“To me, the greatest pleasure of writing is not what it’s about, but the music the words make.” Truman Capote

 

Welcome to Middle School Language Arts. My name is Jennifer Hopper and I teach Middle School Language Arts as well as Enrichment here at ICS. We use the Glencoe Writer’s Choice for 7^th and 8^th Grade and Glencoe’s Grammar and Composition Handbook for 6^th Grade. Join me on the melodious journey as I whisk students away into a world of grammar.

 

Using the textbook as a guide, students in 6^th-8^th grade embark on the journey of figuring out the ends and outs of one of the most complicated languages to learn: English. We succeed in this journey by learning from one another. I have found that middle school students work better when they are allowed to collaborate with others. Thus, almost daily students are given opportunity to collaborate with others.

 

Friday is designated at Journal Day. Students as well as adults get tired of the same ol’ thing happening day in and day out. Therefore, Friday is one of those days that the routines change. A variety of media is used to motivate the students to learn. One example of such media is a DVD that is a compilation of movie clips from movies including Finding Nemo, Evan Almighty, and Mother Teresa. Another method involves using pieces of artwork or a musical score to motivate the senses, thus motivating students to write. At times, students may be asked to respond to a literary piece. Lastly, studies have shown that using performing arts is a great means to increasing student’s writing ability.  See It, Be It, Write It offers prompts that encourage students to act out the prompt prior to writing about it.

 

My goal is that by the end of the year, the students gain an understanding of the world of Language Arts.