8th Grade Reading/Junior Great Books 2015 - 2016
Periods 4 and 5
Teacher: Mrs. Jean Humphreys
Contact Information: (see teacher homepage on MMS website for daily updates)
Telephone: 410-643-7330 x 806
Email:
Planning Time: 1:50 – 2:45 p.m.
Course Description:
Maryland's College and Career-Ready Standards in English Language Arts integrate standards from different strands. The curriculum for Reading Class focuses on Reading Literature and Reading Informational Text. Within these standards Key Ideas and Details, Craft and Structure, Integration of Knowledge and Ideas, Range of Reading and Level of Text Complexity, Comprehension and Collaboration, and Presentation of Knowledge and Ideas will be addressed.Students will focus on a variety of literary and informational texts including short stories, poetry, plays, biographies, speeches and novels.
Your child was selected for the Junior Great Books program which will take place during reading class. The literature in Junior Great Books has been selected to challenge the reader and provide rigorous discussion. At times, your child will be reading a variety of informational and literary text to support his/her reading level. In addition to focusing on the communication processes of reading, writing, speaking, listening, and viewing through the study of language and literature driven by Maryland's College and Career-Ready Standards, Great Books Roundtable will be integrated during the course of the year. Roundtable is a researched based innovative middle school program that combines the proven Great BooksShared Inquiry™ method of learning with high-quality literature. Students will develop reading comprehension strategies and critical thinking skills through in-depth reading, discussion, and writing.
.Textbooks
●Houghton Mifflin Collections (online edition/hardback edition)
●Great Books Roundtable
●Novels (as assigned)
Materials
●Chromebook
●Earbuds
●Agenda
●Section of 3 ring binder designated for Reading
●Loose-leaf paper
●3 notebook dividers
●Pens
●Pencils
●Highlighters
●Markers/colored pencils
●Post-It Notes
Grading Policy:See QACPS Grading Policy
Progress Assessment Policy (Homework Policy):Progress Assessments not completed in class may need to be completed at home, and will be graded for accuracy.
Classroom Requirement/Procedures
Students should begin working on the warm-up, which will be posted on the front board each day, immediately upon entering the classroom. After going over the warm-up, instruction will be delivered through teacher modeling, collaborative and independent practice, differentiated instruction when applicable, assessment, and closure. All students are expected to follow directions and remain on task during each stage of the lesson. Assignments will be completed on the Chromebooks, as well as paper-pencil. Electronic assignments will be submitted on Google Classroom. It is expected that students share documents when they turn them in. Paper-pencil assignments will be placed in a designated area of the classroom.