TIM (SHAMROCK) MCSHANE WESTWOOD MIDDLE SCHOOL
Eighth Grade Language Arts Room 08-004
COURSE OVERVIEW:
My primary focus is on writing, as it is informed by reading, listening, and speaking. Writing is a complicated mental process, but it requires a certain physical dexterity and stamina. With that in mind, the following Rules of Writing Practice* have been developed:
1. Keep your pen moving.
2. Don’t stop to re-read, re-write, or correct mistakes.
3. Don’t think; just write.
(*These rules apply ONLY to the creation of first or rough drafts, where it is essential to get words and ideas on paper. Finished drafts, of course, require much thought, careful revision, editing, and proofreading.)
By practicing their writing regularly, students should accumulate a great deal of first draft writing from which they can then select pieces to fashion into finished drafts. I recommend the use of composition books for writing practice. I normally do not ask to see a student’s first or rough draft writing, or a student’s composition book. I read only what is submitted to me, that which the student chooses to share. This gives the writer a greater freedom of expression in generating ideas.
We practice writing according to these rules during timed exercises in class. (I always write with the students to model this activity, and I share at every opportunity my experience as a professional writer and Member of the Dramatists Guild.) While writing topics are often assigned, the best topics are usually chosen by the writer. These exercises last at least 10 minutes, sometimes as long as 40 minutes.
STANDING HOMEWORK POLICY: Students should write for at least 10 minutes a day, strictly according to the Rules of Writing Practice, seven days a week, 365 days a year. This is in addition to out-of-class writing and re-writing assignments.
STATE WRITING ASSESSMENT TEST: This test, administered to all eighth graders in February, is an important factor in high school placement. It requires students to create a complete essay on an assigned topic in 45 minutes. The essays are scored by the state, holistically, on a six-point rubric, which I will gladly provide on request. Students practice for the test regularly. The results are kept on file. All student work on file is available for viewing at any time. All student work is returned to the students at the end of the nine weeks.
GRAMMAR AND USAGE: I believe in a normative grapholect, a language with rules. Students will be provided instruction in proper usage, grammar, and mechanics. In class we will diagram sentences to analyze structure and function.Our textbook (available upon request) is Holt, Rhinehart, and Winston’s Elements of Language .
LITERATURE: To the best of my ability I try to foster a love of literature. To this end, I utilize dramatic readings during which students are asked to read along silently. Simultaneously this provides a pronunciation guide for new vocabulary words as well as contextual clues. This year, in addition to shorter works and selections from the great masters, we will read from among the following books: Heroes, Gods, and Monsters of Greek Mythology; The Adventures of Ulysses ; The Pigman ; The Pigman and Me ; Hatchet; Stories of Edgar Allan Poe ; Robinson Crusoe ; The Wind in the Willows ; Introducing Shakespeare ; Romeo and Juliet; Macbeth; King Lear; A Midsummer Night’s Dream; Twelfth Night; Huckleberry Finn; The Cat Ate My Gymsuit; Oliver Twist; Great Expectations; The Metamorphosis; The Little Prince; Alice in Wonderland; Hatchet; Beowulf; Oedipus Rex . * Parent permission required for all independent reading.
ASSIGNMENTS: Each nine weeks there will be nine graded assignments, requiring students to develop specific writing skills, such as narration, exposition, persuasion, and analysis. All work submitted should conform to the following standards: proper heading, blue or black ink, cursive, margins, loose-leaf paper. Computer-generated or typewritten work is perfectly acceptable for all out-of-class assignments.
GRADES: Assignments are worth 10 points (9=A, 8=B, 7=C, 6=D, 5=F),or 20 points (18=A,16=B,14=C,12=D, 11=F). Grades are based on a 100-point system, using the county-wide grading scale. I accept late work up to the last possible moment before I must compile grades; however, my assumption is that the longer a student takes to complete the work, the better it should be.
EXTRA CREDIT: All students are encouraged to write revised drafts for extra credit. Suggested works include stories, poems, essays, plays, memoirs, autobiography and biography, critiques, experimental works, and studies, including written work of literary merit submitted in other classes such as History, Science, Math, and Art.