ELD Syllabus
ELD Syllabus
Last Updated Aug 2025
Last Updated Aug 2025
This class is designed for a 9th grade student identified as a Long-term English Learner (LTEL). Students develop college-preparatory skills as outlined in the California English Language Arts Common Core State Standards and Framework. These include reading literature and informational text, writing, speaking and listening, and language. This class also addresses the California English Language Development Standards and Framework. This class supports students’ success in the concurrently required general education English grade-level class.
Goal: Build the vocabulary, grammar, and language structures needed for success in academic settings across all subject areas.
Students will learn to apply precise academic vocabulary in speaking and writing tasks.
Students will learn to use increasingly complex sentence structures to communicate ideas effectively in oral and written forms.
Goal: Read, analyze, and respond to literature and informational texts with fluency and understanding.
Students will learn to identify central ideas, themes, and text structures in grade-level and scaffolded texts.
Cite textual evidence to support analysis, inferences, and conclusions.
Goal: Use academic English in collaborative discussions, presentations, and formal writing.
Students will learn to participate actively in discussions, building on others’ ideas and expressing their own clearly.
Students will learn to plan and deliver oral presentations that are organized, coherent, and supported with evidence.
Goal: Adjust tone, vocabulary, and style in writing and speaking to suit a specific purpose and audience.
Students will learn to identify the context and purpose of a text or speech (e.g., argumentative, expository, narrative).
Students will learn to adapt their own language (both spoken and written) and use appropriate tone, vocabulary, and code-switching for the given situation.
NO CELL PHONES allowed in sight. Students will be given 1 warning if a cell phone is seen, then the cell phone will be confiscated if the student persists to have it out. If the student continues to be defiant, rude, or difficult about the policy, cell phones will be given to the front office for parental pickup.
For English 9, Tretyak will attempt to have his class disconnect from cell phones as much as possible. The goal is to build resilience, frustration tolerance, and social-emotional health. Research has shown that excessive cell phones are not healthy for emotional and academic development, and almost all student cell phone use is excessive.
Parent and guardian involvement is essential at the 9th grade level. For this reason, parents and guardians may be contacted on a regular basis if it is seen as something that will benefit the long-term wellbeing of the student. Here are some of the best ways I suggest to ensure your student’s success in their first year of high school:
Talk regularly about what is happening. Ask questions and don’t forget to balance the good and the bad.
“How was school today?”
“What are you reading in your English class?”
“What are you doing well in school right now?”
Have your child walk you through Google Classroom, show you their binder, etc. Push them to teach YOU what they are doing.
“Can you show me how your Google Classroom works?”
“How do you organize your notebook and backpack? Show me.”
When parents read, kids typically read. It is also an opportunity to build relationships and critical thinking.
“What are you reading? Give me the title and author. I’ll read it with you.”
Not only is this a great way to know what your student is struggling with or succeeding on, but it’s a great way to build connections and relationships.
“So you have to write a paragraph about MLK? Let me write one, too. We’ll compare when we’re done.”
Emails don’t have to be long, and you don’t need some explosive reason. Aeries is good to check, but I’ll often respond within a day and give you details beyond a grade.
“How is Angel Aguilar doing?”
Students feel safe in Mr. Tretyak’s classroom. They feel as though they can express themselves without judgment, share their opinion, and make mistakes. They feel as though Mr. Tretyak sees them as good people and that ‘bad’ behaviors are windows for something they might need support for.
Students feel intrinsically motivated to push and achieve their personal best. They avoid unnecessary comparison and prioritize their own, personal growth. They are academically honest and understand that to compromise the process of learning is to hurt themselves and their peers in the process.
Students strive to be as consistent as possible with their attendance, reading logs, reading, participation, and any other assignments. They see growth as something that happens everyday, 1% at a time and that attempting to rush this growth will only hinder it. When things occur to block their consistency, they take steps to communicate, find help, and use resources so that school and this classroom can continue to be a place of comfort instead of turbulence.
