Stinson ELA Teachers
| 6th grade | 7th grade | 8th grade |
|---|---|---|
| Joshua Appleby | John Valdez | Erin Dominguez |
| Tina Garcia | Matt Garcia | |
| Jennifer Potter | Lydia Castillo | Valerie Campbell (Coordinator) |
| Chris Contreras |
Summer Reading
The goal of the Summer Reading Program is to engage ALL students in rigorous, high interest novels (chapter books) of THEIR choice. The key to broadening our love for reading is through pleasure and interest. Throughout the summer, students will actively read a novel and participate in a reading/writing connection activity within the first grading period.
Summer Reading is Required For all Advanced ELA students. All other students are strongly encouraged to participate.
Select a book (chapter book) of your choice on your grade level from your home, public library, online, or anywhere you find books! You MAY NOT select a picture book, or a book that you have read, or a book that was taught in your previous ELA classes. Summer reading novels need to be read by the end of August 2024.
~ Free San Antonio Public Library Card Visit: https://goo.gl/oxAzxt
~ Try free ebooks by visiting: https://soraapp.com/library/johnpaulstevens
Novel Choices: we have developed a list of suggested authors and popular novel lists you can pick from. Don’t forget to ask family members, friends, and teachers for novels to read.
Authors
Jason Reynolds Kwame Alexander Sandra Cisneros Lynda Hunt Alan Gratz Suzanne Collins Marissa Meyer Neal Shusterman Veronica Roth Gordon Korman John Green Joan Lowery Nixon Ally Condie Jennifer Holm Lauren Oliver Robert Lipsyte J.K. Rowling Rick Riordan Gary Paulsen Jenny Han Markus Zusak Carl Deuker Alex London Tim Green Sarah Dessen Sharon Draper Caroline Cooney Raina Telgmeier Jerry Spinelli James Patterson
| Popular Novel Lists
International Literacy Association: Young Adult’s Choice List https://goo.gl/GJDGqT
Lone Star Reading List http://www.txla.org/groups/lone-star
Summer Reading Book List Broken Down By Genre: https://imaginationsoup.net/7th-grade-summer-reading-list-age-12-13/
Email our wonderful Librarian, Mrs. Stafford! laura.stafford@nisd.net or visit the library catalog to see her curated collections of recommended books: tinyurl.com/stinsoncat
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There are no required assignments/projects for students to do during the summer for their novel. However, when students return to school next year, their ELA teacher will have some reading/writing connection assignments for them to complete to cover the concepts of their novel. These will be graded as formative daily grades, and could include news reports, cartoon/comic strips, brochures/pamphlets, webquests, illustrations, plot/character analysis, etc.
To organize your thoughts while reading use: https://goo.gl/enAqYm
Please follow us on Twitter @nisdmsela to see all the amazing things happening in English Language Arts in middle school!
Northside MS ELA Vision
Every day, in every MS ELA classroom, every learner will experience opportunities to develop lifelong literacy and critical thinking skills in an engaging environment that fosters respect, choice, and collaboration.
Academic ELA Grades 6 - 8
Middle School English Language Arts is aligned with the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS). Strategies for listening, speaking, reading, writing, and thinking using multiple texts are integrated daily to create a literacy-rich classroom which promotes engaging, student-centered learning. Through the communication of ideas, orally and in writing, students continue to develop the knowledge and skills necessary to become independent readers, writers, and thinkers. The primary goals of this course are to cultivate independent learning, encourage in-depth inquiry and exploration of the content, and develop the habits necessary for academic success.
Advanced ELA Grades 6 - 8
These middle school courses are designed to prepare and motivate students for Advanced and Advanced Placement (AP) courses in high school. This is in addition to the grade-level expectations of the Middle School English Language Arts classroom. Students have multiple opportunities to develop communication and analytical skills in an academically challenging course of study. As a preparation for Advanced Placement English courses in high school, this course adds a focus on literary analysis in reading, writing, and speaking.
There is a Summer Reading requirement for Advanced ELA; however, all students are encouraged to engage in free choice summer reading. With guidance from their MS ELA teachers, students in grades 6-8 explore their interests and self-select books for summer reading.
Advanced ELA 6-8 Summer Reading Guidelines
Middle School ELA District Calendar
The suggested pacing for all grades can be found on the: All-Level MS ELA Pacing Calendar.
This district calendar outlines the suggested pacing for the units in middle school ELA.
Middle School ELA District Grading Policy
The district grading policy for middle school ELA is as follows:
40% Formative
60% Summative
Formative assessments include minor daily quizzes, class work, homework, and other in-class and district-administered assessments. Summative assessments include unit exams, major pieces of writing, and projects.
MS ELA Textbook
Middle school ELA students use the myPerspectives textbook published by Pearson (Savvas).
Students are also able to access an online version of the textbook, which includes options to have the book read aloud to the student. The online platform, known as Pearson Savvas Realize, also has digital lessons and interactive lessons and can be accessed through the student’s NISD portal.
Grades 6 - 8 STAAR
Middle school students prepare all year focusing on the mastery of the TEKS and then participate in a cumulative Reading STAAR test at the end of their 6th, 7th, and 8th grade year. Writing at 7th grade will no longer be administered as of 2021-2022. For more information regarding STAAR, please access this link for general resources: Texas Education Agency - STAAR Resources.
Parents and students can access the Texas Assessment Family Portal at texasassessment.gov to view and print released STAAR tests as well as login to access the online practice tests.
