Please note: This is a general plan for the year, but as teachers and students must all be flexible, the outline below is subject to change.
7th Grade Writing Skills Taught:
I have two main goals for 7th grade writers. First, I want them to gain much writing experience in many genres (while reviewing and incorporating the foundations taught in 6th grade). Second, I want them to gain public speaking skills. Although I would love to teach all of the below genres as deeply as I have listed, the syllabus must stay a little more flexible, as students will also be working on writing for other subjects while in my class. Here are some of the things I would like to work on in our class:
1st Quarter:
· Descriptive writing—using sensory details and powerful adjectives
· Fiction writing—increasing knowledge of fictional story elements
2nd Quarter:
· Continuing fiction--creating children's books
Public speaking
3rd Quarter:
· Opinion/authentic purpose writing: movie reviews
Share original published children’s books with elementary grades during March is Reading Month!
4th Quarter:
· Poetry—exploring the many kinds and famous examples, then create their own
· Research report
Grammar and Vocabulary
In addition to writing, I will also teach vocabulary and grammar skills. Students will review parts of speech and sentence mechanics as I relate grammar to their writing. I will often use examples from the books they read in literature class to demonstrate how writers use grammar and mechanics to make writing correct and more interesting.
We will begin vocabulary study during the second quarter with a program called "Building Vocabulary from Root Words", which is a comprehensive program that teaches students to recognize semantic patterns using Greek and Latin roots. When students begin recognizing these patterns, they can often figure out meanings of unknown words on their own. This can also help them on the SAT and ACT.
***Please let me know if you ever have any questions about the syllabus.***
I have two main goals for 7th grade writers. First, I want them to gain much writing experience in many genres (while reviewing and incorporating the foundations taught in 6th grade). Second, I want them to gain public speaking skills. Although I would love to teach all of the below genres as deeply as I have listed, the syllabus must stay a little more flexible, as students will also be working on writing for other subjects while in my class. Here are some of the things I would like to work on in our class:
1st Quarter:
· Descriptive writing—using sensory details and powerful adjectives
· Fiction writing—increasing knowledge of fictional story elements
2nd Quarter:
· Continuing fiction--creating children's books
Public speaking
3rd Quarter:
· Opinion/authentic purpose writing: movie reviews
Share original published children’s books with elementary grades during March is Reading Month!
4th Quarter:
· Poetry—exploring the many kinds and famous examples, then create their own
· Research report
Grammar and Vocabulary
In addition to writing, I will also teach vocabulary and grammar skills. Students will review parts of speech and sentence mechanics as I relate grammar to their writing. I will often use examples from the books they read in literature class to demonstrate how writers use grammar and mechanics to make writing correct and more interesting.
We will begin vocabulary study during the second quarter with a program called "Building Vocabulary from Root Words", which is a comprehensive program that teaches students to recognize semantic patterns using Greek and Latin roots. When students begin recognizing these patterns, they can often figure out meanings of unknown words on their own. This can also help them on the SAT and ACT.
***Please let me know if you ever have any questions about the syllabus.***
