8th Grade ELA Syllabus 24-25
Mrs. Fix
RM 209
In class, students will analyze authors' moves to become better readers and writers. We will use mentor text to guide our writing and grammar; we will use inquiry to guide our minds. We will develop the skill of discourse and support our thinking with evidence. We will come home, talk to our family members about our endeavors, and earn extra credit for sharing our learning. In short, we will develop fortitude, empathy, insight, and balance, which will help us lead a life centered on Christ.
Information
Novels:
I, Juan de Pareja By Elizabeth Borton de Trevino
A Christmas Carol By Charles Dickens
To Kill Mockingbird By Harper Lee. (This may change; depends on high school)
While novels are enriching, I will also teach the skills required to analyze text using shorter pieces of text, mentor texts. Thus, we will read a wide variety of genres, excerpts, short stories, articles and more. I will be working with Mr. Fix to determine some pieces of text we will use in order to correlate with the history timeline in Social Studies. In addition, we will be analyzing the behaviors and actions of those individuals we are reading and learning about by using the Catholic Theological and Cardinal Virtues. If you are unsure what those are, please ask to see your students planner.
Reading Homework:
I ask that you have your student read every evening. Please encourage them to read and talk about what they are reading. The goal here is to read texts they will enjoy and share their excitement; we want to create life-long readers.
Vocabulary:
Vocabulary Workshop Book Level C
Classroom Policies and Procedures
Grades
60% of student’s grades will be summative assessments in the gradebook
Examples of what may be in this section include but are not limited to: tests, quizzes, essays, and projects.
40% of students’ grades will be formative assessments in the gradebook
Examples of what may be included in this section but are not limited to: journals, vocabulary lessons, grammar lessons, and reading assignments.
Late Work and Absences
Late work and absence policy follows the student handbook and middle school policies and procedures.
Late work will be accepted with a 10% penalty each day that it is late. If they do not have me the next day, they should still make an effort to come to my classroom to turn in their late assignment. Once an assignment reaches 50% (1 week late), that is the highest grade they can receive and will be graded starting at 50%.
When a student is absent, it is the student’s responsibility to come to me to find out what assignments were missed after an absence.
Homework
Reading is encouraged every night.
In addition to this, students may need to finish anything they did not finish in class.
Students may be given the opportunity to complete extra credit at home. Extra credit will not be allowed to replace any missing assignments.
Due Dates
I have an agenda on the whiteboard in the classroom. The agenda lists the big items for the week, and I write a daily agenda that is more specific.
Please feel free to contact me with any questions. Email is the quickest way to contact me with questions or concerns.