Welcome to Class!Mrs. Shields’ 7th Grade

Language Arts

My experience

• This is my second year teaching at Ohio County Middle School.

• Before coming to OCMS, I did my student teaching at Butler County Middle School. I taught 6th grade Language Arts and 6th grade Social Studies.

My background

• I grew up in Horse Branch, and I still live there!

• I attended Horse Branch Elementary, Ohio County High School, and Western Kentucky University.

• Through Western Kentucky University, I earned a Bachelor’s of Science in Middle Grades Education to teach Language Arts and Social Studies in grades 5-9, but my passion is Language Arts.

Get to Know Me

Communication

• My email: niki.shields@ohio.kyschools.us

• My phone: 270-274-7893 x 310

• District Webpage: Ohio County Schools Homepage

• Infinite Campus: Infinite Campus Information

• Online Classroom: Mrs. Shields' Online Classroom

Support Staff

• School Nurse—Sue Ellen Holland

• Youth Service Center—Debbie Gillstrap

• Guidance Counselor—Tammy Minor

Classroom Community

“How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment before starting to improve the world.”

Anne Frank

Our classroom rules help us get along with each other. We will go over them more thoroughly in class, but it is important to let your parents know that I take the classroom rules seriously. Our rules are posted in the front of the room, but we also have school rules that we must follow in class. These rules act as “umbrella rules”, which means that they are broad enough to cover several issues. For example “respect” can mean several things—do you homework, do pay attention to instruction, etc. With that in mind, we are a team and we will work as such—so make smart decisions! Your decisions not only affect you, but also your peers.

CHAMPS

OCMS stresses CHAMPS, which is framework that guides the school and classroom rules. CHAMPS promotes responsibility on the students’ behalf. We will discuss CHAMPS in more detail during the first few days of school.

Conduct and Tardiness• Regarding conduct, students will receive a grade. They will begin the year with 100

points. For each infraction (i.e. disrupting class), he or she will lose 2 points. However, I do give fair warnings. In fact, I will give the student a couple warnings before I make a mark in my grade book. Parents and students, be aware that I firmly believe in keeping an open line of communication amongst us. If there is ever a problem—or a praise, I will definitely call or email parents.

• Regarding tardiness, it is very important for the students to be in class, seated at their desk, and on task when the bell rings. In fact, I have an activity planned called a Bellringer. The purpose of this activity is to prepare the students for the daily lesson. There are school penalties for tardiness, which I must enforce. We will cover it more thoroughly during the first few days of school. Students and parents, I understand the lockers and overall newness of OCMS will be overwhelming during the first couple weeks of school, so I will not count tardiness until we have all settled in.

Curriculum• Reading

• Informational Texts

• Literature

• Writing

• Speaking and Listening

• Language

The Common Core Standards Homepage:

About the Standards

Reading

Our first novel (after the Fantastic Fiction unit) will be the Novel Study Unit. We will read Schooled by Gordon Korman, which is about a current-day, middle school hippie and his struggles. We will also read various short stories, while covering the elements of fiction. In doing this, we will use strategies such as Think-Pair-Share, Directed-Listening-Thinking-Activities, and Jigsaw Group Activities. These are research-based teaching methods to improve the teaching and learning process…they’re really fun, too!

Writing

Daily, we will write in our Reader’s Reflection Journal. This is to summarize our reading, which is to aid in comprehension. This is also a way for me to assess your child in the individual reading. Also, we will write in our Writing Journal, which will be a series of prompts. Our focus in writing for the first nine-weeks, however, is a narrative and an argument piece. The argument piece will be related to Schooled and the themes involved.

Writing Folder Requirements:

Students are required to maintain writing samples to carry on to 8th grade. Actually, this is a folder that was started as early as kindergarten! As we create our pieces, we will go through the writing process and save them in a folder. This folder will follow your child into 8th grade. Students, I encourage you to do your best on your writings—this can and will make a difference in the level of instruction in my class!

Speaking and Listening

Throughout the year, we will practice speaking and listening skills to master the Common Core Standards prescribed for Grade 7. Because this tends to be everyone’s least favorite, we may start out with small tasks, such as book reports (over the individual readings) and gradually build up to a persuasive speech by the end of the year. I am also working on some podcasting lessons for this year!

Language

This is the least stressed area of the Grade 7 Common Core Standards, but it is an area that requires consistent attention. Because of that, I have mini-lessons and vocabulary builders to incorporate daily throughout the year. We will spend short periods of time, but it will be a constant. One example is the Sports Bracket exercise to learn about connotations.

Assessments

• Scholastic Reading Inventory (SRI)—The students will take this reading inventory five times each year. The first testing will be some time during the first month of school. The purpose of this test is to gauge the reading level, which helps me adjust my teaching to suit the needs of each student.

• MAP testing—The students will take the MAP test three times each year. This is an individualized test, which gradually gets more complex as the students get the questions correct. For example, a kindergartener that continually answers correctly can take the same test as a seventh grader that does the same.

Homework

We will occasionally have homework. However, it will not be any new material that we have not covered in class. Most likely, it will be an item that we failed to complete in class that is necessary for the next day. Having said that, I am also a mother and I understand that I spend more awake-time with your child than you do during the school year…so if it becomes necessary for me to send homework home—I will be considerate of your precious family time.

Take advantage of the Online Classroom!

Late work will be accepted, but there will be a penalty! The purpose of middle school is the transition the student from elementary into high school and then onto adulthood—so I feel it is important to help you become more responsible for your actions.

GradesAll assignments will have deadline dates. Late work will not be accepted after the deadline, unless mutually agreed upon by the student and teacher. Students will receive a reminder of work owed and the due date of the work. Extra credit is not available. Students are encouraged to finish all assignments on time. Students are strongly encouraged to maintain a planner in all classes. Assignment grades will be based on 100 points. The OCMS grading scale is: A (90-100), B (80-89), C (70-79), D (60-69), F (Below 60). Parents are notified about grades every 4-½ weeks with either a progress report or a report card. Throughout the year, Parent – Teacher Conferences will be scheduled, so parents can meet with any teacher, as needed. ESS may also be offered throughout the year for struggling students.

SuppliesSupply List• Folder• Endless supply of paper• Endless supply of pencils

Handy-for-You-to-Have List• Highlighter• Ink pen• Flash Drive to save documents

My Wish List• Paper towels• Tissues• Antibacterial gel Optional: Periodically, we will use crayons, markers, colored pencils, and other arts/crafts materials. These items would be nice for you to have on hand (at home or in your locker) since my supply will be heavily shared by other students. I will let you know when we will be working with these items.

Resources

• Newspapers

• Magazines

• YouTube

• Literature Book and other classroom texts

• Resources within the school, including the Media Center and Library

Classroom Schedule

15 minutesVarious Opener Activity—Grammar/Vocabulary/Reading/Writing/Test-taking practice

20 minutes Whole Group Instruction

MW—Non-fiction Focus

TR—Fiction Focus

F—Remediation

6 minutes or less Restroom Break

20-40 minutes New Material and/or Project-Based Learning

10-20 minutes Personal Learning and small groups

10-15 minutes Wrap-up and Clean-up

This is a typical day in our classroom.

One Call System

Please be sure to take advantage of the One Call System. This allows us to contact the entire parent community in one call to announce important information, such as a school closing, potential emergency, upcoming event, etc.

Questions?

Let’s Have aGreat Year!