6th Grade English Language Arts Syllabus

Ms Alexis Shurtleff

RM number 129

Welcome to Language Arts! I am very excited to begin the new school year and help you progress as learners inside and outside of the classroom. I am confident you will all be able to achieve many of your personal goals this year, and become better readers and writers. Dare I say, you will all love reading and writing by the end of the year! That’s my personal goal. I know you will all be thrilled to help me reach it.

Topics we will cover include:

Writing:

Expository/informative

Persuasive

Narrative

Literary essays

Poetry (and more)

Reading:

Fiction

Non-Fiction

Articles (and more)

Other elements:

Reading Strategies

Literary Terms

Mechanics

Parts of Speech

Writing Process

Vocabulary/Spelling development

Effective Communication skills and group work

*We use Lucy Calkins as a reading and writing supplement for ELA instruction. We administer the same state tests as all other public schools.

Tardiness & Absences

Promptness to class is expected, if tardiness becomes an issue parents will be notified when a student has three or more tardies.

If you know you will be absent, please let me know in advance. I will be able to provide you with the assignments and information you will be missing, but it is your responsibility to notify me and get that information from me.

Work assigned before a student was absent, is due upon arrival. Any assessments missed during an absence will be made up on the day of arrival. If any extenuating circumstances arise you can contact me and we can work out the details on a personal basis.

Grading

Athlos Academy uses a standard based grading policy in which a student is graded on quality and mastery of a subject, not the quantity of how many assignments he/she has completed to receive a certain percentage.

Marking code / What this means / Student Translation
1 / Exceeding the grade level standard. Producing quality work consistently / You get it. I can understand your thinking clearly.
2 / Meeting the grade level standard and producing quality work. / You mostly get it. I can understand most of your thinking.
3 / Progressing toward the standard. Producing the required grade level work with teacher direction and assistance. / You sort of get it. I can understand some of your thinking.
4 / Beginning to develop the standard. Not yet able to produce required grade level work / You get a little bit of it. I can see some thinking.

Homework

I will not give out homework on a regular basis. Do not be alarmed if your child is not bringing home homework every day. Most work will be done in class, and will only be brought home if it is not completed in class.

Because of this, there will be plenty of time for daily reading. I can not stress how important this is. I require 20-30 minutes of reading per night. Daily reading helps with vocabulary, spelling, grammar, etc… so it is crucial to make this a part of your daily schedule. I highly recommend that students read something at their level (not below or above), but it can be any book of choice. Each 6th grader will have a daily planner, please log the minutes read each day to keep track of how much reading is actually happening. I will collect the minutes every week to record in a “reading passport” that will be discussed in more detail in class. I will also alternate between vocabulary and spelling tests each week, and will level these tests based on student’s abilities.

1st term outline

  • During the 1st term, especially during the first few weeks of class, I will be assessing where each student is with their reading and writing skills. Once I determine levels I will be able to help them progress better throughout the year.
  • We will be reading The Lightning Thief as a class (this will also align with the social studies, Greek civilizations, curriculum) and I will be doing very close instruction, observing comprehension levels, and teaching students how to analyze texts and conduct their own close readings. Following this text most reading will be done in literature circles based on guided reading levels and interests.
  • Novels that will be included in the literature circles include The Giver, Esperanza Rising, Wonder, Holes, A Wrinkle in Time, Number the Stars, Echo, Harry Potter and more. I will post suggested reading material for independent/home reading with corresponding levels on the website.
  • We will also have a project each term, so students have the opportunity to share what they’ve learned, and I would really like to include the parents in these projects. The first term we will have a poetry slam. I’m very excited about this and I think the students will love it. There will be more details about the slam as it gets closer, but after working on a polished, edited, well written piece in class we will be presenting them and I’d love for parents to come see the final products.

Always remember,dinosaurs didn’t read, and now they’re extinct. Coincidence? I have a 0 extinction policy in my class.

We’re going to have a great school year! Please email me if you have any further questions.

I have read the expectations and recognize this will be a joint effort on all our parts to make this a successful year.

Student Name:Student Signature:

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Parent/Guardian Name: Parent/Guardian Signature:

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