WELCOME TO 7TH GRADE ENGLISH LANGUAGE ARTSPIN OAK MIDDLE SCHOOL

Barbara Baltazar, 7C

bbaltaza@houstsonisd.org

This class encompasses the reading and writing requirements for 7th grade.

713-295-6500

DRESS CODE

Student ID ID is part of being in

uniform. Must visibly carry it on your

person through out the school day.

Extra/replacement ID $5.00

Polo Style Shirts Royal Blue Gray White

Charger Days School T-Shirt

Pants Denim, Khaki, Navy Pants, Shorts, Skirts Shorts and Skirts must

be longer than finger tip length with hand down by your side

Shoes Closed toed shoes only NO flip flops or open toe

sandals No high heels

GRADING

60% Daily: Class Work, Homework,Formative Assessments (quizzes)

40% Major: Summative Assessments (Tests and Projects)

TUTORIALSTutoring is managed through team time during the school day.

GRADING AND REPORT CARDS

Academic Subjects Conduct

90–100 = excellent E = excellent

80–89 = good; above average S = satisfactory

75–79 = satisfactory; average P = poor; below average

70–74 = passing; below average U = unsatisfactory

below 70 = unsatisfactory; failing

Six-Week Grading Periods

First Grading Period: August 26 to October 4

Second Grading Period: October 7 to November 8

Third Grading Period: November 11 to December 20

Fourth Grading Period: January 7 to February 14

Fifth Grading Period: February 17 to April 4

Sixth Grading Period: April 7 to May 29

EXTRACURRICULAR ACTIVITIES AND ELIGIBILITY

State’s “no pass/no play” law:• eligibility for participation during the first six weeks

of the school year is determined by a student’s grades from the final grading cycle of the previous school year.

• After the first 6 weeks, a student who receives a grade lower than 70 (or the equivalent) in any academic course is ineligible to participate during the first three school weeks of the next grading period.

• During that time the student may continue to practice or rehearse with other students but may not take part in any competition or public performance.

GRADE SPEED• All students are required to have a PS Connect account to

access and view grades and progress on Grade Speed.• Grade Speed is in real time – so as soon as grades are

entered you can view them.

CODES IN GRADE SPEED• M – missing assignment – a zero is calculated into the

average until a grade is entered by the teacher.• E – exempt – the student is not responsible for this

assignment and no grade is calculated into the average.• 0 – a grade of zero is entered if the assignment was not

turned in and is no longer accepted for a grade.

DAILY SUPPLIES FOR ENGLISH CLASS

Planner/Agenda and ID 5-subject spiral notebook (class notes) 2 Composition Books (reader/writer

notebook) Independent Reading Novel (everyday) Red pens, pencils, highlighter, sticky notes,

glue stick, scissors.

WRITING FOCUS Variety of sentence structures, rhetorical

devices, editing and revision techniques Develop personal narratives, expository essay,

poetic and persuasive pieces

STAAR Testing Dates:Writing – April 1st and 2nd: required to write three one page essays and answer multiple choice questions on revision/edition and grammar usage.

Reading – April 23rd: required to read several select passages and 2 paired passages to answer multiple choice questions.

TEA website: http://www.tea.state.tx.us/student.assessment/staar/

READING FOCUS Use a variety of reading strategies to

enhance comprehension, critical thinking and literary analysis

Context clues and use of strategies to determine meaning

Improve independent reading interest, stamina and fluency by reading in larger chunks across genre

Connect reading comprehension to writing through written responses

Identify and use literary elements Recognize text structure and author’s

purpose

READING FOCUS

Standing assignment: 30 minutes of reading 5 days a week.

Record and track reading in comp book 15-30 minutes reading in class each class day Receive one independent reading grade/6

weeks as a daily grade (60%)

WHERE CAN I GET BOOKS TO READ? School and Local Library books Class library Online Scholastic Book orders

INDEPENDENT READING REQUIREMENTS

INDEPENDENT READING Experiencing Literature by Genre

Reading  Genre Reading Requirements

Realistic Fiction 4

Historical Fiction 3

Fantasy 3

Science Fiction 3

Mystery/Suspense 4

Non-Fiction: informational 5

Literary Non-Fiction: Biography, Autobiography, Memoir

5

Poetry 3

Students Choice 10

Total Books = 40

INDEPENDENT READING RUBRIC

# books Grade

7+ 105

6 100

5 95

4 90

3 85

2 75

1 50

0 0

QUESTIONS???Please feel free to email me with any questions

you didn’t get a chance to ask.

bbaltaza@houstonisd.org