Lindsey Strickland

2017-2018 7th Grade ELA Course Syllabus

Susan Chambers- [email protected]

Lindsey Strickland - [email protected]

“The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you'll go.” Dr. Seuss

Required Text (Issued by MCMS):

Holt McDougal Literature

Required to be purchased:

 Call of the Wild- Jack London- 1st Nine Weeks Book Study- Required to have in class by Wednesday, September 11th  The Outsiders- S.E Hinton- 2nd Nine Weeks Book Study – Required to have in class by Friday, October 27th  Warriors Don’t Cry- Melba Pattillo Beals (ISBN-10: 1416948821; ISBN-13: 978-1416948827) 3rd Nine Weeks Book Study- Required to have in class by Friday, January 8th. Please purchase the ABRIDGED version

Resources-

-Williamson County Scope and Sequence for 7th grade ELA (this can be found on the WCS website). https://www.wcs.edu/wp-content/ss/7_ELA_1W.pdf https://www.wcs.edu/wp-content/ss/7_ELA_2W.pdf https://www.wcs.edu/wp-content/ss/7_ELA_3W.pdf https://www.wcs.edu/wp-content/ss/7_ELA_4W.pdf

**Additional resources as needed to supplement instruction

Required Daily Student Materials:

Reading binder with dividers Helpful, but optional Notebook paper Agenda-optional Textbook Hand-held pencil sharpener Current in-class novel Colored ink pens Writing utensils Hand held stapler Highlighters Post-it notes An outside book to read

Course Description: This is an ELA course which requires daily engagement in all types of material. ELA includes reading, writing, grammar, vocabulary and presentation skills. The hope and intent of this class is to promote active reading and discussion among all students in a variety of ways. Throughout the year students will engage in many hands on and collaborative activities as well as individual assignments. Unless instructed otherwise, every activity should result in individual responses/work submitted.

Grading Policies:

At Mill Creek Middle School, we believe that students should be given multiple opportunities to practice a skill before it counts for a grade. Therefore, we provide students with many ongoing practice opportunities including homework and classwork before we administer an assessment (a quiz or a test) for a grade. Homework is not graded, but it is required of each student because of the important practice that it provides. In addition, we believe that some students will require more time to learn a skill, and we allow time for this individualized development.

All students will take the initial summative assessment at the same time as assigned in class. However, Mill Creek students who want to do a retake on a summative assessment to demonstrate their increased learning and improve their grade will have the opportunity to do so. In order to qualify for a retake, students must also demonstrate additional practice and study time. These requirements may include submitting all homework assignments completed, formative quiz corrections, student reflections, attending boost sessions, and/or parent signatures confirming study time. Retakes must be completed by the deadline given by the teacher. Once the deadline is met, if students are still not happy with their grade, they may schedule with the teacher another time to retake the assessment. No retakes may be done in the week before the end of the grading period.

Finally, at Mill Creek Middle School, we believe in grading for learning. Our grades are based on the content we have taught, not on behaviors. Therefore, participation, preparedness, and other behavioral factors are handled through our school wide and class wide behavior management programs, not through grades. All students’ grades are a clear reflection of their mastery of the content. We adhere to the WCS Board policy grading scale of A=91-100, B=81-90, C=72-80, D=70-71, F=69 or below, and teachers will provide communication regarding which content standards contribute to each grading category in our electronic grading system.

In Skyward, the categories for ELA are listed as Standards 1-6

-Standard 1- 25%- Reading Literature skills/concepts

-Standard 2-25%- Reading Informational Text skills/concepts

-Standard 3- 25%- Writing skills/concepts

-Standard 4-20%- Language skills/concepts, including grammar and vocabulary

-Standard 5- 5%- Speaking and Listening skills/concepts- may include ability to collaborate, class discussions, and presentations.

-Standard 6- 0%- Formative assessments-This includes any practice, graded or ungraded, that will not be averaged into the overall grade. However, students will receive feedback in order to progress towards mastery of a standard. Any assignment or quiz can be formative if it is practice for mastery.

