Junior High Language Arts

 Mrs. Marilyn  Dawson

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Please visit this schoolnotes link for many more helpful links for spelling, English, vocabulary, literature, the speech contest, history fair papers, science fair papers, and hints to develop good study habits.  There are many helpful suggestions in these links!

Parents, please use the Fast Direct online grade book that is available. You may view your child's current grades at any time.  I generally enter the grades within one day of any quiz or test, and all quizzes and tests are dated in the grade book.  All of my students should keep all homework and graded quizzes in their binders until the quarter ends, but I do keep all tests on file at school.  Along with the grade book, I also have a calendar and a bulletin board online on Fast Direct.  Please check Fast Direct frequently because some calendar dates may be subject to change.

Here are the dates for the end of each quarter

October 24, 2008               January 16, 2009

March 20, 2009                    May 22, 2009

Grading scale

                A+  100          A  99-95        A-  94-93

                B+  92-91       B  90-87        B-  86-85

                C+  84-82      C  98-78        C-  77-75

                D+  74            D  73-71         D-  70

  F  69 - 0

A quick note on report card effort grades:

AR reading affects academic and effort grades in Literature.  Each student must achieve a minimum of 15 AR points per quarter.  Both the Literature grade and the effort grade will be negatively affected if your child does not meet this minimum requirement; also, your child will not be promoted to the next grade until the AR requirement is met.  Extra credit points are awarded to your child and averaged in to the daily grade for each AR point over the required 15. 

A general overview of all my expectations is given below. 

 
Hello!  Welcome to Holy Family Catholic School's Language Arts department.  Some people find reading, English, and spelling B-O-R-I-N-G, but I don't!  These are fields of study that I find very interesting, and I hope to inspire the junior high students to develop and refine their proficiency in these very important subjects.  Reading, writing, and spelling skills will serve them well in the future. Accurate and concise written and verbal communication is vital for all aspects of life in the 21st century.

The 15 spelling and vocabulary chapters are to be done independently by the student.  There will be two tests covering this material.  The first is the standard spelling test which will cover the 20 basic words and the 6 commonly misspelled words presented in each chapter.  I will also select some of the challenge words for extra credit on each test.  The vocabulary test is a standardized test which uses a multiple choice, fill in the blank, and matching column format.  The spelling and vocabulary tests will generally be given on alternate Thursdays.  Shortly after the first day of school, I will give each student a list of all the due dates and the required pages for each chapter for all of the spelling and vocabulary work and tests. This list will also be posted in the classroom.  Here is the list if you need to access a due date or the required pages.

Grade 8         Spelling/Vocabulary Work Due Dates   2008-2009 

 9/4/08   Ch. 1  study p. 11-15.  Do p. 15, synonyms, p. 16, 17, 18, 20.  For p. 20, just  number your paper and write the answer.  Do not draw the crossword. 

 9/18/08  Ch. 2  study p. 21-25.  Do p. 25, synonyms, p. 26, 27, 28. 

 10/2/08  Ch. 3  study p. 31-35.  Do p. 35, synonyms, p. 36, 37, 38, 40. 

10/16/08   Ch. 4.  study p. 45-49.  Do p. 49, synonyms, p. 50, 51, 52, 54. 

 10/30/08  Ch. 5  study p. 55-59.  Do synonyms, p. 60, 61, 62, 63. 

 11/13/08  Ch. 6  study p. 65-69.  Do p. 69, synonyms, p. 70, 71, 72, 74. 

12/4/08      Ch. 7  study p. 79-83.  Do p. 83, synonyms, p. 84, 85, 86, 88. 

 1/15/09     Ch. 8  study p. 89-93.  Do p. 93, synonyms, p. 94, 95, 96, 97, 98 (just write the words you find; do not copy the whole word search) 

 1/29/09   Ch. 9  study p. 99-103.  Do p. 103, synonyms, p. 104, 105, 106. 

 2/12/09    Ch. 10 study p. 113-117.  Do p. 117, synonyms, p. 118, 119, 120. 

 2/26/09   Ch. 11 study p. 123-127.  Do p. 127, synonyms, p. 128, 129, 130, 132. 

 3/12/09      Ch. 12 study p. 133-137.  Do p. 137, synonyms, p. 138, 139, 140, 142. 

 3/26/09    Ch. 13 study p. 147-151.  Do p. 151, synonyms, p. 152, 153, 154, 156. 

 4/23/09   Ch. 14 study p. 157-161.  Do p. 161, synonyms, p. 162, 163, 164, 166 (just write the words you find; do not copy the whole word search) 

5/7/09   Ch. 15  study p. 167-171.  Do p. 171, synonyms, p. 172, 173, 174, 176.

Grade 7        Spelling/Vocabulary Work Due Dates   2008-2009 

 9/11/08   Ch. 1  study p. 11-15.  Do p. 15, synonyms, p. 16, 17, 18, 20 (just number your paper and write the answers.  Do not draw the crossword puzzle!) 

