2. Ms. Moury Mr. Stefanacci co-teach period 6 16 th year teaching in the district. 15 years as a Special Education/Remedial Reading/English teacher at the Senior High School. mourysm@svsd.net http://www.svsd.net//site/Default.aspx? PageID=6677

3.  What’s the difference between English and Advanced English ?  Because all students are required to learn and apply the PA Common Core Standards, essentially, the curriculum content is the exact same; however, there are significant differences that make this course more rigorous. The main distinctions include the pace and level of instruction, the level of teacher guidance throughout the year, the value and accumulation of points, the level of reading materials covered, and assessment and assignment rigor. Advanced English

4.  Summer Reading Assessments  help identify previous skills to review  test expected prior knowledge  Expose students to independent learning and thinking Advanced English (cont’d)

5.  Vocabulary is an independent assignment  Weekly packet that focuses on exploring target word meaning  Weekly assessment  Vocabulary is the greatest determination of reading comprehension. Advanced English (cont’d)

6.  Unlike ELA in elementary school, English and reading in the Seneca Valley Middle School are two individual courses taught by different content area specialists. Because of this, the curriculum components in each course will be covered in more depth. Furthermore, students in each course will be required to analyze and apply their knowledge of the curriculum in both literature and writing. It is important to understand that English, in a sense, is a new course and can be rigorous and challenging for all seventh grade students regardless of placement level. English 7

7.  ICER ICER is a format to help your writing become more structured and organized. Designed as a reader response Used in other team classes Developed into an essay Advanced English and English 7

8.  HOMEWORK  Will be posted on my web-site.  The purpose of homework is to provide students with a way to study. Homework is not a busy assignment.  Homework will be minimal and necessary to learn and be successful in my class.  Homework is a 2 point assignment, the value of homework comes from its ability to prepare students for assessments.  Homework points will not determine the difference between an “A” or “B” student; but will be the difference for that student with a 89.35%. Advanced English and English 7 -

9.  SKILLS  Write  Edit  Read  Analyze  Infer  Predict  Learn Advanced English and English 7

10. Final Note: You sons and daughters are so much more than a grade to me. Whether they earn a D, C, B, or A; as long as they learned something and improved, they have succeeded. Now is the time for them to learn from their own mistakes and failures, while the mistakes and failures are small and fixable.