The A-Z Outline of 8th Grade Ramapo Team
Language Arts
After coming up with cartoon strip questions, read this handout to find out the answers. Maybe the answer’s here, maybe it’s not.
Anne Frank: During the Holocaust, 13-year old Anne Frank began to chronicle her daily life in a diary. What makes her diary different from any other girl’s diary is that she was in hiding with her family. There because they were Jewish, Anne learns that it doesn’t matter what your religion is: teenage troubles are tough. We’ll read the play version of her diary and act it out in class in December. This is the only nonfiction book we will read this year. Jackie (2007) said that this was her favorite book because “I learned a lot about the Holocaust and found it easy to relate to Anne and Peter.”
Bathroom: You will receive two bathroom passes each marking period. You may not go to the bathroom without your bathroom pass. If you don’t use your bathroom passes, they become a valuable reward: four points per pass to be added to any 100 point assignment in that marking period. You must sign out and sign back in when you leave.
Cooperative groups are a mandatory and integral part of this course. In the future, being a solid team player is worth more than being the smartest of the most skilled. You will sit with your groups for 4-6 weeks. You will have some say in this matter, but the groups are formed by the teacher in the end. Fridays are “Free Fridays” and you are able to sit with people of your choice. This privilege is a reward for good work and behavior during the week. No one will ever sit by themselves.
Do Nows are your first priority when you come into the classroom. Get to your chair and get started. They are collected randomly for class work grades. These are designed to help you review or introduce material. Take advantage of them. Sometimes the Do Nows are Team Challenges. If you win the Team Challenge your entire team earns a team point. Once you collect five team points, you earn a bonus point towards an assignment.
Extra credit points are not given out haphazardly. They are rewards for being a helpful entity in class, winning team challenges, and being an overall helpful human being. These points can only be added to 100-point assignments or other designated assignments. Extra credit points can also come from Team Challenges.
Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes is a neat (long) book that we will read in the spring. It is written in journal format by a man named Charlie. Charlie has an opportunity to undergo a once-in-a-lifetime procedure that is designed to improve his life. However, even having an improved life isn’t a perfect life, as Charlie finds out. “I think the experiment was exciting and sad for Charlie” – Nicole, 2008.
Grade book: Real Time is a wonderful tool that you should be accustomed to using by now. The grade book is flexible: dates, point values, and titles of assignments are all subject to change. Mistakes are also possible. If a mistake is found, bring the assignment in and the grade will be appropriately adjusted. Check the book regularly because it will help you plan ahead--you may even learn about upcoming “pop” quizzes! Although the grade book is maintained by Miss Drosdick, you maintain your own work and grades. You must work out details with your parents and approach school as a team. This is a team effort, not a gang. All progress reports and report cards will only be available online.
Heroes, written by Robert Cormier, is one of the shortest books we will read all year. Even though it’s among the shortest, it packs in some serious content. Francis is this book’s main character. He is a soldier (but he joined illegally) and has a serious urge to kill because of his painful past and self-loathing. It sounds dark and it is. There is, however, a tough lesson in it. “Sometimes people can be something you never thought they’d be”- Pat (2007).
Independent and individual responsibility: This is 8th grade. This means you come prepared, keep track of things, and treat your peers/teachers/classroom with respect. We all procrastinate sometimes. We all drop the ball sometimes. Take responsibility and it will be much easier for us to work together.
John Steinbeck wrote one of the greatest novellas in all of American literature. Of Mice and Men is the first book we’ll read. Again, it’s small (just 100+ pages) but big on controversy, wonderful writing, and intriguing characters. Sometimes the right thing to do is the thing that hurts the most. Especially if it’s your best friend you’re talking about.
Keeping in touch with your parents is part of the partnership. Email, phone calls, and team meetings are all possible points of contact for both praise and concerns.
Looking ahead to high school placement: Students intending to be eligible for Honors next year must be Advanced Proficient on NJASK and maintain a 92% (at least) average for every marking period. This does not allow you much time to waste or get adjusted. Test scores are subject to change based on your grade 8 NJASK scores.
Missing class: If you miss class for any reasons, I need to know ahead of time. If your name is not on the attendance list, I will expect to see you in class unless you let me know of music lessons, early dismissals, or other activities. When you come to see me about missing class, you are to pick up a “missing class” worksheet that you need to fill-out and pass on to a friend in class. Your buddy will keep track of what you missed on that sheet and put it in the appropriate Grade Essential Station folder. It is your responsibility to get that sheet, and it is not the teacher’s responsibility to make up class time or track you down. If you are absent, we will assign someone in class to fill out your missing work class sheet. It will be waiting for you upon your return. The Ramapo Ridge policy applies: “If a student is absent due to illness, the number of days out equals the number of days a student is allowed to hand in an assignment beyond the due date without penalty.”
