Welcome to 8th grade Language Arts, a Cambridge Course. In this course, we will study language arts skills, including reading, writing, speaking, and listening. We will read a variety of assigned literature as well as your own independent novel choices. As a Cambridge Course, the 8th grade Language Arts curriculum promotes an inquiry based approach to learning to develop thinking skills and encourage intellectual engagement. This curriculum encourages learners who are confident, creative, and intellectually engaged, capable of applying their skills to respond to a range of information, media and texts with enjoyment and understanding. Learners who follow this framework will develop a first language competency in English based on a curriculum designed to be successful in any culture and to promote cross-cultural understanding. You can expect to write frequently, participate in collaborative assignments, and to engage in discussion with your classmates. You will have the opportunity to express your creativity through a variety of projects, essays, and performances, which will showcase your abilities and understanding of course concepts. Please pay attention and be prepared every day; I will make it a point to call on all members of our class. I hope that you will find this course both challenging and enjoyable.
Monday-Wednesday:Students will work to finish up their quotation journal while reading Ch 10 (they may use sparknotes if they need to, it is a long chapter)
Monday: Students will practice for the Cambridge Checkpoint English exam.
Tuesday-Friday: Students will read Ch 6-9 in Douglass in order to identify theme within the text and support identified themes with text evidence. (Theme notes)
Week of 4/3-4/7
Monday-Tuesday: We will read Ch 4-5 with an Open Mind Diagram to anyalze Douglass' thoughts, feelings, emotions, etc.
Wednesday-Thursday: We will read and analyze the authenticating documents for Douglass' narrative, discussing their purpose.
Friday: Students will review a practice checkpoint exam to prepare for Monday and Tuesday.
Week of 3/27-3/31
Monday: Students will read Ch 1 in Douglass' narrative in order to identify a quote that stands out to them as being significant.
Tuesday: Students will read Ch 2 and be introduced to their quotation journal. They will add to the quote journal throughout reading each chapter.
Wednesday and Friday:Students will read Ch 3 while adding to the Open Mind Diagram.
Thursday: AZ Merit writing test. Please eat a good breakfast and come ready to write!
Week of 3/20-3/24
Monday: Students will self-asses and peer assess Tom Sawyer endings using this Rubric. Students will then have the opportunity to share with the class.
Tuesday- Wednesday: Students will kick off our new unit by participating in a silent discussion regarding essential questions of the unit.
Thursday: Students will read articles entitled "Slave, Warrior, Hero" and "Civil War Super Hero" in order to answer questions similar to those found on AZ Merit.
Friday:Students will read the first chapter of "The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass" and discuss as a class.
Tuesday-Wednesday: Students will read the ending to Tom Sawyer while annotating to help facilitate class discussion. Students will yell "stop" when they want to share.
Thursday: Students will respond to the ending of Tom Sawyer using three prompting questions and they will hold a small group discussion to talk about responses.
Friday: Students will discuss whether Tom Sawyer is a static or dynamic character and they will write a response arguing either way.
Week of 2/13
Monday-Wednesday: Students will analyze how character motivations are impacted by one another while reading Ch 28-30 (Motivation Notes)
Thursday-Friday: Students will analyze how character motivations are impacted by one another while reading Ch 31-33 (Motivation Notes) (NOTES DUE FRI)
Tuesday-Wednesday: In small groups, students will read ch 26-29 using the reciprocal teaching strategy in which each student has a role to complete within the group such as summarizing, clarifying, questioning, predicting, etc.
Thursday: Students will attend the field trip to ASU for Global Perspectives
Friday: Students will complete the Galileo English benchmark test.
Week of 1/30-2/4
Monday and Tuesday: Students will prepare for a discussion on Wednesday by re-reading ch 20-22 and completing the two column notes and "before discussion" response. Discussion sheet
Wednesday: Students will hold a class discussion based on this Discussion sheet (due at the end of class).
Thursday-Friday: Students will read ch 23-24 and will complete a directed writing piece int he form of a letter to Muff Potter.
Week 1/23-1/27
Monday:Students will read Ch 18 and 19 in Tom Sawyer paying close attention to the descriptive and figurative language within the chapter.
Tuesday: Students will use a four square organizer to help them analyze the language identified within the text.
