• GRADING CATEGORIES/SCALE:

     

    1. ASSESSMENTS: 85%

    •Reading Assessments: 30%

    •Writing /Grammar Assessments: 30%

    •Vocabulary Assessments: 15%

    •District Assessments: 10%

     

    2. INDEPENDENT READING: 10%

     

    3. CLASSWORK/HOMEWORK*:  5%

     

    *Homework defined as work done by students for practice and not new learning. This work may be done with parents, other students, e-resources, etc.

  • The following are the skills we work on all year long.

     

    Students will:

    •write routinely using various forms of writing.

    •engage in independent reading (although time is provided in class each day, reading completed

    outside of classroom hours is strongly encouraged).

    •use technology to enhance their ELA experience.

    •identify and define parts of speech (grammar).

    •analyze word parts (prefixes, root words, suffixes) and use context clues to develop vocabulary.

    •explore new word meanings using context clues.

    •describe the various figurative language concepts.


  • These learning targets are a simple summary of the skills covered each trimester.

    Trimester One:

    Students will:

    •formulate inferences and support them with evidence from the text.

    •identify and define the elements of a story.

    •identify and define non-fiction text structures.

    •identify central idea and supporting details. 
     
     
     
     
     
     

     

    Trimester Two:

    Students will:

    •develop an awareness of different purposes and perspectives in reading, writing,    listening, and viewing.

    •strengthen their media literacy skills.

    •conduct research to develop a persuasive argument and write an essay.  
     
     
     
     
     
     

     

    Trimester Three:

    Students will:

    •analyze the ‘compare/contrast’ concept, and write an essay.

    •develop and deliver an informational speech.  
     
     
     
     

  • Novel Groups (aka literature circles)

    When:  every Thursday, starting the first weeks of trimester two, until the end of the year

     

    Who:  small groups of students from the class

     

    What:  will choose and read the same novel in no more than 4 weeks and discuss it during novel group meetings; IDN post-its required in books

     

    Where:  class R & R time, (every day but Thursday) and at home, to get reading done

     

    Why:  to expose students to a wider variety of materials

                to have students take part in discussions about their reading with text support

                to demonstrate the skills of strong readers through discussion and writing

                because READING IS AMAZING

     

    How:  students will record examples from their discussions; I will be walking around

                listening to and adding their talks; an individual written response will be completed

                after the book is completed (one week to complete)

     

    Grades come from: 

    1.     group discussion notes

    2.     individual IDN (Internal Dialogue Note) post-its: 1:3 ratio

    3.     individual reader’s response, which is a written paper generated from a list of prompts (will be posted in the gradebook and my website)