8th Grade Humanities Course Description 2022-2023
Teacher: Michelle Bell
Phone: 831-464-5660 Office: Room 12
Email: [email protected]
Welcome to 8th Grade Humanities! ‘Humanities’ is a two-period class: one period for Language Arts and one period for Social Studies. During both classes we will be reading, analyzing, and discussing information from a variety of texts, working to improve our writing and speaking skills, and exploring United States history.
Office Hours By appointment more hours will be available once our needs are established.
Class Website: http://michellebell.weebly.com/
The website contains a live feed to the daily agenda and homework, as well as a lot of other helpful tools.When you are absent, check the website for work that you can do while you are gone or in the alloted time once you return.
Text: California Collections, United States History American Stories- and an AR book
Language Arts: Writing
Homework: Assignments are started in class and finished at home. More time will be spent on projects. Students may handwrite notes, etc. and take a legible picture of written notes to submit if completed on paper instead of Google Classroom. Students are to use their daily planners for homework assignments for all of their classes. Parents can access classroom and homework assignments through their child’s daily planner, or see our class website http://michellebell.weebly.com/
Grading Policy
Social Studies
Assessments 30%
Interactive Notebook/notes 20%
Speaking, Listening and Participation 10%
Primary Source/NewsELA 10%
Projects/Simulations 30%
Language Arts
AR: Independent Reading AR quizzes or Independent Newsela 10%
Grammar/NoRedInk 15%
Reading fiction, nonfiction 25%
Vocabulary Practice/Quizzes 15%
Writing: Performance Tasks 25%
Speaking, Listening and Participation 10%
Absent? YOU are responsible to make up missed assignments, tests, quizzes etc. due to illness. Check the assignment binder, and online, check in with a class buddy, and then schedule a time with me. You are responsible to make up tests, and or quizzes within one week upon your return.
Google Classroom: Google Classroom is a way for teachers to create and collect assignments digitally. We will be using Google Drive which will keep all assignments organized. You have individual SUESD Google accounts in which you will be able to keep track of what’s due on the assignments page and work on assignments from any computer. The website is classroom.google.com
Bathroom Use: Students are expected to take care of their needs before school, after school, at lunch, break or during passing periods.
Hallways:
Respect: Use appropriate language, access lockers calmly and quietly at appropriate times (passing period),Noise Level 0/1 when class is in session
Safe: Walk in hallways, keep hands and feet to yourself, stay inside of marked lines before, during and after school
Kind: Be inclusive and kind in your actions and words, say excuse me if you accidentally bump into someone, offer help if needed
Responsible: Pick up garbage, use a quiet voice
Classroom Rules:
It is important to create a warm, productive, and safe learning community for all students and the teacher as well. We follow the New Brighton Way:
Be respectful Be responsible Be safe Be kind
-Be in class on time with required materials
-Keep a positive attitude toward peers
-Electronic devices remain in backpack and shut off unless told otherwise by the teacher
-Follow directions and stay on task
-Wait to be instructed before packing up
-Swearing, Name calling/Teasing, and arguing do not belong in the classroom or at school
Consequences: New Brighton subscribes to Positive Behavior Intervention Support (PBIS) to ensure a safe learning environment for all students. If a student does choose to repeatedly act in a way that disrespects others, the following actions will be taken:
1st Offense Conference with teacher and formal warning
2nd Offense Intervention and contact parent
3rd Offense Intervention and contact parent
4th Offense Referral and sent to school administration
STUDENTS POSITIVELY RECOGNIZED:
I look forward to commending you on your successes this year. There are many ways to be recognized, including receiving a Viking Voucher for following the New Brighton Way (being respectful, safe, kind, and responsible), contacting parents for a job well done, and even school-wide awards related to participation in sports, band, student leadership, clubs, academic achievement, and school service.
Classroom donation: Please consider making a donation to support our classroom. Amazon gift cards are always appreciated. Please consider a donation to Room 12 of $5, $10, $15 or any amount to our class. This money is collected in a classroom account and is used for classroom materials, projects, and supplies. Checks should be made out to NBMS Room 12. Cash is ok as well and should be sealed in an envelope. Another option is grocery/NBMS rewards that benefit Room 12. Please inquire at the office for information. Thank you very much, we all appreciate your financial support.
