Middle School Language & Literature Courses

Language and Literature 6 aligns to the Ohio Learning Standards. Students have the ability to learn, persevere and apply their knowledge. In addition, students show self-motivation, accept and persevere through challenges of complex assignments, and have the desire and discipline to apply organizational skills and time management techniques to their work. Students are expected to read various genres and  be exposed to various literary elements throughout the year. Students will use their grammar and vocabulary skills to inform their writing in English. Students will be involved in research, public speaking, and vocabulary acquisition.

Achievement focus: careful examination of literature, including non-fiction, fiction, drama, and poetry; projects involving research and critical analysis of topics (written and oral presentations); continuing study of grammar reinforcing language communication and application to writing development; reinforcement of grade level vocabulary skills; development of the expository and argumentative writing paragraph; exploration of the multi-paragraph essay; writing for a variety of purposes; research skills and reading independently.

Skills and Attitudes Leading to Student Success:

• Enjoys reading, writing, and working with language
• Understands the writing process
• Has mastered basic paragraph structure
• Exhibits grade level reading comprehension and understanding
• Has an understanding of proper grammar, usage, and mechanics
• Practices critical thinking skills (application, inferring, analysis and synthesis)
• Has competent organizational skills
• Reads independently at or above one or more levels above grade level
• Assumes ownership of regularly assigned homework
• Contributes to class discussions
• Engages in collaborative small group discussions and work sessions
•  Is respectful and open-minded to the opinions of others

Achievement focus: careful examination of literature, including non-fiction and fiction, drama, and poetry stressing critical thinking; independent reading; projects involving written and oral presentations; study of grammar, usage, and mechanics reinforcing language communication and application to writing development; study of vocabulary; successful development and completion of a showcase writing portfolio, including a literary analysis, a problem-solution essay with research, two creative pieces, and a reflection.

Skills and Attitudes Leading to Student Success:

• Enjoys reading, writing and working with language
• Understands the writing process
• Demonstrates mature use of vocabulary in writing and speaking
• Demonstrates mastery of the well-developed expository paragraph
• Reads independently at or above grade level
• Exhibits critical reading skills (inference and interpretation)
• Reads and comprehends challenging literature
• Is able to read and comprehend reading assignments of 25-30 pages per night, depending on the work studied
• Demonstrates proficiency in mechanics, usage and grammar
• Has above-average organizational skills
• Assumes ownership of regularly assigned homework
• Is able to engage in collaborative small group discussions and activities

Criteria for Placement in Reading Workshop Classes
We offer an intervention program because reading is vital for success across subjects and content areas. Students are enrolled in a workshop class when they are identified as significantly below grade level in reading. We consider the following criteria when recommending placement in a workshop class.

• Student did not pass the reading section of the state assessment
• Student who has consistently scored below the 35th percentile on MAP reading assessment (district benchmark)
• Recommendation by student’s Language & Literature teacher

Reading Goals
Reading instruction focuses on strategies that will help students acquire specific fluency, comprehension and vocabulary skills.  

Foundational Reading Strategies & Skills:

• Comprehension monitoring
• Retelling
• Developing vocabulary
• Asking and answering questions
• Identifying main idea and details
• Analyzing characters      
• Analyzing relationships
• Inferring
• Summarizing
• Evaluating
• Using text features 
• Understanding text structure

We offer this intervention course if a student needs both reading and math support as described above, and in the math section of the Course Offerings.