Mrs. Rau
8th Grade Language Arts Teacher
Lawrence Junior High School
7 School Street,
Fairfield Maine 04937
Phone: 207 453-4200 ext 341
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I teach language arts, a combination of reading and writing. I live in South China in an 1820 Cape, surrounded by flower and vegetable gardens. My interests vary from gardening, reading, sewing, antiquating and biking, to designing vacuumed sealed flower art with my husband, Karl. I spend as much time as I can with my daughters and grandchildren. Our favorite place to meet is at the beach on Mount Desert Island. I love working with junior high students, they make each day interesting and challenging.
Mrs. Rau's Course Overview
My class focuses on reading and writing skills. We always have a class book that we are reading and students are also required to have independent books with them at all times. The class books are usually ones we listen to on tape as we follow along. The students do individual work, group work, and class work. Their independent books are to be read at home. They should be reading a minimum of 20 minutes per night. During class time they write journal entries/reading responses and do vocabulary work that goes with their book. The reading program we use is Plugged in to Reading. It supports teacher-directed instruction, peer-supported learning, and self-directed learning. The core books that we read as a class are: Monster by Walter Dean Myers, The Devil's Arithmetic by Jane Yolan, and The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton. As peer books students chose from: Armageddon Summer by Jane Yolan, The Body of Christopher Creed by Carol Plum-Ucci, The Crossing by Gary Paulsen, Deathwatch by Robb White, and Rumble Fish by S.E.Hinton. Individual books can come from my shelves, the library, or from home. Writing is done almost daily as a connection to the reading. However, we do focus on writing genres also. The students write descriptive and persuasive essays. English conventions (grammar, spelling, punctuation, paragraphing) is stressed throughout the year and is applied and graded in the writing. Students have writing portfolios where they keep all of their writing.
TEXTS: Write Source, Plugged in to Reading
COURSE DESCRIPTION:
The English program for Grade 8 focuses on developing an understanding of the English language and its formidable power to create, persuade, describe, explain, and motivate. The students write several pieces from poetry to essays –persuasive, expository and descriptive, to myths. They learn and use the writing process. They work on developing strong spelling and vocabulary skills as well as an understanding of the structure of the English Language. The aim of the program is to help the students increase their mastery over the written word in all walks of life, to explore knowledge through writing, and to express themselves creatively and powerfully.
Literature exposes students to a wide variety of genres including realistic fiction, historical fiction, poetry, informational books, fantasy, biography, autobiography, short stories, and folklore. Students respond to these pieces of literature in a variety of ways including literary letters, group discussions, partner reading and discussion, literature circles, research projects, class presentations, and independent question and answer. Students are required to complete several in-depth book reports as well as weekly independent reading selections of their choice.
COURSE OBJECTIVES - Upon successful completion of this course, the student should be able to:
1. Use the writing process to communicate for a variety of audiences and purposes.
2. Write narratives that convey complex ideas, observations, events, or reflections.
3. Write expository essays that state a clear position, supporting the position with relevant evidence.
4. Write persuasive essays addressed to a specific audience for a particular purpose.
5. Manipulate the parts of speech effectively and employ a variety of sentence structures to communicate.
6. Apply the rules of capitalization, punctuation, and spelling to communicate effectively.
7. Read and make generalizations from texts, within a grade appropriate span of text complexity, by applying their knowledge and strategies of comprehension, vocabulary, alphabetics, and fluency.
8. Read fiction, nonfiction, drama, poetry, within a grade appropriate span of text complexity, and analyze the characteristics noting how structural features and common literary devices help shape the reader’s response.
9. Read various informational texts, within a grade appropriate span of text complexity, making decisions about usefulness based on purpose, noting how the text structures affect the information presented.
10. Evaluate the information in persuasive texts, within a grade appropriate span of text complexity, noting how the structural features and rhetorical devices affect the information and arguments presented in these texts.
COURSE REQUIREMENTS:
Assignment book: plan to use this for every class. It prevents confusion and helps you organize your work. At the beginning of the year, the school provides each student with an assignment book (which we expect you to use).
Notebooks: The important thing is that they have a place for each subject and room to add handouts during the course of the year. Please do not plan to use one notebook for several subjects.
Writing materials: blue or black ink pens (AVOID OTHER COLORS).
Number 2 pencils. Bring at least one pen and one pencil each day.
COURSE ACTIVITIES:
Write expository/academic, narrative, descriptive, and persuasive paragraphs/essays using the writing process.
Write a five-paragraph essay.
Read, write and understand poetry.
Vocabulary Quizzes
Writing friendly/business letters.
Research a famous Scientist, Mathematician, or Writer.
Manipulate the parts of speech: nouns, pronouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs, conjunctions, and prepositions.
Develop sentence fluency through the use of various activities.
Use various websites to teach/reinforce writing, conventions, vocabulary, and spelling.
