Kristic@shilohsaints.org (479) 756-1140

Mrscaple.com Mrs. Caple

8th Grade English Shiloh Christian School

Fall 2014 - Spring 2015

Welcome! Welcome to 8th Grade English! My name is Mrs. Caple (pronounced "Maple" with a "C"). I look forward to inspiring student to critically think and give their best in class this year.

This is my fourth year to teach 8th Grade English, and I have a Master's Degree in Teaching from Harding University. Outside of class, I attend workshops, conferences, and seminars looking for the best information and skills to teach my students. Most important, I love teaching; it is my passion, and I am proud to be a teacher.

Students are in good hands this year in my classroom. They will have a great educational experience; I teach fundamental skills that are necessary for students to succeed at the next level with Biblical Integration. My classroom is well organized and efficiently ran. I also share life skills that encourage students to give their best in all situations, while making learning fun.

Again, welcome; I look forward to an exciting year.

2014 Schedule

Unit One - Weeks 1-9

Connection and Perspective

Unit Two - Weeks 10-18

Persuasion

Shiloh Christian School Mission Statement:

To develop Godly leaders who engage in their culture and change it.

"Let instruction and knowledge mean more to you than silver or the finest gold." Proverbs 8:10

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What

Matters

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Classroom Procedures and Expectations

Why Procedures?

• Without procedures, students do not know what is expected of them.

• Procedures facilitate efficiency.

• Human Nature is to have procedures.

Arrival to Class

• When students arrive at class, I will greet them in the doorway.

• Students will quietly be seated at their assigned seat.

• Pull out their tablet, laptop, or printout of presentation with pen s or pencils.

• Store backpacks under desks.

When Class Begins (Bell)

• Begin the Practice Prior Skills.

• When finished students are to read and note the day's learning goals on the next slide.

• Students should note any due dates in their calendars.

• Read book or type in journal if finished early.

• No talking or moving about during warm-up.

• Mrs. Caple will open class in prayer.

General Classroom Expectations

• All policies in the Shiloh handbook will be consistently enforced in the classroom.

• Follow all instructions

• No sitting or lying on tables.

• No leaning back in chairs

• No working on another subject

• Students are to reply with common courtesy of "Yes, or yes ma'am, no, or no ma'am, thank you, and your welcome." Do not respond with a "yeah"

• Be respectful of everyone and everything.

• Talk, using proper Grammar.

• Headphones are only permitted when working independently on an assignment with Mrs. Caple's permission.

• Do not do anything on digital devices other than what Mrs. Caple has instructed. If not on task, it

will be an immediate referral to

Mr. Cox with ISS recommended

per school policy. Do NOT do the

following:

o Take pictures

o Surf the internet

o Log into Facebook or Instagram

o Text or instant message

o Cheat

o Games/movies

• All devices are to be fully charged before arriving to school.

• Raise hand for permission to speak in class.

Expectations During Instruction

• Please give teacher full attention.

• Please do not talk while teacher is talking

• Please raise hand and wait to be recognized before speaking.

• Please do not start assignments before teacher given permission.

• When someone enters the room, students are expected to continue working quietly.

Expectations During Teams

• Students will be assigned a team.

• Students will be assigned a duty, such as, facilitator etc.

• No sidebar conversations during team activities.

• All team members must be focused on the task at hand.

• Students must contribute proportionately to the team.

Prompts

• When teacher raises hand, students are to stop talking, face teacher, raise their hand until everyone stops talking and teacher lowers her hand.

• Students are not to socialize while waiting on assistance from Mrs. Caple. If nothing to do while they wait, they should read a book quietly.

End of Class Dismissal

• The students will gather their items and clean up.

Kristic@shilohsaints.org (479) 640-5024

3

Restroom Procedure

• Students will be allowed 3 restroom-

passes during each semester during allowed time.

• Since the opportunity to take a restroom break is during the 5 minutes between classes, students are not permitted to leave during the first 10 minutes of class, instructional time, or the last 10 minutes of class.

