Northwestern Middle School Reading
Syllabus
Grade 7 Level A
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Course
Description:
Seventh Grade Reading is a course that reinforces the strategies
that good readers use before, during, and after reading. Students will
read a wide variety of fiction and nonfiction. They will study the
features that characterize narratives when reading stories, novels, and
personal experience essays. The reading of informational texts will be an
important component of this course. Through the study of exposition,
students will build background knowledge, analyze organizational
structures, and increase their ability to comprehend and use what they
have read. Although
students in the Advanced Course will address the same instructional
objectives as students in the On Level course, they will be held to higher
expectations through their interaction with more challenging literature
selections, which will be experienced at a more rapid pace and at a higher
cognitive level. |
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Reading
and Literature
·
The
student will read and analyze a variety of literary texts such as poetry,
drama, short stories, and novels to acquire an understanding of the
conventions of each form. ·
The
student will read and analyze a variety of informational texts to develop
an understanding of organizational structures, such as cause and effect or
comparison-contrast and graphic features, such as diagrams and
illustrations that are typically found in nonfiction. ·
The
student will acquire new vocabulary and use it effectively in reading and
writing. ·
The
student will read aloud accurately (in the range of 95%) familiar material
with a rhythm and flow that sounds like everyday speech. Reading
Across the Curriculum ·
The
student will read the equivalent of 1 million words per year from a
variety of subject areas. |
Writing ·
The
student will produce writing that has a focus, organizational structure,
and point of view. ·
The
student will produce practical writing such as procedures, business
letters, instructions, and web pages. ·
The
students will trace the evidence that an author uses to support an
argument. Listening,
Speaking, and Viewing ·
The
student participates in effective oral interaction with the teacher and
with other students. ·
The
student listens to and views various forms of media in order to gather and
share information, persuade others, and express ideas. ·
The
student analyses the effect on the viewer of image, texts, and sound in
electronic journalism. |
Classroom
Management:
Grading
Scheme:
Special
Projects:
Homework
Expectations:
Help
Sessions:
Help sessions may be set up by making an appointment with the teacher.
Parents will be responsible for providing transportation
Teacher/Parent
Communication:
Email is the most efficient first line communication.
In-person and phone conferences will be set up as needed.
Absent/Make-up
work: It is the student’s responsibility to request make-up work
for an absence. Upon returning to
school following an absence, the student should request make-up work.
The student must complete make-up work within the time specified by the
teacher. (The student will be given
the same amount of time to make up the work as he/she was absent unless other
arrangements are mutually agreed upon.) The
student will receive the actual grade on the make-up work if the absence was
“excused.” Make-up work for
“unexcused” absences may be reduced up to 6 points.
Make-up work submitted late will receive a zero.
Provision
for Improving Grades
·
Opportunities designed to
allow students to recover from a low or failing cumulative grade will be allowed
when all work required to date has been completed and the student has
demonstrated a legitimate effort to meet all course requirements including
attendance.
·
Teachers will determine
when and how students with extenuating circumstances may improve their grades.