Language Arts

Teacher: Mr. Cournoyer

Email: scournoyer@msad49.org

Homework Hotline: 453-4200 x342

Textbooks:
Reader’s Handbook
HBJ Treasury of Literature

Course Outline:
Seventh grade literature exposes students to a wide variety of genres including realistic fiction, historical fiction, poetry, informational books, fantasy, biography, autobiography, short stories, and folklore. Typically, we begin the year by reading informational books such as The Seven Habits of Highly Effective Teens or Reader’s Handbook: A Student Guide for Reading and Learning. Other titles which may be used during the year include Burning Up, Acorn People, Lottery Rose, and The Odyssey. Students respond to these pieces of literature in a variety of ways including literary letters, group discussion, partner reading and discussion, literature circles, research projects, class presentations, and independent question and answer. Students are required to complete several in-depth book reports as well as weekly independent reading selections of their choice.

Course Description:
1. Students read and make generalizations from texts, within a grade appropriate span of text complexity, by applying their knowledge and strategies of comprehension, vocabulary, alphabetics, and fluency.

2. Students read fiction, nonfiction, drama, poetry, within a grade appropriate span of text complexity, and analyze the characteristics noting how structural features and common literary devices help shape the reader’s response.

3. Students read various informational texts, within a grade appropriate span of text complexity, making decisions about usefulness based on purpose, noting how the text structures affect the information presented.

4. Students evaluate the information in persuasive texts, within a grade appropriate span of text complexity, noting how the structural features and rhetorical devices affect the information and arguments presented in these texts.

Activities:
Independent Reading
Literature Circles
Book Actiivities
Plugged Into Reading Program
Read Alouds
Book Talks
Author Studies
Journaling
Vocabulary & Word Parts Study
Shared Reading
Guided Reading
Interdisciplinary Units

Requirements:
Satisfactory completion of course objectives
- Independently read a minimum of 8 books during the course of the year.
- Daily class participation.

Grading:
participation
homework
quizzes
tests
projects
class preparedness

Homework & Make-Up Work Policy:
http://www.msad49.org/handbooks/ljhsStudent%20Handbook%20-%202007%2008.pdf

Booklist:
Acorn People Realistic Fiction / Disabilities
Adrift Nonfiction / Survival / Science
Adventures of Huckleberry Finn Classic / Realistic Fiction
Aeneid of Virgil Social Studies / Greece & Rome
Again Calls the Owl Death & Grieving
Black Boy Racism
Brian Piccalo Biography / Sports
Brian's Winter Realistic Fiction / Survival
Burning Up Realistic Fiction / Social Issues / Prejudice
Call of the Wild Realistic Fiction / Animal Fiction
Citizen of the Galaxy Science Fiction
A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthurs Court Middle Ages
Count of Monte Cristo Social Studies / Wellness
Dogsong Realistic Fiction / Self Identity
Dragon's Gate Chinese History
Driver's Ed. Realistic Fiction / Choices & Morals
Endless Steppe Historical Fiction
The Halloween Tree Science Fiction
Homecoming Realistic Fiction / Family
Ishi Historical / Native American
Jacob Have I Loved Romance / Family
Krakatoa Science / Volcanoes / Geology
My Side of the Mountain Realistic Fiction / Adventure
Old Yeller Animal Fiction
One-Eyed Cat Realistic Fic. / Personal Issues / Choices
Probing the Unknown Science Fiction
Pygmalion Fiction
Raisin in the Sun, A Fiction / Drama / Prejudice
Rumble Fish Realistic Fiction / Peer Pressure
Seven Habits of Highly Effective Teenagers Nonfiction / Personal Growth
Tisha Historical Fiction / Prohibition
Timothy of the Cay Historical Fiction / Prejudice
War Between the Classes Realistic Fiction / Social issues
Wave Fiction / Social Issues / Prejudice
Wrinkle in Time, A Science Fiction / Family
Z for Zachariah Science Fiction / Survival / Teen Issues
revised 10/25/2001

Literary Terms / Devices:
genre
main character
subordinate character
antagonist
protagonist
plot
setting
conflict
climax
expostion
resolution
conclusion
narrator
dialogue
theme
flashback
foreshadowing
symbolism
characterization
irony
idiom
imagery
metaphor
simile
personification
onomatopoeia
mood
tone
rhythm
stanza

Reading Strategies:
prediction                 visualizing               questioning
connections               personal response     summarizing
reflecting                  clarifying                 inference/infer
purpose                     draw conclusions      context clues rereading
skimming/scanning      previewing