General Information:
OVERVIEW
Welcome to 8th grade English! Throughout the school year students will be exposed to various literary forms (short story, novel, poetry, drama, biography, autobiography). Literacy skills will be strengthened by studying literary and poetic devices, making connections to both fiction and nonfiction texts, employing critical thinking and comprehension strategies, and building vocabulary and grammar skills. Writing skills will be developed via fundamental work on literary analysis responses, essay development, and practice in revising and editing writing using the John Collins Writing Program.
GRADING SYSTEM
Student grades will be determined based on a point system, and each type of assignment will hold a different point value. (For example,a homework may be worth 2-10 points, while a quiz or short writing assignment might be 20-75 points, and a test, project, or lengthy writing assignment may be worth 75-150 points.) At the end of each term, students' grades are based on the number of points they earned out of the total number of points for all assignments combined.
INDEPENDENT READING (IR)
Research has proven that the benefits of independent reading include improving comprehension, building vocabulary, increasing fluency, and helping to develop background knowledge and cultural literacy. The grade 8 independent reading expectation is that students have a self-chosen book with them every day in order to participate in daily independent reading time (DIRT). Students are free to select books from any genres they prefer, providing the books they choose are within their zone of proximal reading development. English classes will visit the school library every other week to check-out, return, renew, and/or read independently. Students are also permitted to visit the library during lunch, academic support, and before or after school.
GOOGLE DRIVE & GOOGLE CLASSROOM
All students are assigned an LPS username and password for an online Google account. Students will be instructed about how to organize their Google Drive with folders for each grade and class, and during the first week of school, students will join the cloud-based Google Classroom where all English assignments will be posted. Storing work in the cloud-based Google Drive makes it easy for students to access and print files or presentations from any computer with Internet access. Although many assignments will not be turned in online, some will. *It is up to each student to treat their Google Classroom account like an agenda by marking assignments as “done” when they are completed/submitted; otherwise, they will reflect as “late” in Google Classroom.
ASPEN X2 PARENT PORTAL
The need for students and parents/guardians to receive timely feedback on assignment performance is a priority for our team. All assignments are graded and entered into the online Aspen X2 Gradebook as soon as possible. *In preparation for the independence, responsibility and self-advocacy expectations at the high school level, students are strongly encouraged to track their own grades throughout each term and contact teachers themselves (either in person or via email) with questions or concerns regarding assignments or grades.
Syllabus:
*Subject to change per teacher discretion as needed
SEPTEMBER-OCTOBER
Unit 1 Theme: We All Need Someone to Lean On
Short Stories: "Raymond's Run" Bambara, "Mrs. Flowers" Angelou, "Flowers for Algernon" Keyes
Poems: "If" Kipling, "Still I Rise" and "Caged Bird" Angelou, "Nothing Gold Can Stay" and "The Road Not Taken" Frost, "Women" Walker, "Hope Is a Think With Feathers" and "There Is Another Sky" Dickinson,"If We Must Die" McKay, "Dream Deferred" and "The Negro Speaks of Rivers" Hughes
Nonfiction: various articles
Novels: Independent Reading
Writing Assignments: Personal Narrative, Reading Responses on Characterization, "FA" Essay, 10% Summary, etc.
Projects: Mini-Morphology, Group Poetry Presentation
NOVEMBER-DECEMBER
Unit 2 Theme: Generation to Generation
Short Stories: "Treasure of Lemon Brown" Myers, "Wise Old Woman" Uchida
Poems: "The Courage My Mother Had" Millay "Legacy II" Quintana, "Secret Heart" Coffin
Nonfiction: various articles
Novels: Independent Reading
Writing Assignments: Reading Responses on Characterization, Patriot's Pen Essay, 10% Summary, etc.
Projects: Generations Research Presentation
JANUARY-FEBRUARY
Unit 3 Theme: Struggles & Dreams
Short Stories: "The People Could Fly" Hamilton
Speeches: "Gettysburg Address" Lincoln, "Life's Blueprint" and "I Have a Dream" King
Poems: "O'Captain! My Captain!" Whitman, Various Langston Hughes poems, "Ballad of Birmingham" Randall
Nonfiction: "Go On or Die" Petry, Excerpts from "Black Like Me" Griffin, "The Power of Nonviolence" Lewis, "Camp Harmony" Sone
Play: "The Greensboro Sit Ins" One Act play
Novels: Independent Reading
Writing Assignments: Reader's Responses on Theme, Escaping Slavery Narrative, 10% Summary, etc.
Project: Web Quest (Underground Railroad)
MARCH
Unit 4 Theme: Anne Frank/Holocaust
Short Story (allegory): "The Terrible Things" Bunting
Play: "The Diary of Anne Frank"
Nonfiction: Gerda Weissmann Klein Bio article
Novels: Independent Reading
Writing Assignments: Reading Responses on Setting, RAFT writing assignments, 10% Summary, etc.
Project: Breakout (WWII-Holocaust-Anne Frank)
MARCH-APRIL
Unit 4 Theme: Controversial Issues
Reading Selections: Multiple nonfiction articles
Novels: Independent Reading
Writing: Argumentative Essay
Project: Research Report
MAY-JUNE
Unit 5 Theme: Strange and Mysterious
Short Stories: "The Landlady" Dahl, "The Monkey's Paw" Jacobs, "The Tell-Tale Heart" Poe, "The Open Window" Saki
One Act Plays: "Heat Lightning" Carroll, "Trifles" Glaspell, "I Shot an Arrow Into the Air" Serling
Novels: Independent Reading
Writing Assignments: Reading Responses on Author's Style and Plot, RAFT writing assignment, etc.
Project: Plot and Style Comic Strips
JUNE
Review and Final Exam