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

1. Mrs. Pam Downing: 7th Grade English / NJHS Sponsor “If everyone is thinking alike, then somebody isn't thinking.” George S. Patton

2. Mrs. Downing: “You’re two years away from high school.” YOU ARE HERE Student: “And we’re two years away from elementary, too!”

3. CSAP (Standardized Testing) Reading: Multiple Choice (Critical Thinking Strategies) Reading Response (Response—Support) Unfamiliar, possibly uninteresting passages Writing: Timed Writing / no use of resources Paragraph length / Essay length Required prompts Real-life application: ACT, SAT

4. AP Readiness (Deep Skills) 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 Real-life application: Success in high school and college

5. Writing Skills (6 Traits): Ideas/Content, Focus, Organization, Voice, Fluency, Conventions, Presentation AP Readiness CSAP

6. Reading Skills (Critical Thinking): Background Knowledge, Visualizing, Questioning, Determining the Main Idea, Inference, Problem Solving, Synthesis AP Readiness CSAP

7. Learning Process • With teacher guidance; modeling, direct instruction • In class, with support from classmates and teacher • Independent; most likely in the form of homework or a collection of final work

8. 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.

9. 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.

10. 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.

11. 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.org • Website: Kinard Home—Staff Directory—Downing, Pam—page link

12. And remember…. • “We’re all in this together!”