Welcome Parents! King Philip Middle School Open House October 8 th 2015 Mr. Conor Jacobsen 7 th Grade English Language Arts

Welcome!  I want to start off by thanking you all for taking time out of your busy evenings to come here tonight.  We teachers truly appreciate it when you are able to get involved in your child’s education  I am going to briefly talk to you tonight about our English Language Arts class

Teacher Bio  Born, raised, and live in Fairhaven, MA  B.S. Elementary Education with minors in History and English from Fitchburg State University in 2011  M.Ed. Curriculum and Instruction from the University of Massachusetts Lowell 2014  CTL (Curriculum Team Leader) of the ELA Department at KPMS  Licensed in: Elementary Grades 1-6 Middle School Humanities Grades 5-8  Fifth Year Teaching at KPMS  Hobbies: Reading, exercising, hiking, kayaking, playing sports, and walking my Welsh Corgi

Typical Class Period  Students will come in and grab Activator Sheet from class bin to work on Warm Up  We review class Agenda  The night’s Homework will be assigned  The previous night’s Homework will be checked/reviewed to ensure understanding and clarify any questions  We will discuss the Warm Up together as a class  Day’s Lesson (usually split between several activities: grammar, reading, analyzing literature, vocabulary, or writing)  End class with Summarizer to help wrap up thoughts  Reminder of HW and upcoming assignments/answer questions

Topics of School Year - Reading  We will be reading often and constantly throughout the year, both in and our of the classroom. Our topics include:  S.E. Hinton’s novel -The Outsiders  Short Stories –Fiction  Non Fiction Texts  Non Fiction Selections/Articles  Poetry  Plays  Science Fiction  Lois Lowry’s novel -The Giver  Independent Reading (Terms 2-4)

Topics of School Year - Writing  We will be writing throughout the year in order to develop our writing skills and strengthen ourselves as writers. We will also develop key grammatical skills that are implemented in our writing (such as appositives, clauses & phrases, word choice, and quote integration). Several essays throughout the year (2-3 pages in length) Open response and thought provoking questions Book analysis and evaluations Intro to research skills (citing, sources, etc.) Daily Warm Up reflections

Grading Policy  Students are graded on a point policy. Each assignment has a certain point value to it. The students will earn a number of points out of the total available points for the assignment.  Five Grading Categories: Homework, Classwork, Quizzes, Tests, and Writing.  A student’s grade will be their points earned throughout the term, divided by the total points possible for that term. i.e. 315/350 points =.9 [A-]  Every term a student’s homework grade starts at a 100. For every missed assignment during that term, it is 5 points off that grade.  All grades and assignments are clearly posted on iPass ASAP

Homework and Extra Help  Students will have homework anywhere from 3-4 nights a week (Most often Monday through Thursday nights). This homework may include worksheets, comprehension questions, vocabulary, writing, brainstorming, or additional reading.  Extra help is available every THURSDAY after school until 3 PM. If Thursday does not work for the student, he/she may come see me earlier to arrange a time when they are able to come for extra help. Help is also available during S.A.T.

Contact  I am always available to contact through , my link is listed on the Staff List of the King Philip Website:  The phone number for the school is with my classroom extension being 123  Please never hesitate to contact me with any questions or concerns, big or small. Learning is a process that takes place both at home and school. I want to work with all of you to give the students the best education possible.

School Fusion Page  My school fusion page (Language Arts) can be seen through the KP website with my syllabus as an attachment  It will always list due dates for any upcoming quizzes, tests, papers, or projects  Any digital copies of worksheets, study guides, story scans, or student resources will also be uploaded to the web page  I will also be able to post announcements there as well when we begin new units of study  Feel free to check it out!

Goals for the year Increase students’ love of reading Develop students’ reading speed and comprehension Develop writing skills (creative, persuasive, expository) Broaden students’ grammatical knowledge and vocabulary Strengthen use of evidence and detail support in writing Build confidence in one’s self in and outside of the classroom Create a close knit classroom community Have students enjoy coming to school

Q & A  Any there questions, comments, or concerns that I did not address specifically or in not enough detail?  I want to thank you for taking the time to come tonight and I greatly appreciate it. Please have a wonderful evening.

The End  Please have a good night.  Enjoy the rest of Open House.  Don’t forget to check out the Book Fair!  Drive safe.