General Syllabus and Grading for 2021-2022

ELA (6-8th Grades) and 7th Grade Social Studies

Bronwyn Grant

English Studies

General Information for 6^th, 7^th, and 8^th Grades

West Greenville Middle School Alternative Program

Front Office Number: (864) 355-0230 (This number is best to use during the school day.)

Home Number: (864) 239-2990 (Please leave a message and I will call you right back.)

email: brgrant@greenville.k12.sc.us OR brgrant@greenvilleschools.us

Our Language Arts class at West Greenville is based on a Reading and Writing Workshop model created by educator Nancy Atwell in her book, In the Middle. I have modified Ms. Atwell’s methods and ideals to accommodate our students’ needs and our rolling admissions policy.

While I can give you broad parameters in this syllabus, the particular decisions about specifics often remain with the students. We have found that students who get to make lots of appropriate choices about their own learning tend to take more ownership of their educations. These students tend, also, to become better students who enjoy learning.

Over the past twenty-five years, I have worked very hard to assess the most critical needs of the students we accept into our program. Not surprisingly, these students have repeatedly shown me specific needs that often cripple them in the academic world. My job is to help your student to write well, read well, and think well while also having fun and feeling smart.

School, a Real-Live JOB

One thing each successful student and parent must come to understand and to support is the idea that school is a real, live job. The correlation is blatant and true. Work pays a person what he is worth on the job with money, while students earn their pay in grades. Good teachers and parents purposefully think of ways and create experiences that set children up for success but allow them ALSO to experience natural consequences of their choices and their work ethics.

We EXPECT each student to behave like a professional at his JOB. I have never turned in unfinished work to my boss or told him that I would “just take and F on that.” This behavior is not remotely reminiscent of real life, but students in regular school do it all the time. At work, I have to stay late or work at home to complete many assignments; that’s just what doing my BEST job requires. We expect the same of all who participate in our program, so students will need to plan their time to make up assignments or contract to do make-up work at home. “Not getting it” is not an option at West Greenville M.S.A.P. The staff will do “whatever it takes” to assist a child in reaching an academic or behavioral goal. Our program simply requires each child to do his BEST job and not just “a” job – no excuses. We want your child to answer for himself “How can changing my mind change my life?” (This is THE Essential Question of life itself and the philosophy of our program.)

English Studies Syllabus for the 2021-2022 School Year

Bronwyn Grant, West Greenville M.S.A.P

Overall Course Objectives:

Read and comprehend a variety of literary texts
Read and comprehend a variety of informational texts
Use word analysis and vocabulary strategies to read fluently
Create written work with clear focus, detail, organization, and voice
Write for a variety of purposes and audiences
Access and use information from a variety of reliable sources

First Nine Weeks: Narrative Reading and Writing - During the first nine weeks of school, ELA students review and revisit the parts of story, or narrative, reading and writing. Stories are one of the ways humans learn about life and the world around them; the proof is in the stories and fables told for thousands of years and that many still exist and give meaning today. During our study, we will explore written narratives as well as other versions of storytelling in print and on video. Students will be learning how to write analysis pieces that show parts of the author's craft along with evidence from the text supporting what the student claims. The culminating (ending) tasks will involve students writing personal and fiction narratives of their own after studying how professional writers think and write.

Second Nine Weeks: Informational Reading and Writing - We are smack in the middle of The Information Age. One of our jobs as educators is to help students prepare themselves for reading, researching, and writing in the 21st century. During this second nine weeks, the focus will be on reading and analyzing all sorts of informational pieces with a wide range of topics. The major grades will involve written analysis of informational pieces as well as informational pieces crafted by students.

Third Nine Weeks: Argumentative Reading and Writing - No, this does NOT mean arguing! This nine week's mission is to learn how to build a case like a debater or lawyer with fabulous evidence. Argumentation is about having differing opinions and evidence for those opinions.

Fourth Nine Weeks: Narrative Reading and Writing - For this last nine weeks, we will focus again on narrative reading and writing.

Individualized Reading :Not every smart person graduates from a college, but almost all smart people READ. Each student’s first job for me is to find a novel he or she is DYING to read. Luckily, this year with Covid-19 restrictions modified, we are able to have our library of over 1000 novels and books out for students. We will dedicate class time for individual novel reading each week.

Writer's Skills Lists: During writing mini-lessons, students learn writing skills that they lack. Also, each student will keep a Writer’s Skills List where he or she will record writing difficulties and explain how to fix each issue. The Writer’s Skills List is a student’s individualized writing and grammar guide to use during the writing process and after teacher or student edit. The student must refer to this guide before submitting any writing piece. I accept a writer’s piece when he has written according to the notes on his individual Writer’s Skills List and submits the guide with his writings.

Throughout the Year-Thesis/Claim Practice:

Many of our students tend to have trouble focusing and making decisions in the first place, so deciding the major points in a piece of formal writing is often mind numbing, never mind writing a multi-paragraph essay. To assist with this thinking and to connect with science and social studies, we practice writing with claims, logical reasoning, and supporting evidence all year long. When a student can perform this thinking, the essay practically writes itself because the student has a clear focus and direction.

Attendance and Make-up: Students who miss class are expected to make-up their assignments. We have a remediation time during each day dedicated to students getting extra help and having time to make-up assignments and re-do/revise assignments. Staff encourages students to complete assignments at home, also.

Grading- Students will have a number of Major and Minor grades throughout each nine weeks. Major grades are fifty percent (50%), and minor grades are fifty percent (50%) of the nine weeks average. Many assignments are in Google Classroom and many are on hard copies in the room. Please check the Student Backpack to see grades and missing assignments.

Daily Grades – Many assignments are posted on Google Classroom, but assignments are also on hard copies in the classroom. Please look at the Student Backpack to see grades and missing assignments.

Students who need extra time will need to self-assign homework and call or email with questions.

Home Number- (864)239-2990

Classroom Number (Until 3:30)- (864)355-3110

A student who is not present for class (or who has done no work) earns a 50 for the day/assignment until the Learning Target Job for the day is completed, unless the reason includes a doctor’s note or a note from court.

Reflection, the Most Important Part of Learning - Regularly, students write a reflection or complete a task about job performance the previous week. Each reflection assignment has students recognize the things that are going well; at-risk students often forget to congratulate themselves for what they do right. We also require students to create goals and behavior plans in order to take charge of their own lives and to fix behavioral and academic issues weekly.

Major Grades – These include major writing projects, other projects, quizzes and tests about our current subjects.

Textbooks: For all three grades, the adopted textbook is Collections from Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.

7^th Grade World Geography – Ms. Grant

Syllabus and Grading 2021-2022

Welcome to World Geography! This year we will be experiencing brand new 7th grade social studies - World Geography. Instead of just learning facts and dates, we will be looking at the world, its population, along with the trends and movements in the past as well as today. The focus for each nine weeks is listed below.

First Nine Weeks: The Essentials of Geography, North America, Central America and the Caribbean

Second Nine Weeks: South America, Europe, South America

Third Nine Weeks: Sub-Saharan Africa, Southwest Asia and Northern Africa, and South Asia

Fourth Nine Weeks: East Asia, Southeast Asia, Australia and the Pacific Realm, and Antarctica

A = 90 B = 80 C = 70 D = 60