• Only one student at a time is permitted to leave by signing out on the sign out sheet at the back of the room.

• Emergencies - I understand that true emergencies can happen. When a true emergency arises not during the allotted time, discretely ask for permission and sign out before leaving.

Preparedness

• I am thrilled with each day's lesson, so it is vital that students are prepared for class.

• Students that normally use digital devices for class, but if they have been grounded by parents from privileges, then these students must print out the presentation prior to coming to class in order to be prepared for class.

• Students may not leave during instructional time to retrieve any forgotten materials, make needed phone calls or send needed text messages from Mrs. Sabatini's office.

• They may sign out one at a time to go back to their locker or go to Mrs. Sabatini's office. They are allowed 3

preparedness passes per semester.

• A zero daily grade will be assigned the first time a student is not prepared for class. The second time the student will be assigned a zero and a referral will be written.

• Students are required to bring a book or digital book each day to class. Any time a student finishes his assignment early, he is expected to read, and get my permission to read a digital book.

Noise Level

• To be clear what I expect of students, I will post one of the following on the board:

o Green - Quiet talking allowed.

o Yellow - Whispering is allowed.

o Red - Absolutely, No talking is allowed

Attendance

• I will take attendance when the tardy bell rings.

• Students who come in late will be counted as an unexcused tardy unless a note or email has been sent.

• Late students should not disrupt class by entering quietly and finding out from the person next to them what to do.

Dress Code

• Shiloh's dress code will be enforced in the classroom. I will write a referral for any student in violation.

Assignments

• My classroom is a digital classroom.

Kristic@shilohsaints.org (479) 640-5024

• I will dismiss students to the door by row a minute before bell rings. Starting with the quietest row.

• When bell rings, I will dismiss students lined up quietly at door.

No food or drink in class because of the

use of digital devices.

• Only food allowed on Friday's. No drink on desks. Must remain in backpack or on floor with lid after a sip because of digital devices in use.

Communication

• Parents, please feel free to email me at kristic@shilohsaints.org, or call me at (479)640-5024. I am here to help make this an exciting and productive year for students.

• Students to email me directly when they will miss class, or have missed class. Also, the students should email me with questions on grades or assignments. It is important for students to learn how to communicate with me directly. I

• I plan to email or call parents periodically as well to keep them informed on students' accomplishments or an area that needs attention. After I warn a student and a violation occurs again, I will email or call parents.

• After communicating with parents and a violation occurs again, I will write a referral to Mr. Cox and will request a before school detention. After serving a before school detention and a violation occurs again, then I will write a referral to Mr. Cox and request ISS.

•

Classroom Procedures and Expectations

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• Students using a will download presentation into Notability, Adobe Reader, or something similar that allows students to draw to diagram sentences.

• Students are not allowed to use smart-phone, except for taking assessments on Junoed.com, dictionary app, or to take pictures of diagrams to email me. *Student must always ask permission

to pull phone out of backpack and ask

to permission to use it each time*.

Make-up Work from Excused Absences

• Students initiate this process and take responsibility. It is not feasible for me to request makeup work for each student absence.

• Students are given a day for each day out to make up missed assignments.

• Students are to follow the instructions for the missed day on the presentation and show me any missed assignments or tasks.

If work is not emailed or uploaded by the proper time, students do not receive credit for make up work unless they use pass and email by next day's class.

Deadlines

• Students are given one pass per

semester to turn in a missed assignment. It must be emailed to me or uploaded by the next day's class.

• Assignments will only be accepted one day late with a 25% deduction.

Enrichment

• All of these procedures also apply during Enrichment Class.

• Students must complete school work, study, or read.

• No talking is permitted, so that students are able to focus on

Kristic@shilohsaints.org (479) 640-5024

• All assignments are posted on mrscaple.com.

• Students are to upload papers to

turnitin.com, junoed.com.

