What is it?
The core of your work in English 7 will be composed in your Writer's Notebook. You will need a 3 ring binder (1 1/2 or 2 inches in width) for this purpose and you must bring it to every class. The notebook will be divided into 4 sections (you will need 4 dividers and reinforcements): Literature Log, Grammar, Vocabulary, and Handouts. It is your place to think about what you read. It is not for final or formal compositions, but rather for your thinking in progress, after a first reading, or a new concept. Hopefully, writing and taking notes after class discussions and readings will widen and deepen your ideas and help you make sense of the feelings, experiences, and questions you have as you develop as a reader and writer.
Will it be graded?
At the end of each marking period you will take an Open Notebook Test. The test will be comprised of 25 short answer and essay questions that require an organized, up-to-date notebook, thorough Log entries, complete vocabulary lists, and all the handouts received for that quarter. Your test grade will count for 15% of your final grade each marking period (homework, vocabulary tests, book projects, writing workshop pieces, literature tests, class participation and preparation count for the other 85%). If Ms. G feels that you are not fulfilling the requirements for this aspect of the class, your final grade will suffer accordingly. It is your responsibility to make sure you are maintaining an organized, thorough notebook.