SUPPLY LIST
Each student should come prepared each day with the following:
Please also be sure to always come prepared with whatever text we may be using as a class as well. For those interested in helping contribute to class supplies and goodies, please see my Amazon Wish List. |
How to Organize Your Notebook for Ms. Puritis’s Class
Part of your class supply list is having a three ring binder, as well as dividers. You should have your notebook with you every day and have paper to write on every day! This is how your notebook should be divided: Section 1: CLASSROOM DOCUMENTS: This is where your syllabus, reading list, etc. should go. Section 2- CURRENT ASSIGNMENTS: Place the current instructions to long term/short term projects and assessments in this section for easy access. Section 3- BELL WORK: We will begin every class with a form of Bell Work. Be sure to date your work each day and keep it in order in this section of your notebook. Section 4- READING: Any notes or assignments we do regarding the reading of short stories, novels, plays, poems, etc will go into this section of your notebook. Section 5- GRADED ASSESSMENTS: Any quizzes, tests, daily work, etc. that has been graded should be put in this section in chronological order. |
Course Description
Seventh grade language arts students will expand on the skills built from previous years. Students should expect some things to seem familiar from past years, but the level of precision and sophistication should be growing, along with the level of expectation.
We will be reading both independently and as a class, but we will also be making connections between the texts we read and the real world. In addition to paraphrasing, summarizing, and evaluating the texts, students will further analyze the differences between fact and opinion. Students will also continue to detect bias in the texts they read as well as applying objective criteria for evaluating texts. Class discussions will become more often and rigorous. In grade seven, students will listen for meaning in conversations and discussions and effectively summarize them. Students will listen more attentively and use critical analysis to formulate appropriate oral responses.
Vocabulary, grammar, and writing conventions will still be in the forefront of our class, as well as discussion of rhetorical and literary devices (syntax, diction, imagery, symbolism, etc). We will be writing and editing regularly in a variety of different ways in order to make us strong communicators. By the end of this class, we should all have something to say and a good idea of how to effectively say it.
Overall Objectives (Students should be able to):
Assigned Reading and Book Summaries
Aside from numerous short stories and independent reading books, we will read the following novels together as a class (as voted on by class in 6th grade): Animal Farm by George Orwell, A Long Way Gone by Ishmael Beah, Lord of the Flies by William Golding, Life of Pi by Yann Martel, and Night by Elie Wiesel..
WAAS has a copy of each text for the students to borrow, but I do encourage each student and their family to consider buying their own copy of the books. It is so much easier to be a strong, active reader when you are able to mark in the book. This tremendously aids in building reading comprehension skills. Additionally, students will read many of the these books again in high school and college. Having your own copy is not mandatory, just suggested. Keep in mind, though, that if you use WAAS' copy, you must take care of it, or you will have to replace it.
These reading selections will ask us to take a good luck at our culture (past and present) and at our selves. I stand by my choice in selecting all of the novels, short stories, poems, and/or plays that we will read this year, but if you are honestly uncomfortable reading a text, please come to me immediately so that we can rectify the situation. I am including a brief summary of the texts listed above for families to have an understanding of what we will be gaining through reading and studying these texts. I know we can learn a great deal from these novels, but it is important that you feel comfortable reading them in order to open to learning from them, so please do not hesitate to contact me should you not feel at ease. Another text will be assigned to you, and you will be in no way penalized.
Seventh grade language arts students will expand on the skills built from previous years. Students should expect some things to seem familiar from past years, but the level of precision and sophistication should be growing, along with the level of expectation.
We will be reading both independently and as a class, but we will also be making connections between the texts we read and the real world. In addition to paraphrasing, summarizing, and evaluating the texts, students will further analyze the differences between fact and opinion. Students will also continue to detect bias in the texts they read as well as applying objective criteria for evaluating texts. Class discussions will become more often and rigorous. In grade seven, students will listen for meaning in conversations and discussions and effectively summarize them. Students will listen more attentively and use critical analysis to formulate appropriate oral responses.
Vocabulary, grammar, and writing conventions will still be in the forefront of our class, as well as discussion of rhetorical and literary devices (syntax, diction, imagery, symbolism, etc). We will be writing and editing regularly in a variety of different ways in order to make us strong communicators. By the end of this class, we should all have something to say and a good idea of how to effectively say it.
Overall Objectives (Students should be able to):
- Understand and comment on the language, content, structure, meaning, and significance of texts·
- Use language to narrate, describe, analyze, explain, argue, persuade, inform, entertain, and express feelings
- Compare texts and connect themes (also making personal or world connections)
- Express an informed personal response to texts or topics with clarity and coherence in both oral and written communication
- Demonstrate the ability to approach works independently
- Structure ideas and arguments in a sustained and logical way, and supported with relevant examples
- Distinguish the main ideas and themes and make connections
- Use and understand an appropriate and varied range of vocabulary and idioms
- Use correct grammar with appropriate and varied sentence structure
Assigned Reading and Book Summaries
Aside from numerous short stories and independent reading books, we will read the following novels together as a class (as voted on by class in 6th grade): Animal Farm by George Orwell, A Long Way Gone by Ishmael Beah, Lord of the Flies by William Golding, Life of Pi by Yann Martel, and Night by Elie Wiesel..
