Course Description
Mrs. West’s Language Arts Course Description
Course Description:
The seventh grade Language Arts curriculum revolves around five inquiry skills: reading, writing, listening, speaking, and interpreting. Themes will include adventure, coming of age, discovery, and tolerance.
Student Expectations:
What students will be able to know and be able to do as a result of successfully completing this course.
- Make connections with literature and real life experiences through reading, writing, and rich discussions.
- Write with clarity and preciseness for a variety of purposes and audiences.
- Self –assess personal strengths and weaknesses in own writing.
- Peer edit and revise for content and grammatical errors.
- Demonstrate understanding of literary elements of various genres.
- Advance up the levels of Blooms Taxonomy, therefore developing and enhancing critical thinking skills: engaging, connecting, describing, interpreting, judging etc.
Assessment:
Assessment provides opportunities for students to demonstrate their learning and acquisition of concepts and skills.
- Process writing, “Empowering writers”.
- Response Journals, “free writes”, prompts, reflections
- Projects
- Oral Presentations
- District writing assignments and benchmark assessments
- Literature circles
- Skill builders for CMT
- Tests/Quizzes
- Summer Reading assessment
Learning Activities:
Activities that facilitate learning for all students.
- Directed whole group instruction
- Read-Alouds/Independent reading/Guided reading
- Literature Circles/Collaborative learning groups
- Writer’s Workshop with all stages of the writing process (prewriting, drafting, revising, editing, publishing)
- Self/peer evaluations
Integration of Technology:
· Periodic use of the computer lab for research and process writing.
· Typing of individual project papers and final essays/poems.
Resources:
Novels used this year are, but not limited to, The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle, The Thief of Always, The Outsiders, short stories, and independent reading books.
Standards of Assessment:
How will grades be determined?
Grades will be based on many of the learning opportunities. Students will have daily class work to complete, either written or through discussion. They will take quizzes, tests, prepare writing assignments, and participate in group projects, as well as, individual projects. Students are expected to complete and return homework on a regular basis.