2534 NW 52nd Avenue
Gainesville, Florida 32605
Gainesville, Florida 32605
Chekhov used to say, I have my own theater, and people assumed he was talking about the Moscow Art Theatre, but then Chekhov would tap his forehead and say, . . . in here.
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2534 NW 52nd Avenue
Gainesville, Florida 32605 |
Chekhov used to say, I have my own theater, and people assumed he was talking about the Moscow Art Theatre, but then Chekhov would tap his forehead and say, . . . in here. |
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TIM
MCSHANE
WESTWOOD
MIDDLE SCHOOL Eighth
Grade Language Arts
Room
08-004 HOTLINE:
(use touchtone telephone) 955-6942, #5380 COURSE
OVERVIEW:
My
primary focus is on writing, as it is informed by reading, listening,
speaking,
and viewing. 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. 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 a finished draft. 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. 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. |
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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. TIM
MCSHANE
WESTWOOD
MIDDLE SCHOOL Eighth
Grade Language Arts
Hotline:
955-6942, #5380 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
systematic
study will proceed according to the outline of Strunk & White's Elements
of Style:
Usage, Composition, Form, Style. Specifically, we will study in the
following
order: resources, mechanics, verbs, nouns, pronouns, modifiers,
phrases, and
clauses. Our textbook (available upon request) is Houghton-Mifflin
Grade
8 English. 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; Stories of Edgar Allan Poe; Robinson Crusoe; The Wind in
the
Willows; The Hound of the Baskvervilles; Romeo and Juliet; Macbeth; A
Midsummer
Night's Dream; Twelfth Night; Huckleberry Finn; Alice in Wonderland; A
Christmas Carol. Parent
permission is required for all independent reading. THE
GREAT WRITERS: Each day the name of an acknowledged master, ranging
from
antiquity to the present, appears in the proper heading on the
chalkboard. As
time permits I offer readings from and biographical sketches of The
Great
Writers. 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:
Each assignment is worth 10 points (10=A, 9=B, 8=C, 7=D, 6=F), except
for the
last, which is worth 20 points. 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 finished drafts for extra
credit.
Suggested works are 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. Students may also earn extra credit by calling the Hotline and
leaving
a message, discussing literary or grammatical topics or reciting poetry
or
prose. McShane,
Language Arts Reading
2002-2003: 1.
Heroes, Gods, and Monsters of Greek Mythology 2.
The Adventures of Ulysses 3.
Oedipus Rex 4.
Romeo and Juliet 5.
Robinson Crusoe 6.
Alice in Wonderland 7. A
Christmas Carol 8.
Huckleberry Finn 9.
The Pigman 10.
The Wind in the Willows Class
Schedule: Monday:
Reading/Writing Laboratory (Experimentation) Tuesday:
Reading/Writing Workshop (Grammar/Drafting/Revising/Editing) Wednesday:
Sustained Silent Reading/Response Thursday:
Literature and Criticism Friday:
Review and Sharing Assignments: Free
Write
– Ten pages of first draft writing (front/back), observing the rules of
writing practice. This assignment is given only once during the school
year. It
is the first assignment, due in two weeks; however, the assignment will
be
accepted anytime throughout the year. It is worth 10 points. Five Good Sentences – What
is a good
sentence? It goes without saying that it must be grammatically and
syntactically correct. To be good, however, it must either increase the
reader's knowledge or be aesthetically pleasing. Worth 10 points.
Literary
Criticism
– Analysis of: plot, character, thought, diction, sound, spectacle;
appreciation of figurative language; relating art to life and life to
art.
Worth ten or twenty points. Revised
Draft
– Any revised or finished piece of writing with an identifiable
beginning, middle, and end: an essay, poem, story, novel, novella, a
chapter or
scene from any work of fiction or non-nonfiction, biography,
autobiography,
memoir, play, screenplay, dream, treatise, report, critique, review . .
