Grading Period 4

Grades are determined by a performance assessment grade in addition to a process assessment grade, organized by standards-based strands:

Reading (includes Accelerated Reader) 38%

Writing (includes grammar and spelling conventions) 37%

Process (includes class work, homework, class participation, and citizenship) 25%

In 7^th and 8^th grade English classes, the average six-week grading period will have a combination of the following types of performance assessments:

Final draft of an essay

Chapter test from the literature book

Accelerated Reader (4-6 points)

Students must pass each assessment at a minimum of C (70%) level. Students not passing will receive a D or F on their report card, but will have an opportunity to remediate these assessments. Students who successfully remediate these standards will receive points at a passing (70%) level for that assessment, and a P (pass) grade on their next report card. Grades will be recalculated at the end of each remediation period.

7^th grade performance assessments for the 4^th grading period include:

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q Mini-essay autobiographical narrative (Literature book pg. 704-706)

Students will write an autobiographical narrative which is a story they will write about themselves. It includes a setting, a plot, a point of view, and characters.

q Chapter four test from the literature book, Point of View (Practice test on pg. 296-299 of literature book)

Students will identify the speaker and recognize the difference between first- and third-person narration. They will also contrast points of view in narrative text and explain how they affect the overall theme of the work.

q Accelerated Reader (additional 4-6 points this grading period)

A list of appropriate books can be found on the Douglass Middle School homepage, the teacher’s classroom, the Douglass library, as well as participating bookstores and libraries throughout the Woodland community.

8^th grade performance assessments for the 4^th grading period include:

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q Mini-essay descriptive (Literature book pg. 768-770)

Students will write a descriptive essay about a single subject by revealing many sensory details and describing the writer’s feelings about the subject.

q Chapter 5 test from the literature book, Literary Devices (Practice test on pg. 394-395 in literature book)

Students will identify significant literary devices (for example, metaphors, symbolism, and dialect) that define a writer’s style, and use those elements to interpret the work.

q Accelerated Reader (additional 4-6 points this grading period)

A list of appropriate books can be found on the Douglass Middle School homepage, the teacher’s classroom, the Douglass library, as well as participating bookstores and libraries throughout the Woodland community.