Mala Panday, Principal

Jennifer Pineda, Assistant Principal 150-91 87th Road

Stephanie Witt, Assistant Principal, Queens, NY 11432
I.A. Phone: (718) 725-0402
Fax: (718) 725-0390
www.tywlsqueens.org

TYWLS Course Outline for Students and Families 2017- 2018

Course Name: 7th Grade ELA Credit Value:
Prerequisite: 6th Grade ELA Department: English
Teacher: Mr. Contino Date: 9/9/2017
*All courses assess student performance based on the TYWLS School-Wide Grading Policy for grades 6-12.

Course Description: TYWLS of Queens uses Expeditionary Learning as its ELA curriculum in grades
6-8. This is a comprehensive curriculum that is fully aligned with the New York State Common Core
Standards. In each module the students will be provided an anchor text and a workbook with class work
assignments, homework and supplemental readings/resources. There will be 1 mid-unit assessment, and
two final assessments, one of which will be an essay performance task.

Term 1: September January

Module 1: Journeys and Survival

Anchor (Main) Text: A Long Walk to Water by Linda Sue Park
Essential Questions:
How do individuals survive in challenging environments?
How do culture, time, and place influence the development of identity?
How does reading from different texts about the same topic build our understanding?
What are the ways that an author can juxtapose two characters?

Term 2: February June

Module 2: Working Conditions Then and Now

Anchor (Main) Text: Lyddie by Katherine Patterson
Essential Questions:
What are working conditions, and why do they matter?
How do workers, the government, business, and consumers bring about change in working
conditions?
How does reading one section of a text closely help me understand it better?
How can you tell the difference between a useful and a not useful research question?
How does a speaker develop and organize her central claim?

Resources/ Materials for Differentiation:

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 Anchor Texts: A Long Walk to Water by Linda Sue Park, Lyddie by Katherine Patterson, Narrative of
the Life of Frederick Douglass by Frederick Douglass
Module Workbooks (Each module has supplemental reading guides for special needs students, and
additional materials will be provided)
Scaffolded Writing Guides and In-Class Guided Practice
Supporting Informational Texts and Nonfiction Articles (branching from module topics)
Multimedia [video, audio files, and images] via Edmodo groups (as well as in class lessons)
Engageny.org (for full Expeditionary Learning supports and outlines)

Project-based Learning Opportunities:

Module 1: Research-Based Two-Voice Poem (researched poetry); Literary Analysis: Writing about the
Theme of Survival

Module 2: Consumers Guide to Working Conditions in the Garment Industry brochure

Communication:
PupilPath will be used for grades, feedback on student work (where applicable) as well as for logs of
student activity. Edmodo will be used as well for online accompanying assignments, readings,
multimedia, and student outreach for class matters.

Extra Help:
Tutoring is offered twice a week, and is available to all students (Period 9 on Tuesdays, Period 4 on
Thursdays). Help with writing and reading assignments is always available upon request, and any
accommodations needed for the covered texts will be addressed as soon as possible.

Revised 11/14/16

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