Syllabus

8th Grade ELA/Reading

2019-2020 School Year

Miss Peterkin

peterkinjp@gm.sbac.edu

08-Room # 16

Course Description

This course is designed to spark your love of Reading and Writing!

What was the last book that engaged you the same way that your favorite TV show or video game does? Does your writing feel bogged down by too many test prompts? In class this year, we will explore the diverse voices of many authors and write with authentic purposes, looking ahead to real-world tasks and challenges.

My Expectations

This year, you will be challenged you to read more and to write more. Every day in our class will be an opportunity to read something that ignites your thinking and to write something that expresses that thinking. I promise to put amazing books in your hands, but it is up to you to embrace the hard work of reading them and practicing the craft of writing.

Additional Required Materials

    • College ruled composition notebook
    • Pens (non-clicking, please!)
    • 2 dividers for your AVID binder: Reading and Writing

Class Website

The classroom website is a handy resource to keep you up-to-date with all of the astonishing, astounding, fabulous, fantastic, fantastical, incredible, marvelous, miraculous, phenomenal, prodigious, stupendous, unbelievable, wonderful, and wondrous things that are happening in our class!

Before or After School Assistance

If you have a concern, need extra help with an assignment, want to talk about an amazing book you've just read or share a new piece of writing, I am available before and after school. Please remember to always get your parent's permission first, and always schedule an appointment instead of just dropping by in case I have a scheduled meeting or morning/afternoon duty.

Classroom Rules

  1. Use respectful and kind words when you speak
  2. Stay positive! When things get tough, do your best and remember that your best will get better with work hard.
  3. Listen twice as much as you talk
  4. Respect the personal space and the belongings of others
  5. Make our class a Roach-Free Zone: no food, no drinks other than water, and no gum or candy
  6. Leave your cell phone at the Charging Station, unless it is needed for a class activity
  7. Do NOT open the back window unless you have miraculously sprouted wings (literal, not figurative) and need to fly away!

Make-up Work Policy for Absent Students

Make-up work assignments will not be available prior to an absence. On the day you return to school, please talk to me about what you've missed, but remember that it is your responsibility to follow-up on your missing work and make sure it gets turned-in. With most classroom assignments, you will have up to one week from the time you return to school to make-up any work without penalty. If you are absent on the day that previously assigned work was due, then it is due the day you return to school. Be prepared to make-up missed tests or quizzes on the date you return to class.

Late Work Policy

All students are expected to turn-in classwork and homework on the date it is due. Assignments will automatically drop a letter grade for every day they are late.

Cheating Policy

As outlined in your student handbook, cheating will not be tolerated. Cheating will result in an automatic 0 and a referral to the Dean's Office.

Grading Scale

A: 90-100

B: 80-89

C: 70-79

D: 60-69

F: 59 and below

Grading Categories

Classwork - 50%

Assessments - 30%

Skills -20%

Extra Credit

Extra Credit will be assigned on a case-by-case basis. If you need it, please come talk to me.*

Rewards

1. Earn daily praise from Miss Peterkin, enjoy our class, and learn so much your brain might leak out of your ears by the end of the year!

2. Earn Whirlones and/or extra credit.

3. Earn a phone call or note home, reporting your excellent behavior

4. Earn yourself an amazing grade--Awesome!

Consequences of Disruptive Behavior

Step 1: Receive a Warning

Step 2: Teacher-Student Conference & Parent/Guardian Phone Call

Step 3: Complete a Timeout Action plan in another classroom followed by a Parent/Guardian Phone Call

Step 4: Referral to the Dean’s Office

*Exception:: Any student who uses profanity, fights, damages school or personal property, or is disrespectful will be sent to the Deans’ Office IMMEDIATELY.

Classroom Procedures

We use written and unwritten procedures all the time in our lives to function in a fair and efficient way. Without agreed upon procedures, there would be mass chaos and a world of random anarchy! Listed below are basic procedures for our class so that we can avoid the nightmare of complete pandemonium. If you can think of anything to add or change, please let me know when we discuss procedures in class.

1. Entering the classroom & Morning Announcements: Please enter the classroom as if you are entering the cage of a tired koala bear who has had a long night of hunting eucalyptus trees. You are NOT entering The Old Folks Home for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing and you are NOT stepping onstage at So You Think You Can Dance.

Read the board to see what you’ll need at your desk. Copy the day’s learning target and focus activity into your agenda and get started on the first posted task. If you are in 1st Period, your work should pause during the Morning Announcements. Please listen carefully to the important information and be respectful of the time and effort that the television crew has put into the production.

2. Late to class: If you are tardy, please sign the tardy log by the front door and quietly find your seat. To be excused, you must have a pass from another teacher or an administrator. Tardies will be reset every 9 weeks.

· 1st Tardy – Warning

· 2nd Tardy – Teacher/Student Conference and/or parent email

· 3rd Tardy – parent phone call

· 4th Tardy – Referral to the dean

3. Throwing away trash: Do not create a distraction to the class; you are not scoring points at the Trash Olympics! The best times to dispose of trash are during independent work time or at the end of the period.

4. Using the restroom: Plan ahead and use the restroom between classes so that you don't miss instructional time. However, if you are having a bathroom emergency and there is no direct instruction going on, you may use the restroom. Once given permission, sign out by the door. Write the time of departure and your name. When you return, write the time. Only ONE person may leave the room at a time and you may only leave ONCE per class block to use the restroom (after the first ten minutes of class and not during the last 10 minutes of class).

5. Asking & responding to questions: I encourage discussion during my class, but please do not interrupt other speakers or shout out questions/answers. If you are worried that you’ll forget what you’re going to say, write it down on a piece of paper.

6. Make our class a Roach-Free Zone: Do not bring food, colored drinks or gum into our classroom.

7. Intercom announcements: As soon as the announcement starts, all activity/discussion stops so that I can listen and respond.

8. Safety drills: It is important to take drills seriously. Stay quiet and alert to what is going on around you.

9. Cell phones and other electronics: All cell phones and electronic devices are turned off and placed in your space at the Charging Station. You will earn Parking Points during random checks of the Charging Station.

10. Dismissal: Don’t bolt out the door when you hear the bell--it’s a dismissal bell not an emergency evacuation tsunami signal for Batman! Make sure that your area is clean, you have all of your belongings, your work in turned-in... and THEN I will dismiss you (with a tear in my eye; I’ll miss you!).

Teacher Contact/ Classroom Updates

Email: peterkinjp@gm.sbac.edu