1. 7th Grade Language Arts- Mrs. Nicole McCullough Room P-4

2. A Bit About Me – Mrs. McCullough
B.A. History, M.A. Reading and Literacy
Teaching credential endorsements in Language Arts, Social Studies, Humanities, ELL, Reading
National Board Certified Teacher in Language Arts, renewing this year
First year at Maywood, 12th year of teaching
Military wife and mom of two boys

3. Best Way to Stay Informed
Check the classroom website calendar or syllabus
Check your student’s planner
If absent, find a buddy in class you can call!
me with any questions
Remind.com- the number 81010
You will receive a welcome text from Remind. If anyone has trouble with 81010, they can try

4. Why Do I Teach? Classroom Culture
All students are creative unique individuals with an important voice
Reading/Writing – middle school critical time for literacy
Choice reading! Guided choice writing!
Focusing on conceptualizing self as reader AND author
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; we communicate with adults
Engagement first/authentic learning

5. Goals for Your Student Become resourceful independent learners
Become stronger readers, writers, speakers and listeners
Learn how to set independent reading and writing goals
and work towards achieving them
Learn how to ask academic questions
Learn how to go beyond comprehension with the texts in Language Arts
Be able to support claims with reasoning and text evidence
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

6. Homework
Students should always be working towards their reading goals and reading at home and during Charger Time. Periodically, homework will be assigned if work is not finished in class or for longer projects. Any homework given is usually given with extra-curricular activities in mind (helping teach students how to manage their time)

7. 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.

8. Grading Policy Homework/class work – 20 percent of grade
Performance (assessments) – 80 percent of grade

9. Language Arts Curriculum
Reader’s/Writer’s Workshop
Grammar Integration
Vocabulary Integration

10. 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

11. Why Workshop?
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,
motivation and choice are key!
(Scholastics Reading Report, 2014)

12. Goals for Reading The students in the Issaquah School District will:
word analysis skills to decode words 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

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

14. Emphasis on Evidence!
Claim, evidence, reasoning 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 your ideas?

15. Goals for Listening and Speaking
present ideas through speaking as well as through technology supported media
Individual presentations
Groups presentations
Socratic Seminars

16. 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 academic focus words (Analysis, inference, narrative, craft, etc)

17. Supplemental Literature
McDougall Littell Literature book (shared read-alouds, short stories)
Scholastic Scope Magazine

18. Novels, Etc. Reading Workshop book bin – Courage to Be An Individual
Reading Workshop bin – Dystopian Fiction
Read alouds
Scholastic Scope Magazine

19. Thank you Issaquah Schools Foundation and Maywood PTSA