Classroom Policies:

 Be prepared for class each and every day. Have all books, materials and work upon entering the classroom. If students do not have the required supplies by the time class starts, they will receive an “unprepared.” After 3 unprepareds, students will receive a silent lunch.

 Students who arrive to class late without a note will have to sign the tardy sheet. After 3 tardies, students will receive a silent lunch.  All assignments are expected to be turned in on the expected due date at the beginning of class. Technical issues should be communicated BEFORE the day the assignment is due. This may be via email or face to face.

 Students are expected to have obtained a copy of required novels by the 1st assigned date. If a student is unable to purchase/checkout a copy of the book, a conversation needs to take place with the teacher before the due date to allow at least 2-3 days for the teacher to attempt to help locate a copy. Not having the book on the due date, with no prior conversation, will result in a ticket for being unprepared for class.

 Group work is common in this class. If you show that you cannot contribute or work with others, you will forfeit those opportunities. Teacher observation of collaboration skills may contribute to standard 5.

 Please respect teacher, peer, and school property. If it isn’t yours, ask permission or leave it alone!!!

Classroom Rules and Expectations:

- Always be Respectful

- Be Responsible and Prepared

- Always give your best effort

Discipline procedures and guidelines:

Mill Creek discipline will be divided into 2 categories; academic and behavior.

Academic- if a student does not complete their assigned homework, they will be given HC (homework Club). This will take place during FLEX TIME.

Behavior- some examples of behavior include tardies, unprepared, disrespect, etc… These behaviors will result in a silent lunch that will take place in the cafeteria. Students will still go to FLEX.

Students may eventually be assigned before or after school detention, Friday Opportunity School, ISS or OSS if the above behaviors/academic issues continue. Teachers will communicate with parents when these steps have to be taken. Please refer to the online student handbook for more information.

BYOT County and Classroom Expectations:

 We will do our best to incorporate technology into the classroom, as we feel it is important to prepare our students for the real world. However, we will continue to hold our students to high standards of responsibility with the use of their devices in class. We will follow the county manual which can be found on the Williamson County website.

 Students who cannot adhere to classroom and county BYOT policy will lose the PRIVILEDGE of having their technology at school and could be refused access to school resources.

 Tablets/eReaders and Laptops are highly preferred. Smart Phones/iPods are not to be used for note-taking purposes. Smart Phones must be in silent mode at all times.

Student Gmail Accounts: Students have all been issued a school Gmail account which they are expected to use for all academic purposes including contacting teachers. These accounts are also accessible from computers outside of school. If a student goes to http://mail.myplace.wcs.edu they can log into this account.

Skyward/Teacher web pages

Grades will be posted regularly in Skyward.

If you need to access any work or go to the teacher’s webpage to see dates for assignments, this is the website you will need to visit. http://edublogs.wcs.edu/millcreek7/

You can also use this QR Code to get to the site. (This will give you access to all 7th grade teachers!!)

**PLESAE REVIEW THIS SYLLABUS AS WELL AS THE ONLINE STUDENT HANDBOOK WITH YOUR PARENTS AND SIGN AND RETURN IT BY MONDAY, AUGUST 14TH.

Sincerely,

Susan Chambers Lindsey Strickland

2017-2018

7th grade ELA

Course Description Acknowledgement

Mill Creek Middle School

PARENTS AND STUDENTS,

PLEASE READ AND REVIEW THIS COURSE DESCRIPTION, AS WELL AS THE ONLINE STUDENT HANDBOOK, TOGETHER. THEN SIGN THIS FORM, ACKNOWLEDGING THAT YOU HAVE READ AND ACCEPT THE CONTENTS OF BOTH. PLEASE RETURN IT TO YOUR ELA TEACHER BY THURSDAY, AUGUST 14TH.

Student Name (please print)______Student Signature______

Parent Signature______

Date Reviewed and Signed______