Hello, and welcome to the web page of Ms. Jessica "JJ" Bryant. This makes my ninth year teaching here at Southern Middle School (thirteenth in all), and I am so proud and happy to be a teacher at SMS. I'm teaching eighth grade language arts this year, and I'm loving already my team of students and teachers on Eighth Grade Blue. I will try to add more to this web page throughout the school year, so look back for new information and pictures of my kids.
|
| Sun | Mon | Tue | Wed | Thu | Fri | Sat |
| 28 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 |
| 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 |
| 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 |
| 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 |
| 28 | 29 | 30 | 31 | 1 | 2 | 3 |
| 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 |
Ms. Bryant's Syllabus
Eighth Grade Language Arts 2009-2010
Throughout the course of the year, we will work toward the development of skills in the following areas:
Informational Reading and Writing (in letters, articles, editorials, and speeches)
Persuasive Reading and Writing (in letters, articles, editorials, and speeches)
Narration of Events (stories) in all reading and writing
Literary and Personal Reading and Writing (short stories, poems, plays, personal narratives, personal essays, and memoirs)
Reflective Reading and Writing (personal essays, reflective letters, journals)
Other Areas of Concentration:
Communication Skills (speaking, listening, and observing)
Inquiry (research processes)
Technology (gather, organize, and use information)
Grading:Formative assessment will come in the form of various (notes, questions, worksheets, etc.) class activities and home activities. Accelerated Reader (A.R.) tests or an alternate reading project will be due approximately every three weeks. Summative assessments will take the form of on-demand writings (articles, editorials, letters, or speeches), reading open responses, multiple choice questions (on reading and writing), and projects. In addition, learning checks (tests that cover all previous units) will be conducted; therefore, it is very important that all students keep folders (FOR JUST THIS CLASS) with the important material covered throughout the entire year.
Accelerated Reader:Accelerated Reading in eighth grade is primarily an independent activity. We will be taking the STAR reading test to identify reading levels. Any student at or above eighth grade reading level according to this test will have more freedom in their reading choices than those students who have not reached eighth grade reading level yet. Those students will need to read books only in their zone according to the STAR test. All students must get seven (7) points during an A. R. period (approximately every 3-4 weeks) or complete an alternate reading project (list of options to be given).
State Testing: All eighth grade students will take the EXPLORE test at the beginning of the school year. This is the first of a trio of tests ending with the ACT in high school. The EXPLORE tests English, math, reading, and science, and should give you a good idea of how hard you need to work between now and when you take the ACT in high school. If you score high enough on the ACT, you can get scholarships for college.
Students in the eighth grade will also be tested at the end of the year on Math, Reading, Social Studies, and Writing. In language arts, our focus will be the reading and writing portions. The reading test will be multiple choice and open response, so expect most of our reading tests to also be multiple choice and open response. The main part of the writing test will be the On-Demand, which involves writing an article, editorial, letter, or speech for one of three possible purposes (to persuade, to inform, or to narrate an event). Students should expect to learn and practice these forms and purposes throughout the year. The smallest part of the state test is the writing multiple choice portion, but don't think you're getting off easy just because it's the smallest. This part includes all the mechanics of writing (capitalization, punctuation, word usage, etc.), so much of our time will be spent working on mechanics. This is a busy year.
Extra Credit and Late Work:I do not give individual extra credit. If you want to raise your score in my class, do your work. Much of our writing and reading is differentiated and individualized, so if you try, you won't fail my class. I will occasionally give extra credit learning opportunities to the entire team or to just one class (depending on the lesson or topic discussion), so keep your ears open for these. Eighth grade does not accept late work and the academies are not scheduled this year, so I would advise turning in all work when it's due. Work due on the date of an excused absence is due the next day that the student attends school. Work assigned on the date of an excused absence is due within three school days after the student returns to school.
Extensions to Learning:Students are encouraged to work diligently throughout the year at school and at home on the work for this language arts class. In addition, any fun reading (like magazines) or fun writing (such as journal writing, writing games, or writing letters to friends) is suggested to help students work on self-improvement of their writing skills and is a good method to use at home to reinforce school work. Furthermore, research proves that reading just twelve to fifteen minutes a day dramatically improves a student's overall testing scores and vocabulary. To get better at anything, one must practice, practice, practice. That's the same whether were talking about a sport, video game...or reading and writing.
- 8-8:25 Homeroom
- 8:25-9:25 1st Class
- 9:25-10:25 2nd Class
- 10:25-10:35 Locker and Restroom Break/Advising Time
- 10:35-11:35 3rd Class
- 11:35-1:05 4th Class with lunch from 11:45-12:05
- 1:05-1:13 Locker and Restroom Break/Advising Time
- 1:14-1:39 Advisory/Success Maker/Reading Strategies Time
- 1:42-2:20--1st Exploratory/Team Teachers' Meeting Time
- 2:20-3:00 2nd Exploratory/Individual Teacher's Planning
- 3:00-3:30 Bus Loading (4th Class)
| «Previous | Page 1 of 1 | Next» |
 |  |  |  |