 9/25/08   Ch.  2    study p. 21-25.  Do p. 25, synonyms, p. 26, 27, 28. 

 10/9/08   Ch. 3 study p. 31-35.  Do p. 35, synonyms, p. 36, 37, 38, 40. 

 10/23/08  Ch. 4  study p. 45-49.  Do p. 49, synonyms, p. 50, 51, 52. 

11/6/08   Ch. 5  study p. 55-59.  Do p. 59, synonyms, p. 60, 61, 62, 64. 

11/20/08    Ch. 6  study p. 65-69.  Do p. 69, synonyms, p. 70, 71, 72, 74. 

 12/11/08  Ch. 7  study p. 79-83.  Do p. 83, synonyms, p. 84, 85, 86, 88. 

 1/22/09  Ch 8  study p. 89-93.  Do p. 93, synonyms, p. 94, 95, 96, 98. 

 2/5/09   Ch. 9  study p. 99-103.  Do p. 103, synonyms, p. 104, 105, 106. 

 2/19/09    Ch. 10 study p. 113-117.  Do p. 117, synonyms, p. 118, 119, 120, 122 (do not copy the whole word search; just write the words you find) 

 3/5/09  Ch. 11 study p. 123-127.  Do p. 127, synonyms, p. 128, 129, 130, 132. 

 3/19/09   Ch. 12 study p. 133-137.  Do p. 137, synonyms, p. 138, 139, 140, 142. 

4/2/09     Ch. 13 study p. 147-151.  Do p. 151, synonyms, p. 152, 153, 154. 

 4/30/09   Ch. 14 study p. 157-161.  Do p. 161, synonyms, p. 162, 163, 164. 

5/14/09   Ch. 15 study p. 167-171.  Do p. 171, synonyms, p. 172, 173, 174, 176.

 

Reading is essential!  Literature is fascinating!  At the junior high level, the students will study the elements of  the short story, poetry, non-fiction, drama, myth, and folk tale.  The short story,  myth, and folk tale will cover the components of plot, setting, character, point of view, and theme. Poetry explores sound, language, form, meaning, and theme.  Autobiographies, biographies, and essays are presented  as types of non-fiction.  Drama introduces the student to dialogue and stage directions.  Students will discern similarities and differences between the genres of literature.  In addition to reading each selection, the students are responsible for studying the vocabulary preview before each selection and for reviewing the questions at the end of each selection even if these questions are not assigned for written work.  Another section that the students must master is the box titled Literary Elements.  This appears on the same page as the questions at the end of each selection.  There will be several quizzes each week on the material covered, and there will be a major test at the end of each unit.  We are thrilled to have our Accelerated Reader program, which is a wonderful supplement to our literature series.   I require students in the 7th and 8th grades  to have 15 new AR  points each quarter.  These points must be for books read during that quarter. Student who amass more that 15 AR points each quarter will earn extra credit points in literature.  Students who fail to achieve this basic requirement each quarter will have points deducted from their quarterly average. Their effort grade will also be lowered, and promotion to the next grade will be delayed until the AR requirement is met. .

 

It is my hope that my students will ALWAYS use proper grammar and NEVER succumb to bad habits that can creep into our written and spoken language.  The words ALWAYS and NEVER are heard quite often in my class!  The English program covers the eight parts of speech, the two major parts of the sentence, seven categories of sentences, verbals, capitalization, punctuation, and basic paragraph writing skills. We do many daily exercises in the spiral notebooks, and these exercises can help the students with their homework assignments if the students use the spirals as a study tool.  I also give the students handouts  and helpful hints to log in the spirals.  It is my firm and abiding belief that if students master these skills now, their entire high school and college experience will be easier and more rewarding. Many former students have returned to tell me that their spiral notebooks have even assisted them with high school grammar lessons! 

 I expect all homework to be completed on time.  There is a penalty for late or incomplete homework  This penalty will be reflected in the effort grade for that subject, and if a grade was taken for that particular homework assignment, I will also deduct 10 points from the grade.   To encourage personal responsibility, I will not ask for the assignment after I have issued a written notice regarding a late assignment because at this point, the class has been reminded of the assignment three times.  I generally take the test average as two-thirds and the quiz average as one-third of the final quarter grade.  Most homework is not graded but done for practice; however,  I will check to see that the work is completed, and there will be a penalty for incomplete homework.  When I do take a grade for homework, those  grades are weighted lower than quiz grades and test grades.

As if the above work is not enough to keep most students quite busy, Holy Family Catholic School participates in the Scripps Howard National Spelling Bee and the Modern Woodman Speech Contest.  Our students also participate in either a science fair or a history fair each year. The English program  reinforces proper term paper format and teaches correct bibliography and endnote documentation.

The 2008-2009 school year will mark my 36th year of teaching.  Over the years I have taught at every grade level from kindergarten to 8.    I've been at Holy Family Catholic School since 1978, and I've been teaching exclusively at the junior high level since 1992.