Coyote Clan-  Grade 7
Tim Hayes-McQueen

tihayesmcque@seattleschools.org

Coyote Clan Syllabus

I am excited to join the Pathfinder community, and I look forward to having your child in humanities class this year. Please take a few minutes to review your expectations with your child, as well as look at mine.

Students should expect about 30 minutes of humanities homework every night. This is in addition to the reading of outside books. Your child has 2 journals; one for Writer’s Workshop and one for social studies. They will complete most of their homework and much of their class-work for humanities in these two journals. Please ask your child to show you their planner (student agenda), homework and journals on a regular basis. A good rule of thumb is that if the work is not clear, understandable and complete to you, I probably would agree.

Journal assignments, homework assignments, notes and handouts will be periodically posted on my website and available in my classroom for students who fall behind or are absent.

If a student is having trouble completing assignments, or completing them on time or is absent, it is essential that they make a point of seeing me. Together we will make a plan for their success.

Grades are reported quarterly in the middle school at Pathfinder. Humanities grades are reported in three parts – Language Arts, which is primarily writing, Reading, and Social Studies. Each of the grades will be based on class-work, school work and tests and quizzes, in the manner described below:

Grading

Social Studies (SS)

• 50% daily work - classroom and homework (most work in SS journal) Organization points are also given for being prepared for class. (Materials, planner with homework recorded, etc.)
• 25% Projects**
• Projects may include short term and long term, individual or group. Requirements will be sent at the start of each project. Some projects will be graded both for SS work, as well as Language Arts work. Students will be given daily benchmarks to meet, and checked periodically for progress. However, most seventh graders need some additional support meeting long term deadlines.
• 25% Tests and Quizzes**
• Tests will be announced a few days in advance, and will rely on notes taken or study guides given. Most tests will have traditional objective components (matching, multiple choice etc.) as well as short answer and long answer. Students will review skills needed before the tests. Quizzes will be short and may be hinted at the day before.

** The actual percentages may vary each quarter, as the number of tests or projects will change slightly.

Language Arts (LA)

• 50% daily work - classroom and homework (most work in writing journal)
• This will include points given for writing silently during writing time given in class, citizenship points given for writing conferencing and partner conferencing, and points given for effort toward producing drafts and note-taking in the writing journal. Organization points are also given for being prepared for class. (Materials, planner with homework recorded, etc.)
• 35% Projects and “Published” Writing**
• See SS above for more on projects. Published writing will be graded final draft work that has gone through all of the steps of creation, drafting and revision. SS projects will have written components that will be graded as part of the LA grade.
• 15% Tests and Quizzes**
• The number of tests and quizzes will be limited in LA, but longer answer on Reading or SS tests will have a component that is graded and applied toward the LA grade. For example, if an SS test calls for an essay written with a topic sentence, three supporting details and a concluding sentence, then following that format successfully will be part of the LA grade, while the content and correctness of the answer will be part of the SS grade.

Reading

• 25% daily work - classroom and homework, including daily work that demonstrates reading comprehension and effort, such as oral participation in discussions, questions answered etc. Organization points are also given for being prepared for class. (Materials, planner with homework recorded, etc.)
• 25% Outside Book Requirement.
• Each quarter all students are required to read 4 books outside of class – usually of their own choosing. They will report that work by completing various assignments, such as a simple form, small project etc. Students who demonstrate they have completed 4 or more books will earn an “A” for the outside requirement, 3 for a “B” etc.
• 25% Projects**
• Projects may include short term and long term, individual or group. Requirements will be sent at the start of each project. Some projects will combine SS work, Language Arts and Reading work.
• 25% Tests and Quizzes**
• Tests will be announced a few days in advance, and will rely on notes taken or study guides given. Most tests will have traditional objective components (matching, multiple choice etc.) as well as short answer and long answer. Students will review skills needed before the tests. Quizzes will be short and may be hinted at the day before.

Late work

Late work completed in a reasonable time is accepted, but at a penalty. The penalty will range from 10-30% depending on lateness, type of assignment, etc. However, students with a pattern of late work will find less flexibility in the late work policy. Students with excused absences will be given additional time (Or sometimes modified expectations, depending on circumstances) with no penalty.

Curriculum

Language Arts/Writing

At Pathfinder we are using the “Writer’s Workshop” approach to writing. That means that students will receive writing instruction and be writing every day in our writer’s notebook journals. Instruction will cover everything from mechanics to style to genre, but will be organized around writing every day. We will begin the year with a somewhat longer unit on narrative writing and then proceed through other purposes. Often our writing will be tied to social studies or reading work. Students should expect some writing homework in their writing journals every night – ranging from 15 to 30 minutes.

The units of study for Writer’s Workshop will be:

• Personal Narratives – Until early winter
• Essay Writing – winter
• Writing Fiction – winter to early spring
• Literary Essays – early spring
• Memoirs (This last unit may be somewhat abbreviated due to time restrictions)

Social Studies

Our year will be guided by the state standards for History, Geography, Economy and Civics, starting the year with a basic geography unit. After our intro unit, we will proceed through a study of these periods of United States history:

• Revolution, Constitution, and New Nation (1763-1820)
• Expansion and Reform (1801-1861)
• Civil War and Reconstruction (1850-1877)
• Industrialization, Immigration, Urbanization (1870-1900)

Throughout we will weave our study of geography, economy and civics together, hitting especially:

• Geographic tools to used understand the interactions between people, places, resources, culture and environments
• The availability and use of resources and the impact on economy
• The role of government and institutions in past and present economic systems.
• The purposes and organization of government and law
• The core values and democratic principles of the United States as set forth in foundational documents, including the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution.
• International relationships and how United States foreign policy is made.
• Rights and responsibilities of citizenship and the principles of democratic civic involvement.

Students have a social studies journal that they do the majority of their work in; both homework and class-work. They should expect to complete about 15-20 minutes of homework a night for social studies.

Reading

Reading in the Seattle Schools follows what is called a “Balanced Literacy” approach.

1. Students will be assigned to read certain novels, short stories, short essays, historical documents, biographies etc both as homework and in class work. This work will include several components; literature study, independent reading, small group literature circles, some read aloud and reader’s conferences. We are beginning the year with a novel by Ben Mikaelsen called Touching Spirit Bear.

2. In addition, students will read on their own, every night for a total of about 3 hours a week. They will complete at least 4 books of their choosing every quarter and complete a brief report on each. These books should be appropriate reading level. For the 4 book requirement reading newspapers, magazines etc will not be appropriate.

3. Much of the reading work we will do will be woven through the SS and LA lessons. For example, as the year progresses, we will be reading and interpreting original source material from the history of the US, using a variety of reading strategies and analysis tools.