Antioch Middle School

Course Expectations
Ms. Bender 8B English Language Arts
COURSE REQUIREMENTS
Your grade will be the result of your efforts on the following criteria: tests and quizzes, daily work,
assignments, projects/essays, and class participation.
District OVERVIEW of 8th GRADE ENGLISH LANGUAGE ARTS:
The eighth grade English Language Arts curriculum focuses on students ability to read and communicate skillfully in a variety of personal,
school, and real life settings. Students apply the skills and strategies of the reading process to: read and understand texts, analyze and
interpret a variety of literary and informational texts, analyze various elements of literature and explain how they relate to each other and the real
world, apply research skills to gather and use information for research and study purposes, apply prewriting strategies to develop ideas and
plans for writing and apply the skills and strategies of the writing process, write for a variety of purposes, and create a variety of accurate and
effective communications to share with others, use grammatical and mechanical conventions in a variety of written compositions, evaluate writing
for clarity, organization and purpose, revise/rewrite to improve communication.

READING
The goal for students will be read at least three novels in literature circles during the school year. All books included in
literature circles will be age appropriate for young adults. However, some books may be more mature in nature. If there
are questions or concerns please call or email. Interspersed among these novels we will read contemporary and past
poets, short stories by a variety of authors, and many forms of non-fiction. Literature will be used to emphasize the
measurement topics students are focusing on at the time.
Students will participate in our readers workshop by participating in SSR (Sustained Silent Reading) most days at the
beginning of the class period; this will typically be for the first five to ten minutes of class. This allows for at least twentyfive minutes on in-class reading each week. Its also wise to read at home at least every other night.
ALL students are being challenged to see how many books can be read this year. My only requirement is that students
read and take quizzes over at least four Truman Award books this year. Students will have a culminating grade at
the end of fourth quarter for this assignment. It would be ideal for students to branch out and read in a variety of
genres, but Im not going to require that either.
COMPOSITION (Writing)
Students will be writing in a variety of forms: fiction, personal/narrative, argumentative/persuasive, and formal. Typically their
writing will be completed in class where I am available to assist and monitor student progress. However, there are times that
students will need to finish a writing assignment outside of the classroom. Larger writing projects will have longer deadlines, so that
students may plan accordingly.
Through our writers workshop, students are going to be writing much more than I can actually sit and grade word for word, but
students will receive credit for completing the work. The purpose of the writing assignments is to give students the opportunity to
practice the art of writing. Practicing the skill of writing will help students to become better writers.
GRAMMAR
Students study grammar and mechanics within the measurement topics being taught, but these skills will also be isolated whenever
we participate in Daily Oral Language lessons. Although we will review many parts of grammar and mechanics, our curriculum
specifies that we teach capitalization, independent and dependent clauses, compound and complex sentences, use of the colon,
divided quotes, and adverbs.
CLASSROOM RULES
1. Be in your seat when the bell rings start your work for the day
2. Bring all necessary materials to class every day: planner, team notebook, free reading book, and a pencil bag
3. Respect others and their property
4. NO gum, backpacks, or electronic devices are to be in the classroom
5. Always perform to your best ability
SUBSTITUTE TEACHER

In the event that I am absent and a substitute teacher has to write down the name of a student for a negative incident, that student
will receive a detention or another consequence when I return. No excuses! Student behavior must be exemplary just like when
Im in the classroom.
TESTS AND QUIZZES
Tests and quizzes will be given periodically throughout the quarter. All exams will cover assigned text, lectures, handouts and
activities. Typically the exams will include a variety of questions; these may include but are not be limited to, multiple choice,
true/false, matching, essay, constructed response, and performance events. In the event of an absence, students are responsible
for scheduling a time outside of class to make up the test. Also, there are instances in which a pre-assessment is administered to
students. This is a method for me to see the extent of student knowledge before the teaching takes place. The pre-assessment
will not impact the students grade, but it will be posted as an exempt grade on PowerSchool. In other words, dont be alarmed
if you see a poor score for a pre-assessment, but please use it as a tool to check the growth and learning of your child.
ELA SUPPLIES bring to class daily
Planner Each semester the school will provide one free planner to be used as an organizational tool to help ensure
success within each class. Students will write the daily objective and assignment in the planner (this does not always
signify homework). I would recommend that students highlight any homework for the evening.
ONE SPIRAL NOTEBOOK to be used for daily writing assignments - The spiral needs to be kept inside your binder
except when its collected for feedback purposes. Students will be writing often. This writing will vary from quick
responses to longer, more creative pieces of work. Its imperative that students keep track of this notebook!
One TEAM Binder (Notebook) a section clearly marked for ELA class
o Current ELA assignments, reference papers, and loose-leaf paper
o ELA Vocabulary
Library Book Students are expected to bring a book to all core classes, and team teachers will expect students to read
once all assigned work has been completed.
Pencil Bag This pencil bag should contain all the necessary supplies with which to work: pencils, erasers, pens,
highlighters, colored pencils, and a handheld sharpener.
ASSIGNMENTS, ABSENT WORK, and LATE WORK
All work is due at the beginning of the period, unless otherwise specified.
All work must be written in blue or black ink or pencil ONLY.
Use only loose-leaf notebook paper.
Copies of handouts will be made accessible to students upon their return from an absence. It is the students
responsibility to obtain necessary assignments, handouts, and/or materials that was missed during the absence.
Remember to look in the absent bin
Its equally important that you remember to hand in any assignment that was due when you were absent.
Assignments that are turned in after an excused absence should be handed to me. DO NOT place them in the black trays.
Homework and classroom work will be considered late if it is not turned in when it is collected in class. Leaving an
assignment in a locker or at home will result in the assignment being late. The grade will automatically be reduced by
10%.
Team 8B teachers will implement the following school-wide late homework policy: If a student fails to turn in a homework
assignment, he or she will have one week to complete the work. All late assignments will automatically be reduced by
10%. All late work must be completed within one week or it will become a zero. Some assignments will not be accepted
late due to lateness impeding the functioning and timeliness of our class.
WORK EVALUATION
Assignments, activities, projects, or tests will be evaluated for specific criteria.
The grading of some assignments may focus on one or two skills only.
Not all assignments will be graded or credited.
Work will be graded by the teacher and by students.
Handwritten assignments should be legibly written on every line of the paper unless otherwise instructed.
Typed assignments should be in 12-point font and double-spaced.

EXTRA CREDIT
You will have very few opportunities to earn extra credit points. Extra credit is not going to be there to rescue your grade at the
end of the quarter.

Grading Policy

Final class grades are based on the following percentage scales:

93-100
90-92
87-89
83-86

A
AB+
B

80-82
77-79
73-76
70-72

BC+
C
C-

67-69
63-66
60-62
59 and

D+
D
Dbelow

It is my pleasure to have this opportunity to work with your family this year. I look forward to a successful year and hope
to make the last year of middle school a positive experience. You may contact me via phone or e-mail. Please be aware
that the telephone will not ring during instructional hours, but you may leave a message, and Ill return your phone call.

My contact information is as follows:

halie.bender@nkcschools.org
816-413-6268

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------CUT LINE---------------------------------------------------------------------------Please return this signed portion to Ms. Bender by Friday, August 22, 2014 as verification that you and your parent(s) have read and understand
the information in the course expectation outline.
I understand and agree with the course expectations.
Students signature_________________________________________

Date_______________

Parent signature___________________________________________

Date ______________

You will receive 10 points for turning in this completed form on time.
I have made an honest effort to include many important details; however, there are rules, procedures, or guidelines not listed in this outline.
Also, it may become necessary to make modifications during the school year. Students will be made aware of any necessary changes.