1. 7th Grade Language Arts
Julia Weed
Room 3203

2. Notecards Use this card to: Ask any clarifying questions
Ask questions about your student specifically
Request a meeting with me
Let me know of anything you think I need to know about your student
Please leave your name, student’s name, and contact information

3. A Bit About Me – Ms. Weed
Master in Teaching from University of Washington
BA in Theatre and English Literature from Northwestern University
First year at IMS
Seattle Public Schools
Madison Middle School
Aki Kurose Middle School
Chicago Public Schools

4. Best Way to Stay Informed
Check the classroom website!
me with any questions
Call me or set up a meeting time with any concerns
Currently, my website is in progress. I’m experimenting with a couple different sites, and once I find the best one/most navigable one, I’ll it out!

5. After School Availability
Will be added to my classroom calendar

6. Why do I teach? Classroom Culture
All students are creative unique individuals with an important voice
Reading/Writing – middle school critical time for literacy
Choice reading! Guided choice writing!
Focusing on conceptualizing self as reader AND author
Growth mindset
Meet each student where they are
Mistakes are proof that you are trying
Students are always encouraged to improve their work
We become lifelong learners when we learn to ask critical questions!
Conferencing –we always have a plan for improving our work and growing; we communicate with adults
Engagement first

7. Our Goals for Your Student
Become resourceful independent learners
Become stronger readers, writers, speakers and listeners
Learn how to set independent reading and writing goals
and work towards achieving them
Learn how to ask academic questions
Learn how to go beyond comprehension with the texts in Language Arts
Be able to support claims with reasoning and text evidence
Be able to personalize and transfer the reading and writing skills we learn to different genres and tasks
Know why the reading, writing, speaking and listening we learn and practice in this class are important for you in the real world

8. Homework Weekly Assignment – starting next week
We write and reflect on reading and writing goals each week
Monday – Thursday
Two days of reading
Independent reading book, 15 minutes with short reading response
Two days of writing
Students write a self reflection at the end of the week
Free writing, 15 minutes

9. Independent Reading – Why it is so important
Important factors in middle school: motivation and engagement
This is the time to the gap for students widens or closes
At home
Read with your student if you have time
Ask your students about their reading
Prompt them to explain their thinking
Share your own thoughts about your reading
Emphasize its importance
See handout for sample questions/discussion starters.

10. Handout
Please see handout for ideas for questions to ask your students about their reading

11. Grading Philosophy
The purpose of grading is to reflect the extent to which the student has met the learning standard.
Students’ own self-assessment and reflection of their progress towards meeting a learning standard is just as critical as my own assessment.
It does not matter when a student meets a learning standard, but if they meet the learning standard.
Growth Mindset

12. Grading Policy Homework – 15 percent of grade
Class Work – 25 percent of grade
Performance (assessments) – 60 percent of grade
Grades are entered in Skyward as percent total out of 100
- For more information, please see the syllabus/grading policy letter

13. Performance Grades – Rubrics

14. Rubric Grades 4+ = 100% 3= 85 1 = 65 4 = 95 2 = 75 0 = 50
4+ = 100% = = 65 4 = = = 50
A ZERO will always be entered as 50% in the gradebook
The Power of Zero

15. Students will be allowed to redo any performance assignment within 1-2 weeks of its pass back date depending on the assignment. The last date for redoes will be clearly posted in the classroom. If a student wishes to redo an assignment, he/she must talk to me so we can conference and create a plan for improving the work.
I will always allow students to improve their work
Growth Mindset

16. Late Work Late work will not be penalized
When assignment is late on due date – fill out orange form (Incomplete assignment form)
When it is turned in – fill out blue form (Late assignment form)

17. Language Arts Curriculum
Reader’s/Writer’s Workshop
Grammar Integration
Vocabulary Integration

18. Workshop Model for Reading and Writing
Mini Lesson
10-15 minutes
Independent Practice and Work Time
(Teacher meeting with small groups and conferring)
20-30 minutes
Debrief/Wrap Up
5 minutes
Opening/Walk-in-Work
5-10 minutes

19. Workshop Model in Reading
Student choice, teacher conferring, and skills application in right-fit book allow teachers to meet your student where they are.
Make point that workshop model lends itself to rigor and differentiation. You can be sure that choosing traditional path

20. Why Workshop?
Educational research in the field of reading suggests that instruction focus on several main areas. Each of these is entirely necessary to the development of strong independent reading skills, but none, standing on its own, is sufficient to build meaning.
In middle school, motivation and choice are key
(Scholastics Reading Report, 2014)

21. Goals for Reading The students in the Issaquah School District will:
word analysis skills to decode words and text structure
read fiction and non-fiction fluently at an appropriate and increasingly complex level
use a variety of strategies to deepen comprehension beyond literal levels

22. Goals for Writing
write to explain, to tell, and to support claims using text based evidence
Students will write at least three pieces this year
They will include:
Narrative – Realistic Fiction
Explanatory – Photo Essay Infographic
Research-based project
Argumentative – Editorial Book Review

23. Emphasis on Evidence!
Claim, evidence, reasoning present in all of the CCSS
Using evidence in reading and writing
As we are learning we are always asking:
Why?
What makes you say that?
What evidence supports you ideas?

24. Goals for Listening and Speaking
present ideas through speaking as well as through technology supported media
Individual presentations
Groups presentations
Socratic Seminars

25. Goals for Vocabulary
Develop age appropriate academic and conversational language
Discussion terms, strive towards academic conversation
Power Vocabulary:
Power words
Personal Vocabulary List
Academic Vocabulary
Each unit will have academic focus words (Analysis, inference, narrative, craft, etc)

26. Supplemental Literature
McDougall Littell Literature book (shared read-alouds, short stories)
Scholastic Scope Magazine

27. Novels Etc. Reading Workshop book bin – Courage to be and Individual
Reading Workshop bin – Dystopian Fiction
Read alouds
Scholastic Scope Magazine

28. Thank you ISF and PTSA