PC\|MAC



7th Grade English Language Arts Syllabus

Instructor: Mrs. Kanita Sturdivant Email: ksturdivant@sumter.k12.al.us

Course Description: This course is a combination of language arts and literature. The literacy skills of reading, writing, speaking, listening, comprehending, and thinking are taught. Students gain practice in grammar, punctuation, and writing skills. Assignments include all writing modes identified by Alabama CCRS: persuasive, narrative, expository, descriptive and imaginative. The writing process includes ideas and content, organization, sentence fluency and voice. In literature we read classic and contemporary literature, including short stories, dramas, and nonfiction. Personal connections, interpretations and responses to literature are made to show text comprehension. Vocabulary instruction and growth is emphasized throughout the year.

Required Materials:

• (3) Three prong paper folders with pockets

• (1) Pack of copy paper

• (1) pack 4 count highlighters

• Blue or black ink pens

• Pencils

• (2) Composition books

• (1) pack of washable markers

• $10 ELA fee (for novels)

• College rule notebook paper

• Post it notes

Attendance: Student attendance is imperative to student learning. Students who are absent must provide an excuse in accordance with the SCBOE Student Code of Conduct to receive an excused absence. Students with 5 or more unexcused absences in one 9 week term will be referred to the truancy officer. Any student with 10 or more excused or unexcused absences in a one semester term will be given a ‘fail’ grade for that term, no exceptions. Students who must be absent for medical or emergency purposes must contact the school to establish a plan of action for the student.

Grading Policy: We will follow the grading policy set forth by the Sumter County Board of Education. Grades will be calculated as follows:

Daily Writing & Activities, Class Discussions and Class Assignments 25%

Timed Writing, Books Annotation and Highlighting, Quizzes, Homework 25%

Multi-draft Essays, Projects, Presentations, Interactive Journals, Dialectical

Journals, Tests 50%

Workload: The workload for this course is moderately heavy. Students should expect homework throughout the week and on weekends. Writing and reading are the major focuses of this course.

Homework: All homework is due on the determined date before class begins.

Student Behavior: Reading and writing are the cornerstones of education; therefore, the work within this class is urgent. Inappropriate behavior will not be tolerated and all rules and guidelines pertaining to consequences will be followed as outlined in the Sumter County School System Student Code of Conduct Manual.

Parent Participation: Parent/teacher collaboration is essential to student success. Parents are encouraged to stay informed and actively participate in this course in the following manner:

• Class Dojo

•

• Signing reading schedules

• Signing reading fluency charts

• Attending RTI meetings, parent/teacher workshops, open house, and teacher conferences

• Class websites ( or

• SCBOE Twitter and Facebook pages

• Checking student homework folder and class calendars

• Teacher email

• Volunteering in class or school on predetermined dates

• Assisting students with student-led conferences

Assessments: Students will take monthly exams and weekly quizzes. Performance Series data is used to identify student reading proficiency and guide instruction. Aspire data is used to evaluate the effectiveness of teacher instruction and student reading proficiency in relation to national reading proficiency. Students who do not show growth on standardized tests and who continually underperform in class will receive an RTI (Reading Intervention) plan created by the student’s parent(s) and teacher. Failing students are required to have RTI plans, no exceptions. Students who underperform continuously after receiving RTI will be referred to the Special Education Department for evaluation.

SCHEDULE OF COURSE

1st Nine Weeks

Big Idea Focus: Where do I come from?

Defining Question: Why do we study the past?

Skills Focus:

Reading: Understanding Informational Texts

Writing: Theme Analysis

Grammar: Simple Sentences (subject/verb agreement, sentence fragments, compound subjects and predicates, appositives, prepositional phrases)

Major Work: Written in Bone: Buried Lives of Jamestown by Sally Walker

Nonfiction article: “The Lost Colony of Roanoke Island”

Poetry: “Saturday at the Canal” by Gary Soto

Short Story: “By the Waters of Babylon” by Stephen Vincent Benet

Artwork: Jamestown Lifescape by Keith Rocco

Videos: Lost Colony of Roanoke, Written in Bone, and Finding Remains

I Can 1.Understand and apply annotation skills to works studied 2. Create and use dialectical journals 3.Analyze a visual text, make inferences, and support those inferences with specific references to the text 4. Analyze a non-fiction text 5.Identify purposeful use of figurative language, tone and mood 6. Actively participate in purposeful discussions of the selected texts in both small and whole groups 7. Determine or clarify the meaning of unknown and multiple meaning words pose edit, and revise paragraphs 9.Cite textual evidence pose an expository essay

2nd Nine Weeks

Big Idea Focus: What do I believe?

