Key Q: Do I know how to access a variety of genres of both fictional & nonfictional texts?

1. Key Q: Do I know how to access a variety of genres of both fictional & nonfictional texts? HW: 1. Read for at least 20 minutes 2. Tell parents orientation is at 6:30 tonight

2. Bell Ringer—tickets Read each sentence. Write yes if the underlined word is used correctly and no if it is not. Jason and his three small children preboarded the plane so they could get settled early. If you want to reinforce the importance of that rule, post it on the board after you tell everyone. Think of a word with pre- or re-, or look in the dictionary to find one. Then, have a partner guess the word’s meaning. Use a dictionary to check.

3. Million Words!! The state standard: RC1: The student reads a minimum of 25 grade-level appropriate books or book equivalents (approximately 1,000,000 words) per year from a variety of subject disciplines. The student reads both informational and fictional texts in a variety of genres and modes of discourse.

4. Why focus on a million words instead of on 25 books a year? It is easier for me to calculate—you can find out word count on AR for each 6 • Can I get extra credit for reading 25 books? • Calculate how much do I have to read each night? • How many quarters are there in a year? 4 • That equals how many words per quarter? 250,000 • How many weeks are in a quarter? 9, but only read for 8 • Let’s divide by 8 weeks. How many words per week? 30,000 • How do I prove I’ve read? Take AR reading tests or do report forms • Is there any way for me to get extra-credit? Take lit skills tests as available (or vocab tests

5. Mill. Wrd. Pop • Why do you have to read a million words? • How do you know how many words you’ve read? • How many words do you have to read each quarter? • How many minutes do you have to read every night (including tonight)? • Define genre or variety

6. Seventh Grade Independent Reading Policy • Students should read approximately 6 books each quarter (every 9 weeks) or approximately 250,000 words. That divides into 30,000 words a week. Reading magazine and newspaper articles and other non-book texts is also encouraged. • To demonstrate reading comprehension, students should take the AR reading test and the AR literacy skills test (when available). If there is no AR reading test, then the student should complete a book report form and bring the book (magazine, newspaper, or other text) to the teacher to do a word count.

7. If a student fails an AR reading test, the student may complete a book report and a discussion with the teacher to get credit despite the AR reading test. (AR literary skills tests and AR vocabulary tests may be taken up to 3 times to improve scores.) •   Extra credit is awarded for each group of six books that is read in a quarter. • The Literary Skills tests are pretty hard, but they are the tests which most closely resemble the questions on the CRCT and which reflect our state standards. Therefore, I “require” students to take the Lit. Skills tests and I reward extra-credit points based on how well students score. I also award extra-credit points for the vocabulary tests, which I consider truly extra-credit tests.

8. Journal Discussion: Question and Answer • Question: A student wants to know, “How can I reach my million word goal this year?” • Answer: Give this student the best advice you can, assuming that this student lives in Metter and has the same ELA teacher that you have.

9. Review Hallway Procedures • Remain quiet at all times, of course • Never turn a corner without permission • Stop at the end of the 7th grade hall • Stop at the end of the connecting hallway • Student at the front of the line checks with the librarians to see if they are ready for us • Always sit at the library tables first—do NOT touch any decorations or items on the tables • The library is always a quiet zone • Return the same way with stopping at each corner