Grade 8 Language Arts

Language Arts
Grade 8
2019-2020

Mr. Brent Harris
[email protected]

Course Description

Through essays, exhibitions, daily reading of a variety of texts, and grammar, vocabulary, and spelling, students will learn skills for writing effectively and with confidence for many different audiences. Students will also develop strategies for building reading fluency and comprehension while completing high volume reading across several genres.

Academic Exhibitions for Grade 8

Art Exhibition: Fall Term
Service and Leadership Exhibition: Winter Term
Math Exhibition: Spring Term
Final Exhibition: Spring Term

Units of Study

Literacy & Literature

Independent Reading

• Independence: Daily reading, 30+ minutes per night; one book per week.
• Wide Reading: Choosing books from given list and reading multiple genres and authors
• Fluency: Reading high volumes at a growing rate
• Comprehension: Weekly book talks

Literature Studies

• Fall Term: Independent Reading and Short Stories
• Mini-term: Julius Caesar (Shakespeare)
• Winter Term I: The Epic of Gilgamesh
• Winter Term II: Orbiting Jupiter (Gary Schmidt)
• Spring Term: Short Story Unit

Literary Critique

• Frequent writing in reader’s notebook, classroom participation, reading groups, and reader’s responses every three weeks.

Writing & Composition

Grammar and Mechanics

• Vocabulary: Wordly Wise 3000
• Grammar: Write Source 2000 Daily Language Workouts and www.Noredink.com

Fall Term

• High School Application Essay
• Writing about Reading

Winter Term

• Literary Essay

Spring Term

• Journalism
• Final Graduation Exhibition

Graded Work

• Daily vocabulary, spelling, and grammar
• Independent Reading (with reading logs) and weekly reading responses
• Class texts
• Essays
• Quizzes and tests
• Class participation
• Reader’s and Writer’s Notebooks

Homework and Due Dates

Homework Overview

• All homework and assignments should be completed before the start of class on the day they are due.
• There will not be time to print at the beginning of class, so in order to be prepared, all assignments must be printed before class.
• Many writing assignments will be started in class, but, often, students will be asked to finish assignments at home.
• Independent reading will happen at school and at home, so IR books must come to school every day.
• Most assignments, handouts, and essential information will be shared on Google Classroom.
• Look at the Blog and Google Classroom for homework
• Specific due dates for essays and projects will be made available in class and on the blog at least two weeks before the assignment is due.

Daily Homework

• IR books should be read for 30+ minutes every day.
• Entries should be made weekly in the reading notebook.
• Complete vocabulary and grammar assignments.
• If we have a Vocabulary test, it will take place on Friday.

Homework due every Friday

• Book talks in Advisory Groups