I had the opportunity to meet and collaborate with Juliana over the summer before the school year began. The planning time was immensely beneficial for me as a new teacher in 7th-grade education and within the new environment of Burke's School. She got me excited about the curriculum in the year to come!
Juliana explained to me that she wanted to shift the curriculum by adding two novels, A Rover's Story, and The Joy Luck Club. A Rover’s Story is a great novel that warms up that reading muscle and generates discussion for the identity unit we are beginning. I even have an idea for a speaker and I’m really hoping they can join to add to this introduction! I was able to ask questions and plan for my own lessons throughout our planning time. We created some materials for our opening unit and planned hands on activities as well.
Our other main focus was transitioning towards a holistic approach to essay writing. The students had previously used TCQA, which we decided was too formulaic a way of essay writing and we wanted to give the students tools for more creative freedom. We hope they can think broadly and deeply about their compositions while clearly sharing their perspectives. Additionally, we this can help them dig into the entire writing process this way by guiding students through stages such as brainstorming, drafting, revising, and editing both with peers and teachers.
Thanks for the opportunity to do this!
We added to this planning doc: 7th grade English Curriculum