7th Grade Civics and Language Arts
2012 – 2013
Mrs. Leonard
Welcome back to another exciting year at St. Mary’s School! I
am so excited to have the opportunity to have you in my class
again this year. As we start together, I want you to know I am
here to help you grow socially, intellectually, and emotionally. I
look forward to the challenges, laughs and adventures this
year holds for us. I want to take this opportunity to review my
classroom expectations:
As a 7th grader, I expect you to:
 Come to class each day prepared and on time. Being
prepared means having all of your materials, homework,
and a good attitude. Materials include a writing utensil,
paper, folder, journal, notebook, charged iPad, workbook
and textbook.
 Respect each of your classmates and myself. This means
staying out of other student’s spaces, allowing them to
have their own ideas, which may be different than yours,
and helping them when you can.
 Complete assignments as assigned.
o If you forgot to complete the assignment, you may
turn it in the next day for a reduction in 10 percent
for each day late. After 10 school days, the
assignment is worth zero points.
o If you are missing from class, you have two class
days to make up any assignments you missed.
After the two days grace period, assignments will
then be marked as if they were late assignments
and follow the procedure above.
o If you are going to miss school for only part of the
day, i.e. sports, dentist appointment, early
dismissal, assignments due that day are still due
that day. If you are in school that day, all of your
assignments that are due that day must be turned
in that day or they will also be penalized 10 percent
per day late as if it were not completed on time.
o If you are going to be gone from school and know
about it in advance, I will be happy to get your
assignments for you ready in advance. These
assignments are due the day you return from your
absence. My expectation is if you know you are
going to be absent and I prepare those assignments
for you, they will be done and you are ready to
continue learning when you return. Those
assignments are not given the same extension that
the ones when you are out unexpectedly do. They
are not given 2 days once you return to finish. They
will be marked late as per the late work policy.
As your teacher, I will :
 Prepare lessons each day to challenge you, have you think
about new ideas, practice skills we are learning or test
those concepts we have been working on.
 Be available for extra help, concerns or questions you
have. I am here before and after school and would be
happy to help in any way I can.
 Make this a safe learning environment. I will not allow
another student to interrupt your learning, and I will not
allow you to interrupt the learning of others.
If these expectations of the student can not be followed, these will be the
possible consequences:
 A verbal warning to remind you of the appropriate behavior.
 Afterschool time with me to discuss how we can change the
behavior and make up missed class time.
 Removal from the classroom to work somewhere else that is not a
distraction for the rest of the class.
 A conference with Mrs. Bertrand.
 A phone call to your parents, which may or may not include a
conference.
Grades:
Your grade in both classes will be split up in different ways.
In language arts, these categories are
Daily Work/Assignments: 45%
Tests/ Quizzes/ Projects: 45%
Journal :
10%
In civics, these are:
Daily Work/Assignments: 50%
Tests/Quizzes/Projects: 50%
The grading scale used by St.
100 -96 – A
95- 93 - A92 – 90 - B+
89 – 87 - B
86 – 85 - B84 – 82 - C+
81 - 79 - C
78 – 76 - C-
Mary’s School is
75 – 74 – D+
73 – 71 – D
70 – 69 – D –
68 – 0 - F
Your grades should never be a surprise to you or your parents. I update
grades on our site, RenWeb, very frequently. Please check this frequently
to be sure there aren’t any errors, and let me know if you believe there
may be inaccuracies.
Extra Credit: Extra credit will be offered at teacher discretion at various
times throughout each quarter. It will be added to the category of the
teacher’s choosing, depending on the assignment. It is not required, and
not guaranteed. My expectation is that you will complete assignments as
the quarter goes along without holding out hope to just “make it up” with
extra credit in the last week of the quarter. There will not be extra credit
given in the last two weeks of the quarter as a chance to “bump up” your
grade. Homework passes may be used to replace a low grade or add ten
points to an existing assignment if you choose.
Covered Books: In language arts, we have fairly new textbooks! In order
to protect the investment the school has made, you are REQUIRED to
have your language textbook covered at all times. If your text is not
covered, you will be given a one day pass in order to get it covered. If it is
not covered in 24 hours, you will need to spend time with me after school
covering your textbook.
Journals: At the beginning of each language arts class there will be a
prompt on the SMARTboard. You are expected to sit in your desk, take
out your journal, and complete the prompt in your journal. The notebook
you use is for this purpose ONLY. They will be collected, usually on
Fridays, and checked for points. This grade will be its own category and
is looking for you to stay organized. When I collect journals I do not want
5 random pieces of paper. Each day is usually worth 5 points. You are
expected to make up a journal if you are absent. Students who collect
your work should also write down the journal prompt for you. I want
your notebook and will keep it to grade. This means you can not take it at
the end of class to use in math or science or access it to get an
assignment you left. It is for LANGUAGE ONLY!
Resource Center: It is my desire to help you not only learn in my classes
but also to become more responsible, independent young adults. In
order to do this I have set up a resource center. On this table, you will
find hand sanitizer, Kleenex, a three whole punch, possible extra writing
utensils, and a folder labeled with your grade. Please do not take things
off of my desk. Please use these resources which are available to you. The
folder will contain any extra assignments I may have, extra handouts, or
duplicate copies. If you are missing something, please check there FIRST.
Tests/Quizzes: In language, we will have spelling words every 4 or 5 day
week. The worksheets are given Monday, due Thursday, and tests are
Fridays. If you miss a test while at a lesson, appointment, etc you may
come in before school or after school any day to make this up. This is
YOUR responsibility and will be done outside of class time. Before all
chapter tests in language, we will complete a pretest. This pretest asks
IDENTICAL types of questions to the real test. We will correct it, complete
it and is the BEST study guide for any test.
In social studies, tests will be announced in advanced. Essay
questions are given in advance and students are allowed to ask the
teacher to preview their answers in the morning to get feedback and craft
an improved answer, if necessary. Students will write an essay with most
tests and are expected to be written in complete sentences and to restate
the question in their answer.
National History Day Project: Each year students in grades 5-8
complete a research project in social studies; in 5th and 6th grade, this is
your living history project. In 7th and 8th grade, we complete the National
History Day Project. This long term research project not only challenges
you to analyze history, complete research and create the project of your
choice. This will be an important part of your learning and you will have
an opportunity to share your learning in an exposition later this year.
When the time comes closer, more details will follow, including a parent
information night.
If you have questions as the year progresses, please don’t hesitate to ask.
My goal is to teach you as much as I can, be as fair as I can, and help you
succeed as we move through the year together!