Pre-freshman English

The pre-freshman English class will, if taken seriously, improve students’ fundamental vocabulary, reading, and writing skills to prepare them for the demands of their English classes at Strake Jesuit.

Book List

Greenberg, Michael. Painless Vocabulary. Second Edition. New York: Barron's Educational Series, 2011.

Elliott, Rebecca. Painless Grammar. Third Edition. New York: Barron's Educational Series, 2011.

Reading Comprehension Success. Fourth Edition. New York: Learning Express, 2009.

Stevenson, The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde (not provided)

*These textbooks and any other material used will be provided to the student. The student must not write in any of the textbooks. Notes must be taken outside the text.

Class Materials

Class materials are for daily use. Each student must bring his materials to class each day and have them ready for use by the time the bell has rung.

  • Pen (blue or black ink only), #2 pencil and highlighter
  • Notebook and loose-leaf paper
  • Folder or binder solely dedicated to Pre-Freshman English
  • Textbooks
  • Somewhere to write homework assignments

Classroom Expectations

  • Be in class, and ready to begin, on time. Students who are tardy and without a pass from a faculty or staff member, or who are not in their seats at the bell, will be issued a tardy. Two tardies lead to an absence. Three absences prevent you from passing the class.
  • Respect one another and the instructor. If someone else is speaking, whether student or teacher, you are not. Raise your hand if you have a question or a comment and wait patiently for the teacher to call on you. Refrain from any and all derogatory remarks regarding race, gender, sexual orientation, economic class, religion, or other distinctions. Be respectful.
  • Take careful and detailed notes, both in class and while reading class texts at home. Students found not taking notes, or taking few/poor notes, will see a negative reflection in their participation grade.
  • I will NOT accept any late assignments.  Any assignment not turned in on the due date will count as a zero.
  • In the event that you are absent, it is your responsibility to see the teacher about missed work and to speak with other students about missed notes.  I will not track you down.
  • Cell phones and any other electronic device are prohibited in this class. They are to be silenced and hidden from view and use at all times.
  • Any action construed as disrupting to the instructor or other students absolutely will not be tolerated. It is ultimately up to you whether or not you want to learn the material presented in this class. Anything that takes away another student’s opportunity to learn is unacceptable and will result in disciplinary action.

Grading

This class will use the following grading scale:

A: 100-90
B: 89-80
C: 79-75
D: 74-70
F: Below 70

Nightly Reading

Do tonight’s reading… tonight!  There is a hefty reading load in this class, but not an unreasonable one.  It would behoove you to stay on top of your nightly reading.  All readings, along with long-term assignments will be/are posted on this website.  You should consult this daily.

Participation and Homework (20%)

Participation is absolutely crucial to your success, both on paper and in mind, in this course. You are expected to participate in class daily, demonstrating comprehension of subjects and topics covered previously in class, showing you have read and understood material from the daily reading, or proving your willingness to ask questions about concepts or ideas you may be struggling with. Participation is not optional and I will encourage it by calling on each student from time to time, regardless of whether or not his hand is raised.

Quizzes and Tests (25%) 

Quizzes and Tests will cover literature, vocabulary and grammar covered in class and daily assignments. Quizzes will occur regularly and may not be announced in advance. Quizzes will always cover details from the previous night’s assignment and may include points made in lecture or discussion. Tests will always include points made in lecture and discussion, as well as conclusions drawn from a full text and complete grammar and vocabulary units. Tests will be given with notice. Take good notes and review them regularly.

Writing Assignments (30%)

All writing assignments will be assigned a maximum number of points that can be achieved.  Your achieved point total will be added together and divided by the total possible to calculate the writing portion of your grade.  Each writing assignment will have its own rubric that will be distributed with the assignment sheet.

Each writing assignment (unless indicated otherwise) must be submitted to Turnitin.com by 8:00am CST on the morning it is due.  Essays not submitted through this site will not be read until they are posted on the site and will have 10% deducted.

Lateness policy: During summer school, unlike during the regular school year, I WILL NOT accept a late paper.

Final Exam (25%)

The Final Exam will cover literature, vocabulary, and grammar.

Course Schedule

Friday, June 6 - Course Introduction; Reading Comprehension Pretest (pages 5-16); Reading Comprehension Lessons 1-2; Constructing a Paragraph; Vocab 1; By Monday, write your paragraph and bring 2 copies to class, typed.  Also, be sure to register on turnitin.com.  Submit your paragraph by 8am on Monday.  Study vocab words (Unit 1).

