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 Welcome to Mrs. Wasserman’s English Language Arts Class!

 

I am very excited to have you in my class and am looking forward to a great year!

 

Materials needed:

  • A 3-ring binder, preferably 1 ½ inches,  (or can be part of another larger binder if that works for you) with loose leaf paper in it.  (I have several recycled binders if you need one)

  • 4 dividers (I also have some. Let me know if you need them)

  • Lots of pencils!! (put some in a pencil case and some at home - replenish throughout the year please)

  • A pencil case that you can bring from class to class

  • A place to put your homework/ any materials given to you (a 2 pocket folder or an accordion folder)   

  • A pen (any color except black)

  • Your charged Chromebook and a charger

  • Earbuds or headphones (I have extras if you need them)

                                                 

** You will need to have an independent reading book every day but we have plenty of books for you to choose from at school. :) Just be sure to bring it back and forth from home to school daily. 

 

Things that are good to have on hand for language arts work at home.

  • Post-it notes

  • crayons/markers/colored pencils

  • extra pencils

  • extra loose-leaf paper

  • reinforcements for when papers start to rip

 

My Expectations for myself as your teacher:

  • to create a positive learning environment where you feel safe and want to learn

  • help you become more confident and stronger readers and writers

  • help you be the best version of yourself you can be 

 

My Expectations for you as a student:

  • Come to class with a positive attitude 

  • Try your best

  • Treat others with kindness and respect

  • Be on time and prepared for class

 

Consequences

*I expect all students will behave their best at all times!. However, should a student (not you, of course) have trouble adhering to the class expectations, there will be some consequences. (For a severe behavior issue, a student will be sent to the office or sometimes to the guidance counselor and parent will be called):

1)  Warning

2)  Email sent home

3)  Detention during lunch and call or email home

4) After-school detention

5)  Office

*Can be sent directly to the office for serious offenses

 

Rewards:

*Golden tickets for prizes - *To earn golden tickets, you:

  • Maybe did a random act of kindness/helped a classmate

  • You WOWed Mrs. Wasserman with a comment or something you wrote

  • You worked really hard in class independently 

 *Weekly drawing for prizes 

 *Sometimes I give out candy too (lollipops or jolly ranchers at my discretion) as long as parents are okay with that. 

 

 

Homework Policy

 

I am not a big proponent of homework. If you work hard in class and are productive, you will have less homework. Sometimes you may need to complete something that was not finished in class.

 

Homework may consist of any of the following:

  • Readingand completing a  written assignment with the reading such as questions, post-its, thinkmarks, weekly reading reflections or IRB letter (independent reading, class novel, or book club)

  • We will have an ongoing vocabulary notebook that contains activities. I will give you some time in class (may not be enough time to complete all of the activities) and you will have about 2 weeks to complete them. You can choose to do these activities at home before they are due.

  • Studying for a unit assessment

  • Reading comments from me on a document and making needed corrections or writing part of a document/essay. Most of this will be done in class, but occasionally you may need to do some of this at home, especially if you were not productive in class or absent.

 

Grading Policy

You will be graded on the following (based on points per assignment) :

  • Written Assignments (Essays, Short answer responses – usually between 10 and 60 points)

  • Reading Reflections/letters (around 10 points)

  • Book Club Discussion sheets and discussions (10- 20 points each)

  • Projects and Presentations (25-100 points)

  • Unit Assessments (usually 20-50 pts)

  • Classwork (points vary but usually between 10 and 50)

 

Absences

*When you are absent, please try to keep an eye on Google Classroom and complete anything posted. When you return, it is your responsibility to find out what you missed and make it up on your own time.

 

**I am usually available during lunch and on Tuesdays after school for extra help or if you need to finish something up or for extra help. Please let me know if you would like to meet with me so I know to expect you. I would be happy to meet with you on a Google Meet after school as well if that is easier for you.



Some things you will be learning and doing this year:

  • You will read some great short stories, poems, and novels

  • You will get better at understanding what you read and hopefully learn to love reading as much as I do!

  • You will learn how to write better paragraphs, essays, and narratives (stories).

  • You will get better at using proper punctuation, capitalization, and grammar.

 

I am looking forward to a wonderful year!!! The goal is for EVERYONE to learn as much as possible and succeed!!