Welcome to Mrs.
Tradewell’s
7th grade ILA class
Welcome
all students to my classroom! Please make sure that you are familiar
with all the rules in the student handbook which can be viewed online at
sfacatholic.org.
General
information:
1. Each
child should have one USB for storing information. This is helpful if printers
are not working or if Internet servers are down. The USB does not have to be
school specific.
2. No
pencils will be used in this class. Do not bring them to class. No work will be
accepted in pencil unless instructed by teacher.
3. Please
remember to bring all books to class. No student will be allowed to leave the
classroom to retrieve a book. If a student forgets his or her book they will
receive demerits for the day, will still be held responsible for any work
missed, and will receive incomplete marks in participation for that subject for
that day.
4. Please
remember to bring all pens, highlighters, and any other necessary equipment to
class. No student will be allowed to leave the classroom to retrieve any
forgotten equipment. Failure to bring materials to class will result in
demerits for the day. The student will still be held responsible for any work
missed and will receive incomplete marks in participation for that subject for
that day.
5. Students
must sign in and out of the bathroom book. Students must write their name and
the time they leave and return to the classroom. If a student abuses the
bathroom book or the bathroom he or she will only be allowed to go to the
bathroom during class bathroom breaks.
6. No
student will be allowed to leave the room during the last ten minutes of class,
except in an emergency or by note from the office.
Course overview
ILA stands for Integrated Language Arts and will consist
of Writing/Grammar, Reading/Literature, Spelling, and Vocabulary sections.
Students will be required to do an extensive amount of writing and reading for
all components of the ILA courses.
The Writing and Grammar course will teach students how to
write full comprehensible sentences, paragraphs, and papers. Students will
learn the components of a sentence and how these components are used throughout
different styles of writings.
The Reading and Literature section will be combined with
the Vocabulary section to help students increase their reading rate,
comprehension rate, and their ability to use their imagination. This course
will take a look at a variety of different literary styles and genres;
including poetry and novels. The vocabulary component of the sections will be a
specific overview of words that should not only be used in their writings and
readings, but words that they should be aware of at their learning levels.
The Spelling section is designed not only to help students
learn to spell more difficult words, but also help them know what the words
they are spelling mean and how to use these words in their writings and
recognize them in their readings. Spelling words are words that are comparable
to their learning levels.
Tests:
Tests will be given in each subject to test the students’
comprehension and use of skill.
Literature
Tests
Tests will be given at the end of each unit or novel. The
essays will be provided for the students for each test. Students should prepare
the essays ahead of time and should review all notes, activities, and exercises
for the test. On some occasions, students will be allowed to use their prepared
essays for their tests.
Vocabulary
Tests
At the beginning of the chapter students will be given a
vocabulary worksheet. On the worksheet there will be nine choices. While
learning the lesson the students should be working on one of the nine choices
to use as their test grade. If the student chooses to complete the ninth box
“Take the test”, he or she will take the test on the date the assignments are
due. Once a student has chosen a box for
a lesson, he or she cannot choose that box again for another lesson within the
trimester. For example, if a student chooses choice eight “Student’s Choice”
and has it approved by the teacher, for lesson one, he or she cannot use
“Student Choice” until the next trimester.
When a student chooses “Student’s Choice” this means that
he or she will invent their own idea as to an activity to show they know the
meaning of the words, and how to use the words correctly in sentence format.
Before a student can complete this choice he or she must get it approved by the
teacher. Once the choice is approved, the teacher will initial the box. If the
student chooses “Student’s Choice” and gets it initialed he or she must turn in
the assignment sheet with the assignment to get full credit. If the assignment
sheet is missing points will be taken off of the grade. Word Scrambles will not
be accepted for “Student’s Choice”.
If a student chooses to do a box more than once within
the same trimester, he or she will lose 10 (ten) points off the assignment
grade for that lesson.
Grammar and
Writing Tests
Grammar tests will be given at the end of each unit. For
example: After the unit on “Nouns”, students will be required to identify and
use nouns properly on a test. The questions and activities from the test will
be based on the material and exercises from the unit both in the textbook and
the workbook. No study guide will be given for Grammar but students should be
able to complete all exercises in the text and workbook.
For students who participate in Grammar group, they will
receive 5 (five) points toward their test grade for each attendance and
participation in Grammar group.
Writing tests will be given either by written assignment
or by a standard test form. Students will be required to replicate certain
written documents in correct format. For example students will learn how to
write a business letter. At the end of the lesson the students will have to
construct a business letter in the correct format. Spelling, grammar,
vocabulary, mechanics, and format will all be very important in grading these
assignments. At times students will be able to use dictionaries and thesauruses
to help them with these assignments. Other times these assignments will be able
to be done at home over the course of a few days.
Spelling Tests
Every Friday
students will take a spelling test. These tests will be in oral-written format.
Students will be expected to write the ten (10) words they are given correctly in
cursive. At the end of the test the students will be given three (3) bonus
words. Spelling all three bonus words correctly will result in three (3)
additional points on the test. If a student spells one of the bonus words wrong
no points will be deducted from the test.
Quizzes:
Occasional quizzes will be given throughout the year.
Quizzes will be both pop quizzes and scheduled quizzes. No study guide will be
given for quizzes.
Class Participation;
Each student will
receive a class participation grade based on completion of classroom
assignments and general participations during class discussions. Participation
marks will be given on a daily basis.
Email and
homework site:
The homework site is updated every night prior to 4:30 p.m. unless there
is a server problem. Please check the homework site each night just in case you
forgot to write something down in your agenda book. The homework site can be
accessed through the school website.
