GUIDELINES AND EXPECTATIONS ENGLISH
8
Mrs. McDonald 2007-2008
Dear Ladies,
A hearty welcome to you all!!! I hope your summer
vacation was relaxing
and fun-filled. In early June, I spent a week in
I have developed the Eighth Grade English program for
your maturity and grade level. The program is composed mainly of the study of
literature in close conjunction with composition, vocabulary, and grammar. Please understand,
however, that composition is a major component in the entire English curriculum
at Villa Duchesne and will be incorporated into every aspect of the course. Our
first quarter material will concentrate on the structure of compositions, the
basic skills necessary to write a well developed essay along with Summer
Reading discussion. The second half of the first semester and all of the second
semester will consist of the study of all types of literature and writing along
with grammar and vocabulary study. (SEE COURSE OVERVIEW) As I mentioned before,
writing is a core element of the English program and will be incorporated into
the course work routinely.
I ask that all of you have in your
possession the following supplies and materials AS SOON AS POSSIBLE.
Blue/red pens 1
folder text
in use school
planner Tablet
PC 2 pencils
SUMMER READING I hope you enjoyed the novels I assigned to you for Summer
Reading, along with the films A Raisin in the Sun and Jane Eyre. I really enjoyed both Anne Frank Remembered and Black Like Me. Both novels deal with the issue of prejudice
and bigotry which is a theme we will discuss in great depth during the school
year. We will be discussing these novels during the first quarter.
CLASSROOM CONDUCT No seat
assignments will be made. If at anytime, however, your behavior warrants it, I
might have to assign you a specific seat near me but I am sure this will not be
necessary. I do expect all of us to be respectful of one another and
responsible to keep our space neat & clean along with following the rules
set up for our English course work.
COMPOSITION UNIT
Expository writing will be emphasized this year in class. We will be doing a
great deal of this type of writing in the classroom plus longer assignments
which will be done as long term homework assignments.
CONFERENCE
PROGRAM All major long term
composition assignments (there will be one assigned per quarter) will be conferenced one on one with me. Individual conferences will
be scheduled either
during your gym period or during a specific class This list will
also be given to your teachers so that they will be aware of the day each
quarter you will not be in gym. Most conferencing will be done in my office,
Room 235. More on this later in the quarter.
LITERATURE UNIT
The literature unit will consist of reading and writing about different plays,
short stories, & novels taken in class.
GRAMMAR UNIT In order to write well, one must possess the basics of good
grammar. To this end, we will be studying sentence structure and other basic
grammar concepts which will aid you in our final goal of excellence in the
writing process.
VOCABULARY A
good understanding of and an ability to use words correctly is very important
in all areas of communication. It is with this in mind that we will study
vocabulary
My main aim this year is to establish, with your help, a
safe classroom environment where all of us can learn and achieve while
maintaining an atmosphere of mutual respect and responsible behavior. Learning
can be fun so let us all try and make our English class the most interesting
and enjoyable of them all. I cannot accomplish this on my own. I request your
help in this endeavor. If we work together, anything and everything is
possible. If at any time you have a suggestion on how as a group we can improve
our classroom environment, let me know and we will try to incorporate it into
the class.
My office door (Room 235-on the third floor) is always
open so please feel free to stop by at any time with questions, suggestions or
just to say "Hey".
WELCOME TO YOU ALL!
Mrs. McDee