Junior High English

Mrs. Salmond

 
 

"Let us think of education as the means

of developing our greatest abilities, because in

each of us there is a private hope and dream

which, fulfilled, can be translated into benefit for

everyone and greater strength of the nation." -- John F. Kennedy

 
Welcome

I want to welcome you to Choteau Junior High School and to my classroom. I am Mrs. Salmond, your 7th and 8th grade Language Arts teacher. I will be teaching grammar, reading strategies, and the writing process.  I am excited to get know you and work with you.

Classroom Rules and Expectations

  • Respect- This includes your teachers, substitutes, guests, each other, supplies, equipment, and books.
  • Be to class on time.
  • Be prepared- bring all textbooks, notebooks, papers, pens, pencils, reading book, and any other items needed for class
  • Raise your hand to speak in class.
  • Follow instructions the first time.
Textbooks
  • World of Language -This is the grammar textbook and we will be covering all units in this book. This book needs to be covered.
  • Elements of Literature - this book we will use to look at literary terms, short stories, poems, authors, vocabulary, and much more.
  • Reader's Handbook and Write Source - we will use these books occasionally in class.
Supplies for Class

In this class you will need the basic supplies, plus one or two extras.

  • Pens
  • Pencils
  • Notebook paper
  • Highlighters - pink, yellow, green
  • Sticky notes and notecards
  • Journal for rough drafts and writing ideas
  • 1.5 inch or 2 inch binder (portfolio) for important papers
  • Book covers for one smaller text book and one larger book
  • A thumb drive is very handy to store documents that you may want to work on at home and at school. 
What is Choteau Moodle?
Choteau Moodle is an on-line format for student lessons.  This year the students will begin doing some lessons on-line during class time.  They may also use Choteau Moodle from anywhere they have internet access. Use the link on the top left to enter Moodle.
 
Book Orders

Students can order books to read from Scholastic books and help me build my classroom library at the same time.  Every order of books earns classroom points which I can use to buy books for the classroom.  Ordering on-line is even better, because Scholastic will give me a $3.00 coupon every time a parent places an on-line order. To place on on line order click on the link below and create a parent account.  My classroom code is J6FXF, you will need this code to set up the account to make sure our classroom gets credit for your order. Orders will be due on the 20th of each month.

Scholastic TAB Book Club

 

 

Independent Reading

Each quarter I will ask you to set a reading goal for yourself.  Goals are based on the Accelerator Reading points assigned to books. Every book has a point level based on length and complexity of the book.  For Example, Hatchet by Gary Paulson is worth 7 points, while The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien is worth 16 points.  You will need to determine how many points you can read in a nine week period.  We will set new goals for each quarter of school.

This is one of your major homework assignments in my class.  I give very little in-class reading time.  I expect you to read on your own time and I recommend setting aside a half hour a day for reading.  I also recommend that you take your reading book to every class and if you finish a class or an assignment early, use the extra time for reading.  I require reading material to accompany you to class every day in my room.  This is a challenging assignment for some students and if you are typically not a reader you will need to plan ahead.  This is not an assignment you can put off to the last minute.  It requires regular reading, preferably daily, to keep up and make the grade.

 

Writing Assignments

Writing assignments will vary greatly to give each student an opportunity to practice writing in all modes.   I believe that writing is an extremely important skill, and I will require multiple revisions of the papers the student’s write so that they have an opportunity to learn from their own mistakes.   I will attempt to make the assignments reflect the types of writing adults do on a regular basis.  There will be opportunities for the students to publish their work and to enter writing contests.