Parent Letter

Dear Parents and Guardians of 7th Graders in Miss Purcell’s class:

I welcome your children to my 7th grade class this year. This will be a year of growth, work and responsibility for them, but if they try, they will end the year knowing how to read, write, think, be creative, responsible and self-starting, and know more about grammar than anyone!

Please read and keep this letter because it will answer a lot of questions that come up through the year.

I expect students to be mature and responsible about their work. I expect projects I give three weeks to work on to show three weeks of work, and not be done the night before. I can tell, and it will not get a passing grade no matter how late they stay up, as is fair.

I expect students to help each other, ask each other questions, and work with each other. If they have ANY questions or problems, I expect them to come to me and ask about it. We do a lot of work through a draft process, so all students should bring in drafts and get them checked for correctness to ensure final work is done correctly.

There are some class routines you should be aware of:

-EVERY quarter your child is expected to read a MINIMUM 600 pages (as is every student at AMS,) of any kind of BOOK(s) they choose. See last page to sign off on this. This ends up being about 20% of the language arts grade and makes a BIG difference. This is the biggest grade killer when students don’t do this, or saver if they do. They should always have a reading book with them for ALL classes if they finish their work. I should see it in class every day.

-EVERY day we will do WAGS--Writing and Grammar Skills-- ALL that your child needs to do is what we do each day and not lose it. At the end of each week they will get a stamp for completed WAGS that week, and at the end of the quarter, the stamps are counted for a grade. They must not lose their work. If they are absent, it is their responsibility to copy missed work from another student. If they don’t do ANY part of the work for the week, they will not get a stamp. Each Friday we will also have a small quiz on exactly what we learned in WAGS.

A small notebook is a good place to keep this. I will have ones for them if they’d like. This will make them amazing writers with a great knowledge of the craft.

-For journal writing (writer's notebook) the ONLY RULE is they must write the whole time (which should take 20 minutes) and do the minimum number of words twice a week. (We start with 250 words and increase 50 words each quarter.) It’s an easy A+ on this grade. If they are absent, they are expected to make up the work on their own. ALL students should have been and be doing this in all cores, as per Writer's Workshop and Reader's Workshop.

--I do projects regularly, because testing is not the only way to show learning, so you will be seeing them regularly. I ALWAYS give a handout with directions that say what is required for the assignment, and I usually give a rubric, which is basically a self-grading checklist about what their grade is. I encourage and expect students to always ask for help and bring in drafts to get checked. I expect hard work, time, thought, and creativity in relation to the amount of time they have to work on it. An “A” means excellent, not adequate. (See definition of grades on website.) READING the DIRECTIONS is often the biggest problem, so try to really help them check.

All final work must be neat and in pen or typed. Typing up is not necessary and takes more time for some students. EVERY student will have a personal Chromebook for their use to do their work that they must have with them daily. We recommend a good case for its protection. Copying and pasting from the internet is plagiarism and will be treated with a referral. If this happens twice, it's a suspension. ALL typed work MUST be their own, original writing.

They have a portfolio here in class where all work not in their binder is kept, so there is NEVER any excuse for not having anything they need or losing something. NEVER, EVER throw any work away, EVER.

CLASS RULES

*Be Responsible: Be in class on time and ready for work. Class time is for class work. Always be prepared with all necessary materials.

*Be Respectful: Respect each other and the teacher--this means good manners and no cheating or lying.

*Be Safe: Absolutely NO food, gum, drinks, or inappropriate dress.

Students are responsible for any books checked out to them and they must return the same one given them or pay for it.

Grading policy adheres to district guidelines: homework, classwork, and participation are 50%, and tests, quizzes and projects are 50%. Grades are based on a standard scale: 90-100% = A; 80-89% = B; 70-79%= C; 60-69% =D; <60 =F. All grades are given in points so the weight and value is clear.

There will be two grades from me each quarter, one for history and one for language arts. Each quarter begins a NEW grading period. If students are absent, they are responsible for making up work.

You have online access to grades and can see what grades are as soon as I get them in. This way parents can check grades at any time. You will get a letter in the mail with your personal access to Zangle: http://sis.nhusd.k12.ca.us/regconnect

If you have an E-mail, please E-mail me with ANY questions, concerns, etc. at any time. E-mail me at spurcell@nhusd.k12.ca.us My phone is 489-0770, ext. 60590. The office can put you through to me directly when I’m not in class, before school, after school, or during my first period prep. The class website with homework and much more useful information: https://sites.google.com/site/amspurcell/home

Make sure your child has a good, strong three inch binder for the beginning of the year and keep it organized. This is a school rule and will help them immensely. If they do work on the computer, a flash drive is very helpful for transferring information. Also, any typed documents can be sent to my email so I can print them up at school.

Thank you, Shareen Purcell, S-8, AMS