Grade 8 Language Arts

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 Grade 8 Language Arts
  • Recommended Grade Level: 8
  • Course Price: $0.00

Course Overview:

This course will expand students’ reading horizons and communication skills. Investigating narrative, epic, lyric, and free verse poetry, students will develop an appreciation for the sound, structure, and language of poetry. Students will better understand the elements of literature after reading O. Henry’s “A Retrieved Reformation,” Agatha Christie’s Murder on the Orient Express, and William Gibson’s The Miracle Worker. Writing projects include creating a personal narrative, a procedural text, and a multimedia research presentation. Students will examine various forms of media and learn to distinguish bias when evaluating a persuasive text. Presenting a persuasive speech, participating in a debate, and practicing formal and informal speaking and listening will enhance students’ communication skills.

Required Reading:

8th Grade Unit 7: Murder on The Orient Express by Agatha Christie. ISBN 9780062073501

8th Grade Unit 10: The Miracle Worker (drama) by William Gibson. ISBN 9781416590842

Required Materials:

  • Paper
  • Pencil
  • Notecards
  • Colored pencils
  • Highlighter
  • Encyclopedia article
  • Print advertisement
  • Television commercial
  • Radio broadcast ad
  • Newspaper article
  • Magazine article
  • Billboard advertisement
  • Nonfiction book
  • Play: The Story of My Life by Helen Keller
  • The reading book Murder on the Orient Express: A Hercule Piorot Mystery, by Agatha Christie
  • The reading book The Miracle Worker: A Play by Williams Gibson

Syllabus:

Unit 1 - Conventions in Reading, Speaking, and Writing

Objectives:

  • Understand the function of verbs, participles, and appositive phrases.
  • Understand adverbial phrases and clauses as well as subordinating conjunctions.
  • Understand relative pronouns and differentiate between main versus subordinating clauses.
  • Correctly identify antecedents, parallel structures, and consistent tenses in a variety of complete sentences.
  • Use conventions of capitalization.
  • Use correct punctuation marks.
  • Use correct spelling.
  • Understand the difference between formal and informal when writing or speaking.

Lessons:

  • Parts of Speech
  • Parts of Speech(Continued)
  • The Art of Sentence Writing
  • Punctuation Marks
  • Periods, Question Marks, and Exclamation Points
  • Commas, Colons, and Semicolons
  • Hyphens, Apostrophes, Quotation Marks, Parentheses, Brackets, and Ellipses
  • Rules of Spelling
  • Formal and Informal Language

Unit 2 - Words-Words-Words

Objectives:

  • Define fluency and comprehension and check your understanding.
  • Use context clues and author’s word choices to aid comprehension.
  • Understand how to decode unfamiliar words.
  • Recognize Greek and Latin roots.
  • Use a dictionary to discover meaning, pronunciation, part of speech, and syllabication.
  • Assess how root words, prefixes, and suffixes create meaning.
  • Practice word decoding through the use of analogies.

Lessons:

  • Fluency and Comprehension
  • Context Clue
  • Context Clue Decoding
  • Word Choices
  • Greek and Latin Roots-Root Words-Prefixes-Suffixes
  • Using the Dictionary
  • Analogies

Unit 3 - The Writing Process and the Narrative

Objectives:

  • Learn the five steps of the writing process.
  • Understand the six purposes of writing.
  • Understand the importance of planning before writing.
  • Know how to gather information for your writing project.
  • Write a thesis statement that expresses the main idea.
  • Organize your facts by using an outline, a mind map, or a chart.
  • Develop a rough draft using the information from your graphic organizer.
  • Write an introduction (including a thesis statement), supporting paragraphs, and a solid conclusion.
  • Revise, edit, and publish your final draft.
  • Understand the components and structure of a narrative.
  • Write an imaginative story to entertain the reader by following the steps of the writing process.
  • Understand the elements of story writing, including word choice, characterization, mood, flashback, and foreshadowing.
  • Understand the characteristics of a personal narrative.
  • Use the writing process to write a personal narrative.

