Wiki Page, 2024 BEGINNER ELL-A (Evangelista): Course Syllabus

Wiki Page
2024-08-28T13:20:45-07:00

Course Description

Renton High School is a trimester school.

Trimester 1: August 28 -November 27, 2024. (14 weeks)

Trimester 2: December 3 – March 14, 2025. (12 weeks long)

Trimester 3: March 18 – June 18, 2025. (13.5 weeks long)

Beginner ELL is a year-long course that focuses on learning the English language. Students are enrolled in two class periods per day, one with Ms. Evangelista and one with another teacher. In this class, you will learn basic English language skills to be able to communicate and participate within your general education classes.

In Beginner ELL we will be moving into more complex academic language development. We will focus on speaking and writing detailed and complete sentences with increasing complexity and elaboration. You will demonstrate sentence variety in your speaking and writing, including simple, compound and complex sentences. You will work towards a mastery of verb tenses over three trimesters. Our goal is for you to write strong paragraphs by the time you move on to Intermediate ELL. By the end of this school year, you should be able to write paragraphs with introduction sentences, body sentences, and a conclusion.

Additionally, by the time you exit Beginner ELL, you will be familiar with the four key functions of language: to inform, narrate, argue and explain. You will listen to and read more complex texts that are literary, informative and argumentative. With preparation and support, you will also be able to speak to a small group about a focused topic.

Ways to get help after school:

1. Email Ms. Evangelista at Cristina.evangelista@rentonschools.us.

2. Visit Room 367. You can stay alternating Wednesdays and Fridays from 2:05-3:00. Ms. Evangelista will post her calendar at the start of every period.

3. Homework Help Center in Library (days and times will be announced in October). If you need transportation home, free bus passes are available at the main office.

4. Tutor.com link on Canvas. Tutors on tutor.com are available to help you in English and Spanish in all subjects, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week

How to contact me:

Email (preferred) | cristina.evangelista@rentonschools.us
ParentSquare texting app | Check cell phone for a text from me and reply to the text
Visit me in Room 367 | Alternating Wednesdays and Fridays 2:30-3:30 pm, or email me to make an appointment

Important Rules and Policies

CELL PHONES

Students may use cell phones before school, after school, during lunch, and in room 367 with teacher permission for certain learning activities. In our class, phones will only be allowed for playing Kahoot or photographing important information.

Your cell phones must be placed in the teacher’s cell phone collection box, or silenced and kept in your backpack at all times. Your teacher may take your cell phone if you are distracted by it during class.

Reminder from the RHS Student Handbook: Lost and stolen cell phones are NOT the responsibility of the Renton School District. Your teacher will not call security for you or help you look for lost or stolen cell phones. Any allowed electronic use is optional, so students are encouraged to leave personal devices at home.

TARDY POLICY

PLEASE COME ON TIME. TARDY STUDENTS ARE VERY DISRUPTIVE TO THE CLASS.

If you arrive 1-29 minutes after the bell rings, you will be marked tardy on Skyward.

If you are more than 30 minutes late to class, you will be marked absent on Skyward. Parents of students who have more than 3 tardies in class and a continued pattern of tardies should expect to receive a Parentsquare text message from me and will be contacted by the Dean of Students. Excessive tardies may result in families being sent to court.

ATTENDANCE POLICY

Daily attendance is very important to school success. Students who are frequently absent get lower grades.

If you are absent, your guardian MUST call or email the attendance secretary within 48 hours for your absence to be excused.

You can leave a voicemail in Spanish or English after hours. Say your name, the date and reason for your absence. The voicemail box is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week: 425-204-3410.

You can also email: renton.attendance@rentonschools.us in English or your preferred language

If a parent is picking up a student during school for early dismissal, the guardian must sign in with the main office to arrange to pick up the student. If the student will be driving themselves home or to an appointment, the guardian must call the main office to inform them and excuse the absences in the remaining classes for the day.

Students taking video or phone appointments with immigration, attorneys or doctors in the middle of class need to have their guardians email or text the teacher ahead of time to excuse the absence and disrupted learning time.

If your absences are unexcused, your teachers may not allow you to make up assignments and tests that you missed that day. The school’s automated phone messaging system will call the telephone number in Skyward to notify your guardian of your absence.

FOOD

You may not eat in room 367 unless you are willing to share your food with your teacher. If you are late to class because you bought food, you should bring Ms. Evangelista a drink or snack, too. Her favorite drink from Starbucks is a tall soy latte. Her favorite snack is Lay’s Original Potato Chips. Students who leave food and garbage on the desks or floor will not be allowed to eat or drink in class after the first violation, no matter how many potato chips they give the teacher! Keep our classroom clean.

HALL PASS POLICY

Students cannot leave class during the first or last 10 minutes of class. You must have a bathroom or green hall pass to be outside of room 367 during class hours. Students must ask permission before leaving the classroom. Students taking too long to return to class and students leaving without a hall pass will face disciplinary action from the Dean of Students.

ITEMS TO BRING TO CLASS DAILY:

Your district-provided Chromebook, fully charged, with your charger just in case.

Earbuds or headphones should you need to watch videos in class or work on apps with audio. Ms. Evangelista has some that you can borrow for use in the classroom, but they are not cleaned in between uses. You may also want to have a computer mouse.

A pencil, a black ball point pen and a pen of a different color (for correcting and peer editing purposes)

A pocket folder. Do not lose your papers!

A NOTE ABOUT CHEATING:

All of these things count as cheating:

Copying someone else’s assignment and submitting it as your own

Asking someone else to do a speaking recording for you, or having an app read it aloud for you

Cutting and pasting answers off of the internet or Google

Having someone else do an assignment for you, or doing an assignment for someone else

Students caught cheating will get an automatic ZERO for the assignment without the opportunity to re-do it, and will be referred to the Dean of Students for an Academic Honesty Violation.