Pinecrest Preparatory Middle



Betty Nunez

Principal

Amelia Estrada

Assistant Principal

Jennifer Kairalla

Assistant Principal

7th grade Language Arts Course Syllabus

2014-2015

Instructor: Mrs. Osorio

Room Number: 1122

Email: cosorio@

Office hours: By appointment only

Course Description:

This year your children will be using an innovative program that was created by the College Board, called Spring Board. This program follows the Florida Standards. In addition, we will be implementing Achieve 3000, an online reading program that will improve reading skills at home. Our goal this year is to create a learning environment that focuses on promoting a rigorous curriculum that will increase the level of difficulty so that your child remains challenged and interested. We are raising our expectations of the students to lead them on a path towards Advanced Placement courses and college. We have an exciting school year full of boundless learning experiences ahead of us. Together we can strive to make this year a memorable one. Please read the following information carefully along with your parent/guardians and return the bottom portion with required signatures.

Course Standards:

Florida State Standards

Course Text:

SpringBoard (CollegeBoard) Level 2

Required Novels:

1st nine weeks: “The Lightening Thief” by: Rick Riordan

2nd nine weeks: “The Outsiders” by: S.E. Hinton

3rd nine weeks: “Tangerine” by: Edward Bloor

Course Outline

First Nine Weeks

(8/18/14-10/23/14)

|Topic |Assignment/Resource |

|Unit 1 The Choices We Make | |

|How do authors use narrative elements to create a story? | |

|What are the elements of effective revisions? |Students will keep and maintain a Notes/Vocabulary Notebook |

|Unit 2 What Influences My Choices? |that |

|What role does advertising play in the lives of youth? |Journal |

|What makes an effective argument? |Lesson quizzes |

| | |

| |Embedded Assessments |

| | |

| |Unit Tests |

| | |

| |Independent Reading Projects |

| | |

| |Florida Standards Exemplar Text |

| | |

| |Class novel “The Lightening Thief” |

Second Nine Weeks

(10/27/14-1/15/15)

|Topic |Assignment/Resource |

|Unit 2 What Influences My Choices? | |

|What role does advertising play in the lives of youth? |Students will keep and maintain a Notes/Vocabulary notebook. |

|What makes an effective argument? | |

| |Lesson quizzes |

| | |

|Unit 3 Choices and Consequences |Embedded Assessments |

|What is the relationship between choices and consequences? | |

|What makes a great leader? |Unit Tests |

| | |

| |Independent Reading Project |

| | |

| |Florida Standards Exemplar Text |

| | |

| |Class novel “The Outsiders” |

Third Nine Weeks

(1/2015-3/19/15)

|Topic |Assignment/Resource |

|Unit 3 Choices and Consequences | |

|What is the relationship between choices and consequences? |Students will keep and maintain a Notes/Vocabulary notebook. |

|What makes a great leader? | |

| |Lesson quizzes |

| | |

| |Embedded Assessments |

| | |

| |Research Paper |

| | |

| |Florida Standards Exemplar Text |

| | |

| |Unit Tests |

| | |

| |Independent Reading Project |

| | |

| |Class novel “Tangerine” |

Fourth Nine Weeks

(3/30/15-6/4/15)

|Topic |Assignment/Resource |

|Unit 4 How We Choose to Act | |

|How do writers and speakers use language for effect? | |

|How do performers communicate meaning to an audience? |Students will keep and maintain a Notes/Vocabulary notebook. |

| | |

| |Lesson quizzes |

| | |

| |Embedded Assessments |

| | |

| |Unit Tests |

| | |

| |Independent Reading Project |

| | |

| |Florida Standards Exemplar Text |

| | |

| |Complete class novel “Tangerine” |

Methods of Assessment

Summative Assessments 40%

Formative Assessments 30%

Classwork 20%

Home Learning 10%

Grading Scale

|Percent |Letter Grade |Grade Point Average (GPA) |

|90% – 100% |A |3.50 – 4.00 |

|80% – 89% |B |2.50 – 3.49 |

|70% – 79% |C |1.50 – 2.49 |

|60% – 69% |D |1.00 – 1.49 |

|0% – 59% |F |0.00 – 0.99 |

Achieve 3000 Grading Criteria

Students will complete 2 articles per week as a Home Learning assignment which will count towards 10% of their grade. Each article will be graded based on the following performance scale:

75% and above = 100%

63% - 74% = 85%

50% - 62% = 75%

38% - 49% = 65%

0% - 37%= 55%

Students will also receive 2 grades based on their average performance which will count towards 30% of their grade.

Classroom Expectations:

1. Respect Others – listen when others are talking; keep hands, feet, objects, and negative comments to yourself.

2. Follow directions

3. Raise your hand to be recognized before speaking or standing up from your seat.

4. Bring required materials to class every day. (No CD, MP3 or IPod players, food, electronic devices, etc.)

5. Follow the Pinecrest Preparatory Middle/ High School Code of Conduct

(link: )

6. Turn in completed assignments on time.

7.

Academic Dishonesty:

Students are expected to be honest and ethical in their academic work. Academic dishonesty is defined as an intentional act of deception in one of the following areas. Academic dishonesty is an infraction of the MDCPS Code of Student Conduct and disciplinary action will ensue.

• Cheating – the use or attempted use of unauthorized materials, information or study aids

• Fabrication – falsification or invention of any information

• Assisting – helping another commit an act of academic dishonesty

• Tampering – altering or interfering with evaluation instruments and documents

• Plagiarism – representing the words or ideas of another person as one’s own.

Attendance Policy

In case of absence, make-up assignments will be given to all students, but only the students with excused absences will receive an academic grade without penalty. The assignment will remain with a letter grade of a “Z” until absence is excused. Students are required to be on time to class and tardies to class will entail disciplinary consequences.

Required Materials

• Loose leaf paper

• Post-it Notes

• One duo tang folder with pockets

• Two composition notebooks

• One box black or blue pens

• Three highlighters

• Two other color pens for peer editing (purple, green, etc.)

• Pocket Dictionary

• Pocket Thesaurus

• Two manila folders for filing

• One box of markers /colored pencils / crayons

• Spring Board workbook

• Required novels

Course Fee

A $5.00 course fee will be collected after Labor Day - September 2nd. This fee will be used to purchase supplemental instructional materials and a SpringBoard workbook for each student.

Parents and Students,

Please sign and return to Mrs. Osorio by August 22nd (A day) / August 25th (B day), 2014. It is a required document for student files.

Thank you,

Mrs. Osorio

We the parent/guardian(s) and the student, have fully read, understood, and agree to abide by these expectations.

Period _______

Print Student name Student’s signature Date

Print Parent/Guardian name Parent/Guardian’s signature Date

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