WAAS has a copy of each text for the students to borrow, but I do encourage each student and their family to consider buying their own copy of the books. It is so much easier to be a strong, active reader when you are able to mark in the book. This tremendously aids in building reading comprehension skills. Additionally, students will read many of the these books again in high school and college. Having your own copy is not mandatory, just suggested. Keep in mind, though, that if you use WAAS' copy, you must take care of it, or you will have to replace it.
These reading selections will ask us to take a good luck at our culture (past and present) and at our selves. I stand by my choice in selecting all of the novels, short stories, poems, and/or plays that we will read this year, but if you are honestly uncomfortable reading a text, please come to me immediately so that we can rectify the situation. I am including a brief summary of the texts listed above for families to have an understanding of what we will be gaining through reading and studying these texts. I know we can learn a great deal from these novels, but it is important that you feel comfortable reading them in order to open to learning from them, so please do not hesitate to contact me should you not feel at ease. Another text will be assigned to you, and you will be in no way penalized.
Brief summary of Night: "Night offers much more than a litany of the daily terrors, everyday perversions, and rampant sadism at Auschwitz and Buchenwald; it also eloquently addresses many of the philosophical as well as personal questions implicit in any serious consideration of what the Holocaust was, what it meant, and what its legacy is and will be." (summary from Amazon.com)
Brief summary of Life of Pi: "Pi Patel is an unusual boy. The son of a zookeeper, he has an encyclopedic knowledge of animal behavior and a fervent love of stories and practices not only his native Hinduism but also Christianity and Islam. When Pi is 16, his family emigrates from India to North America aboard a Japanese cargo ship along with their zoo animals bound for new homes. The ship sinks. Pi finds himself alone in a lifeboat, his only companions a hyena, an orangutan, a wounded zebra, and Richard Parker, a 450 pound Bengal tiger. Soon the tiger has dispatched all but Pi, whose fear, knowledge, and cunning allow him to coexist with Richard Parker for 227 days lost at sea. When they finally reach the coast of Mexico, Richard Parker flees to the jungle, never to be seen again. The Japanese authorities who interrogate Pi refuse to believe his story and press him to tell them "the truth". After hours of coercion, Pi tells a second story, a story much less fantastical, much more conventional - but is it more true? Life of Pi is at once a realistic, rousing adventure and a meta-tale of survival that explores the redemptive power of storytelling and the transformative nature of fiction. It's a story, as one character puts it, to make you believe in God." (Summary from Amazon.com) |
Brief summary of Animal Farm: Disguised by an allegory where animals masquerade as Russian leaders, George Orwell parallels the events of the Russian Revolution and the effects of communism with the lives of animals on a farm.
Brief summary of Long Way Gone: "What is war like through the eyes of a child soldier? How does one become a killer? How does one stop? Child soldiers have been profiled by journalists, and novelists have struggled to imagine their lives. But until now, there has not been a first-person account from someone who came through this hell and survived. In A Long Way Gone, Beah, now twenty-five years old, tells a riveting story: how at the age of twelve, he fled attacking rebels and wandered a land rendered unrecognizable by violence. By thirteen, he'd been picked up by the government army, and Beah, at heart a gentle boy, found that he was capable of truly terrible acts." (Amazon.com's summary) Lord of the Flies by William Golding: At the dawn of the next world war, a plane crashes on an uncharted island, stranding a group of schoolboys. At first, with no adult supervision, their freedom is something to celebrate. This far from civilization they can do anything they want. Anything. But as order collapses, as strange howls echo in the night, as terror begins its reign, the hope of adventure seems as far removed from reality as the hope of being rescued. (Summary by amazon.com) |
Documents for Class
7th_grade_ela_2021-22_syllabus.pdf | |
File Size: | 302 kb |
File Type: |
1st_day_handouts_ela.pdf | |
File Size: | 345 kb |
File Type: |
steps_to_an_mla_formatting_and_heading.docx | |
File Size: | 117 kb |
File Type: | docx |
what_is_plagiarism_and_how_can_i_avoid_it.docx | |
File Size: | 299 kb |
File Type: | docx |
student_requirements_for_recommendation_for_placement_into_english_2.docx | |
File Size: | 12 kb |
File Type: | docx |
how_to_make_sure_your_work_sets_the_right_tone.pdf | |
File Size: | 534 kb |
File Type: |
Long Term Assignments
Your final will be two parts. The first is an essay discussing the importance of grammar. The second part requires you to either teach the class or create a video that will teach the class about an element of grammar. Plenty of details will be coming your way towards the middle of the year.
Also, each quarter you will be expected to read a grade appropriate book of your choosing, though sometimes genre will be selected for you. Upon reading completion, you will receive a different assessment/project for each quarter.