Log-in Details: 

Class ID: 8077492

Password: strake

Monday, June 9 - Questions?; Turnitin.com issues?; Vocab Quiz 1; Vocab 2; MLA Headers;Your paragraphs; Basic Paragraph Structure; Set Essay #1; Nouns (capitalization), Pronouns, and Verbs; Reading Comprehension Lessons 1-5; For tomorrow, complete grammar exercises pages 15, 24, and 41 on loose leaf paper, to be handed in.  Also, by Monday, June 16, buy a copy of Robert Louis Stevenson's The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde. Study vocab words (Unit 2).

Tuesday, June 10 - Adjectives, Adverbs, Conjunctions, Prepositions, Interjections; Reading Comprehension Lessons 11-12; Body paragraphs; Individual Essay Work; Vocab Quiz 2; Vocab 3-4 (Quiz Thursday); For tomorrow, complete grammar exercises pages 51-2 and 60 on loose leaf paper, to be handed in.

Wednesday, June 11 - Sentences, Fragments, Phrases, Clauses, Periods, Exclamation Points, Question Marks, Semicolons, Colons; Reading Comprehension Lessons 13-14; Introductions; For tomorrow, complete grammar exercises pages 84 and 92-3 on loose leaf paper, to be handed in. Study vocab words (Units 3-4).

Thursday, June 12 - Commas, Parentheses, Brackets, Dashes, Parentheticals, Hyphens, Apostrophes, Ellipses, Italics, Asterisks and Bullets. Slashes; Reading Comprehension Lesson 15; Vocab Quiz 3-4; For tomorrow, complete grammar exercises pages 106, 114, and 126 on loose leaf paper, to be handed in.  Study for test.

Friday, June 13 - Test; Reading Comprehension Lessons 18-19; Vocab 5-6; Essay work; For Monday, read pages 127-144 in your grammar book.

Monday, June 16 - Quotation Marks, Numerals, Abbreviations, Symbols, Emphasis; Body Paragraphs; Vocab Quiz 5-6; Vocab 7-8; Reading Comprehension Packet; For tomorrow, complete grammar exercises pages 135 and 144 on loose leaf paper, to be handed in.  Also, read Chapters 1-2 of Jekyll and Hyde.  

Tuesday, June 17 - Grammar Worksheet; Reading Comprehension Packet; Jekyll and Hyde; For tomorrow, complete grammar exercises pages 172 and 177 on loose leaf paper, to be handed in. Prepare your presentation on your assigned pair of misused words. Also, read Chapters 3-5 of Jekyll and Hyde.

Wednesday, June 18 - More Sentence Patterns; Misused words; Jekyll and Hyde; Vocab Quiz 7-8; Vocab 9-10; For tomorrow, complete grammar exercises pages 191, 197, 205, and 216 on loose leaf paper, to be handed in.

Thursday, June 19 - Complete Chapter 3: Agreement;  Sentence Combining Exercises;  Jekyll and Hyde; Also, read Chapter 6-9 of Jekyll and Hyde.

Friday, June 20 - Cumulative Test; Jekyll and Hyde; Vocab 11; Finish Jekyll and Hyde over the weekend.

Monday, June 23 - Go over Friday's test;  Composing an e-mail; Set Jekyll and Hyde Essay; Jekyll and Hyde; Vocab Quiz 11; Vocab 12-13

Tuesday, June 24 - Argument; Jekyll and Hyde; Introductions and Conclusions

Wednesday, June 25 - Argument; Essay Workshop

Thursday, June 26 - Jekyll and Hyde; Argument; Essay Workshop; Reading Comprehension

Friday, June 27 - Argument; Essay Workshop

Monday, June 30 - Grammar Review; Poe, The Cask of Amontillado

Tuesday, July 1 - Jekyll and Hyde Essay Due; Grammar Review; Poe, The Cask of Amontillado

Wednesday, July 2 - Grammar Review

Thursday, July 3 - Final Exam

Important Dates 

Wednesday, June 18 - Essay #1 Due

Friday, June 20 - Test 2

Wednesday, June 25 - Jekyll and Hyde Thesis Statement

Tuesday, July 1 - Jekyll and Hyde Final Essay

Thursday, July 3 - Final Exam

Guide to iPad submissions to turnitin.com

Academic Honesty

Strake Jesuit has instituted an Academic Honesty policy, which clearly and concisely outlines the definition of and consequences for instances of academic dishonesty, including but not limited to: cheating on tests, sharing homework answers, and copying some or all of another person’s written work.

I find plagiarism especially morally and professionally abhorrent; it is a violation of the mutual respect between teachers and students, scholars and researchers, as well as that between peers.

Please take time to familiarize yourself with the Academic Honesty policy, and if you have any questions, do not hesitate to share them with me and with the class.

IGNORANCE IS NOT AN EXCUSE.