7th Grade Reading and Writing

Welcome to 7th grade!  I’m so excited to be teaching 7th grade again this year and look forward to the adventures that lie ahead!  Below you will find a variety of information about how our class will work this school year.

Contact Information

I can be reached via both phone and email.  However, I am able to respond much more quickly via email than I am phone.  Once a month, I will email out a newsletter to parents detailing what’s happening in our classroom for that month and important deadlines to remember. My contact information is as follows:

Phone:  (270) 352-3340 Email: kayla.berg@hardin.kyschools.us

Class Goals

1. We will work together. We are a team whose goal is to respect one another and learn together regardless of differences in abilities or opinions.

2. We will give full effort everyday. We will come to class prepared and ready to learn. We will do our best and work to our full potential.

3. We will take personal responsibility for our actions, our effort, and our attitude. Excuses have no place in our classroom.

Grading

Classroom Procedures

Expectations

As a class, we will follow the same expectations that are implemented school-wide.  These expectations dictate that students should be prompt, prepared, polite, and productive.  Below explains how those behaviors should look within our classroom.

• Prompt - Students will be on time to class and will be seated in their assigned seats by the time the bell rings.

• Prepared - Students will come to class with all necessary materials (pencil, paper, assignments).  Students will have their work completed and turned in by the assigned due date.

• Polite - Students will be respectful to everyone in the class including both adults and peers.  This includes being both verbally respectful (using manners, no swearing) as well as respecting the physical space in the classroom (do not take materials without permission, do not write on the desks/tables, throw trash away), and the materials of others (if it’s not yours, don’t touch it).

• Productive - Students will work to the best of their abilities every day in class, striving to complete assignments, learn the material, and ask for help whenever necessary.

Consequences

Failure to comply with the expectations listed above will have consequences in line with North Middle School’s disciplinary flowchart.

• Tardies/Detention - Being late to class constitutes a tardy.  If a student is tardy twice, they will receive a detention. Detentions are typically served on Tuesdays after school.

• Behavior Referrals - All behaviors not meeting the classroom expectations will follow the behavior flowchart.  Major behavior infractions such as physical aggression will result in an immediate office referral. Minor behavior infractions such as language, non-compliance, or minor disruptions will follow the steps outlined below.

1. Reinforce Expectations (Warning)

2. Conference with Student

3. Parent Phone Call/Minor Behavior Referral

4. Office Discipline Referral

• Saturday School - Frequently when students are not completing their work in class due to a lack of effort, they will be referred to Saturday School.  In these situations, students will attend school for an entire Saturday to make up the work that they failed to due during class. These typically take place once per month and are determined by teacher recommendation.

Turning In Assignments

All assignments are due by the end of class on the day they are assigned, unless otherwise stated.  Assignments are to be turned in in the class period drawers at the front of the classroom.

Missing Work

Missing assignments go into the gradebook as a 0 until they are turned in and graded.  Students can check to see if they are missing any work on the “Missing Work” board at the back of the classroom.  This board is updated at least twice a month so everything should be up to date. Resources and materials needed to complete the missing assignments can be found in the labeled crate by my desk..

If a student is absent from school for any reason, it is their responsibility to get anything they missed, complete the work, and turn it in.  Being absent is not an excuse for not completing an assignment. All past/completed assignments will be located in a crate by my desk. Each assignment will be in its own folder labeled with the name of that particular assignment.  Students are more than welcome to take a copy of any assignment that they are missing whenever necessary.

No Name Papers

If a paper is turned in without a name on it, it will be placed in the “No Name” folder for that class period at the back of the classroom.  It is the responsibility of the student to check these folders to see if their work might be in there if it is missing. Should they find a paper that belongs to them, all they need to do is put their name on it, and turn it into the “Missing/Late Work” drawer at the front of the classroom.

Homework

It is not my policy to dole out copious amounts of homework to students.  It is my firm belief that time at home should be spent with family. Should you desire for your student to have work to do at home, please encourage them to check out a book from the library or from my classroom and to read for 30 minutes each night at home.  The only time I give out homework is if an assignment does not get finished in class. I try to allocate class time in a way that gives students enough time to complete work at school. If a student does not complete an assignment in class, it’s usually due to a lack of focus in class.  Assignments not finished in class will be homework due the following school day.

Classroom Library

I have amassed an impressive collection of books in my classroom over the years.  I encourage my students to read these books at their leisure. All books are color-coded by genre (a “genre key” can be found on the bookshelves).  Students are more than welcome to read these books and “borrow” them within the classroom, but must ask for permission before taking them out of the room for any reason.

Google Apps for Education

Google is a BIG part of our classroom via Google Classroom.  We do much of our writing and editing this way as it makes it much more organized and prevents papers from being lost and/or stolen.  In order to use Google Drive, Google Classroom, and any other related applications, students MUST have a school email address. Students very rarely use email to actually send emails, but they need to have the address to access all of the components that Google has to offer.

Curriculum Outline

Our units for reading and writing are broken up into chunks.  Each unit will take anywhere from 3-8 weeks depending on the content and materials covered. Although each unit has a different focus in mind, each unit will explore both informational and literary texts and writing styles.  All of our lesson plans and materials are based off of the El. Education Curriculum.

Our outline for the year will be as follows:

• Journeys and Survival: A Long Walk to Water

• Edgar Allan Poe

• Working Conditions: Lyddie and “A Christmas Carol”

• Slavery: The People Could Fly: Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass

• The Outsiders

• Water is Life: The Big Thirst