RECOMMENDED SCHOOL SUPPLIES
-Check your materials at the 1st of each month
Must Haves daily:
One 3-ring binder, 1 ½”-2”
Binder tab dividers: ELA and SS
A good supply of #2 pencils or Mechanical pencil
Colored pencils
Pencil pouch
Backpack/book bag
Small pencil sharpener which holds shavings
Good to have:
Glue stick
Pens
Markers
Extra erasers
Highlighter
A supply of lined paper in binder and at home
In-binder hole punch
Misc.: Please contact Mrs. Bell if you have any other questions not outlined in the syllabus.
Please sign below and have your parents sign after you have read and understood the attached classroom syllabus. Keep this information in your binder at all times. A PDF can also be found on my class website. Please Sign and Keep in your binder
We have read and understand all of the classroom expectations.
Student Signature __________________Parent Signature __________________
Teacher: Michelle Bell
Phone: 831-464-5660 Office: Room 12
Email: [email protected]
Welcome to 8th Grade Humanities! ‘Humanities’ is a two-period class: one period for Language Arts and one period for Social Studies. During both classes we will be reading, analyzing, and discussing information from a variety of texts, working to improve our writing and speaking skills, and exploring United States history.
Office Hours By appointment more hours will be available once our needs are established.
Class Website: http://michellebell.weebly.com/
The website contains a live feed to the daily agenda and homework, as well as a lot of other helpful tools.When you are absent, check the website for work that you can do while you are gone or in the alloted time once you return.
Text: California Collections, United States History American Stories- and an AR book
Language Arts: Writing
- Writing Styles: narrative, expository, and argumentative, and research report
- Writing process: pre-writing, draft, revision, editing and publishing
- Grammar: sentence structure, parts of speech, punctuation, capitalization, and spelling
- Reading: vocabulary development, reading comprehension and literary response/analysis (poetry, non-fiction, short stories, and myths).
- Novel studies: Short stories, Collections
- Accelerated Reader: Students are required to read 30 minutes a day and take quizzes.
- In social studies students will study important events of United States history, from the birth of our nation to The Civil War.
- Critical thinking skills and cooperative learning will be incorporated throughout every unit.
- You will keep an interactive notebook. The notebook will contain everything we do in History: notes, written assignments, maps, diagrams, artwork, and timelines. This will be collected and graded periodically.
- Follow NBMS Behavior Matrix
- Come to class every day prepared.
- Be in your seat ready to learn and be engaged when the bell rings
- Please sign up for Remind. It is a free app for students and parents to receive reminders about important assignments, events, etc.
- B.Y.O.D- Bring your own school provided device See N.B.M.S Planner for guidelines.
Homework: Assignments are started in class and finished at home. More time will be spent on projects. Students may handwrite notes, etc. and take a legible picture of written notes to submit if completed on paper instead of Google Classroom. Students are to use their daily planners for homework assignments for all of their classes. Parents can access classroom and homework assignments through their child’s daily planner, or see our class website http://michellebell.weebly.com/
Grading Policy
Social Studies
Assessments 30%
Interactive Notebook/notes 20%
Speaking, Listening and Participation 10%
Primary Source/NewsELA 10%
Projects/Simulations 30%
Language Arts
AR: Independent Reading AR quizzes or Independent Newsela 10%
Grammar/NoRedInk 15%
Reading fiction, nonfiction 25%
Vocabulary Practice/Quizzes 15%
Writing: Performance Tasks 25%
Speaking, Listening and Participation 10%
- Daily assignments are always due the next day unless stated otherwise.
- Grades are updated almost weekly- because of this, it is the responsibility of the student/parent/ guardian to keep up to date on grades and make up work in our online grading program.
- Students may ask to redo a large assignment for an upgrade, this includes but is not limited to tests, writing assignments, and projects.Late work will not be accepted on daily assignments. Exception: a note from a parent or guardian explaining the unusual circumstance. Sports is not an unusual circumstance! I will always honor F credit for an assignment attempted after the due date, which always beats a zero by 59%.