Wednesday/Thursday: Students will conduct a close reading of one example of descriptive or figurative language they analyzed and will type it up to share with Ms. Meunier. Students will be assessed using the band rubric for Q2 in FLE
Tuesday: Students will read Ch 17 and write a Eulogy for Tom or Huck that could be read at the funeral (Writer's effect charts due tomorrow)
Wednesday-Thursday: Students will use Writer's effect charts to analyze different uses of descriptive language in Tom Sawyer. Students will participate in an analysis carousel.
Friday: Students will listen to the guest speaker for Global Perspectives (If there is time we will ready Ch 18 in Tom Sawyer)
Week 1/9-1/13
Monday and Tuesday: Students will work in small groups to summarize the chapters of Tom Sawyer we read so far. Students will use the summaries they wrote to "quiz" other students on priotizing the summary.
Wednesday: Students will receive midterms back and we will review the midterms for acceptable responses.
Thursday: Students will read Ch 13-14 in Tom Sawyer to analyze figurative and descriptive language paying close attention to the author's intended effect using this chart.
Friday: Students will take the STAR test in class and have the remainder of the period to finish Ch. 14.
Week of 1/3-1/6
Tuesday: Students will receive midterms back (re-do tomorrow after school). Students will begin working with the maxims for the character essay (planning will begin tomorrow). Link to planning/analysis doc
Wednesday: Students will work throughout the day on the character essay planning and drafting process. (RD DUE THURSDAY)
Thursday: Students will peer review his/her character essay.
Friday: Students will type character essays (due Monday)
Week of 12/12-12/16
Monday: Students will complete his/her midterm study guide short answer portion
Tuesday: Students will complete his/her directed writing portion of the midterm study guide (due Th at start of exam).
Thursday: Students will take the English midterm.
Week of 12/5-12/9
Monday: Students will write a diary entry as Sid based on their reading of Ch 11 (due Tuesday)
Tuesday: Students will self asses the diary entry from Monday and will ready Ch 12.
Wednesday: Students will be on a field trip
Thursday: students will read ch 13 and write PEE response as an exit ticket based on the teacher's prompt.
Friday: Students will read an annotate Ch 14 making annotations namely about author's use of language and unknown vocabulary.
Week of 11/28--12/2
Monday-Wednesday: Students identify and describe an author's use of language within Ch 6-8 of Tom Sawyer. (Language charts due Wed.)
Thursday-Friday:Students will use context clues to help determine the meaning of unknown words while reading ch 9-11 in Tom Sawyer (Vocab charts due Monday)
Week of 11/21-11/22
Monday: Students will finalize his/her Believe Essay Reflection after looking at snipets of other band 3 essays from previous students.
Tuesday: Students will participate in the annual Imagine Prep Spelling Bee for the class level (study list).
Week of 11/14-11/18
Monday-Tuesday: We will begin reading The Adventures of Tom Sawyer while making reading annotations (ch 1-4 and annotations due start on Wed ).
Wednesday: Students will receive his/her "I Believe" essays back and will briefly reflect upon their performance.
Thursday: Students will begin to identify and describe figurative language within the text using ch 5-6.
Friday: Students will take the Galileo fall benchmark test.
Week of 11/7-11/11
Monday:Students will submit their "I believe" essays and will share them in a small group prior to turning in (DUE TODAY)
Tuesday: Students will respond to a Tom Sawyer anticipation guide and discussion in order to prepare for reading the new text.
Wednesday: Students will read some background information regarding Mark Twain and Tom Sawyer's time period in order to gain background knowledge prior to reading.
Thursday: We will begin Reading The Adventures of Tom Sawyer By Mark Twain.
Week of 10/31-11/4
Monday: MIX IT UP DAY
Tuesday: "I believe" essay rough drafts are due today so that we can peer edit and revise in class.
Wed-Friday: Students will continue to revise essays while working to type in class. ("I believe" essay description and Band rubric are linked here) (Final essays are due MON)
Tuesday: Students will read another sample essay and will grade the essay in small groups using the Band rubric.
