Class Info




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Welcome to Ms. Kosmoski's Class for the 2019-2020 School Year!
Please take time to read the course syllabus for each class below.
Period 2: World Literature
Email: mkosmoski@sapublicschools.com
This course reflects a hope that students will understand and appreciate stories that have been passed along in various world cultures.  This course will expose students to a wide variety of multicultural authors.  The text is in chronological order, and additional novels will be read between the major stories in the units.  Many of the novels will be read in an abridged form to encourage students to read independently.
This course is designed to satisfy national and state standards, and student competencies. 
Materials: 
reader, novels, binder, loose leaf, pens/pencils, highlighters, teacher-made outlines/worksheets/tests to accompany stories
Class Rules:
These will be posted and discussed in the first week of school.  The basics include respect for yourself and others, arriving to class on time, and keeping a positive attitude to learn each day.
Coursework:
There will be journals to complete from popular topics, and local/world news, tests, quizzes, and projects.
Grading:
There are two types of assessments:  Summative 60% (tests, projects), and Formative 40% (quizzes, classwork, participation).  The grading policy is the same as the middle/high school's scale.


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Period 4: World History
Email:mkosmoski@sapublicschools.com
This course provides a basic understanding of world cultures and civilizations.  Students will learn vocabulary, concepts and ancient people lived and survived in our world.  This basic, but comprehensive world history program provides multiple learning opportunities for students to explore concepts taught in the class.  There are student texts, worksheets, project experiences, reviews, and tests.  The student text covers information that all students need to know, and the activity sheets and other projects in the series reinforce that information.  There are lists of vocabulary words in the text for quick reference, full-color visual aids, such as charts and diagrams, and full-color photographs and illustrations.  The worksheets include a variety of activities,such as multiple choice, true or false, matching, fill-in-the-blank, short answer, and crossword-puzzle activities. This course taps in every learning modality: seeing, hearing, saying, hands-on, manipulating objects through demonstration and project-based activities. This curriculum aligns to the New Jersey State Standards of History, as well as the National History Education Standards. 
Materials:
Student text, worksheets, l(the remainder are teacher-provided): loose leaf, binder, pens, pencils, crayons/markers/colored pencils, project and experiment items
Class  Rules:
These will be posted and discussed in the first week of school.  The basics include respect for yourself and others, arriving to class on time, and preparing to learn in a positive manner.
Course Work:
This program has a hands-on component.  A project is incorporated into each chapter studied.  Students will create their custom craft piece using items as simple as poster board and pictures from web sites, to clay art, and use of acrylic paint to provide a finishing touch to their artwork.  Papier mache art pieces will also be created.  These pieces will also reflect the individual student's mastery of that studied region.
For assessment, each of the chapters studied will be enhanced with reviews, worksheets, and tests.
Grading:
There are two types of assessment: Summative 60% (tests, projects), and Formative 40% (quizzes, classwork, participation).  The grading is the same as the middle/high school's scale.
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Period 5 - British Literature
​​Email: ​​mkosmoski@sapublicschools.com
This course will explore literature from Anglo-Saxon times to the present.  The textbook contains a wide variety of classic and modern works written by different British authors.  There is a chronological approach which assists students in creating connections between British literature and events in British history.  
The text will enhance student learning by presenting various genres of British literature - poetry, short stories, nonfiction, novel excerpts, and drama.  The literature includes traditional works by William Shakespeare, to modern authors such as T.S. Eliot.  
Students will learn language arts skills through use of visual clues, graphic organizers, and fill-in-the blank outlines as they actively read each story.  There is also the component  of learning grammatical skills and other language arts skills.
In each unit, there will reading assessments that allow the students to express their thoughts about literature through a variety of media and in multiple ways. 
Materials:
Student text, worksheets, (the remainder are teacher-provided): loose leaf, binder, pens/pencils/markers/colored pencils, project or experiment items.
Class Rules:
These will be posted and discussed in the first week of school.  The basics include respect for yourself and others, arriving to class on time, and forming a positive attitude to learn in class.
Course Work:
This program has a free writing journal component,  as well as a current events discussion and writing session.  Students will practice and learn steps to basic paragraph writing which will then build to longer and more detailed pieces.  They will synthesize what they have learned from reading the student text. to write a similar writing piece. 
To assess, the program has corresponding reviews and tests.  The focus in this course is on enjoyment in the reading process, and to become more confident writers.  They will learn at their pace, and in multiple modalities of learning.
Grading:
There are two types of assessment: Summative 60% (test and projects) and Formative 40% (quizzes, classwork, and participation).  The grading is the same as the middle/high school scales.