Defining Questions: How does conflict contribute to a character’s beliefs?

Why do some characters change while others do not?

Skills Focus:

Reading: Understanding Elements of Fiction

Writing: Character Analysis

Grammar: Compound Sentences (coordinate conjunctions, punctuation, run-on sentences, sentence combining)

Major Work: A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’Engle

Nonfiction Documents: “An Open Heart,” “A Wrinkle in Time’ and Its Sci-Fi Heroine”

Drama: The Monsters are Due on Maple Street

Fable: “The Fox and the Crow”

Excerpts from Witness by Karen Hesse

Goal: I can apply close reading strategies (diction, imagery, details, figures of speech) to extract meaning from a variety of texts in order to discuss how literary and plot elements contribute to character development.

I Can 1. Understand apply annotation skills to visual, nonfiction, and literary texts 2. Compare written drama with its filmed version 3.Identify purposeful use of figurative language 4.Participate in purposeful discussions of selected texts in both small and whole groups 5. Successfully compose and edit compound sentences 6. Compose, edit, and revise paragraphs 7. Incorporate quotations effectively 8. Compose a character analysis essay 9. Determine or clarify the meaning of unknown and multiple-meaning words

3rd Nine Weeks

Big Idea Focus: Why do my values/beliefs matter?

Defining Questions: How does an appreciation of words shape our values? How do our values motivate our actions?

Skills Focus:

Reading: Understanding Figurative Language

Writing: Persuasion

Grammar: Complex Sentence (dependent clauses, subordinating techniques, punctuation, sentence combining)

Major Work: The Book Thief by Markus Zusak

Speech: Speech on the Americans with Disabilities by Christopher Reeve

Nonfiction Documents: New York Times article “Auschwitz Shifts from Memorializing to Teaching,” “Banning Books from the Classroom: How to Handle Cries for Censorship,” “In Defense of Book Banning, “It’s Not Censorship, It’s Parenting!”

Poetry: “Nothing Gold Can Stay,” “Dream Deferred,” “‘Hope’ Is the Thing With Feathers” Artwork: “Grim Death,” “The Angel of Death,” “Abstract Death”

Videos: “Nazi Book Burning,” “Books Burn as Goebbels Speaks Germany, May 10, 1933”

Goal: I can apply close reading strategies (diction, imagery, details, figures of speech) to extract meaning from a variety of texts and to write analytical compositions.

I Can 1. Understand and apply annotation skills to works studied 2. Successfully edit and compose complex sentences 3. Create and use powerful journals from my annotations 4. Identify purposeful use of figurative language 5. Actively participate in purposeful discussions of the selected texts in both small and whole groups 6. Determine fact, opinion, and bias 7. Compose, edit, and revise paragraphs 8. Compose an expository essay 9. Determine or clarify the meaning of unknown and multiple meaning words 10. Analyze a text to determine how an author communicates purpose

4th Nine Weeks

Big Idea Focus: Who am I?

Defining Question: Who do I want to become?

Skill Focus:

Reading: Understanding Theme

Writing: Text-based Theme Analysis

Grammar: Compound-Complex Sentences (subordinating conjunctions, relative pronouns, punctuation)

Major Works: The Cay by Theodore Taylor and excerpts from Twelfth Night by Shakespeare

Nonfiction: “Letter from a Birmingham Jail”

Poetry: “Blow, Blow Thou Winter Wind”

Video: Clips from various productions of Twelfth Night, “Like a Girl” and “Be a Dad” PSAs

Goal: To continue to use close reading strategies to extract meaning from a variety of texts in order to discuss the way literary elements and characterization support an author’s theme.

I Can 1.Understand and apply annotation skills to works studied 2.Successfully edit and compose compound-complex sentences 3.Identify purposeful use of figurative language 4.Actively participate in purposeful discussions of the selected texts in both small and whole groups 5.Analyze author’s purpose pose, edit, and revise paragraphs pose an essay on theme using character analysis 8.Determine or clarify the meaning of unknown and multiple meaning words 9.Cite textual evidence[pic]

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