My email is mtradewell@sfacatholic.org. You may contact me by email at any time with
questions or concerns relating to any assignment given in class or for
homework. Also general questions or concerns can be asked through email. All
emails will be responded to as quickly as possible. If you do not receive a
response back within twenty-four (24) hours please resend the email, send a
note in with the student, or call me at the school before or after school
hours.
Homework:
Homework reinforces what was taught during class time.
Students will be required to finish all homework and turn it in the day it is
due. Five (5) points will be deducted from the assignment each day it is late.
Please read all homework assignment sheets carefully because some assignments
will not be accepted late. The following heading should be on the top of all
homework assignments or on the bottom right hand corner of any cover page:
St. Francis of Assisi School
Name Date
Mrs. Tradewell Assignment Title
Copybooks:
A copybook will
be kept for all notes and class work. Each day the student will be required to
write something in their copybook. Copybooks will be checked at random
throughout the trimester. No doodling will be allowed in the copybook. Failure to follow the copybook layout rules
will result in points being taken off on the copybook grade.
On
the cover of the copybook should be the following:
St. Francis of Assisi
School
Student’s name
2009-2010
Mrs. Tradewell
Subject copybook
This
will help the students stay organized and help in identifying copybooks. This
can be done either in the center of the copybook or the bottom right hand side
of the copybook cover.
On
the first page of the copybook, the students should write in the center of the
page and line:
St.
Francis of Assisi School
Subject
Each
day the students should label their class work in their copybook with an
appropriate heading. The heading should read:
Date Assignment/notes
title
Students should
leave one blank line between each heading. Students should not skip more than
one blank line between each heading for any reason.
Homework Passes:
Students who can go a full four (4) weeks with no missed,
late, or incomplete homework assignments will receive a homework pass. This
homework pass will be good for one free night of doing homework for the subject
the pass was granted for. Students must decide to use the homework pass before
the assignment is due and collected. Homework passes cannot be used on any long
term assignment, studying for tests or quizzes, or spelling sentences.
Bonus points:
No extra credit will be given at any point throughout the
trimester; however bonus points will be available throughout the trimester for
various things. Students will be handed bonus point sheets after games, special
assignments, or a variety of other ways. The sheet will contain the students’
name, the issue date, the reason for the issue, and how many bonus points the
student has received. Any adjustments to the bonus points must be done and
initialed by the teacher in order for the bonus points to count.
Students are responsible for their own bonus points. No
bonus points will be reissued for any reason. Bonus points must be used before
the end of the trimester. Left over bonus points will be voided at the end of
the trimester.
If a student receives several bonus point sheets and
would like to consolidate their bonus points they may do so at any point in the
trimester. To do this they must present the bonus point sheets to the teacher
and they will receive a new bonus sheet with the consolidated bonus points
written on them.
Word of the Week:
Each week a complex word will be given to the students
for bonus points. These words are usually words that the student could find on
standardized tests such as the Terra Novas or the SATs. These bonus points will
be good for Vocabulary, Grammar, or Literature only. Students must write their
name, the word of the week, the part of speech of the word, the definition, and
a sentence for the word on a 3x5 index card. If the word of the week is not
done on an index card no points will be given.
Textbooks:
All textbooks need to be covered by September 18, 2009.
The cover can either be a brown paper bag or a cover jack. Textbooks must
remain covered at all times. Textbooks should be brought to class everyday
unless otherwise specified by the teacher the day prior. Names should be
written on the inside cover of the textbook.
Writing Assignments/Projects:
Students will be given long term assignments throughout
each trimester. Specific guidelines will
be given along with a detailed rubric for each assignment.
Novels:
A minimum of three novels will be read throughout the
year. Novels will be given to the students prior to the start of the readings.
Novels will be read in class. Occasionally students will be asked to bring the
novels home with them to do additional reading or to help with answering
questions. Novels are the responsibility of the student. If a student loses or
misplaces the novel they will be held responsible and will not be able to take
another one home with them.
“Novels for
Points”:
A student who would like to get twenty (20) bonus points
in literature can do so by reading different novels on their own time. For each
additional novel read, a student can write or type the title, author,
publisher, copyright date, settings with a short description, main and minor
characters with a short description, and a summary of the novel. Make sure to
include page numbers from the novel for the descriptions. Novels must be one
hundred and fifty pages (150) or more to count. Prior to reading the novel, the
student must turn in the name of the novel and the author into the teacher on a
3x5 index card. “Novels for Points’ must be turned in no later than two weeks
before the end of the trimester. There is no limit to how many “Novels for
Points” a student can do.
Spelling:
Each week students will be given ten (10) words and
definitions. Students will be responsible for writing two (2) different
sentences for each word. These sentences will be done in their copybooks.
Spelling copybooks will be collected at the end of each week to ensure the
copying of the words and definitions and to give a homework grade for the
sentences. Students should write the sentences separately after the words and
definitions.
Absentees/Vacations/Long trimester Sickness:
Please inform the office when you are taking a vacation
that will take you out of school for an extended (more than two (2) days) period
of time. This will allow the teachers to make up a packet for you to complete
so that you can stay on track with your fellow students. The packet will be due when you return from
your trip. If a student is absent for an extended period of time due to illness
please make sure to check with me the day you return to make up your work,
missed tests or quizzes, and homework.
Plagiarism:
Plagiarism will not be tolerated. If a student
is caught plagiarizing he or she will receive a zero (0) on the assignment and
the matter will be taken up with the principal, plus the student will receive a
detention for the act. This includes copying homework and cheating on tests or
quizzes.
I have read the above syllabus and understand the
expectations of me throughout this year.
Please keep the top section for you and your child’s records and please
cut on the dotted line, sign this bottom section and return the bottom section
only, no later than September 18, 2009.
______________________________________
Student signature
______________________________________ ________________________________
Parent/Guardian signature Parent/Guardian
signature