Independent Reading
Literature Circles
Book Activities
Plugged Into Reading Program
Read Alouds & Book Talks
Author Studies
Journals
Vocabulary & Word Parts Study
Shared Reading & Guided Reading
Interdisciplinary Units
GRADING:
Students’ grades will be based upon:
Class preparedness
Writing
Quizzes & Homework
Projects & Tests
Class participation
Journals
HOMEWORK POLICY:
Work is expected to be satisfactorily prepared and completed for the day and period it is due. If not, the following consequences may occur:
Study hall/lunch/or after school work session
Phone call home
Written contract completed
E-mail to parents
Parent/teacher/student conference
Office or guidance referral
MAKE-UP POLICY:
It is the student’s responsibility to see his/her teachers and arrange to make up all missed work. Parents or guardian should contact the main office to request missed work.
For extended absence, parents or guardian should contact their child's counselor, who will contact the teachers to determine the best course of action for each subject area.
DISCIPLINE / BEHAVIORAL EXPECTATIONS:
Use class time effectively.
Be respectful of staff and other students
Take responsibility for work and misbehavior.
Be respectful of school and others’ property.
Do not disrupt class.
Maine Learning Results assessed through Common District Assessments
A. READING: Students read to comprehend, interpret, analyze, evaluate, and appreciate literacy and expository texts by using a variety of strategies. They connect essential ideas, evaluate arguments, and analyze various perspectives and ideas presented in a variety of literary and expository texts.
A1: Students read and make generalizations from texts, within a grade appropriate span of text complexity, by applying their knowledge and strategies of comprehension, vocabulary, alphabetics, and fluency.
A2: Students read fiction, nonfiction, drama, and poetry, within a grade level appropriate span of text complexity, and analyze the characteristics, noting how structural features and common literacy devices help shape the reader's response.
A3: Students read multiple informational texts, within a grade appropriate span of text complexity, making decisions about usefullness based on purpose, noting how the text structures affect the information presented.
A4: Students evaluate the information in persuasive texts, within a grade appropriate span of text complexity, noting how the structural features and rhetorical devices affect the information and argument(s) presented in these texts.
B. WRITING: Students write to express their ideas and emotions, to describe their experiences, to communicate information, and to present or analyze an argument.
B1: Students use a writing process to communicate for a variety of audiences and purposes.
B2: Students write narratives that convey complex ideas, observations, events, or reflections.
B3: students write academic essays that state a clear position, supporting the position with relevant evidence.
B4: Students write persuasive essays addressed to a specific audience for a particular purpose.
B5: Students write simple business letters and documents related to career development.
C. RESEARCH: Students engage in inquiry by developing research questions, accessing and verifying a variety of sources, communicating findings, and applying the conventions of documentation. Students present findings orally, in writing, or using mixed media.
C1: Students propose and revise research questions, collect information from a wide variety of primary and/or secondary sources, and follow the conventions of documentation to communicate findings.
D: LANGUAGE: Students write and speak using the conventions of Standard American English. They apply knowledge of grammar and usage when reading to aid comprehension. They know and apply rules of mechanics and spelling to enhance the effectiveness and clarity of communication.
D1: Students manipulate the parts of speech effectively and employ a variety of sentence structures to communicate.
D2: Students apply the rules of capitalization, punctuation, and spelling to communicate effectively.
E: MISTENING AND SPEAKING: Students listen to comprehend and speak to communicate effectively.
E1: Students adjust listening strategies to understand formal and informal discussion, debates or presentations and then apply the information.
E2: Students adjust speaking strategies for formal and informal discussions, debates, or presentations appropriate to the audience and purpose.
F: MEDIA: Students recognize and can explain the effects that both print and non-print sources have on listeners, viewers, and readers, in order to develop an awareness of the effects that the media have on forming opinions and making decisions.
F1: Students identify the various purposes, techniques, and/or effects used to communicate auditory, visual and written information found in different forms of media.
COMMON ACADEMIC VOCABULARY:
draft, revise, voice, hook, closing, active verbs, sensory words/descriptive, persuade, assessment, organization, paragraphs, details, language variety, metaphor, sentence structure, conventions, alphabetize, double space, adjectives , simile, figurative language, brainstorm, genre, spell check, topic development/topic sentence, autobiography, personification, onomatopoeia, fiction, nonfiction, product, headings, verb, homophone, homograph, noun, pronoun, adverb, conjunction, preposition, interjection
HIGH FREQUENCY
explain/explain why, constructed response, based on, specific, strategies, emphasize, italicized, factual, major headings, evidence, relevant, conclude, process, demonstrate, refer, infer
Literary Terms / Devices:
genre, main character, subordinate character, antagonist, protagonist, plot, setting, conflict, climax, exposition, resolution, conclusion, narrator, dialogue, theme, flashback, foreshadowing, symbolism, characterization, irony, idiom, imagery, metaphor, simile, personification, onomatopoeia, mood, tone, rhythm, stanza
Reading Strategies:
prediction
visualizing
questioning
connections
personal response
summarizing
reflecting
clarifying
inference/infer
draw conclusions
context clues
purpose
rereading
skimming/scanning
previewing
