Mrs. Harlan's writing Class
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Beckley-Stratton Middle School
Grading breakdown
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Warm ups
15%
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homework15%
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classwork35%
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essays & exams
30%
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Students will take the first 5 minutes of class to work individually & silently on warm ups. Any talking will be considered cheating & therefore the student will not receive credit for that day’s warm up. This is a completion-based assignment, so as long as the student is silent and accurately completes the daily warm up, they will receive full credit. Answers for each day's question will be discussed, so there should be no reason a warm up shouldn't be completed. Warm ups will be graded every Friday as well as an exam at the end of each 9 weeks.
Classwork is any activity we do (e.g. taking notes, completing worksheets, participating in group projects, prewriting, drafting, editing etc.) to help us attain our learning goals. Students may work on these assignments both individually, pairs or groups. These assignments vary between completion-based assignments (taking notes) to accuracy-based assignments (worksheets).
Essays & exams are where students demonstrate that they have understood the material being taught to them. Students will have an essay or exam weekly, and sometimes they will have both simultaneously. Due to the incorporation of Speaking and Listening standards in the new standards student presentations will also be included in this category. Essays are graded via the West Virginia State Writing Rubric, exams are graded on accuracy-based, and presentations may be both rubric or completion-based.
Homework is assigned at least once weekly with almost no exception. All homework assignments are to be turned in on time. This is a completion-based assignment. With that being said, no two papers should be exactly the same unless the question warrants the same answer. As long as the student has not cheated, or copied another students paper, they will receive full credit. There will be times where essays, projects and classwork will need to be completed at home.
The grading policy is designed to help those students that put forth an effort in the classroom. If a student completes all of their assignments, participates in classwork and discussions, complete their homework, utilizes grammar rules on essays and studies for their exams they will be successful this year in writing class. Grades will be updated weekly via engrade (both students and parents have access to engrade). Please feel free to ask me any questions that you might have about a particular assignment or grade.
grading policy
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It is imperative for students to be mindful of assignment due dates. Late work will not be accepted for homework, classwork or essays if the student was in attendance on the date the assignment was due. The exception to the rule is if the student was absent when the assignment was given. If a student was absent the Raleigh County policy regarding late work will be implemented.
late work policy
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Quizes
5%
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Quizzes will be given throughout the course of each semester. Students will be told when a quiz is going to be given and what will be on it to a certain extent. When a quiz is given, it is a chance for a student to get a boost in their grade. It is important for students to study before a quiz just as though it is a test.