Note-taking and notes: There actually aren’t a ton of notes to take during the year, but when there are, you need to know how to take good notes. This doesn’t mean copying every word. We will practice this.
Online blogging: For one of our novels, we will forego handwritten journals and type our responses on an online blog. There will be many choices of assignments to complete, videos to watch, videos to make, and creative writing assignments to choose from. This is especially nice because there is no paperwork to lose or messy handwritten papers to keep track of. A class blog can also be found at http://grade8ramapo.blogspot.com/ This will look difficult right now but we will learn to use it in class. The explanation about what the blog will be used for is posted already.
Positive interaction and attitude: Your teacher’s expectation of your behavior is high. The bar is high. Attitude is everything here. Over the years it has become clear that attitude is a large part of your success in the classroom. Students possessing a positive attitude towards class and Miss Drosdick generally find more success than those that are negative and find difficulty communicating with the teacher. This also applies to working with your peers. You will be working with everyone at one point or another. It is most beneficial to have a good working relationship with everyone to ensure the most success.
Questions and questioning are what direct this class. The curriculum focuses on questioning our world and the people around us. Part of this also means really questioning ourselves when it comes to your personal grades, effort, and behavior. By the way, our theme is “Humanity” (I already had an “h” for this course outline!). We’ll discuss what that means and entails (but if you look around the room, you may learn something).
Rubrics: We regularly use the NJASK rubrics to score reading responses, essays, and paragraphs. Many grades will be based on a 0-4 (reading responses) or 0-6 (writing) scale and entered into Real Time as such. You will receive your own copy of these rubrics to use as a reference point throughout the school year. Each project will also be scored using a rubric. You’ll always receive these before the projects are due so that you are well aware of the expectations.
Secret Life of Bees may be a good movie but it’s an even better book. Even if you’ve seen it (or plan on trying to cut corners by watching the movie before we finish it), there’s a lot that the book has that the movie doesn’t. We will do this long novel in the spring as well. The main character, Lily, just wants to know where she comes from. In her own home, she is unhappy. She bravely leaves home and hitch hikes to a new, forbidden place. We will blog this book.
Task rotations (yes, go ahead and groan) are used occasionally. They’re used for all sorts of grades: class work, homework, and even end-of-novel assessments.
USB drives are mandatory this year. Get one, a cheap one. Put your name on it and keep it in your pencil case. Emailing documents back and forth is not an option. Being unable to print at home is not an option. Save it to the USB and bring that to school. Sometimes I will collect the USB in place of printed papers, so it is vital for you to have one.
Vocabulary is important throughout your life. Your writing and conversations are expected to be on the eighth grade level. We will learn many (maybe 150-200) words over the course of the year. The word wall for each novel will be posted as we delve in.
Writing accounts for 35% of your overall grade. The other breakdowns are: Reading (35%), Participation and homework (10%), and class work (20%). You will receive a more detailed outline of these categories for your binder. Rough drafts are included in this category because the process and learning along the way is the biggest part of the writing process.
Expectations:
1. Be prompt to class and with assignments. Be responsible and get your work in on time. Please be advised that mechanical problems (computer, printer, etc.) do not excuse a late assignment (USB!!).
2. Be productive and prepared during class and discussions. Be attentive and on-task. Not only will you learn more, but you’ll save yourself time at home catching up. Bring something to write with and a supply of paper. Your binders and folders will keep you organized. I’ll help you out by printing very important papers on colored paper so that they are easy to find.
a. It has been my observation that most people get ahead during the time that others waste time. -Henry Ford
3. Be patient and polite with your classmates, your skills, and your struggles.
a. One moment of patience may ward off great disaster. One moment of impatience may ruin a whole life. –Chinese proverb
4. Be aware of school infraction guidelines. If you do not adhere to the school conduct code, expect an infraction. Do not be surprised.
Your lunch time is designed to be your “relaxing” and “fun” period of the day. Please do not ask to come into the class room every day. You are also expected to use class time wisely for Language Arts. If you cannot fully cooperate and focus for LA class, then expect to be brought back for lunch time. Let’s respect each other’s schedules and allow everyone to learn during class and relax at lunch.
Zucchini: This has nothing to do with class. It’s random. Sometimes we go off-track. Sometimes going off track creates class jokes. Last year, my period 4 class constantly returned back to the classification of fruit vs. vegetable classification. It’s okay for us to be random at times. Let’s just make sure that we get back on track appropriately.