Students work hard to establish a unique, independent voice by consistently attempting to contribute something new to every conversation. They are careful to cite the work of others as they are working hard to distinguish how what they say might be different and might contribute compared to what others say. Finally, they understand that creativity is a process and requires hard work to generate; people are not ‘born’ creative but are rather made that way by constant attempts, risks, failures, and recoveries.Tretyak’s SEL Goals and Teaching Philosophy
3 Ring Binder (1-1.5in) with a Set of Dividers
Pencil or Pen
Highlighters and Colored Pencils (Range of Colors)
A
(90+%)
Exceptional Proficiency
B
(80-89%)
Strong Proficiency
C
(70-79%)
Sufficient Proficiency
D
(60-69%)
Imminent Proficiency
F
(0-59%)
Insufficient Proficiency
Image Description and Analysis
Writing about Experiences
Academic Writing
Opinion and Argumentative Writing
Reading Comprehension
Theme Identification
Main Claim Identification
Evidence Collection
Adjusting Language to Suit Context
Reading Comprehension and Analysis (30%) - Reading of nonfiction (primarily) and fiction passages; ability to identify key details from the text, collect evidence, identify the main claim or theme, etc.
Writing (30%) - Narrative writing, argumentative writing, revision, paragraphs, descriptions, and more.
Speaking and Listening (30%) - Clear speech, appropriate code switching, and careful listening to audio-only selections.
Work Habits and Organization (10%) - Regular and consistent attendance, organization of binder and backpack, participation during discussion, etc.
70% credit (1 day late) ----- 50% credit (2+ days late)
It is essential that students learn that completing work as designed is essential for student growth and learning. Students are expected to maintain honesty and the highest respect for their own work and the work of others. Should students cut corners and misrepresent themselves, it makes it impossible for the instructor to appropriately support the student while simultaneously discrediting and devaluing academics at LHS. The actions of a single individual, thus, compromises the integrity of the school and makes it impossible for the instructor to appropriately adjust practices to support the students as their abilities are falsely represented in their work.
“Plagiarism occurs when you use another’s words, ideas, assertions, data, or figures and do not acknowledge that you have done so… You must always acknowledge your sources by citing them” (Academic Integrity at MIT).
Using Sparknotes, Shmoop, Apps, and other sites not only undermines a student’s learning, but also could count as plagiarism. Should a student present information from these sources as their own interpretation or understanding, this would count as a violation of the academic integrity policy and the plagiarism policy of this class.
There are no exceptions. However, should a student resort to using any outside sources for support, they must acknowledge the sources of the presented ideas and acknowledge that the ideas they are presenting are not their own.
Any student that attempts to plagiarize or cheat on any assessment and/or assignment will be dealt with on a case-by-case basis. Administration will be involved as necessary and parents will be notified. Common consequences include: a ‘0’ on the assessment or assignment, in-school suspension, parent-teacher conference, preferential seating (for observation) for the remainder of the course, consideration for placement outside of the course (with parent-teacher conference), and/or, in rare cases, a retake of the assessment. All disciplinary actions would be done to communicate the severity of the grievance and all disciplinary actions are intended to maintain the integrity of the class and promote respect for the learning process.
Artificial intelligence in the classroom is treated essentially as a person. Thus, having AI (any form of it for any step of the process) create outlines, stories, essays, etc. without credit is considered plagiarism (see previous page for definition). If credited, it is treated as if another person completed that portion of the assignment.
No unsupervised AI will be allowed during Mr. Tretyak’s English 9 course.
Students need to come to school with a charged and working chromebook. Should a student consistently fail to do this, a parent-teacher conference will be held to see why this cannot be done.
The school’s dress code will be enforced in this class. If another teacher does not enforce it, that does not make inappropriate clothing acceptable. Parents and administration will be involved as needed.
Restroom - Students must follow the following procedure: (1) communicate to the instructor that they need to use the restroom, (2) request bathroom pass through SmartPass, (3) take hall pass and (4) sign out using the restroom log book.
Students need access to a chromebook to use the bathroom! Why? Because their bathroom breaks are monitored through SmartPass.
Students must be in their seat when the bell rings.
Must be cleared through the attendance office. I assume a student has ditched if the absence is not excused. In-class assignments will be given a ‘0,’ and homework will be considered ‘late’ (see late policy).
Headphones will be out of sight unless allowed explicitly by the instructor.
Should any student mark, damage, or steal any property in the class that does not belong to them, they will be dealt with swiftly and to the fullest severity that I am allowed to pursue.
The best way to check on your student’s progress is to send an email to Tretyak.Pavel@lompocschools.org OR Tretyak.Pavel@lusd.org. A simple email (“How is Jimmy Doing?”) is perfectly fine. Usually, I will focus on your student’s work habits, classwork, notes, etc.