. Worth ten or twenty points or more. Grammar
Test
–
Sentence corrections (including grammar, syntax, punctuation, and
spelling) and
diagrams (or labeling of sentence elements). In-class
Essay
– In preparation for the State Writing Assessment Test, given in
February, when students will be required to write a complete and
polished essay
on a given topic. Strategies and techniques for both persuasive and
expository
essays will be demonstrated. Term
Paper
-- Any revised or final draft of an
extended piece of writing, at least10-pages long. Successful term
papers in the
past have been creative memoirs of middle school or eighth grade,
biographies,
autobiographies, family histories, as well as traditional term papers
on
subjects of interest, ranging from baseball to World War Two, and full
length
works of fiction. (Minimum 10 pages, double-spaced, 12-point type or
handwritten, front and back.)
Points:
Term paper Idea (10); Beginning (20); Middle (20); End (10). Total: 60 (or more) Final
Exam
–
Four essay questions dealing with language expression, grammar,
literature, and
writing across the curriculum. Twenty points (or more). Extra
Credit: Call
the Language Arts Hotline (955-6942, #5380) and demonstrate your
knowledge and
oratorical powers, interpreting, creating, or just stopping by. Reading
Correspondence – Communicate with someone about your reading. The
Journey of All Time
– our Caught ÔYa story, worth one bonus point a week. Finish
or revise a piece of writing. I
encourage the use of cursive handwriting for handwritten assignments,
although
it is not required. It is my belief that it is, theoretically at least,
more
efficient, since cursive writing is more continuous than printing and
removes
the necessity of lifting the writing instrument between each character. Assignment
Schedule: First
Nine Weeks Assignment
points
due Free
Write
10
August
30 Five
Good Sentences
10
September
6 Essay
10
September
13 Revised
Draft
20
September
20 Grammar
Test
20
September
27 Essay
10
October
4 Revised
Draft
20
October
11 Second
Nine Weeks In-class
essay
10
October
25 In-class
essay
10
November
1 Revised
Draft
20
November
8 Grammar
Test
20
November
15 Literary
Criticism
10
November
22 In-class
essay
10
November
29 In-class
essay
10
December
6 In-class
essay
10
December
13 Third
Nine Weeks In-class
essays
20
January
17 In-class
essay
10
January
24 In-class
essay
10
January
31 In-class
essay
10
February
7 In-class
essay
10
February
14 Review
of SWAT
10
February
21 Grammar
Test
10
February
28 Literary
Criticism
20
March
7 Fourth
Nine Weeks Term
Paper Idea
10
March
21 Beginning
20
April
4 Middle
20
April
18 End
10
April
25 Grammar
Test
10
May
2 Literary
Criticism
10
May
9 Final
Exam
20
May
28 Composition
Books I
encourage the use of Composition Books, although I do not require them.
They
have served me well in my writing practice for a long time. I use them
for all
my first draft writing and share their contents selectively to
demonstrate my
writing process or include others in that process. I never ask to see a
student's writing practice or Composition Book. I prefer only writing
that has
been revised or finalized and selected for sharing. 2002
State Writing Test Results: Westwood
average score: 4.0 McShane
students: 4.2 23%
of all my students earned a 5.0 or above. Percentage
of McShane students showing one-year gain or more on FCAT scores: 73% 1998
FCAT Writing Test score
#students 2.0
6 2.5
9 3.0
17 3.5
24 4.0
26 4.5
11 5.0
13 5.5
1 6.0
2 (McShane)
109 students: average score – 3.720 2002
FCAT Writing Test score
#students 2.0
0 2.5
1 3.0
10 3.5
4 4.0
33
4.5
13 5.0
16 5.5
1 6.0
1 (McShane)
77 students: average score -- 4.158 2003
FCAT Writing Test score
#students
2.0
3
2.5
2
F 3.0
17
D 3.5
18
C 4.0
36
B 4.5
22
A 5.0
9
5.5
4 6.0
3 14% scoring
5.0 or above 33% scoring
4.5 or above 65% scoring
4.0 or above (McShane) 114
students:
average score -- 3.973 |