Grade 7 HOMEROOM/SCIENCE/MATH 1 TEACHER: Susan Kirkbride (MrsK@stbartholomew.org ext 27) ENGLISH/SOCIAL STUDIES TEACHER: Lynn Mathias (lmathias@stbartholomew.org OR Ext. 26) READING TEACHER: Dannet Menaker (dmenaker@stbartholomew.org OR Ext. 28) MATH (ALGEBRA) TEACHER: - Steve Bartl (sbartl@stbartholomew.org OR Ext 34) RELIGION: Germania Rebaudengo (grebaudengo@stbartholomew.org OR Ext 33) Homework - Students need to accurately write down homework during class (they can refer to the homework board at any time), and turn in the completed assignment on time. The St. Bart's homework notebook is very well organized for this. You can also check eBoard which wi updated daily. Missing or late assignments are deducted from the overall homework completion average for the quarter. Missing assignments due to absences may be made up. Students can approach Mrs. K directly as she keeps an assignment notebook or use eBoard which keeps all assignments for the year. All assighments should be done in blue or black ink, and be legible. Homework may be done on the computer. Every two weeks, on Mondays, an envelope containing all work and a dated discipline form will be sent home. Please keep the work, look over and sign the form, and return it to class. This, along with the quarterly progress reorts will give you an accurate picture of your child's progress. Please look in the homework notebook for red circled assignments with my initials; these are missing and need to be completed. If homework is chronically missing, or the signed envelope is not returned, parents will be notified. Science Earth Science about the earth's science history, resources, and plate tectonics. There will be units on weathering and erosion, meteorites, and astronomy. There will be films, hands-on activities, and demonstrations. In addition, all students will be working on a science project. This is due in December and consists of an experiment, a paper, a powerpoint presentation to the class. Quizzes and tests will be given, as well as an occasional alternative assessment. Homework is one-third of the final average, with testing making up two-thirds of the final average. Homework averages between 10-20 minutes per night. Every two weeks, an envelope with all of the student's work goes home. Please examine, sign, and return the evaluation sheet and envelope. This will give an accurate picture of the student's progress. Pls. check eBoard for upcoming assignments or missing work. Grading: 67% testing, 33% homework. English The course covers grammar, vocabulary and spelling, and writing. Grammar - The textbook is Voyages in English (Loyola Press). The children also have a grammar workbook, Exercises in English (Loyola Press), which may be written in and taken home. Seventh graders continue to learn mechanics of punctuation, as well as parts of speech and elements of a sentence. They will be analyzing sentence structure, clauses - their use, placement, and purpose - and constructing and deconstructing complex and compound sentences and inverted word order. Vocabulary and Spelling - Vocabulary in Action, Level D (Loyola Press) is the vocabulary text for this grade. Students will be tested every Friday on words they study at home. Writing - There is no writing textbook. About half our class time will involve writing strategies, ideas, and processes. We will do descriptive, analytical, and persuasive writing and research projects earlier in the year, and save drama, prose fiction, and poetry for late April and May. Grading on writing projects will consider the use of proper, age-appropriate syntax; vocabulary that is above an elementary level; organization of material; and creativity. It is better that a child express a complex and original thought clumsily than express a cliche well. Oral Communication - Archdiocese standards include a section on oral communication. We will do a few formal writing projects - a dialogue or play, and a debate - that explicitly involve oral speech. Students are graded on their class participation and their ability to express themselves in Standard English in full sentences. Homework - Students will have grammar and vocabulary homework on a regular weekly basis. They will be given a written rubric for graded writing projects. These are usually assigned early in the week for submission the following week. Grades - Grades are based on writing projects, the results of grammar and vocabulary quizzes and tests, and class participation. Extra-credit writing assignments maybe given to students who would like to improve their grades. Reading This course is more of a literature class because we apply our basic comprehension to very specific topics in works of fiction and non-fiction. Each class has a literature book, which we use to strengthen our skills before we begin our novels. We spend a great deal of time reading, analyzing, comprehending, and synthesizing these books. In order to accomplish all of this, we have many discussions about different topics in the novel and we work on comprehension questions to practice responding to questions on a multitude of levels. Students are also assigned one book project per quarter, in addition to their classroom reading.
Students are encouraged to take careful notes as they read the required novels. STudents will be keeping a journal with poetry and creative writing. We will also be sampling musical lyrics, poetry performances, and dramatic acting. We will cover organizational and study skills. Grading Policy In both Reading and English, students keep a grade-sheet of all of their graded assignments. This way, they are able to know where they stand, in these two classes, at anytime. All assignments are awarded a set amount of points (10-20 for homework, 30-50 for quizzes, 100 for tests and projects) and, depending on the completeness and accuracy of the work, students will receive their grade out of that total. At the end of the quarter, all the students’ points are added together and the divided by the total amount of points possible, in order to get a percentage. Social Studies Curriculum overview – This is a combination world and American history course. We spend the first part of the year in Asia, Africa, and the Middle East, beginning with the ancient Egyptains and touching on concurrent civilizations in China and India. We follow the development and spread of Islam and subsequent history in India, China, and Japan, concluding this part of the course with a discussion of European colonialism. Later in the year, we pick up the treat of American history from 5th grade and discuss developments in America in the 19th century. The textbook for the first part of the course in Across the Centuries (Houghton Mifflin), and the second part it is America’s Past and Promise (McDougal Littell). There is at least one research project integrating social studies and the English curriculum. In addition, we will discuss the arts, religion, and science and technology in the course of our work. Peer learning and group work are an important and intrinsic part of the social studies curriculum. Homework – Daily homework assignments for the most part entail reading textbook pages and answering question in writing. This is in addition to periodic projects and the monthly current events work. Math: 7th Grade Level (Kirkbride) This course is designed to discuss, practice, and strengthen areas:
We will spend a great deal of time on math basics such as number properties, speed drills of math facts, and problem-solving. Homework - Nightly homework will average 20 minutes and is reviewed daily in class. It is IMPERATIVE that homework is completed in a timely fashion. It is practice, and is therefore graded as being Complete, Incomplete, or Missing. All homework is graded on the percentage of completion. Grading: 33% homework; 67% tests/quizzes
Text : Pre-Algebra / An Accelerated Course Objectives: Strengthen
and expand understanding of concepts involving whole numbers, number
theory, Workload: HOMEWORK is assigned daily. Assignments, along with weekly and special projects, should require between 20 and 30 minutes of work per night. If your child consistently puts in more time than that, please do not hesitate to contact me. Weekend assignments will focus on enrichment and review. A CUMULATIVE REVIEW PACKET is assigned approximately two times a quarter. The packet provides the opportunity for review, practice and remediation of concepts and skills learned both during the week and throughout the year. A WEEKEND ENRICHMENT / SKILL DRILL assignment is given most weekends.
The assignment provides review of facts and skills learned during the
week, computational drill and practice, and enrichment activities which
require analytical and logical reasoning. Grading: Materials: 1 black
two-pocket folder in school - 1 black two-pocket folder at home Additional: The Math
Envelope will be sent home Mondays approximately every two weeks.
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