Those of you who have had students move through the middle school in the past several years may have noticed the seemingly endless changing of the reading and writing class formats and contents. For many years the middle school had separate reading and writing courses to meet the needs of our students. When the Common Core Standards were introduced and adopted, the courses changed focus as well as names - Reading/Writing-Literature (where students focused on reading works of fiction and the writing was closely related to those works) and Reading/Writing - Informational (where students focused on reading works of non-fiction and focused more on argumentative and informational writing). Now that we have a new master schedule we also have a new course. This year we have fused the Literature and Informational courses into one 80-minute course called English Language Arts or ELA. And to be honest - I hope this will be the last change for quite a while...
Here is the official course description..
English Language Arts (ELA) in eighth grade calls for students to read high quality, complex informational text and great works of literature. The study of literature in ELA 8 is organized around the study of literary elements, including character, setting, point of view, and plot. Students will learn to cite textual evidence that most strongly supports an analysis or critique. They will become increasingly adept at reading closely to uncover evidence to use in their own writing. Eighth grade ELA students read a variety of genres and text types, including nonfiction books and articles, novels, poetry and drama, and classic literature such as Mark Twain’s The Adventures of Tom Sawyer. Eighth graders also write with increasing sophistication in several modes, including narrative, informational, and argumentative, with a focus on organizing information and concepts into broader categories, as well as using varied transitions to clarify relationships among ideas. Students continue to develop a rich vocabulary of academic words, which they use to speak and write with more precision in preparation for success in college and careers.
The units your child will be working through this year are all based around a large thematic question or idea. All the reading and writing will connect to these ideas.
Unit 1- Who do you think you are?
Unit 2 - Influences and Choices
Unit 3 - Looking Back on America
Unit 4 - The Civil War Research Paper
Unit 5 - The Non-fiction Book Unit
Unit 6 - Let Your Conscience Be Your Guide
Various works of fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and articles will be used and grammar content will be infused with the writing pieces that accompany each unit.
Hope this helps to give a little focus to what your child will be learning in ELA this school year. Keep reading for posts that are more specific to each unit and the activities within.
As always, if you have any questions or concerns please drop me an email or give me a call!
Wednesday, September 18, 2013
Mr. Dernbach said you had to read how many pages?
OK, I'm sure at this point you have probably heard from your child about the independent reading requirement that was given to them in class. In case you haven't heard about it yet, ask! I'd like to make sure we are all on the same page (pun intended), so here are some details about the assignment.
To start, I'd like to provide a piece of rationale for why the project exists in the first place. Reading is a skill that is vital to the success of all students whether he or she is bound for college or the work-place immediately after high school. Just like in other areas of life, the cliche - practice makes perfect - applies to reading as well. Increasing the volume a student reads in a given quarter is a way to practice their reading skills. Now, on to the project details.
The independent reading requirement consists of students logging the number of pages they read in a given quarter. The logs do not require parent signatures as I am trying to instill some personal responsibility for each students' learning. That being said, I would encourage you to ask to see your child's log from time to time. The purpose of the log is strictly for data gathering. Statistics are kept on just about anything that one tries to improve upon; reading is no different. We will be using the data throughout the year to set some goals. The grade for this project will be entered into the gradebook as an assignment out of 100 points in the Independent Reading category - which accounts for only 10% of the total grade in my class. The grade breakdown for the page log totals is as follows:
1700 pages and up = A+
1600 - 1699 pages = A
1500 - 1599 pages = A-
1400 - 1499 pages = B+
1300 - 1399 pages = B
1200 - 1299 pages = B-
1100 - 1199 pages = C+
1000 - 1099 pages = C
900 - 999 pages = C-
800 - 899 pages = D+
700 - 799 pages = D
600 - 699 pages = D-
300 - 500 pages = 50%
less than 300 pages = 0
Initially I know that this seems like a lot, but according to the research I've done, 8th graders should be reading at a rate of around three-quarters of a page to one page per minute. This was the basis for the determination of the page requirement. Students may log pages any time they read - in class, in study hall, after they finish a test, at home, etc. I suggested that students may want to keep their page log folded up and use it as a book mark, that way they will always have it. To be honest, if students are reading during the time I give in class, over the course of a quarter they should be able to get around 500 pages during the school day.
If you have any further questions regarding the independent reading requirements or need extra copies of any of the assignment handouts, please contact me or visit the Justice League website.
Happy Reading!
To start, I'd like to provide a piece of rationale for why the project exists in the first place. Reading is a skill that is vital to the success of all students whether he or she is bound for college or the work-place immediately after high school. Just like in other areas of life, the cliche - practice makes perfect - applies to reading as well. Increasing the volume a student reads in a given quarter is a way to practice their reading skills. Now, on to the project details.
