7th+Grade

=7th Grade=

=
Spoken and Written Language. Students adjust their spoken and written language to communicate effectively with a variety of audiences for a range of purposes and practical applications. ======

Writing Process. Students use the writing process for both informal and formal writing.
Language Skills. Students use appropriate language, mechanics and style in their written work (e.g. rich vocabulary, grammar, proofreading and editing, varied sentence structure).

__**1. Description of 7th Grade Writing Program**__ (Reflect upon goals and aims, or describe how the writing and language skills standards are applied at this grade level.)

The focus of the 7th grade writing program is to help students master writing as a process. Writing is taught in workshop format, with students working throughout a trimester to produce a portfolio of pieces chosen from a variety of genres, including poetry, memoir, personal essay, review and short story. More formal literary analysis is also covered as a genre through shorter "microtheme" paragraphs as well as longer essays based on the class reading. The goal is for students to develop a toolkit of revision strategies that they apply based on the particular needs of an individual piece: the formal requirements of the genre, the goal of the writer and the intended audience are all factors which are discussed in terms of their effect on tone, structure and style. Conventions of standard English grammar and vocabulary are taught within the context of student writing, presented as tools for making writing more effective. Throughout, the focus is on getting students to think of themselves as producers of literature and to evaluate and edit their own writing instead of producing work simply to fulfill an assignment. Each student writing piece must include all previous drafts to allow assessment of the revision process as well as the effectiveness of the final product.

__**2. Signature Strengths**__
 * The workshop method is a successful part of the curriculum, allowing students ample opportunity to conference with each other and with the teacher about their writing. This permits highly differentiated, student-driven instruction tailored to the specific strengths and weaknesses of each individual. By constantly evaluating their own drafts as well as those of their peers, students learn to think of their writing as a process and gain skill in thinking analytically about writing in general.
 * The laptop program is an essential part of 7th grade writing in that writing on their own computers allows students to easily produce multiple drafts while engaging in substantial revision.

Consider:
 * __3. Areas for Growth | New Directions__**
 * The large class sizes which have characterized the middle school over the last few years is an obstacle to the sort of differentiated instruction the writing workshop curriculum supports. Individual conferences with students and extensive editing of student writing is important, but it is difficult to provide the necessary support and feedback with sections of 18-20 girls. The recent 7th grade class sizes of 70-80 keep the students from recieving the full benefit of the writing curriculum. 15 students per section would allow much more individual feedback and let teachers tailor instruction to individual student needs. Students in need of extra support would be more likely to receive it and the overall quality of feedback would be higher.