1. Alyssa Eckhardt Joel Raff Room 2205
7th Grade Language Arts
Alyssa Eckhardt
Joel Raff
Room 2205

2. Notecards Use this card to: Ask any clarifying questions
Ask questions about your student specifically
Request a meeting with me
Let me know of anything you think I need to know about your student
Please leave your name, student’s name, and contact information

3. A Bit About Me – Ms. Eckhardt
Master in Teaching from University of Washington
Professional Membership
National Council for Teachers of English, Washington State Council for Teachers of Social Studies
BA in Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations from University of Washington (minor equivalents in English and History)
Fourth year at IMS
Seattle Public Schools
Madison Middle School
Aki Kurose Middle School

4. Co-Teaching Model IMS supports the co-teaching model.
Can meet a variety of learning styles with multiple adults in the room.
Station teaching, parallel teaching, more opportunities for small group work

5. Grouping for Instruction
Whole Class
Direct Skill
Instruction
Interest
Groups
Paired
Learning
Cooperative
Learning
Ability
Groups
Whole Class

6. A Bit About Me – Mr. Raff
BA in Special Education (K-12) from Central Washington University
BA in Criminal Justice from Washington State University
Second year at IMS
Ninth year in the Issaquah School District
Tiger Mountain Community High School

7. Best Way to Stay Informed
Check the classroom website regularly
me with any questions
Call me or set up a meeting time with any concerns
Link: rdta/

8. After School Availability
Will be added to my classroom calendar

9. Why we teach?/Our Classroom
All students are creative unique individuals with an important voice
Reading/Writing – middle school critical time for literacy
Growth mindset
Meet each student where they are
Mistakes are proof that you are trying
Students are always encouraged to improve their work
We become lifelong learners when we learn to ask critical questions!
Conferencing –we always have a plan for improving our work and growing
Engagement first

10. Our Goals for Your Student
Become resourceful independent learners
Become stronger readers, writers, speakers and listeners
Learn how to set reading and writing goals and work towards achieving them
Learn how to ask academic questions
Learn how to analyze and break down the texts we look at in Language Arts
Be able to support claims with text evidence and analysis
Be able to personalize and transfer the reading and writing skills we learn to different genres and tasks
Know why the reading, writing, speaking and listening we learn and practice in this class are important for you in the real world

11. Homework Weekly Assignment – starting in the next two weeks
We write and reflect on reading and writing goals each week
Monday – Thursday
Two days of reading
Independent reading book, 15 minutes with short reading response
Two days of writing
Free writing, 15 minutes
Students write a self reflection at the end of the week

12. Independent Reading – Why it is so important
Important factors in middle school: motivation and engagement
This is the time to the gap for students widens or closes
At home
Read with your student if you have time
Ask your students about their reading
Prompt them to explain their thinking
Share your own thoughts about your reading
Emphasize its importance
See handout for sample questions/discussion starters.

13. Handout
Please see handout for ideas for questions to ask your students about their reading

14. Grading Philosophy
The purpose of grading is to reflect the extent to which the student has met the learning standard.
Students’ own self-assessment and reflection of their progress towards meeting a learning standard is just as critical as my own assessment.
It does not matter when a student meets a learning standard, but if they meet the learning standard.
Growth Mindset

15. Grading Policy Homework – 15 percent of grade
Class Work – 25 percent of grade
Performance (assessments) – 60 percent of grade
Grades are entered in Skyward as percent total out of 100
- For more information, please see the syllabus/grading policy letter

16. Performance Grades – Rubrics

17. Rubric Grades Percentage 3= 85 1 = 60 4 = 100 2 = 70 0 = 50
A ZERO will always be entered as 50% in the gradebook
The Power of Zero

18. Growth Mindset
Students will be allowed to redo any performance assignment within 1-2 weeks of its pass back date depending on the assignment. The last date for redoes will be clearly posted in the classroom. If a student wishes to redo an assignment, he/she must talk to me so we can conference and create a plan for improving the work.
I will always allow students to improve their work

19. Late Work Late work will not be penalized
When assignment is late on due date – fill out orange form (Incomplete assignment form)
When it is turned in – fill out blue form (Late assignment form)

20. LANGUAGE ARTS Curriculum
Reading
Writing
Integrated Grammar
Integrated Vocabulary

21. Workshop Model for Reading and Writing
Mini Lesson
10-15 minutes
Independent Practice and Work Time
(Teacher meeting with small groups and conferring)
20-30 minutes
Debrief/Wrap Up
5 minutes
Opening/Walk-in-Work
5-10 minutes

22. Workshop Model in Reading
Student choice, teacher conferring, and skills application in right-fit book allow teachers to meet your student where they are.
Make point that workshop model lends itself to rigor and differentiation. You can be sure that choosing traditional path

23. Goals for Reading
Educational research in the field of reading suggests that instruction focus on several main areas. Each of these is entirely necessary to the development of strong independent reading skills, but none, standing on its own, is sufficient to build meaning.
In middle school the following become a factor in a student’s success as a reader:
Motivation
Choice
Scholastics Reading Report, 2014

24. Goals for Reading The students in the Issaquah School District will:
Use analysis skills to break down inferential meanings and text structure
Read fiction and non-fiction fluently at an appropriate and increasingly complex level
Use a variety of strategies to deepen comprehension beyond literal levels

25. Reading Units Trimester 1: Two reading units
Shared Short Stories unit
Courage to Be and Individual Thematic Reader’s Workshop Book Bin
Trimester II: Nonfiction Reader’s Workshop Book Bin
Trimester III: Dystopia Reader’s Workshop Genre-based Book Bin
Importance of CHOICE – practicing same skills and strategies in books that interest students

26. Goals for Writing
write to explain, to tell, to describe, and to support claims using text based evidence
Students will write at least three pieces this year
They will include:
Narrative – Memoir/Realistic Fiction
Explanatory – Photo Essay Infographic Project
Research-based
Argumentative – Editorial Book Review

27. Emphasis on Evidence!
Claim, evidence, analysis present in all of the CCSS
Using evidence in reading and writing
As we are learning we are always asking:
Why?
What makes you say that?
What evidence supports you ideas?

28. Goals for Listening and Speaking
present ideas through speaking as well as through technology supported media
Individual presentation of ideas (informal and formal)
Groups presentations (informal and formal)
Socratic Seminars

29. Goals for Vocabulary
Develop age appropriate academic and conversational language
Discussion terms, strive towards academic conversation
Power Vocabulary
Power words
Personal Vocabulary List
Academic Vocabulary
each unit will have focus academic vocabulary words
Analysis, inference, narrative craft, plot structure etc.

30. Supplemental Resources
McDougall Littell Literature Book for shared read alouds and short stories
Scholastic Scope Magazine

31. Thank you ISF and PTSA