Welcome to NGMS Curriculum Night Mrs. George Eighth Grade Language Arts

About Me Born and raised in the Atlanta area Bachelor’s degree from University of Georgia Master’s degree from Georgia State University 19th year in Gwinnett County Schools as either a teacher or a counselor. Live in Suwanee with my husband, daughter, three cats and one really cute dog. Love to read, watch sports, play tennis, and attend my daughter’s soccer games.

Language Arts First Quarter Writing focus: Expository leads, conclusions, quality of ideas, providing details and examples, organizing ideas, transitions, sentence variety, word choice, style, conventions. Organizational Structures: Compare/Contrast, Problem/Solution, Explanation/ Description

First Quarter Continued Literature Focus Fiction Skills: Characterization, theme, irony, character motivation, setting, plot, mood, tone, author’s purpose, point of view, figurative context clues and vocabulary development Non-fiction: Skills: author’s purpose, tone, organizational structure, main idea, supporting details, anecdotes and elaboration.

First Quarter Continued Grammar Sentence structures; simple, compound, complex, and compound-complex. Semi-colon and comma usage, Avoiding fragments and run-ons, punctuating dialogue. Word Study SAT vocabulary, prefixes, suffixes, and root words.

Reading Expectations Reading Requirements: 20/20 Reading Monday – Thursday homework Reading Logs: Checked Weekly Always have a recreational reading book Classroom Library and Wish List Quarterly assessment/ test grade Monthly “One pager” responses/ homework grade 25 books per year (equivalent of 1,000,000 words)

Reading Facts Reading as a leisure activity is the best predictor of comprehension, vocabulary acquisition, and reading speed. Kids who do the most recreational reading become the best readers. Less than one third of thirteen year olds are daily readers, a 14% decline from twenty years earlier. Strong correlation between the time spent reading and reading achievement.

More Facts The average child is in school 900 hundred hours per year, but spends 7,800 hours at home. Reading at home is a necessary requirement to acquire the skills needed for school success, and life success.

Classroom Library Research and common sense dictates that surrounding students with high interest and high quality reading materials works wonders in getting them to read. They are picky and have tons of other activities competing for their free time. Without helping them find the good stuff, we are fighting a tough battle.

Wish List Gift cards and popular titles.

SAT Vocabulary Quiz every two weeks Sample slide and sample quiz

Writing Test: January 20, 2010 Passing score is a condition of promotion Rubric is in the student agenda Four Scoring Domains 1. Ideas: 40% 2. Organization: 20% 3. Style: 20% 4. Conventions: 20% Sample Prompt: Prompts will be either Persuasive or Expository

Persuasive Prompt Writing Situation Most families at one time or another make the decision to bring an animal into their home as a family pet. It may be a dog, a cat, a goldfish, or an iguana. Think about the type of animal that you consider to be the ideal house pet. Directions for Writing Write a speech to be read to your classmates to convince them of animal that you consider to be the ideal house pet. Be sure to give specific examples to support your opinion.

Attack the Prompt TOPIC: The Ideal Pet FORMAT: Speech (essay) PURPOSE: To persuade AUDIENCE: Classmates

Lead “Dog is man’s best friend.” That common saying may contain some truth, but dogs are not the only animal friend whose companionship people enjoy. For many people, a cat is their best friend. Despite what dog lovers may believe, cats make excellent housepets.

Body Paragraph To begin, people enjoy the companionship of cats. Many cats are affectionate. They will snuggle up and ask to be petted, or scratched under the chin. Who can resist a purring cat? If they’re not feeling affectionate, cats are generally quite playful. They love to chase balls and feathers, or just about anything dangling from a string. They especially enjoy playing when their owners are participating in the game. Contrary to popular opinion, cats can be trained. Using rewards and punishments, just like with a dog, a cat can be trained to avoid unwanted behavior or perform tricks. Cats will even fetch!

Body Paragraph Cats are also civilized members of the household. Unlike dogs, cats do not bark or make other loud noises. Most cats don’t even meow very often. They generally lead a quiet existence. Cats also don’t often have “accidents.” Mother cats train their kittens to use the litter box; most cats will use it without fail from that time on. Even stray cats usually understand the concept when shown the box and will use it regularly. Cats do have claws, and owners must make provisions for this. A tall scratching post in a favorite cat area of the house will often keep the cat content to leave the furniture alone. As a last resort, or course, cats can be declawed.

Body Paragraph Lastly, one of the most attractive features of cats as house pets is their ease of care. Cats do not have to be walked. They get plenty of exercise in the house as they play, and do their business in the litter box. Cleaning a litter box is a quick, painless procedure. Cats also take care of their own grooming. Bathing a cat is almost never necessary because under ordinary circumstances cats clean themselves. Cats are more particular about personal cleanliness than people are. In addition, cats can be left home along for a few hours without fear. Unlike some pets, most cats will not destroy the furnishings when left alone. They are content to go about their usual activities until their owners return.

Conclusion Cats are low maintenance, civilized companions. People who have small living quarters or less time for pet care should appreciate these characteristics of cats. However, many people who have plenty of space and time still opt to have a cat because they love the cat personality. In many ways, cats are the ideal housepet.

Ideas 40% You must PLAN before you write. Flood you paper with layers of specific reasons and details that help the reader “see” what you mean. Avoid “listing” your ideas. Pause. Take time to write a few sentence to e x t e n d an idea. Use personal stories to further explain your point. Make sure your details and reasons make sense. Read it. Be sure you address all aspects of the prompt.

Organization 20 % Have a beginning, middle, and an end. Use transitions to link ideas and paragraphs. Hook your reader with a catchy introduction. Make sure you have multiple paragraphs. All paragraphs need to relate to your topic. Group ideas together in a logical order.

Style 20% Carefully chosen words, purposefully placed for impact. Precise and engaging word choice- non repetitive. Figurative language is used to help reader “see” what the writer means. (similes, metaphors, personification…..) L o n g & short sentences. Different types of sentences. (simple, compound, complex) (questions, exclamations, imperative statements) Different sentence beginnings.

Conventions 20% Standard English; no slang ya’ll Correct subject-verb agreement. Complete sentences. (no run-ons/fragments) Correct spelling Correct punctuation (commas, apostrophes,) Correct capitalization Paragraph indention Correct word choice (there/their) SHOW OFF EVERYTHING YOU CAN DO!