Transcript Back-to-School Night - Portola Middle School

Back-to-School Night
2012
Mrs. Gloria Miller
English 8
Honors English 8
Who is Mrs. Gloria Miller?
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Born and raised in Southern California
Current resident of Thousand Oaks, California
Proud soccer mom of three children ages 13,
11, and 6
Wife of an English teacher (yes, it happens)
18 years of teaching Language Arts in public
schools
2 years of teaching English as a foreign
language in Japan
Agenda Books
Homework should be written in the Agenda Book
EVERY DAY. It will never say, “No Homework.”
Expect at least 30 minutes of homework each night.
Please check Agenda Books regularly.
Late Work Policy
One day only
and
10% off of grade
Some assignments will say “ONLY” next
to due date, which means no late work
is allowed for that assignment.
Correcting Work in RED
Part of the learning process in this class is the ability to
find one’s errors and to correct them. The student’s
grades on most assignments include
a)
Completing the task entirely (Don’t leave any
question undone.)
b)
Turning the work in neatly and on time.
c)
Accurately and completely correcting your work.
Students will also add notes on their assignments to
show that they are paying attention to key concepts.
Please make sure they bring red or green pens to
class every day.
Portola’s Website
and Mrs. Miller’s e-mail
Address
Visit www.portolams.org to access our class
website. You can find out about test dates, class
notes, assignment due dates, and school events.
Mrs. Miller checks her e-mail about twice a week:
[email protected]
Jupitergrades.com
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Log on to Jupitergrades.com and update your
email and personal information so that you can
view notices and check your child’s grades.
I will post to your child’s account any
observations or concerns about your child’s
progress in English.
District Pacing and
Assessments
Narratives (September to October)
Expository and Research (November to
January)
Literary Analysis (September to June)
Poetry (February to May)
Persuasion (April to June)
Oral Reporting (June)
Literature Study
Students will be assigned study questions, tests, quizzes,
book reports, and essays on the literature we read.
Class Novels
Poetry
Short stories
Various non-fiction selections
Follow the Writing Process
Prewriting
 Write the rough draft
 Revise for content, clarity, organization,
development, and word choice
(Write a second or third rough draft)
 Edit for spelling and grammar
 Proofread for any other kinds of errors
 Publish a Final Draft
Writing in Mrs. Miller’s Class
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Students need to show proof of authentic
revision and editing on each rough draft.
Students will be given detailed Revision and
Editing Handouts for each major essay so that
they can proofread their own essays.
Students who do not show authentic revision
and editing marks on a draft will only receive
50% of the credit for the most current draft.
Writer’s Workshops will be offered before a
final draft is due.
Three-part Essay
Introductory
Paragraph
Body
Conclusion
Writing Concepts
Interpretation
Thesis Statement
Supporting evidence
Vs
MLA Format
Commentary
Plagiarism
Analysis
Citations
Computers
Students will need to type their final drafts.
They will need the following items:
*a working computer with internet access
*a word-processing program (e.g. Microsoft
Word)
*a working printer with extra cartridges of ink
*computer paper
Modern Language Association
(MLA) Format
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8 ½ X 11 white paper
12 point Times New Roman font
One-inch margins
Half-inch indentation for paragraphs
Double-spaced class heading on the left
instead of the right
Use only one side of the paper
Page numbers in the upper right with writer’s
last name (e.g. Smith 3)
Grammar
Daily dispatches (error correction, minilessons on common problems, sentence
diagramming, etc)
Grammar assignments for homework
 Grammar tests
Sentence Diagramming
Vocabulary
*Greek and Latin roots
C’est la
*Prefixes
vie!
*Foreign phrases
*Wordly Wise Vocabulary Book
* Use Quizlet.com
Carpe Diem!
Backpack Check
Encourage your child to clean out his/her
backpack every weekend.
Look for unfinished assignments.
Ask your child to explain assignments.
Look for corrected papers.
Make sure papers are filed away correctly.
Replenish supplies (e.g. red pens, pencils,
paper, etc.)
School Cell Phone Policy
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Students must have their cell phones turned
OFF between 7:50 a.m and 3:00 p.m.
If possible, check your billing statement to see
that your child is not using his/her phone
during school hours.
Help!
We need computer paper!
Thank you for attending Portola’s
Back-to-School Night 2012
Mrs. Gloria Miller
Portola Middle School
English 8
Honors English 8
Room 141