Language Arts Mrs. Granja Leewood K-8 Center

 Welcome to Language Arts class!  I expect all of my students to work to their maximum potential, and I will not accept anything less. This year will bring new challenges as we read novels, short stories, and poems through a variety of literary genres.  We will also be writing persuasive, expository, narrative, and informative essays. Students will have exciting and rigorous projects to coincide with the novels we are reading. Together, we will strengthen our reading and writing skills to achieve learning gains on the FSA. Personal Greeting

 McDougal Literature Textbook Assigned Novels that will cover various themes  Independent Novels on a challenging reading level  Wordly Wise Vocabulary  Preparing for FSA workbook Text for Curriculum

 Sixth Grade Brian’s Winter by Gary Paulsen  Sixth Grade Gifted and Seventh Grade Chasing Lincoln's Killer: The Search for John Wilkes Booth by James L. Swanson Required Novels

Students will be able to: Cite textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text Determine a theme or central idea of a text and how it is conveyed through particular details; provide a summary of the text distinct from personal opinions or judgments. Explain how an author develops the point of view of the narrator or speaker in a text. Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, including figurative and connotative meanings; analyze the impact of a specific word choice on meaning and tone Compare and contrast texts in different forms or genres (e.g., stories and poems; historical novels and fantasy stories) in terms of their approaches to similar themes and topics. Course Objectives

 Compare and contrast the experience of reading a story, drama, or poem to  Listening to or viewing an audio, video, or live version of the text, including contrasting what they “see” and “hear” when reading the text to what they perceive when they listen or watch.  Trace and evaluate the argument and specific claims in a text, distinguishing claims that are supported by reasons and evidence from claims that are not.  Write persuasive, expository, narrative, informative essays, and poems drawing from personal experiences with added support from multiple sources of information.  Conduct short research projects to answer a question, drawing on several sources and refocusing the inquiry when appropriate while using citation. Objectives continued

 All assignments must be submitted on time.  When a student has an excused absence, he or she is responsible for any missed work. The missed work must be completed and turned in within the same amount of time frame the student was absent. Absences and tardies will seriously affect your academic progress. It is difficult to makeup valuable class discussions, which can lead to a student falling behind.  Home learning assignments must be completed. Home learning assignments may be graded for completeness or correctness.  Students will be required to read an additional 30 minutes every night. Parents must sign a reading log which will be collected each week. Class Policies

 Verbal warning  Lowered Conduct Grade  Lunch detention or Before School Detention  Parent contact via phone  Parent-teacher conference  Referral to Administrator Consequences for Inappropriate Behavior

 In addition to regular class work, each marking period will contain tests, pop quizzes and projects based on the assigned novels.  Students will also be graded on group work and assignments completed in rotating centers.  As we finish each novel, we will have a cumulative exam.  Students will also be required to complete essays which will be graded according to the Florida Standard Assessment Rubric  Students will be required to independently read novels each nine week period as well as complete projects from an approved list. Projects will be due at the end of each nine week period.  A homework grade will be given at the end of each nine week period. Each students starts with an A and drops to a lower grade for every two assignments that are not completed.  Students must complete two lessons of I-Ready weekly. Grading Policies

 The following Miami-Dade Grading Scale will be used:  %A  80-89%B  70-79%C  60-69%D  Less than 60%F Grading Scale

 Extra credit opportunities will be awarded throughout the nine- week period and all students will be notified of these assignments.  Reading Logs  All grades on the report card are final. Each student should take full advantage of each extra credit opportunity as they arise, and should not ask after the grades have been awarded for extra credit opportunities. Extra Credit

 Conduct grades will be assigned using the following scale, which is based on the number of conduct cuts given. Each student starts the nine-week period with an “A” in conduct.  Conduct cuts are given for the following infractions: Being off task, talking out of turn, out of seat without permission, unsatisfactory tardy to class (the first will be a verbal warning), disrespectful behavior to the teacher or other students, and any other behavior deemed inappropriate.  The following scale lists the grades that will be given based on the number of conduct cuts given. Students have the ability to raise their conduct grade by displaying exceptional behavior (it will be the teacher’s decision to raise the grade based on this behavior). Conduct Grades

 0-2 conduct cutsA  3-4 conduct cutsB  5-6 conduct cutsC  7-8 conduct cutsD  9 or more conduct cutsF Conduct Scale

 The effort grade will be assigned on the student completing all graded assignments, home learning assignments, and class participation.  The following scale will be used based on the number of missing assignments.  Classroom participation and attitude can help raise or lower a student’s effort grade.  0-2 missing assignments 1  3-5 missing assignments2  6 or more missing assignments3 Effort Grade

 Homework can help or hurt a student’s grade  Some homework is collected for a grade, but everything is checked for completion  A homework grade is issued at the end of each nine weeks based on the following scale:  0-2 missed homework assignmentsA  3-4 B  5-6 C  7-8 D  9 F Homework Grade

 Complete two lessons each Monday  Student must pass the quiz with at least an 80%  Can write I-Ready on Reading Log (can substitute silent reading three times a week) I-Ready

 Text  Period  Period  Period  Period  Period  Period Remind 101

 is the best and fastest way to contact me.  Parents can contact me with any questions or concerns on grades and assignments.  It is very important to have parental involvement for you to succeed, and I am always willing to meet and discuss your progress with parents to offer ideas on how we can strengthen your reading and writing skills at home, as well as in the classroom.  Please have a parent or guardian sign this syllabus and return in by Thursday, August 27, 2015for a grade. Contact Information

 Sixth Grade Sixth Grade  Seventh Grade Seventh Grade Independent Reading Projects

 Sixth Grade Independent Reading Projects Sixth Grade Independent Reading Projects  Seventh Grade-Wiki Post Seventh Grade-Wiki Post Project Choices

I don't think much of a man who is not wiser today than he was yesterday. ~Abraham Lincoln Always walk through life as if you have something new to learn and you will. ~Vernon Howard The best of my education has come from the public library... my tuition fee is a bus fare and once in a while, five cents a day for an overdue book. You don't need to know very much to start with, if you know the way to the public library. ~Lesley Conger Inspirational Quotes Good luck this year!