Mrs. Pam Downing: 7th Grade English / NJHS Sponsor

“If everyone is thinking alike, then somebody isn't thinking.” George S. Patton

Mrs. Downing: “You’re two years away from high school.”

Student: “And we’re two years away from elementary, too!”

YOU ARE

HERE

Reading:Multiple Choice (Critical Thinking Strategies)

Reading Response (Response—Support)

Unfamiliar, possibly uninteresting passagesWriting:

Timed Writing / no use of resources

Paragraph length / Essay length

Required prompts

CSAP (Standardized Testing)

Real-life application: ACT, SAT

Reading:Annotation / Multiple readings

Analysis (Response, Support, Connection)

Self-chosen texts / Classics / Assigned texts

Writing:Developed over time with resources

Three-part organization / Main point

Self-chosen and assigned topics

AP Readiness (Deep Skills)

Real-life application: Success in high school and college

CSAP AP Readiness

Writing Skills

(6 Traits):

Ideas/Content, Focus, Organization, Voice, Fluency, Conventions, Presentation

CSAP AP Readiness

Reading Skills (Critical Thinking):

Background Knowledge, Visualizing, Questioning, Determining the Main Idea, Inference, Problem Solving, Synthesis

Learning Process

1) With teacher guidance; modeling, direct instruction

2) In class, with support from classmates and teacher

3) Independent; most likely in the form of homework or a collection of final work

Areas of Study:Writing: Our goal is to take the foundation of learning how to write a series of developed paragraphs and make this series more FOCUSED and DEVELOPED, with intentional placement of details that support a central main idea (…leading to “thesis” in 8th and 9th grade). By the end of the year, students will write a 10-piece collection that represents a more sophisticated structure, transitions, and flow in a variety of genres.

Reading: Our goal is to establish a reading routine and develop a deeper response to reading, in which students use a “thinking starter” to frame their thoughts, move on to a very specific response, and connect their reading to a bigger idea, another text, or themselves. We also work on responding with a personal statement, backed by evidence from the text, and an explanation of how the evidence supports the statement.

Areas of Study, cont’d:

Vocabulary: Our goal is to establish a weekly routine of studying vocabulary in small segments at a time, using Greek/Latin root words, literary terms, and vocabulary from the texts we are reading.

Research: Our goal is to emphasize validity of resources, especially on the Internet, effective paraphrasing to avoid plaigiarism, and production of a final piece based on paraphrases.

Listening and Speaking:Our goal is to incorporate active listening, effective questioning, and basic presentation skills throughout our units.

Advanced Learning Plans

The key word is “LEARNING.”

Every Honors student will develop a plan in which they will use Bloom’s Taxonomy to define a level of learning in a specific area Reading, Writing, Research, and/or Vocabulary

Plans will be assessed every 2-3 weeks.

Questions/Concerns?

Don’t hesitate! Contact me, and we’ll talk or type…By phone: (School) 488-5742 (message)By phone: (Home) 224-2100 (before 9 p.m.)

Email: pdowning@psdschools.orgWebsite: Kinard Home—Staff Directory—

Downing, Pam—page link

And remember….

“We’re all in this together!”