Welcome

1. Welcome To 7th & 8th Grade English

2. My Schedule: • 1st hour: 7th English (Yellow) • 2nd hour: 8th English (Green) • 3rd hour: 7th English (Red) • 4th hour: 8th English (Purple) • 5th hour: 7th English (Blue) • 6th hour: PLAN TIME • Supplies are to be bought in the specified color for each class.

3. Supplies: • 5 subject spiral notebook • Folder with pockets and brads • Pencils and ink pens in black or blue ink only

4. About Mrs. Morris 1/4 • As a child, I went to 13 schools throughout Oklahoma, Texas, Illinois, and Indiana by the time I graduated high school in Norman. I have obtained 3 Associate degrees at Rose State College and a BA in English Education from the University of Central Oklahoma. I am certified 6th-12thgrade English, 6th-12th grade Special Education Mild/moderate, and National Board Certified in English Education Early Adolescent English Language Arts.

5. About Mrs. Morris 2/4 • I have a learning disability, but I was never placed. I use my own personal strategies to teach my students how to be successful in Written Expression and Reading. I teach on level and advanced curriculum in my classroom. I share ideas/tests/activities with the other English classes almost on a daily basis. We move a bit slower, but we promote the essentials for high school and college bound students.

6. About Mrs. Morris 3/4 • I am very flexible, but I don’t put up with rude or indecent behavior. I try to teach them the skills they need to know to be successful in high school, college, and on the job. We have many class discussions and I am usually pretty honest and straight forward in my answers. I believe that now that they are in Junior High they should be treated as young adults and have a say in their education and rights, but they also need to understand rules and laws.

7. About Mrs. Morris 4/4 I have 3 kids ages 4, 6, and 9. Hubby works 2nd shift to be able to get them to school since Elementary starts after Junior High. So I’m a single mom for most of the afternoon and evening. They are all in spring/ fall soccer and I zumba…so we keep very busy…just like you! 

8. Discipline Plan • Behavioral choices will be handled as quickly and appropriately as possible. The following are possible consequences for students behavioral choices: • Positive Responses: Candy, homemade treats, verbal praise, class applause, emails, notes, and phone calls to parents. • Negative Responses: Informal Conference: Teacher will discuss behavior and corrective measures with student. • My Action Plan/Parent Contact: Student will correct behavior AND teacher will discuss behavior with parent and case manager. • If needed: Detention: Student will serve after school detention if behavior continues AND/OR Referral:Teacher will refer student to principal if the parent/student/case manager/teacher cannot correct the behavior.

9. Grading • Grades will be determined on total points accumulated on class work, homework, quizzes, tests, projects, and class participation. (The number of points allotted for each assignment will vary according to difficulty and duration.) These percentages will be measured according to the district’s grading scale: • A = 90 and above • B = 80-89 • C = 70-79 • D = 60-69 • F = 59 and below

10. Tardies • Tardies will be handled according to Highland East Junior High’s Tardy Policy, which states the first tardy will result in a warning; the second, one detention; and the third, two detentions. Fourth and subsequent tardies will result in office referral.

11. Late Work • In the interest of being fair and encouraging responsibility, I will accept late work after I have spoken to the parent and student, and will be documented in Parent Portal. If this occurs too often a meeting will be held with the student and parent.

12. If you were absent • Check the weekly agenda to find out what you missed. • Locate handouts/worksheets in your class basket. • Copy notes from a classmate or see me for a copy. • You have two days for every day you were absent to complete and turn in assignments you missed. Parent and teacher decision will decide if more days are warranted for good reason.

13. Make Up Work • You are responsible for all make-up work due to absences. I will post a weekly Class Agenda on my website every week, complete with all handouts, examples, instructions, and home work. If you do not have Internet access at home, you should follow the class make-up work procedures below, which will be reviewed and posted in the classroom, when you return to school.

14. Permission to publish student work I would like to recognize your child’s student achievement on my school website. The District values your child’s privacy; your child’s last name will not appear in connection with any images of your child or any of your child’s work on the Website. CHECK ONE (_____)I, the undersigned, hereby authorize Mrs. K. Morris to display my child’s work on the Internet. I understand that my child’s last name and personal information will not be included. I understand that this work is accessible to anyone who is connected to the Internet and the ownership of intellectual property cannot be guaranteed. (_____)I, the undersigned, DO NOT authorize any piece of my student’s work to be displayed on the Internet. Parent/Guardian Signature: _________________________________________________ • I will send home a copy of this for you to return and I will document in Campus.