• Students are to have a dedicated email address. Please have this

setup for class by Monday,

August 25th. For parental

protection, parents may setup their teens email account to be automatically forwarded to them.

• Students are to put their first and last name on all assignments.

• On formal papers, students are to type in Pages or Microsoft Word using Times New Roman or similar 12-point font. MLA format.

Materials

• A tablet or laptop computer is utilized each day in the classroom.

• If using a tablet, students will not need a notebook for class. If student is using a laptop computer, student is to bring a small 1-inch binder of paper for diagramming sentences.

o Students are to utilize a word processing program application for writing assignments such as Microsoft Word, Pages, or Google docs.

• Students without tablet or computer are to bring a 1-inch binder to hold the printed presentations for class. Student may write formal writing assignments in class and type assignments at home or library to then be uploaded to turnitin.com.

Cheating and Dishonesty

• If students cheat or are dishonest, an immediate referral will be written to Mr. Cox with ISS recommended. The student will be sent immediately to Mr. Cox's office.

Behavior Management

• If students are not meeting an expectation, then I will hand them a warning (white) ticket.

• If behavior continues, I will hand students a see after class (red) ticket. I will speak with them after class.

• I will follow-up with an email or phone to parents.

• If behavior continues, I will refer to Mr. Cox recommending a before school detention.

Parents are always welcome.

• Parents may drop in class and observe at anytime.

• Parents are welcome to watch students present.

• On editing days, parents may help students edit papers during class.

Procedures and Expectations Continued

5

Grading and Class Schedule

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Grading

• Practice Assignments 25%

o Practice for skills learned

o Two Practice Grades Per Week

o Completion Grade

• Quiz (Formative Assessments) 25%

o Assesses for Understanding of a Skill

o One or Two Grades Per Week

o Accuracy Grade

• Test (Summative Assessments) 50%

o Assesses for Mastery of a Set of Skills

o One Every 2 or 4 Weeks

o Accuracy Grade

• Summer Book Reading 2% extra credit

Class Schedule

• 10 minutes - Practice Prior Skills (Warm-up)

o Practice and review prior skills

o The students will be allowed to correct answers and check for understanding. These assignments will be graded for completion grade weekly.

• 10 minutes - Open in prayer and Instruction

o Instruction style will vary.

! Whole Class Instruction

! Jigsaw

! Think-Pair Share

! 4 Walls

! Literature Circle

• 10 minutes - Class Practice Assignment

o This assignment will give the students guided practice of the new skill taught.

• 5 minutes - Self-Assessment

o Students will take a short assessment to see how well they understand the new skill taught.

• 5 minutes - Closing

o I will recap the lesson and check for understanding.

o Dismiss to door by rows.

• Fall Course Outline • Unit One: Weeks 1-9 • Big Idea: Connection and Perspective

• Enduring Understanding Statement: The students will understand that a reader connects to a person’s life experience when the writer shows a purpose for writing the story; God’s purpose of sharing people’s life experiences with us is so that we will learn from them, be inspired by them, and gain a better understanding of God.

• Essential Questions: How do authors influence or shape the views of our culture? How does God’s Word influence or shape our views?

• Biblical Integration: Isaiah 48:17 states, “This is what the Lord, your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel says: I am Yahweh your God, who teaches you for your benefit, who leads you in the way you should go.”

• Texts • Poetry • “The Road Not Taken,” “ • Short Story • “Charles” • Stories • All of the Above by Shelley Pearsall • Informative Text • Diagramming Sentences • ACT Grammar • Reading Comprehension • Unit 2 Weeks 10-18 • Big Idea: Persuasion • Enduring Understanding Statement: Students will

understand the importance of citing evidence when trying to persuade others.

• Essential Questions: What items are considered valid evidence?

• What is the difference between fact or opinion? • Biblical Integration: Sometimes all of the facts and

evidence will not convince others; however, with God all things are possible.

• Text • Story • Book of Choice

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Kristic@shilohsaints.org

(479) 640-5024