Celano’s Classroom Newsletter

and

Update for Parents and Guardians

Updated 8/19/08

Illinois Learning Standards for English Language Arts

Mark A. Hicks, illustrator. Animated Book. <http://school.discovery.com/clipart/clip/ani-book.html>.

Current Unit of Study

Unit 1’s Title and Core Literature: “Seventh Grade” (fiction, short story) by Gary Soto on pp. 25-32 of Literature and Integrated Studies.

Supplemental Literature: “Alfred: The Sweet-Shop Cat” (non-fiction, personal narrative) by James Herriot on pp. 467-476 of Literature and Integrated Studies.

Unit’s Objectives:

· Using active reading strategies to comprehend a short story: summarizing, questioning, visualizing, evaluating/judging, relating/connecting.

· Defining and identifying the elements of plot: exposition, rising action, conflict (major and minor), suspense, irony, climax, falling action, and denouement/resolution.

· Defining the literary element “point of view” and the different types of point of view: first person, third person limited, third person omniscient.

· Defining the literary element “theme” and connecting it to the story.

· Defining the following vocabulary words in the context of the reading: elective, scowl, quiver, ferocity, conviction, linger, trudge, portly, bluff, sheepishly.

o Recognizing the spelling patterns associated with the words above.

o Identifying the contextual parts of speech of the words above.

o Understanding and applying the spelling strategy of adding the suffixes –ing and –ed to words.

· Learning “Strategies for Unlocking Word Meaning”: Contextual clues: Definition and Restatement, Example, Comparison, Contrast, Cause and Effect, Inference from General Context from pp. 1-5 of Wordskills Purple Level. Added to the strategies enumerated above will be Action and Object. (Teacher-designed exercises and handouts will be used to summarize and to teach these strategies.)

· Reviewing, defining, and understanding the eight parts of speech.

· Reviewing the essential parts of a paragraph, including topic sentence; first, second, and third order elaboration; transitional words, and the concluding sentence.

o Introduce the heuristic of first, second, and third order elaboration to promote development in analytical, expository, and descriptive writing.

· Defining, identifying, and explaining essay format, including the three parts of an essay (introduction, body, and conclusion), hook, bridge, thesis, orders of elaboration, and purpose of conclusion.

o Writing to build fluency: Students will compose an essay that explains what a junior-high student needs to do to succeed.

o Additionally, students will prepare for state testing by composing a preliminary essay in response to their first reading of “Seventh Grade” by Gary Soto. The prompt will be modeled after previous ISAT prompts.

Welcome Back!

I would like to take this opportunity to greet you and to welcome your child to Language Arts class. With your support, I know that this year will be a great learning experience for your son or daughter.

If you have any questions throughout the year, please feel free to contact me at James Giles School. The best way to contact me is by email at bcelano@norridge80.org . Please indicate your child’s name in the subject heading so that I am certain to respond promptly to your message. You may also call the school and to ask for me. If I am not available, please leave a telephone message, and I will return your call as soon as possible.

I look forward to meeting you soon, and I thank you for your support.

Books and Supplies

The following list includes the supplies that you will need for L.A. class:

Black/blue pen	Red pen	Loose- leaf paper	One pocket folder	Markers or crayons
Pencil with eraser	Highlighter	Two spiral notebooks	Giles agenda	Glue or glue stick

Homework Policy

· Homework is designed to give students the opportunity to acquire, practice, and hone their skills. It will be explained and modeled to ensure students’ success.

· Homework is due in a complete manner at the beginning of class. That means the assignment should have a complete heading (name, date, period, assignment title on the right side) on it; moreover, it should be complete—from beginning to end of the assignment.

· Not having one’s homework ready to submit promptly at the beginning of class will constitute a “late assignment” (see below). Because of questions that have emerged in the past, I am required to inform students and parents/guardians that forgetting an assignment in the homeroom or at home or being unable to locate an assignment when it is being collected constitutes a “late assignment.”

· Late assignments will receive “0” points credit; this will be recorded in my grading program as “0” Students are expected to complete late/missing work because of the educational benefits associated with the assignments; however, in order to prepare students for high school and in order to build responsibility, students will only receive credit for assignments that are completed on time. This does not apply to absences or emergency situations approved by students’ parents/guardians and me.

