Miller’s Message
A Syllabus for Moore West JH, Seventh-Grade Pre-AP Language Arts, 2015 - 2016

“Education is the key to unlock the golden door of freedom.”
-George Washington Carver
Instructor Information
Mr. Kacey Miller, M.Ed. E.A.
Room 304
School Phone:(405) 735-4620
E-mail:
Conference times:
  1. 7:20 – 7:40 a.m.
  2. 12:40 – 1:15 a.m.
  3. 2:30 – 4:00 p.m.
/ What is Pre-AP Language Arts?
  1. Pre-Advanced Placement Language Arts is a course that is designed to prepare students for the rigors of future advanced placement English courses. Students will be challenged to perform, think, and behave at an advanced level.
  2. Pre-AP language-arts students must exhibit the following qualities:
  1. An understanding that advanced grades must be earned through superior effort and in-depth thinking
  2. Respectfulness to others and attentiveness in class
  3. A desire to read daily and analyze difficult texts
  4. A willingness to be punctual to class and to arrive with a positive attitude
  5. A belief that homework and other assignments must be completed on time
  1. Pre-AP language-arts students will not be allowed to display the following qualities:
  1. A feeling that advanced grades should be easy to obtain—without superior effort and in-depth thinking
  2. Disrespectfulness to others, which robs others of their education; inattentiveness in class
  3. A tendency to read infrequently or to read texts at a superficial level
  4. Tardiness to class and negative attitudes

Key Class Procedures
  1. After gathering class materials, using the restroom, and taking care of hydration needs, enter class, sit down, and silently begin the bell-work assignment.
  2. Raise your hand whenever you desire to contribute to class discussions or need to get up from your seat. Wait for the teacher to acknowledge you (call on you) and grant you permission before shouting out answers or rising from your seat.
  3. The sound of the bell is simply a reminder that class is near an end. The teacher will dismiss you after books, desks, and other class materials are back where they belong.
Absences: Whenever you miss a day of instruction, it is your responsibility to go to the “Make-up Work” folder and obtain any missing assignments. Be sure to make time (before or after class, during lunch, or before or after school) to discuss the assignments with the teacher.
Class Expectations
  1. Respect: Treat others as you want to be treated
  2. Responsibility: Be on time and prepared for class. Take ownership of your actions.
  3. Effort: A person really can control only one thing in his life—how much effort he puts forth. Live a life marked by excellence—not by laziness.
  4. Courtesy: Do not rob your classmates of a proper education by interrupting the lesson.
  • Note: Above all, behave as a reasonable person would act, and refer to the MWJH student handbook for all other expectations.
/ Class Discipline Policy
First offense: Warning, reminder of expectations
Second offense: One-on-one discussion, possible plan of action
Third offense: Lunch detention
Fourth offense: After-School Detention, Parent contact
Fifth offense: Office Referral
Note: Depending on the severity of the offense, steps may be skipped, and other classroom-management efforts may be employed.
*Also, cell phones must be turned off unless Mr. Miller says otherwise. / Tardy Policy
First tardy – Warning
Second tardy – Warning, reminder of subsequent steps, possible plan of action
Third tardy – Lunch detention
Fourth tardy – After-School Detention, Parent contact
Fifth tardy – Office Referral
Note: Students are expected to be in their seats and prepared for class—not running into the classroom— whenever the bell rings.
Required Supplies
  • Wide-ruled notebook paper (enough to last throughout the year for notes, assignments, etc.)
  • Writing utensils (preferably a blue or black ink pens)
  • Donate one box of Kleenex to the class
  • MWJH Agenda
  • Library book
/ Recommended Supplies
  • One package of dividers
  • One three-ring binder for organizational purposes
/ Important Information
  • Plagiarism—trying to steal someone else’s ideas and presenting them as your own—will result in a failing grade and disciplinary actions.
  • Late work—work submitted beyond deadlines—will receive a thirty-percent reduction in grade and will be accepted until the end of a quarter. Late work will not receive any credit after the end of a quarter.

Literature: Although students will read a variety of texts, examine the language within those works, and respond to the writings with their own thoughts, this year’s instruction will emphasize the following literature:
First Semester / Second Semester
Literary Work / Author / Literary Work / Author
“Amigo Brothers” / Piri Thomas / Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry / Mildred Taylor
Freak the Mighty / Rodman Philbrick / Phineas Gage: A Gruesome but True Story About Brain Science / John Fleischman
Monsters Are Due on Maple Street / Rod Serling / Various other poems, myths, folktales, legends, etc. / Various authors
Blizzard: The Storm That Changed America / Jim Murphy

Course Description

This course is designed to equip students with the listening, speaking, reading, and writing skills that are critical to the development of literate citizens who can communicate effectively. With an emphasis on literature and the analysis thereof, the course will challenge students to explicate texts of various genres—poetry, drama, fiction, nonfiction, media, mythology, etc. Students will daily interact with and explore the intricacies of American Standard English; will learn to organize ideas and argue theses in formal, written essays, verbal debates, and various other research-oriented and self-expressive modes of articulation; will study test strategies that will prepare them for MPS benchmark and OK reading assessments, and for future ACT, SAT, and EOI exams. In short, this course will help students acquire Priority Academic Student Skills (PASS) and will satisfy Oklahoma Core Curriculum standards:

Mr. Miller’s Seventh-Grade Pre-AP Language-Arts Supply List

Required Supplies (for each individual) / Recommended Supplies
  • Wide-ruled notebook paper (enough to last throughout the year for notes, assignments, etc.)
  • Writing utensils (preferably blue or black ink pens)
  • Donate one box of Kleenex to the class
  • MWJH Agenda
  • Library book
/
  • One package of dividers
  • One three-ring binder for organizational purposes

Important Grading Information

*Note: Student comprehension in this language-arts class will be assessed according to an A through F grading system: mastery through introductory levels. Mastery level means that students not only have acquired the necessary skills, but they can demonstrate mastery without further help from the instructor and can teach the concepts to their peers. Practice level indicates that students often still need help from the instructor and peers in order to demonstrate understanding of the concepts. Introductory level means that the students have only a superficial knowledge of the concepts and need much more practice in order to acquire the necessary skills.

For each assignment, students can earn up to fifty points. However, just because of the way the district’s gradebook is designed, this fifty-point scale begins on fifty and ends with 100. In other words, a fifty is the lowest grade a student can make. It means the same thing as a zero —meaning the assignment was not completed—but in order to be fair for the students, the F (failing) range only consists of ten points, just like the A through D scale. In parent portal, a 50 will mean that the student did not attempt the assignment—or didn’t answer anything correctly—and he/she cannot make up the assignment. However, if you see an M, then the student did not complete the assignment, but he/she still has time to do the work.

Score/Level / Description of Scores
Mastery Level
A = 90-100 points / Complete; accurate; advanced; superior effort; neat; organized; insightful
Practice Level
B = 80-89 points / Mostly complete; mostly accurate; above-average effort; mostly neat, mostly organized
Practice Level
C = 70-79 points / Average in all areas: completeness, accuracy, effort, neatness, and organization
Practice Level
D = 60-69 points / Mediocre to below average in all areas: completeness, accuracy, effort, neatness, and organization
Introductory Level
F = 50-59 points / Mostly incomplete; mostly inaccurate; below-average effort; mostly messy; mostly disorganized; maybe No attempt to complete the assigned tasks