15. Weekly Vocabulary Projects 1/3 • Each Friday, you turn in a visual representation of the SAT vocab word. This will serve as an examination in your knowledge of the word. If that word could be illustrated, what would it look like? What colors might symbolize the word? What abstract shapes and patterns might work? Can I show this word in action? What images might represent this word? Try to show us what this word would look like.

16. Weekly Vocabulary Projects 2/3 Suggested Materials: Expectations: Internet pictures Understanding of concept Windows Paint programs Concept is clear to the viewer Construction paper Student has full understanding Felt cutouts of word Coloring sheets Creative & Unique Art supplies Visually appealing Amount of effort Followed requirements • These instructions can be found on my website.

17. Weekly Vocabulary Projects 3/3

18. Projects Packets for Every Book 1/3 • Students will have to do 1 mandatory project per book/play we read. • Students will receive a list of approved projects and will only be allowed to do each type of project 1 time only during the school year. • Student project types will be documented in Campus along with their grade. • Projects must be done neatly and correctly following the rules set for each project. If there is a problem getting supplies for projects please email me.

19. Project Types 2/3 • Extend the story: write a final chapter that explains what happens to the characters. You could take the story in a number of directions. How would you like it to end? • Timeline– You may create a timeline on poster board that shows significant events as they occurred in the novel. • Create a Newspaper –Develop a newspaper and report on some of the most important events. • Collage – Create a collage that represents the book. Think about what colors/words/images/lines represent the novel best. Put these together to create a collage. • Movie Poster – Pretend the book is going to be made into a movie. It’s your job to design a poster that advertises the movie. What actors and actresses would you have appear in the movie? What roles would they play? Why? What kind of colors/scenes/images/background would you use in the poster?

20. Project Types 3/3 • Journal #1–Write ten journal entries from the Protagonist’s (Main Character’s) point of view. You will want to include major events that occurred in the novel, and think about how they would have made that character feel. • Journal #2 – Pretend for a moment that the Antagonist’s (opposing force) kept a journal also. What would his side of the story be? What would he have to say? • Create a Child’s Book – This book will summarize the plot of the novel. • Create a Game – Develop an original game that helps you prepare for a test over the novel. • Create a Soundtrack – Your soundtrack must have six songs minimum. You will burn a CD with the songs you choose. You will also provide a list of the titles and singers. You will also explain why you chose each song. • This packet can be found on my website.

21. Literary Elements for Every Book • Every book/play we read we will fill out a Literary Elements Packet to aid our comprehension skills. • The Packet will have all possible elements, but not every book will contain them. • We will even test once by this packet where the student will fill it out on their own after we do several together. • This packet can be found on my website.

22. 8th Grade Curriculum We will Read: • Taming of the Shrew by No Fear Shakespeare (translates into current English) • Call of the Wild by Jack London • The Witch of Blackbird Pond by Elizabeth George Speare • The Giver by Lois Lowry • Call It Courage by Armstrong Sperry • (Will pick out 1 more novel) We will Study: • Grammar Unit • Poetry Unit • 5 paragraph Essay Unit • Test Taking Skills • Fables • Greek Mythology

23. 7th Grade Curriculum We will Read: • The Merchant of Venice by No Fear Shakespeare (translates into current English) • Tangerineby Edward Bloor • The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin • Freak the Mighty by Rodman Philbrick • Flight #116 is Down by Caroline B. Cooney • Twenty and Ten by Claire Huchet Bishop We will Study: • Grammar Unit • Poetry Unit • 5 paragraph Essay Unit • Test Taking Skills • Fables • Greek Mythology

24. MY CLASS WEB SITE • Everything on this power point is posted on my website. Go to Highland East’s website and look under Faculty. I am the only Morris. • I have left up everything we did last year and will update it as we go on a monthly basis. • I will email a copy of the week’s agenda, handouts, websites, power points, and worksheets every Monday to the parent and student email accounts you provide. • I reserve the right to change our lesson plans as needed to compensate for time, ability, availability, and impromptu activities as they occur. • Emailing me is faster then trying to return a phone call. I have only 1 hour at the end of the day and 150 students. I can email from home as well, but I’m a mom of three, so talking on the phone doesn’t always work – as you well know! • EMAIL ME!!

25. THE ENDSee you soon! Mrs. M P.S. I LOVE Dark Chocolate ….and Johnny! ;P