, grammar and mechanics.
Students will expand upon the exploration of personal, societal and cultural values studied in English 8.
Emphasis will continue to be placed upon writing skills, oral communication and listening skills.
Classroom Culture
The culture of our English 9 classroom will be one of absolute respect and acceptance. The sole purpose of
language is to enhance human interaction and communication. Consequently, we will be discussing many
controversial ideas throughout the term; in order for our discussions to be invigorating and engaging, we are
going to need to make ourselves vulnerable and share pieces of ourselves with the rest of the class. Any form of
bullying, disrespect, or harshness will be dealt with severe consequences. Due to the nature of this course,
bullying is completely against the culture of this classroom and it is something that I am very strict about.
One of the most important objectives of this class is for you to discover and explore new sources of personally
enjoyable literature. I am looking forward to a great year working with you!
21 St Century Learners strive to be:
Learners, Thinkers, Innovators, Collaborators, Contributors
Course Aims and Objectives
The aims are:
Oral Language - You will be encouraged to develop your speaking, listening, and group work skills.
This includes responding (out loud) to texts in a personal, critical, and creative manner while also
demonstrating an awareness of diversity.
Reading and Viewing - You will be focusing on strategies to improve your silent reading, reading
comprehension, and personal responses to reading. These strategies will include: questioning,
connecting, inferring, visualizing, synthesizing and justifying your opinions.
Writing and Representing - You will create personal goals that will aim to improve your journal
responses, essays, creative writing, writing strategies, and visual representations. To apply these skills,
we will do a variety of activities: daily vocabulary work, regular journal responses, plenty of persuasive

Springvalley Middle School

350 Ziprick Road, Kelowna, BC, V1X 4H3 Phone: 250 862-3274

Course Outline-English 9, 2014-2015

writing, plenty of creative writing, and several visual representations.
Critical Thinking - You will be encouraged to think critically and creatively, and to reflect on your
thinking and learning. We will discuss strategies, which you will use in order to do this effectively
Connections - You will be challenged to make connections between texts and the world around you
and to develop a continuously increasing understanding of self and others, with a focus on diversity.
By the end of the course students will be able to:

present and respond to ideas, feelings, and knowledge sensitively and creatively
refine his/her sentence and paragraph writing skills.
improve public speaking skills.
develop and refine different types of research skills to gather information.
develop strategies to avoid plagiarism.
demonstrate the ability to write a formal essay complete with introduction, supporting paragraphs, and
conclusion.
produce his/her own stories and/or poetry.
compare and contrast different pieces of writing

Curriculum

Short Stories
Literary Terms: setting, characters, rising action, climax, denouement, conflict, mood, theme,
foreshadowing, irony, satire, plot, point of view: first person, point of view: third person, thesis, tone,
pun
Comprehension: literal and inferential
Writing: descriptive, narrative, expository, persuasive
Language: parts of speech, sentence structure, punctuation
Novel Studies
Poetic Devices: simile, metaphor, personification, hyperbole, symbolism, alliteration, onomatopoeia,
rhyme, rhyme scheme, stanza, symbol, irony, and oxymoron

Evaluation - Evaluation will be determined through a combination of daily in-class assignments, quizzes, tests,
compositions, essays and journals, and participation in class discussions.
In any one term, you can expect:
Work ethic will be determined in accordance with SMS policy. Please refer to the student handbook.
Assignments /Projects

60%

Quizzes/Tests

20%

Professional dialogue- observations and conversations

20 %

Total

100%

*** The weightings are approximate only ****

Note: The final exam will be worth 20% of the overall grade for the course.

Springvalley Middle School

350 Ziprick Road, Kelowna, BC, V1X 4H3 Phone: 250 862-3274

Course Outline-English 9, 2014-2015

Course Expectations- The Life Raft

The Life Raft

The Golden rule: treat others you would like to be treated

Be Brave-Participate to Progress
Pursue your personal best not matter who you work with
Have reasons for the things you say and do
It takes great Strength to be sensible
Be Prepared- It is important that you be on time, come to class willing to work and bring all necessary supplies
to class (pen, pencil, organized binder and especially your silent reading book). Your level of preparation will
impact the work habit mark on your report card. Read your SMS student handbook to make sure you know what
is expected of you!
Be Respectful- Respect yourself, your peers, your teacher, your school, the work you have to do. Class begins
at the bell. Tardiness, without a valid reason, will result in making up class time missed. It is important that
students respect themselves, respect others and respect their environment. We all need to be comfortable to
express our ideas, to make mistakes and to learn. We need to respect each others heritage and to demonstrate
an awareness and acceptance of diversity.
Be Engaged- the learning process depends on your engagement with your own work. You will learn methods
of assessing your own work and the work of your peers. This is a skill that you will find helpful in many future
venues. KAGAN
Attendance -Absence and tardiness create gaps in student learning which frequently affect scores/grades. You
are responsible for all of the work that you miss and you must take the initiative to check with a friend or to
check my website to find out what work you should have prepared for class or be ready to hand in.
http://mscollinson.weebly.com/ I love the quote by Hunter S. Thompson that states, "Half of life is just showing
up".
Absences -As previously noted, regular attendance is expected. However, if for some reason will be away, and
you know you will be, I except you to tell me in advance or if you miss class unexpectedly, you must bring a
note from your parent or guardian, explaining your absence. You are responsible for any missed work. (Ask you
shoulder partner) Missed in-class essays or tests will be made up afterschool as per school policy. If there are
extenuating circumstances for missed classes or work, please see me. I want you to be successful in English 9.
Hand in all assignments on time - Again this information is in your SMS student handbook. This makes life
easier for both of us.
Late Work-Students that do not hand in assignments on time will be expected to stay in at lunch and
afterschool until finished.
Bring a Positive Attitude- It is a key component to your own success.
Plagiarism

Springvalley Middle School

350 Ziprick Road, Kelowna, BC, V1X 4H3 Phone: 250 862-3274

Course Outline-English 9, 2014-2015

The Plagiarism Policy is absolutely critical for all students to read and understand. Do NOT use someone elses
work. It is considered theft and you will receive the consequences as outlined for this academic offense. We will
be discussing online plagiarism in more detail during class time.
Website: www.Mscollinson.weebly.com
Please use the class website! It is there for students to check major project instructions and rubrics,
presentation dates, and other important information. Useful research links will also be posted.
Let's have a successful year!
Sincerely,

Ms. Collinson