August 10th, 2017

Dear Parent or Guardian,

Welcome to the tenth grade! I hope you and your children have had wonderful summers and are ready
for school to start again. This should be a good year: youve probably guessed that we will be working on
reading, writing, and speaking skills in English this year. We will read some amazing books, including, but not
limited to, Lord of the Flies, Of Mice and Men, Oedipus, and Midsummer Nights Dream. The reading, writing,
and presentation skills that your child will learn in English will be lifelong assets.

I recommend that your child get the following materials for my class:
A binder or folder to organize class notes, handouts, assignments, etc.
a spiral notebook or a composition notebook for the bellringer
paper
pencil or pen (blue or black)
red pen
highlighter
notecards

This year, in addition to the class novels, we will be doing a lot of choice reading. During times when
we are not reading a whole-class novel, I will be asking students to read a book of their choice every day for ten
minutes in class and to also read their choice books at home. Theres a lot of research showing that giving kids
choice engages them more and that that engagement improves their reading, so Im hoping this will be both
something they enjoy and something they learn from. Ive tried to collect a large selection of books in my
classroom to give them easily available options, and they can also choose books from the library or home. I
have done my best to screen the books in my classroom and will look over the books they bring in for
appropriateness, but I am not able to read all of the books before they do, so if you have any concerns about
anything they pick, please let me know and I will have them change books. If you have general concerns about
what types of books your child should read, I encourage you to have conversations with your child about your
expectations.

I hand out calendars at the beginning of each unit that list all of the upcoming due dates for that unit, and
I have upcoming due dates on the board in red. This year, I will also be maintaining a live google doc that
will show due dates and activities throughout the year. It is currently filled out for the first semester, and
I will be able to update it when necessary (snow days, student confusion that leads to more time on
something, etc.). You can access my calendar from this website:

http://mrspetrowsenglish10.weebly.com/calendar.html

If you have questions about what your child should be doing or your childs progress, please contact me. You
can email me at jody.petrow@bpsne.net, or you can call the school. If you miss me, leave a message, including
your name, the students name, and a phone number, and Ill call you back.

Thanks so much for your support, and I look forward to a fantastic year!

Sincerely,
J. Petrow
ENGLISH 10: MRS. PETROW

English class focuses on some of the most important things that you will learn in high schoolhow to
better understand what you read, and how to present your own ideas, in written and spoken form, to other
people. Literature helps us explore and understand what it is to be a human being. This is great stuff!! The
simple tenth grade English curriculum includes four essential objectives.

1. Uses oral presentations for varied contexts.

2. Writes for different purposes.
3. Understands grade-level texts.
4. Researches using primary and secondary sources.

RULES
1) Respect others and their property
2) Come on time and prepared.
3) Stay in your seat and be quiet unless told otherwise.

GRADING
1. Grade breakdown:
70% Summative (includes papers, projects, tests, and speeches)
20% Formative: smaller daily assignments, building blocks of larger projects, quizzes, etc.
5% Choice reading log/conferences
5% Article of the Week: in-class article responses every other week

2. Late work: Late formative work will be accepted until the end of the unit, with a 40% reduction in credit.
For late summative work, 10% will be deducted for each day late, up to 40% off.

3. Speeches: Speeches are a public speaking EO, which means that I have to score you on how you present to a
public audience. Unless you have an IEP or 504 plan that says otherwise, speeches must be given to a public
audience.

4. Summative Retakes:
*There will be no retakes of novel tests or semester exams.
*Some summative essays may be rewritten. Students may not rewrite research papers or timed papers.
To rewrite other summative essays, students must complete relearning assignments chosen by the teacher and
do so in a timely manner. Students should arrange to meet with the teacher within 3 days after the essay is
passed back in order to discuss the relearning requirements. The student will have 2 (calendar) weeks from the
date after the essay is passed back to complete the relearning assignments and turn in the rewritten essay.

5. If students plagiarize work, they will receive a zero for that work.

PROCEDURES
1) Seats will be assigned. If there is a problem with your seat, please let me know.
2) You may get up to throw away trash, sharpen your pencil, or get supplies during individual or group work
time, but NOT during lectures, presentations, or class discussion.
3) Water is always allowed. Food and other drinks may be allowed or restricted depending on class behavior.
4) Raise your hand to speak.
5) You should do your assignments in black pen, blue pen (standard blue, not teal, turquoise, etc.), or pencil.
You may correct assignments in other colors, but the original work should be in black pen, blue pen, or
pencil. Final essays should be typed.
6) If you dont turn an assignment in when I collect it, its late. The highest score you can get on late work is
60%. I accept late work for limited periods of time. For example, I wont accept formative assignments for
a novel after the student takes the novel final test.
7) ABSOLUTELY NO TALKING while Mrs. Petrow, a student, or anyone else is speaking to or presenting to
the class.
8) All typed work should be double-spaced, with standard margins, in Times New Roman 12-point font unless
I tell you otherwise.
9) If you want to use your phone for a purpose related to class, ask me. Otherwise, if you use your phone,
ipod, or ipad, or other electronic distraction in my class, I will confiscate it until the end of the day.

ABSENCES AND TARDIES

In order to be considered on time, you need to be IN YOUR SEAT when the bell finishes ringing. If
you are hanging out chatting with your friends instead of in your seat, I will mark you tardy. When you get
your 4th tardy, I will call your parents. You will be referred to the dean for your fifth tardy, again for your 8th
tardy, your 10th tardy, and every even-numbered tardy after that. If you are tardy to first period by more than 15
minutes, you will be counted absent. If you are excessively late to a class later in the day, you will be sent to
the dean for skipping.
If you are absent or tardy, you are responsible for getting your make-up work. I will list the missed
assignments in schoology, including any handouts you need. At the end of your third day back in school, your
make-up work is due. AFTER THAT DAY MAKE-UP WORK WILL BE COUNTED LATE. Please write
MAKE-UP WORK in large letters at the top of any make-up work, to help me remember not to mark it late.
If you miss a test, it is your responsibility to schedule with me a time when you can take it.