Ms. White
2023-2024
rwhite@bfccps.org
My cat - Dragon
Ms. White
I am so excited to be the 7th grade ELA teacher for the '23-'24 school year! I am originally from Ohio, where I received a BA in Creative Writing and Theatre from Denison University. In 2019, I moved to Rhode Island as a member of AmeriCorps, where I worked at a non-profit. I started at BFCCPS in 2020 as a long-term subsitute in a virtual second grade class. I then became the middle school Math and Literacy Intervention Assistant, then the elementary Math Intervention Assistant.
English Language Arts
"I have a passion for teaching kids to become readers, to become comfortable with a book, not daunted. Books shouldn’t be daunting, they should be funny, exciting and wonderful; and learning to be a reader gives a terrific advantage." Roald Dah
During seventh grade, we will read several class novels & short stories to continue to develop our language arts skills. The texts we read will help us negotiate answers to our year long essential questions: How can one overcome adversities when faced with injustices?
During the year, we will learn several strategies to help us analyze each text more deeply, including Notice & Note Fiction Signposts, note-taking skills, and close-reading. We will also further develop our analytical writing skills, learning various organizational strategies, as well as explore our creativity through narrative writing. Finally, we will continue to fine-tune our written skills with direct instruction in grammar and sentence mechanics.
My goal as your teacher is to help you learn about the life lessons we can take from literature, and how I can help you find your voice as a writer, student, and young adult.
Monthly Book Journals
In order to encourage students to become more authentic readers, one ongoing assignment will be the completion of a monthly book journal for an independent reading book. Each month, students will choose a book to read independently and then complete a journal prompt based on that book. To assist in this, students should utilize the "Independent Reading Bingo" sheet below; if students complete 5 in a row, they will earn a prize! (Students must have completed a journal entry for each book to earn the prize.)
Students should choose books at or above their level (Middle Grade, YA, or Adult). If a student chooses to read a graphic novel or comic book, it should be above 100 pages. Students cannot repeat a journal prompt multiple times, or use the same book for multiple prompts.
Bookopolis is a great, kid friendly book recommendation site if a student needs help discovering a book.
Evaluation Information:
Other Important Information:
Classwork that is not completed during the allotted class time should be completed at home. It is still considered classwork.
Assignments are due at the beginning of class on their due date, unless otherwise specified.
Late assignments will always be accepted within the marking term, however 10% of the grade will be deducted for every late day.
Assignments not submitted before the end of the marking period will be marked as a 0%
Students are expected to read between 20-30 minutes every night, with the goal of completing at least one book per month. This will comprise a portion of the homework grade
Participation will be entered into Schoolbrains as a classwork assignment twice per term on the following scale:
A+ (98%)--Student proactively contributes to class by offering ideas and/or asks questions more than once per class and/or works consistently on projects or assignments the entire allotted time.
B+ (88%)--Student proactively contributes to class by offering ideas and/or asks questions once per class and/or works on projects or assignments for most of the allotted time.
C+ (78%)--Student rarely contributes to class by offering ideas and asking questions and/or works on projects or assignments only some of the allotted time.
D+ (68%) Student never contributes to class by offering ideas and asking questions and/or has trouble staying on task during work time.