Welcome Back Students and Parents

Welcome to the 2010 – 2011 School Year!
Welcome back students and welcome to those who are new to La Paloma Academy – Lakeside. I am Mr. Jones and I am the 8th grade Literature and 7th Grade Writing Instructor. This is my 8th year teaching Jr. High Language Arts at LPA-Lakeside, and I’m very excited about some of the changes we’ve made for the 2010 – 2011 school year. Many students may be wondering why there is no longer a “Language Arts” class. This year we have separated the primary parts of Language Arts into two separate sections, Literature and Writing. The reason we have made this change is due to the emphasis the school and the state have on the components of reading and writing. It is my opinion that the subject of Language Arts, with all of the standards it encompasses, is too big to dedicate sufficient time to each standard. By turning Language Arts into two classes, we are able to dedicate sufficient time to each subject and its content. Again, in my opinion, this offers opportunities to delve further into the literature and spend more time on the writing which allows for differential instruction through projects, group work, and activities that are more engaging for the students as well as more opportunity to work with students one-on-one and address their specific needs.
8th Grade Literature
In the 8th grade literature class students will be asked to build on the basic concepts of story they learned in 6th and 7th grade. During the first quarter we will review the basic elements of a storyboard and develop a strong base to start an in-depth look at literature. Parents should be aware that students will have homework each week night and perhaps some, but not many, weekends. We will also read a variety of novels as a class including To Kill A Mocking Bird during the second quarter and Lord of the Flies during the fourth quarter. Students will also be asked to choose and read two novels of their choice which will be explained with greater detail as the projects are assigned. I highly encourage parents to read the novels with their students and ask questions and discuss the readings with them.
7th Grade Writing
In the 7th grade writing class students will explore a variety of writing styles. During the first quarter students will write about the subject they are most familiar with – themselves. Through personal narrative and descriptive writing they will develop the basics of writing including sentence and paragraph structure, parts of speech, plot development, refining ideas, and developing word choice. In the second quarter students will learn about many of the forms of poetry and write a book of poetry for their major project. The second quarter will also develop their analytical writing skills as they write a literary review of the novel they will be reading in their Literature class. Third quarter begins with expository writing including persuasive writing and debates, compare and contrast essays, and functional texts including letters to community businesses and government officials. The final quarter focuses on the dreaded research paper. Students will develop a topic to research and explore and write an informed paper about their topic citing sources and interviewing members of the community.
Parents can expect their students to have homework each week night and occasionally homework on the weekend. I strongly encourage parents to read their student’s work and be active in their writing process by asking questions about the assignment.

Communication
Communication between students and parents, students and teachers, and parents and teachers is critical at the Jr. High level. Please feel free to email me anytime. Email is my preferred method of communication because I can usually respond back fairly quickly. I check my email when I arrive at 7:30, during lunch at 11:30, and before I leave at 4:30. I do not check my work email after 4:30 so if you send me something during the evening, I may not respond until the following morning.

I am very excited about this year and I think the new Language Arts program will be highly beneficial for your students. Please come in and meet the teachers at open house or if you are on campus. Let’s have a great year!