Course Syllabus

The course syllabus is designed to give a broad overview of what seventh graders will be studying this year.  Included are the general class expectations and grading procedures as well as a general course description and some more specific information about areas of study.  It is not designed to be an absolute blueprint so there are not specific dates associated with areas of study.  Students have been given a copy of specific book report guidelines—those are also on the school website, along with rubrics (always subject to review and revision) for those book reports. 

CLASSROOM EXPECTATIONS:

I EXPECT YOU TO

`           - Come to class with the necessary supplies (books, paper, writing utensils, homework, etc. Take care of your books—they belong to the school, not to you!)

- Do your own work!

- Be on time and ready to begin.

- Keep your hands and feet and other objects to yourself.

- Respect each other!  (Leave teasing, swearing, put downs, etc. outside the boundary of the classroom, the school day, and the school-related activity.)

- Follow teacher instructions.

- Smile—School is not all that bad!

GRADING POLICY AND PROCEDURES:

Grades are figured on a total point basis within each category.  The categories are then weighted to determine the final grade.

Category Weights are:

                                Daily                                       80%

                                Quiz/Test                                20%

Each nine-weeks, a student is required to complete one book report.  Each book report is considered a 100-point test grade for that nine weeks.  Unit exams are given after many units. 

It is my experience that this grading method is to the student’s advantage, especially at the beginning of a grading period.  As the period progresses, the difference between the two methods generally gets smaller and smaller.

#NOTE:  Copied work will not be given credit.  This applies to any student copying work as well as to the person from whom the assignment was copied.

GENERAL COURSE DESCRIPTION

Seventh Grade English will consist of Grammar, Literature, and Vocabulary.  Grammar will be covered through specific units and daily language work. Literature may be used as the basis for writing assignments.  Students will also complete one book report each 9-week period.

A BIT MORE SPECIFIC INFORMATION ABOUT WHAT IS COVERED IN SEVENTH GRADE

LITERATURE:  We use an anthology for most of our literature study.  There are short stories, poems, plays, myths, fables, and even some essays that we read in the book.  Additionally, we may read a novel(s) or even a play(s) as a class. All of the selections will be designed to reinforce specific reading skills and apply those skills to higher levels of reading, thinking, interpreting, and evaluating. 

VOCABULARY:  Vocabulary study may be based on the literature stories that we read.  Additionally, we may have other vocabulary units.

GRAMMAR:  Specifically, the seventh grade studies adjective and adverb usage, verb usage and tense, and basic pronoun cases and usage. .  We study other specific grammar areas as necessary and as time allows.   Daily, we will do a daily oral language activity.  This allows us to review previously studied grammar concepts and even work with new ones in a short daily format, so that even when we are in a literature unit, we don’t ignore grammar and writing. 

WRITING:  The literature selections are the basis of many of the writing assignments given.  Specifically, the seventh grade will focus on appropriately answering short answer and essay questions with topic  sentences, good organization, and explicit supporting details.  Other writing assignments include personal experience essays, beginning comparison-contrast essays, how-to essays, and some report writing. 

BOOK REPORTS:  One book report is required each 9 weeks.  Specific information and due dates about book reports are on a separate handout as well as on the school website. 

STATE ASSESSMENT PREPARATION:  Seventh graders take a state reading assessment.  We will practice and prepare for that test.  The seventh grade test is quite a bit different from (and in my opinion, more difficult than) the sixth grade test. 

SPEAKING:  Some oral presentations will be incorporated into the class.

This is a broad overview of the course.  Feel free to contact me with questions or concerns.  My email at school is dwilson@usd108.org.    I’m looking forward to a great year and hope that you are, too.

Book Reports