The independent reading requirement consists of students logging the number of pages they read in a given quarter. The logs do not require parent signatures as I am trying to instill some personal responsibility for each students' learning. That being said, I would encourage you to ask to see your child's log from time to time. The purpose of the log is strictly for data gathering. Statistics are kept on just about anything that one tries to improve upon; reading is no different. We will be using the data throughout the year to set some goals. The grade for this project will be entered into the gradebook as an assignment out of 100 points in the Independent Reading category - which accounts for only 10% of the total grade in my class. The grade breakdown for the page log totals is as follows:
1700 pages and up = A+
1600 - 1699 pages = A
1500 - 1599 pages = A-
1400 - 1499 pages = B+
1300 - 1399 pages = B
1200 - 1299 pages = B-
1100 - 1199 pages = C+
1000 - 1099 pages = C
900 - 999 pages = C-
800 - 899 pages = D+
700 - 799 pages = D
600 - 699 pages = D-
300 - 500 pages = 50%
less than 300 pages = 0
Initially I know that this seems like a lot, but according to the research I've done, 8th graders should be reading at a rate of around three-quarters of a page to one page per minute. This was the basis for the determination of the page requirement. Students may log pages any time they read - in class, in study hall, after they finish a test, at home, etc. I suggested that students may want to keep their page log folded up and use it as a book mark, that way they will always have it. To be honest, if students are reading during the time I give in class, over the course of a quarter they should be able to get around 500 pages during the school day.
If you have any further questions regarding the independent reading requirements or need extra copies of any of the assignment handouts, please contact me or visit the Justice League website.
Happy Reading!
Tuesday, September 3, 2013
Welcome Back!
I don't know about anyone else, but for me this summer just flew by - I can't believe I'm already writing my back-to-school post! When trying to think of a word to describe the upcoming school year, the one that kept coming to mind was the word change. There are several exciting changes that are happening this school year. I'll use this post to run down some of the changes you and your child can expect this year.
Principal - Ms. Woulf has taken a new job and is moving on from DPMS this year. Taking her place is the former Assistant Principal of Foxview Intermediate School, Mrs. Hartman. I have known Mrs. Hartman for many years, as she was a school counselor at DPMS when I started teaching here 13 years ago. Ms. Heatwole is continuing in her role as Assistant Principal.
Schedule - In English/Langauge Arts we are combining what used to be taught in two separate courses (Literature and Info) into one 80 minute course. In addition we have expanded the amount of math instruction to 80 minutes a day. All other courses are at 40 minutes. For those of us teaching in the blocked courses (the 80 minute classes) one of our biggest challenges is going to be structuring the day so that we can keep student engagement and productivity high.
House Structure - Many of the houses in the 8th grade have switched up staff. The Justice League has added Mr. Endries to our team. The Avengers is a second 8th grade house and is now a team of six teachers, while the third 8th grade house, the X-Men, is a team of three.
This first week in class your students are being reminded of "The Redbird Way" of acting at DPMS - which is a part of the PBIS(Positive Behavior Intervention and Supports) program. We have several reminder videos and brief lessons reinforcing the more detailed lessons that they received in 7th grade.
One quick note on keeping informed...our newly re-designed team website is now linked from the middle school home page - or you can access it by clicking HERE. You will find information from each content area as well as a page that contains all the assignments from each course. Note that several components are still under construction so check back often.
Again, I'd like to welcome everyone to the 2013-2014 school year and to the Justice League! If you ever need to contact me, email will get the quickest response, but I do welcome a phone call as well.
Principal - Ms. Woulf has taken a new job and is moving on from DPMS this year. Taking her place is the former Assistant Principal of Foxview Intermediate School, Mrs. Hartman. I have known Mrs. Hartman for many years, as she was a school counselor at DPMS when I started teaching here 13 years ago. Ms. Heatwole is continuing in her role as Assistant Principal.
Schedule - In English/Langauge Arts we are combining what used to be taught in two separate courses (Literature and Info) into one 80 minute course. In addition we have expanded the amount of math instruction to 80 minutes a day. All other courses are at 40 minutes. For those of us teaching in the blocked courses (the 80 minute classes) one of our biggest challenges is going to be structuring the day so that we can keep student engagement and productivity high.
House Structure - Many of the houses in the 8th grade have switched up staff. The Justice League has added Mr. Endries to our team. The Avengers is a second 8th grade house and is now a team of six teachers, while the third 8th grade house, the X-Men, is a team of three.
This first week in class your students are being reminded of "The Redbird Way" of acting at DPMS - which is a part of the PBIS(Positive Behavior Intervention and Supports) program. We have several reminder videos and brief lessons reinforcing the more detailed lessons that they received in 7th grade.
One quick note on keeping informed...our newly re-designed team website is now linked from the middle school home page - or you can access it by clicking HERE. You will find information from each content area as well as a page that contains all the assignments from each course. Note that several components are still under construction so check back often.
Again, I'd like to welcome everyone to the 2013-2014 school year and to the Justice League! If you ever need to contact me, email will get the quickest response, but I do welcome a phone call as well.
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