Welcome Parents!
Bigelow Middle School
Newton Public Schools
English Program - Cluster 7C
Rebecca Robles, M.A.T.
Bigelow Middle School
Newton, Massachusetts
rebecca_robles@newton.k12.ma.us
Major Themes
Diversity
Personal Responsibility
Social Responsibility
Coming of Age/Loss of Innocence
Identity
Major Units of Study
Young Adult Novel
Autobiography/Biography
Poetry
The Essay-Part I
• Essay Structure
• Personal Essay
• Literary Critique/Analysis
Year-long Essential Questions
I.
How do individuals respond to
challenge and struggle?
II.
How do individuals confront
prejudice?
III. What is identity?
“How do I define myself?”
Young Adult Novel
Historical Fiction
The Land
by Mildred D. Taylor
Dial, September 2001
Opportunity for Challenge Work
Historical Fiction
Roll of Thunder,
Hear My Cry
by Mildred D. Taylor
Puffin, 1996
Biography
Langston Hughes
An
Interdisciplinary
Biography
by Fredric Lown
J Weston Walch, 1997
Drama
The Miracle
Worker
by William Gibson
Bantam Books, 1964
Miss Keller sits next to a radio
in her home in Forest Hills,
New York. She is reaching out
to touch the radio speaker,
circa 1927.
© 1998-99 AFB. All rights
reserved.
Book Groups
Student centered groups
that provide them
opportunities to use
critical thinking skills,
make decisions, and
collaborate with their
peers.
Some titles include Drums, Girls &
Dangerous Pie/Sonnenblcik, Call of the
Wild/London, and Breadwinners/Ellis.
Independent Reading
Book projects/reviews will cover the
following genre:
Fiction (historical fiction)
Biography
Non-fiction
Writing
There are three major writing workshops/units
throughout the year:
 Proper composition (multi-paragraph/essay)
 Open response (CER – Claim, Evidence, &
Reasoning)
 Critique/Analytical writing
Daily Oral Language
For five to ten minutes
several days a week,
students review and
reinforce basic skills in
the areas of spelling,
capitalization,
punctuation, grammar
and usage.
redbank.injersey.com/kids.html
Assessment
 Major/minor
writing assignments
Rubrics are aligned with the ELA frameworks and
Core Standards.
 Homework
completion
 Daily Oral Language/class work
 Tests, quizzes, and projects
 Effort is always taken into consideration.
Final Message
“I look forward to our year of
learning together, and thank
you for your support.”
~ Rebecca Robles