English Language Arts 7 Rob Miller 626.299.7060 Conference Period: 9:30-10:10
Treat with respect the power you have to form an opinion. —Marcus Aurelius
English Language Arts 7 Rob Miller 626.299.7060 Conference period: 9:30-10:10
Welcome Everyone:
I am excited to be your ELA teacher this year. We will accomplish a lot over the course of the school year; foremost, writing…
Students will outline, write, and revise (because writing is re-writing) a series of essaysthat address the four modes of writing: descriptive, narrative, expository, and persuasive. Additionally, there will be shorter writing assignments and journal writing.
Using the 6+1 Traits of Writing, you will gain a better understanding of how to write well. Also, the Traits provide a clear rubric for grading papers. For the record, you will have two copies of this rubric: one in your writing folder that remains in the classroom; the other ina digital fileon my school link that can be accessed online.
I won’t bore you with a formal list of the state standards we’ll cover this year; however, if you are curious about the Common Core State Standards, please visit: corestandards.org/ELA-Literacy
Here, you can learn about the following:
- Writing Standards
- Speaking and Listening Standards
- Language Standards
- Reading Standards
And as long as you’re online, you may wish to visitour other classroom resources:
- studysync.com
- ixl.com
Reading, of course, is also an import part of this course. Like learning how to write well, you will learn how to read well. You will become active readers, improve your annotating skills, and learn to read with a purpose. This ability will serve you well in all of your current and future academic endeavors.
Generally, independent readings (what you might think of as “book reports”) will be assigned bimonthly. One of my difficult (at times) jobs as ELA teacher is to motivate some of you to read outside the classroom. Yet all students need to read more because reading is one of the easiest (and passive) ways for you to become better writers. One cannot be a fluent writer—Fluency being one of the 6 Traits of Writing—without reading.
A note on homework. There is little assigned homework. Depending on the studies you read, homework either: a) helps the student, academically speaking; or b) has no discernable effect on their academic performance. I won’t debate either side here, but please note that I do not assign homework for the sake of assigning homework. When there is homework, know that it serves a meaningful purpose that enhances or continues a classroom lesson. Also know that homework assignments will always be written in the same place on the white board in class and posted online.
That said, the expectation is that you are always reading a book—either for an independent reading or for SSR during homeroom—so if you would like to assign yourself homework, you could read 15-20 minutes each night.
So how exactly are you graded? Here’s a breakdown by percentage of your final report card grade:
- Writing – 40%
- Projects/Tests – 25%
- Participation and Listening 25%
- Classwork/Homework 10%
The Participation and Listening category might seem like easy A’s, and for your sake, I hope it is. If you are the quiet, listening type who never raises a hand, I applaud you for your introspection; however, everyone must become active participants in class.
But simply raising a hand and sharing ideas is not enough. You must also listen to each other (because in my experience, if you’re not listening to each other, you’re definitely not listening to me). Enter the listening portion of your grade: Often, I will ask you to comment on what another student has just said, or in the case of someone raising her hand (especially the frantic ooh-ooh call-on-me hand-raisers), I might ask her simply to repeat what the person before her said before allowing her to speak.
Late/missing work. Yes, you may turn in late work, but there will be a grade deduction (unless due to absence). Please note, missing assignments (or work with no name) willappear as a “0” in PowerSchool until the assignment is turned in/identified.
A final note: The transition from sixth toseventh grade often proves challenging. That said, you (and your parents) must allow yourself to fail occasionally because—true story—the “perfect” student makes plenty of mistakes in order to achievesaid perfection. You are not a robot or instilled with artificial intelligence; therefore,your path to success this year will be paved with some failures. Step accordingly. And with my (and your parents’)positive encouragement, you will succeed this year.