Wed-Fri: Students will begin writing rough drafts and will receive mini lessons each day on the different parts of the rough draft (intro, body paragraphs and conclusion) (RDs will be due on Tuesday next week for peer editing)
Week of 10/17-10/21
Monday/Tuesday: Students will begin preparing for our discussion regarding NBTT (NBTT discussion handouts will be due after our discussion concludes on Thursday)
Wednesday: We will hold our class discussion regarding NBTT (NBTT discussion handouts will be due after our discussion concludes on Thursday)
Thursday: Students will finish up their discussion and do his/her discussion reflection ((NBTT discussion handouts are due by the end of the period)
Friday: Students will revisit our anticipation guide to compare their answers to original ones now that they have read the novel.
Week of 10/3-10/7
Monday: Students will finish summarizing last week's article before lunch. After lunch, students will use the mark scheme to self grade and prepare for tomorrow's summary quiz.
Tuesday: Students will read an article and then summarize for a quiz on this skill.
Wed-Fri: Students will continue to read in NBTT while making reading annotations that comment, question, and connect with the novel (due Fri end)
Week of 9/26-9/29
Monday: Students will finish the Galileo Benchmark test they started on Friday.
Tuesday/Wednesday: Students will continue to read in NBTT while making reading annotations that comment, question, and connect with the novel.
Thursday: Students will read an article that corresponds to our novel and summarize the article as practice for our summary quiz on Monday.
Friday: No school,
Week of 9/19-9/23
Monday:Students will share his/her summaries with one another. Students examine the relationships Philip has with other characters in the novel, Nothing But The Truth (summaries will be collected today)
Tuesday: Students will write a diary entry from the perspective of Philip's father after reading a diary entry written by Philip (this directed writing will be due Wednesday).
Wednesday: Students will share his/her directed writing diary entries with peers in order to grade and self check.
Thursday: As a class, we will continue reading in Nothing But the Truth to page 75.
Friday: Students will take the fall Galileo benchmark assessment in the computer lab.
Week of 9/12-9/16
Monday: Students will hold a discussion based on the pre-reading anticipation guide we wrote about on Friday (Due today)
Tuesday: Students will discuss the unit's essential questions and examine the novel's front and back cover prior to reading, recording observations they make.
Wednesday-Thursday: Students will begin reading Nothing But the Truth in order to summarize the main character's emotions as the book begins. Students will first record a dot point summary and then write a paragraph summary on Friday (due Friday).
Friday: Students will use his/her dot point summaries from the first part of NBTT in order to write a paragraph summary (due before the end of class).
Friday: Students will debrief about the previous day's discussion and participate in a pre-reading anticipation guide for our upcoming unit.
Week of 8/29-9/2
Monday: Students will use the Cambridge band rubrics to self-assess their new story ending and complete a self reflection regarding themselves as a writer.
Tuesday: Students be taking the fall STAR reading pre-test.
Wednesday and Thursday:Students will begin reading "High School Graduation" by Maya Angelou in order to summarize aspects of the text. (Finish reading by Friday start of class)
Friday: Students will write a dot point summary and a paragraph summary for a specific aspect of "High School Graduation" by Maya Angelou (Summaries are due Tuesday)
Week of 8/22-8/26
Monday: Students will hold an in class discussion regarding "Rules of the Game" discussion handouts will be due tomorrow.
Tuesday and Wednesday: Students will read "The Destructors," a short story in order to summarize an aspect of the text using dot points.
Thursday: Students will use the dot point summaries to write a paragraph summary. Students will put the dot points into their own words and condense the summary as much as possible (due before the end of class).
Friday: Students will re-write "The Destructors," ending and should be prepared to share it with the class on Monday.
Tuesday/Wednesday: Students will begin discussion our new unit and essential question: "How does Culture impact a text and how we read it?" Then students will begin reading Rules of the Game by Amy Tan, a short story.
Thursday/Friday:Students will begin re-reading Rules of the Game by Amy Tan in order to find evidence of Waverly showing "invisible strength" students will record their findings on page one of this handout (due Monday).
Tuesday/Wednesday: Students will work on pre-writing and drafting of his/her "Where I'm From" poems. (RD of poem is due Thursday at the beginning of class).
Thursday: Students will work with one another to peer edit and revise poem drafts.
Friday: Students will have time to re-write/revise poems, continue to edit, or finalize their poem (Final poems due Monday)
Week of 8/4-8/5
Thursday: Happy First Day of School!!!! Today students will get to know one another using some ice breaker activities.
Friday: Students will review the syllabus and must get it signed and returned by Monday. Students will create an instagram to depict how their summers went (Due Monday)