1. Welcome Parents! Bigelow Middle School Newton Public Schools

2. English Program - Cluster 7C Rebecca Robles, M.A.T. Bigelow Middle School Newton, Massachusetts rebecca_robles@newton.k12.ma.us

3. Major Themes  Diversity  Personal Responsibility  Social Responsibility  Coming of Age/Loss of Innocence  Identity

4. Major Units of Study  Young Adult Novel  Autobiography/Biography  Poetry  The Essay-Part I Essay Structure Personal Essay Literary Critique/Analysis

5. Year-long Essential Questions I.How do individuals respond to challenge and struggle? II. How do individuals confront prejudice? III. What is identity? “ How do I define myself? ”

6. Historical Fiction The Land by Mildred D. Taylor Dial, September 2001 Young Adult Novel

7. Historical Fiction Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry by Mildred D. Taylor Puffin, 1996 Opportunity for Challenge Work

8. Biography Langston Hughes An Interdisciplinary Biography by Fredric Lown J Weston Walch, 1997

9. The Miracle Worker by William Gibson Bantam Books, 1964 Miss Keller sits next to a radio in her home in Forest Hills, New York. She is reaching out to touch the radio speaker, circa 1927. © 1998-99 AFB. All rights reserved. Drama

10. Student centered groups that provide them opportunities to use critical thinking skills, make decisions, and collaborate with their peers. Some titles include Drums, Girls & Dangerous Pie/Sonnenblcik, Call of the Wild/London, and Breadwinners/Ellis. Book Groups

11. Independent Reading Book projects/reviews will cover the following genre:  Fiction (historical fiction)  Biography  Non-fiction

12. Writing There are three major writing workshops/units throughout the year:  Proper composition (multi-paragraph/essay)  Open response (CER – Claim, Evidence, & Reasoning)  Critique/Analytical writing

13. Daily Oral Language For five to ten minutes several days a week, students review and reinforce basic skills in the areas of spelling, capitalization, punctuation, grammar and usage. redbank.injersey.com/kids.html

14.  Major/minor writing assignments Rubrics are aligned with the ELA frameworks and Core Standards.  Homework completion  Daily Oral Language/class work  Tests, quizzes, and projects  Effort is always taken into consideration. Assessment

15. “ I look forward to our year of learning together, and thank you for your support. ” ~ Rebecca Robles Final Message