English 7 Syllabus and FAQ

Mr. McCabe’s English 7

Syllabus and FAQ

Hello,

 

As we head into the school year, I wanted to let you know what’s going to happen in your child’s English class. I’m sure you have a number of questions, or worries—I know I worry about my own kids. My goal is that at the very least, you will not have to worry about your child’s English class.

 

I’m going to answer as many questions as I can, and you can email me any I miss.

 

Will my kid be okay?

I will take good care of your child. I will make sure they are in an encouraging and safe environment, and that they are welcome in my class. I will help them improve in English and grow as a person. This I promise you.

 

What’s the most important thing to know about School?

If you do the work, you will improve. If you don’t do the work, you won’t. That’s what matters.

 

Your child will be successful if they do two things: 1) come to class, and 2) do their work. If you are helping your kids do those two things, you’re doing great.

 

How do I keep track of assignments?

Assignments will all be posted to Schoology. Instructions for the assignment will be posted with the assignment, usually in the form of a link to a google docs file. Other announcements will be posted using the Update and Calendar features on Schoology.

 

The easiest way to contact me is by email at [email protected]. You can also send messages through Schoology.

 

What are the academic standards? 

This class will teach the Common Core standards for the four main areas of English Language Arts: reading, writing, speaking, and listening. 

 

What kind of assignments will my kid be doing?

Most assignments will last one week and be due on Friday. We will include time to work on the assignments during class, so if your child is coming to class and doing their work, there should not be too much “homework” after class (except for Read 20, see below).

 

Plus there are two activities that will recur the entire year.

 

1) DLE

The Daily Language Exercise has five questions each day Monday through Thursday and a quiz on Friday. 

 

2) Read 20

Every day, Monday through Friday, the homework is to read for 20 minutes, and then fill out an entry in the reading log (I will give them the reading log) about what they read. Kids can read anything that was professionally produced; books, magazines, websites, recipes, sports, fashion, anything. Kids can read Dr. Seuss if they want. Anything.

 

How does my kid hand in their work?

Everything will be handed in online.

• Quizzes will be taken on Schoology.

• Writing assignments will be written on google docs and either shared with me or submitted on Schoology.

• Reading Logs will be kept on the student’s google drive and shared with me. They update it every night (Monday through Friday) and I grade it weekly.

 

What if my kid needs some help on an assignment?

I am available almost every school day before school, at nutrition, during lunch, and after school for at least 15 minutes. Kids can also email me, which is good because it gives them practice writing.

 

What are the rules for class?

I have only three general rules in my class.

1) Be on time.

2) Pay attention.

3) Do your work.

Any student who does these three things will succeed.

 

What about grades?

This year I am moving to a 4-point grading scale. This seems very weird compared with the standard system where 90-100 is an A, etc. But I like the 4-point scale because it’s fairer to students who miss one or two assignments during the year.

 

Grades for assignments reflect the following levels of skill at the standards involved.

 

Skill level	4-Point Scale	Traditional
Exceeds standards	4	A
Meets standards	3	B
Nearly meets standards	2	C
Does not meet standards	1	D
Missing/Incomplete	0	F

 

This approach reduces the negative impact a single F score will have on the student’s overall grade.

 

Overall grades for the class fall in the following ranges:

3.5 – 4.0 = A

2.5 – 3.49 = B

1.5 – 2.49 = C

0.5 – 1.49 = D

0 - 0.49 = F

 

This approach looks very different from the traditional scale where 90-100 is an A. But for most students the result will be exactly the same. No one will get a lower grade because of this new scale. A few kids will get better grades. Most kids will be exactly the same.

 

What about late work?

There is no penalty for late work in this class.

 

Wait—is there really no penalty for late work?

There is no late penalty for any assignment in my class. Your child can hand in any assignment at any time and it will be graded solely on its quality. Also, any assignment can be revised, and if the revision is better, I will improve the grade. 

 

What about kids cheating? How do you deal with that?

If any student is caught cheating or plagiarizing, the consequence is a negative grade for that assignment. The assignment can be made up if the student explains what they did to their parent or guardian. When I receive an email from the parent, I will allow the student to submit the makeup work. 

 

What do I do if I still have a question?

Please email me at [email protected] and I will be happy to answer your question.