- Large assignments/projects will be 10% down, one full letter grade lower, for each day late.
- Missing Assignments: In-class assignments that are not turned in will be marked as “Missing”. Students should check the “Missing Assignments” on their online platform to make sure they aren’t missing anything. Also, check the No Name papers.
- Late Work: Students have one day from when the assignment is due to turn in a late assignment without penalty. After that, students can still turn in assignments, but points will be deducted.
- Poor Assignment Grades: Students earning lower than 70% on an assignment may submit corrections to improve their grade to a C. Corrections must include the correction, why you got it wrong, and how you fixed it. Corrections are due one week from the original return date. See test correction form
Absent? YOU are responsible to make up missed assignments, tests, quizzes etc. due to illness. Check the assignment binder, and online, check in with a class buddy, and then schedule a time with me. You are responsible to make up tests, and or quizzes within one week upon your return.
Google Classroom: Google Classroom is a way for teachers to create and collect assignments digitally. We will be using Google Drive which will keep all assignments organized. You have individual SUESD Google accounts in which you will be able to keep track of what’s due on the assignments page and work on assignments from any computer. The website is classroom.google.com
Bathroom Use: Students are expected to take care of their needs before school, after school, at lunch, break or during passing periods.
Hallways:
Respect: Use appropriate language, access lockers calmly and quietly at appropriate times (passing period),Noise Level 0/1 when class is in session
Safe: Walk in hallways, keep hands and feet to yourself, stay inside of marked lines before, during and after school
Kind: Be inclusive and kind in your actions and words, say excuse me if you accidentally bump into someone, offer help if needed
Responsible: Pick up garbage, use a quiet voice
Classroom Rules:
It is important to create a warm, productive, and safe learning community for all students and the teacher as well. We follow the New Brighton Way:
Be respectful Be responsible Be safe Be kind
-Be in class on time with required materials
-Keep a positive attitude toward peers
-Electronic devices remain in backpack and shut off unless told otherwise by the teacher
-Follow directions and stay on task
-Wait to be instructed before packing up
-Swearing, Name calling/Teasing, and arguing do not belong in the classroom or at school
Consequences: New Brighton subscribes to Positive Behavior Intervention Support (PBIS) to ensure a safe learning environment for all students. If a student does choose to repeatedly act in a way that disrespects others, the following actions will be taken:
1st Offense Conference with teacher and formal warning
2nd Offense Intervention and contact parent
3rd Offense Intervention and contact parent
4th Offense Referral and sent to school administration
STUDENTS POSITIVELY RECOGNIZED:
I look forward to commending you on your successes this year. There are many ways to be recognized, including receiving a Viking Voucher for following the New Brighton Way (being respectful, safe, kind, and responsible), contacting parents for a job well done, and even school-wide awards related to participation in sports, band, student leadership, clubs, academic achievement, and school service.
Classroom donation: Please consider making a donation to support our classroom. Amazon gift cards are always appreciated. Please consider a donation to Room 12 of $5, $10, $15 or any amount to our class. This money is collected in a classroom account and is used for classroom materials, projects, and supplies. Checks should be made out to NBMS Room 12. Cash is ok as well and should be sealed in an envelope. Another option is grocery/NBMS rewards that benefit Room 12. Please inquire at the office for information. Thank you very much, we all appreciate your financial support.
RECOMMENDED SCHOOL SUPPLIES
-Check your materials at the 1st of each month
Must Haves daily:
One 3-ring binder, 1 ½”-2”
Binder tab dividers: ELA and SS
A good supply of #2 pencils or Mechanical pencil
Colored pencils
Pencil pouch
Backpack/book bag
Small pencil sharpener which holds shavings
Good to have:
Glue stick
Pens
Markers
Extra erasers
Highlighter
A supply of lined paper in binder and at home
In-binder hole punch
Misc.: Please contact Mrs. Bell if you have any other questions not outlined in the syllabus.
Please sign below and have your parents sign after you have read and understood the attached classroom syllabus. Keep this information in your binder at all times. A PDF can also be found on my class website. Please Sign and Keep in your binder
We have read and understand all of the classroom expectations.
Student Signature __________________Parent Signature __________________