7th Grade Parent Letter

September 14, 2011

Dear 7th Grade Parents,

I have enjoyed the first days with this class! One of the great advantages of being in a school like St. Matthew is that even before we have students in our classroom, we know many of them from all school activities. It has been great get to know them at a new level. I'm sure we will have a wonderful year!

We have a student teacher in the classroom, Ms. Josie Karcz. She us with me as a student teacher from St. Norbert College and will be in our classroom until November 4. Please see her message at the bottom.

This school year, I will have the 7th grade for Literature and Language Arts (grammar, writing, and spelling). We will meet 10 times a week for these classes. I will be weighting grades and will use the grading scale as listed in the handbook. Please review the back of this page for some "at your fingertips" information.

In literature, we are beginning the year with several short stories that we will use to review reading strategies. Then, we will begin work with novels. Throughout the year we will read a variety of genres. We will also spend time taking about how to read different types of writing and taking notes on the various types as well. Students will be required to read outside of school as well and will complete three in-depth book reports as well as independent book chats with me.

Some of the work we will read includes; The Outsiders, The Giver, A Christmas Carol, and A Separate Peace. In addition, we will read a variety of suspenseful short stories, complete a narrative poetry unit, and study Shakespeare so students will be able to learn and perform a play.

In Language Arts, we will be doing a lot of writing this year. The beginning of the year will focus on writing a 5-paragraph essay and writing a report with several sources. Later in the year they will learn to write persuasive essays, "how to" papers, eyewitness accounts, and more. Students will also have the opportunity to do some creative story writing.

Our study of grammar will begin with reviewing the basic parts of speech and spending a significant amount of time on sentence and paragraph structure. Our English textbook will be used to teach students to apply their grammar skills in their writing. Proofreading and editing skills will help students grow in their use of grammar.

Finally, students will have a spelling unit most weeks. The words for these units will come from their vocabulary in Literature, Science, Social Studies, and Math as well as other 7th grade level words. The vocabulary aspect of this is as important as the spelling so definitions will be required on each test.

Again, if you have any other questions that I can answer, please feel free to email me at lgoldman@stmatthewschoolgb.org or call the school office and leave a message for me.

Sincerely,
Liz Goldman

Message from Ms. Karcz
I am a native of De Pere who attends St. Norbert College. Since I have always enjoyed reading and working with children, I am pursuing a major in English to teach middle school and high school. My middle school English classes were my absolute favorites, so I am enthusiastic to be able to student teach at this level. The St. Matt's students and faculty have also made a warm impression on me, and I'm excited to be a part of your community this fall. Apart from reading, I also enjoy being outdoors, tennis, and art.