· As your teacher, I am interested in your academic success, and I will do everything in my control to help you attain it. If you have difficulty understanding any assignment or concept I am teaching, feel free to see me for help. If necessary, I will work with students during recess and before and after school whenever possible.

Grades

· Students receive three grades on their report cards for Language Arts: Reading, English, and Spelling (Vocabulary). Because all three aspects or parts are interwoven or closely related, each assignment, test, project, etc. will count as a grade in each category. Therefore, students’ overall grade will be the same for each of the three categories. This will enable students to keep track of their grades in an easier manner; furthermore, it will more accurately reflect students’ overall performance in the language arts.

· Each assignment, test, project will be scored by points designated on students’ papers by a fraction. The numerator reflects the “earned points,” and the denominator reflects the “possible points.” A letter-grade equivalent will usually be noted as well.

· District 80’s grading scale will be used to determine letter grades (see District website). To determine a letter grade from the point system, students and/or parents/guardians will need to divide the numerator by the denominator and multiply by 100. Then, the resulting percentage can be plugged into District 80’s grading scale.

· Extra-credit assignments may be offered occasionally throughout each semester; however, they are not meant to substitute for missing/late work, nor are they designed as simple “busy-work” assignments.

· If and when such assignments are available, they will challenge students to think in an extended manner in order to relate their studies in L.A. to current or historic events or thoughts. Such assignments will be posted on my web site, but they will not be accepted during the last two weeks of any quarter.

Policy for Absences:

A student who has been absent is responsible for obtaining his or her assignments for the day(s) missed. That includes any classroom handouts and notes that were given.

Ordinarily, homework for an absent student will be due the day after he or she returns. If, however, a student has been absent for a prolonged period of time, I am very willing to sit down with that individual to devise a manageable schedule that will enable the student to complete the missing work.

I will make every effort to have a fellow classmate record assignments and collect handouts for an absent student; however, I emphasize that obtaining the work and submitting it rest with the absent student when he or she returns. Accessing my web page during an absence will help students know what occurred in class during their absences.

Stellar Student’s Corner

…featuring original pieces of writing by students of the past and present…

Racism

by Adriana

Day after Day

With hatred here

And racism there

Opinions are made

Toward people unknown

Racism separates us

No love is made

A cruel monster

That will never fade

Quote of the Month for February

“Paul behaves as a relentless benefactor during the sinkhole disaster.”

Spoken by Tomasz of 7A on 2/21/08

The Whisperer

by

Elise

When the wind howls,

I hear owls

In the tropical trees

Of the forest.

When the sea roars,

I see a bird by the shores

In the watched waters

Of the coast.

When the sun shines,

I feel joyful signs

In the super schools

Of the world.

July in the Wintertime

by

Joanne

There is a scowl on my face

As I glance at the snow.

I have to walk to school today.

“Mom, please don’t make me go!”

I linger on my way outside

And trudge on my way to school.

As I daydream about the summertime

And relaxing at the pool.

I quiver in the winter breeze

And catch snowflakes on my tongue.

I bet eating a portly bowl of ice cream

Would be a lot more fun!

Jumping through an icy sprinkler

Under a boiling summer sun.

“Oh, no! There goes the bell!”

The school day has begun.

Language Arts Curriculum

In Language Arts, students hone their reading, writing, speaking, and listening skills. Students will also continue their explorations of language awareness (grammar), vocabulary skills, and spelling rules.

Reading: At the 7^th Grade level, reading includes comprehension and also begins to explore literary analysis, which requires students to use their critical thinking skills.

Writing: Students will continue to work on building their fluency as writers. They will also study the form of different written texts, particularly the form of an essay. Additionally, students will explore methods of elaboration to strengthen the development of their writing. An integral aspect of elaboration will focus on citing sources within students’ written texts.

Language Awareness: Students will examine the ways in which language works within the context of writing so that they have the ability to craft more elaborate and more sophisticated sentences and paragraphs.

Vocabulary Skills: Being able to decipher words’ meanings within their contexts is an invaluable characteristic of readers who truly comprehend the texts they read and readers who are able to incisively analyze those texts. Therefore, we will learn a variety of contextual-clue heuristics or strategies for unlocking words’ meanings; furthermore, we will apply these strategies to our reading opportunities.

Spelling Skills: Students will be encouraged to note words’ unique and common spelling patterns to bolster their spelling skills. They will also review spelling rules that will help them to spell commonly misspelled words.

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