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Ms. Meurling's 7th Grade Language Arts

Welcome back! Report Cards go home November 6th!

Course Outline	Our focus in 7th grade language arts is the development of the advanced reading and writing skills necessary for high school and beyond. Our reading program connects with the 7th grade social studies curriculum and focuses on important fiction and non-fiction literary contributions from around the world. In writing, we will work on developing skills in elaboration and organization so that students are able to create clear and thorough essays in a variety of writing areas.
Homework	Students and parents should expect written homework four times a week. In addition, students are expected to study spelling and vocabulary words (assigned every Monday) on a daily basis in preparation for tests on Friday. Reading Counts is a daily reading program that student should also work on every night. I recommend 30 - 40 minutes of sustained silent reading nightly. Reading counts IS a part of the student's quarterly grade in language arts. Finally, three to four times per quarter, students will have projects to complete or work on as part of their homework assignments. These projects will include our formal writing assignments.
Highlights	1st quarter - African folktales, name papers, Egyptian non-fiction novels, apple mummies, interactive Egyptian museum project 2nd quarter - Novel unit - The Westing Game reading detective game, persuasive writing on current events, thematic short stories. 3rd quarter - Greek and Roman mythology, research paper writing, god or goddess scrapbook project, novel unit - The Giver. 4th quarter - Ad and media unit, newspaper project, expository writing project, independently selected novel unit, self-selected novel project, EOG test prep.
Expectations	I expect all of my students to do extraordinary work every day!! This begins by: arriving to class and beginning work on time talking only when appropriate completing every assignment in a superior way completing work on time asking questions getting homework done being organized expecting the best of yourself If all students begin with these habits and attitudes, amazing learning and quality work will follow.
Helpful (and fun) Websites	http://bookadventure.org/ BOOK ADVENTURE Book Adventure is a FREE reading motivation program for children in grades K-8. Children create their own book lists from over 7,000 recommended titles, take multiple choice quizzes on the books they've read, and earn points and prizes for their literary successes. Book Adventure was created by and is maintained by Sylvan Learning. http://www.eduplace.com/tales/ WACKY WEB TALES Browse this site. Choose a topic that sounds interesting to you. Click on it. Then fill in the blanks to create a wacky web tale. http://www.iknowthat.com/com/L3?Area=WackAWord&COOK= ALIEN WORD MINE - INTERMEDIATE LEVEL identify nouns, verbs, adjectives, synonyms, antonyms, adverbs, and more!
EOG Samples	http://polyweb.net/etests/ Online Interactive State Standards Practice Tests This site contains reading, writing, science and math sample tests at all grade levels for practice and assessment at home.

You may email me at smeurling@dtms.org.