Welcome to 6-1 ELA

Teacher background- Thompson Bachelors in English, History, and Education from TCNJ Masters in Reading from Grand Canyon University 14th year teaching Taught middle school in Pearl City, HI (3 years) Taught high school in Brick, NJ (1 year) Currently teaching middle school in Old Bridge, NJ (9+ years)

Teacher background- sikdar Bachelors in English from MS University in India and Rutgers Pursuing Masters in Education from Monmouth University Student teaching Observational teaching in Long Branch, Ocean Twp, and Manalapan

Supplies 3 ring binder Dividers with the following tab titles: daily sheets; Reading; Writing; Grammar; and Vocabulary Pens and pencil A highlighter is suggested

Goals for the year in reading The goal of reading class is for students to become active readers utilizing the strategies of good reading. We will be reading a lot. We will first begin in the text reading short stories of a variety of genres (fiction and non-fiction) before moving into larger texts. Students are required to have a DEAR book on Fridays. We read for 30 uninterrupted minutes silently. During the year, students will have book reports on these books. Quarter 2 they will complete a publisher newsletter Quarter 4 they will create and present a PowerPoint presentation on their book. In addition, we will be reading Maniac Magee, Walk Two Moons, and A Wrinkle in Time as a class with book assignments, projects, and quizzes/tests. Achieve3000 initiative

Goals for the year in writing We will be doing a great deal of writing in class. We will learn writing structures for the following writing structures: compare/contrast essays; open-ended responses; persuasive writing; creative/expository writing; and functional “everyday” writing In writing class, we will also be covering the basics of grammar: nouns, verbs, adverbs, adjectives, subject/verb agreement, punctuation, and sentence structure. Writing is also a period for vocabulary development. Students will have 12 units of vocabulary (20 words at a time) throughout the year. See the vocabulary website for games and studying techniques.

Textbooks, Textbooks, read all about them Language Network- grammar worksheets sent home as a resource McDougall Littell Literature- Students will get an on-line version to access at home; access id and code needed and will be provided Vocabulary workbook Online vocabulary Access— www.sadlier-oxford.com/vocabulary and choose level A and Student Novels provided to each student.

These links are available on my teacher webpage Websites for support These links are available on my teacher webpage http://www.oldbridgeadmin.org/webpages/hthompson/index.cfm http://www.classzone.com/books/lnetwork_gr06/index.cfm http://www.sadlier-oxford.com/vocabulary/vocabularyworkshop.cfm http://grammaruntied.com/ http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/GRAMMAR/quiz_list.htm http://www.vocabtest.com/ http://www.achieve3000.com http://www.login.microsoftonline.com

Procedure for class Upon entry to class: Copy homework Have out homework to check from the previous night Begin the “do now”

Grading Grades are now available for viewing through the Realtime parent portal. I do make an effort to keep grades up to date; please stay current with your child’s performance Test/Reading- 35%- Any reading packet, reading response assignment, and book project; reading checks that correspond to stories in class; book tests Alternate Assessment/Writing- 30%- Any writing assignment/prompt, essay, quarter project, and ASK assignments Quizzes (Grammar and Vocabulary)- 20% quizzes and tests for each topic Homework 15%

Homework Homework is posted on teacher’s website found from Carl Sandburg’s main page http://www.oldbridgeadmin.org/webpages/hthompson Homework is written on the board everyday and copied into planner daily. Homework counts toward 15% of the marking period grade. All late, graded homework is worth half credit, but all unsubmitted or incomplete work is worth a zero.

Questions