English Language Arts (ELA)

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 Year-At-A-Glance.

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).

ELA 6th Grade

ELA 7th Grade

ELA 8th Grade

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 Savvas Realize, also has digital lessons and interactive lessons and can be accessed through the student’s NISD portal. Look for the following icon:

Grades 6 - 8 STAAR

Middle school students prepare all year focusing on the mastery of the TEKS and then participate in a cumulative Reading Language Arts STAAR test at the end of their 6th, 7th, and 8th grade year. 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.

Journalism/Yearbook

This course provides the study of current print and digital trends in yearbook design, layout, and publishing in order to develop and produce the school yearbook. Coursework includes gathering and analyzing information, photography, and specialized writing. Our sponsors, Mrs. Larson and Mrs. Neal are both 7th grade ELA teachers at Jordan. This is Mrs. Larson’s first year as a sponsor for Journalism, but she has been teaching Reading and ELA for the past 19 years. She brings a wealth of knowledge and expertise to the team. Mrs. Neal has been the Journalism teacher at Jordan for the past 5 years, each year trying to get the students’ creativity to come through in their work. Together, this year, they have introduced podcasting, broadcasting, TikTok, and a website for our school newspaper the JagWire. Check out the JagWire website today.