Welcome to Semester 2 of Seventh or Eighth Grade English/Language Arts! This class covers writing, reading comprehension, story elements, some vocabulary, speaking, and listening. 

There is no prerequisite to this class.  Learners can definitely be successful in this class regardless of whether they have taken my Semester 1 course.

STRUCTURE
We will meet twice a week. 

The first day of the week (Mon.) we will cover reading.  The first week of class, we will do introductions, discuss procedures for submitting work, get to know each other, and learn some background about our first book. The rest of the semester, Mon. will be reading discussion days. We will cover reading comprehension, vocabulary, and story elements. It is important that the learners have read the assigned chapters prior to class each week (beginning in the 2nd week).

The second day of the week (Wed.) will be a writing lesson. This will include direct instruction with discussion and guided practice. A homework assignment will be assigned that will be due the the following week. This homework is where a lot of the learning will take place because it gives the learner an opportunity to put into practice the skills they are learning.

HOMEWORK
Starting in week 2, a reading assignment will be due each Monday, and a writing assignment will be due each Wednesday. I will give private, detailed, personal feedback on all writing. My goal is to meet your learner where they are and help them bring their writing up to the next level through practice, encouragement, engagement, and constructive feedback.

DIFFERENTIATED INSTRUCTION
The class is designed to be appropriate for for 7th or 8th grade. Within the larger topics and reading assignments, I will adapt my instruction to best suit the learners enrolled. I will differentiate instruction to the extent possible, so that each learner is challenged just the right amount. 

OVERVIEW OF TOPICS COVERED
Semester 2 writing focuses on responding to literature and learning to find and use appropriate text evidence to defend our position.  Reading instruction will include reading comprehension, some vocabulary, and story elements (plot, characters, theme, irony, etc.) Reading will take place outside of class, and we will discuss the assigned chapters each week. We will read the following books:

Masterminds by Gordon Korman
This fast-paced, action-packed mystery will have you guessing from the start. The main characters consist of a group of 12- and 13-year olds who discover something isn't quite right in their home town and that the people they most trust are actually their enemies.  Can they solve the mysteries of their city and their origins--in time to escape?

Esperanza Rising by Pam Munoz
This story is based loosely on the author's grandmother's history. The main character and her mother immigrate to the United States after the father dies unexpectedly and the father's brother pressures the mother to marry him.  It is a story of changing circumstances and the character traits that help us overcome trials and challenges that we face in everyday life.


***Please check the schedule. We will not be meeting the week of April 14-20.