Lessons:

  • Developing a Purpose for Writing
  • Gathering and Organizing
  • Drafting
  • Revising, Editing, and Publishing
  • The Narrative
  • Writing to Entertain
  • The Personal Narrative
  • Writing a Personal Narrative

Unit 4 - Understanding Literary Texts

Objectives:

  • Read grade-level texts with fluency and comprehension.
  • Analyze, make inferences, and draw conclusions about theme and genre in literary texts.
  • Analyze literary works that share similar themes across cultures.
  • Analyze how the central characters’ qualities influence the theme of a fictional work and resolution of the central conflict.
  • Understand, make inferences, and draw conclusions about the structure and elements of fiction.
  • Analyze plot developments to determine whether and how conflicts are resolved.
  • Explain how the values and beliefs of particular characters are affected by the historical and cultural setting of a literary work.
  • Analyze different forms of point of view, including limited versus omniscient, and subjective ­versus objective.
  • Understand, make inferences, and draw conclusions about the structure and elements of poetry.
  • Understand, make inferences, and draw conclusions about how an author’s use of sensory language creates imagery in a literary text.
  • Explain the effect of figurative language, such as similes and extended metaphors, on a ­literary text.
  • Compare and contrast the purposes and characteristics of different poetic forms.
  • Write poems using poetic techniques, figurative language, and graphic elements.
  • Compare and contrast mythologies from various cultures.
  • Apply knowledge of literary terms to a fictional work.

Lessons:

  • Your Role as a Reader
  • Themes in Literary Works
  • Elements of Fiction Stories
  • The Language of Poetry
  • The Sound of Poetry
  • Styles of Poetry
  • Mythology
  • "A Retrieved Reformation"

Unit 5 - Nonfiction

Objectives:

  • Analyze, make inferences, and draw conclusions about the author’s purpose in cultural, historical, and contemporary contexts.
  • Understand, make inferences, and draw conclusions about the structural patterns and features of literary nonfiction.
  • Explain the character’s decisions based on the historical and cultural setting of a work of nonfiction.
  • Analyze, make inferences, and draw conclusions about expository texts.
  • Summarize main ideas, supporting details, and relationships among ideas in an expository text.
  • Distinguish factual claims from opinions in expository texts.
  • Write a multi-paragraph essay to convey information about a topic.
  • Write effective introduction and concluding paragraphs for an expository essay.
  • Write a clearly stated purpose or controlling idea.
  • Logically organize facts and details with no unnecessary information.
  • Use a variety of sentence structures, rhetorical devices, and transitions to link paragraphs.
  • Synthesize and make logical connections between ideas within a text and across two or three texts.
  • Analyze procedural texts for missing or unnecessary information.
  • Evaluate graphics for their clarity in communicating meaning or achieving a specific purpose.
  • Understand the parts of a business letter and the procedure for writing a business letter.
  • Write a letter that reflects an opinion, registers a complaint, or requests information.

Lessons:

  • Types of Nonfiction
  • Literary Nonfiction
  • Expository Texts
  • Writing an Expository Essay
  • Reading and Analyzing Speeches
  • Procedural Texts
  • Letter Writing

Unit 6 - Research Writing

Objectives:

  • Develop a research plan and brainstorm to decide on a topic.
  • Formulate an open-ended research question to address the topic.
  • Determine, locate, and explore relevant sources.
  • Evaluate sources for reliability and validity and explain the usefulness of sources.
  • Gather information from sources by taking notes and avoiding plagiarism.
  • Record bibliographic information from sources for all information gathered.
  • Narrow or broaden research questions based on research and investigation.
  • Develop a tentative outline and a thesis statement.
  • Create a final outline for the research paper.
  • Write an introductory paragraph with a well-stated thesis.
  • Arrange evidence to explain the topic and give reasons for conclusions.
  • Summarize and paraphrase information gathered from sources.
  • Integrate quotations and citations into the written text to maintain a flow of ideas.
  • Write a concluding paragraph with a restated thesis.
  • Revise the rough draft by evaluating ideas, evidence, word choice, style, and tone.
  • Proofread and edit to correct errors in mechanics, spelling, grammar, usage, and sentence structure.
  • Polish any rough areas and write a final draft.
  • Create a multimedia presentation from the research essay.

Lessons:

  • Make a Plan and Choose a Topic
  • Select and Evaluate Sources
  • Take Notes From Sources
  • Plan and Develop Information
  • Organize Information
  • Draft a Research Essay
  • Revise the Rough Draft
  • Proofread, Edit, and Publish
  • Create a Research Presentation

Unit 7 - Agatha Christie's Murder on the Orient Express

Objectives:

  • Analyze, make inferences, and draw conclusions from informational texts.
  • Synthesize ideas from several sources to gain understanding about an author’s background.
  • Make inferences and draw conclusions from evidence given in a fictional mystery story.
  • Demonstrate reading fluency and comprehension.
  • Use context to determine or clarify the meaning of unfamiliar words.
  • Identify words from other languages that are used in written English.
  • Use a dictionary or a thesaurus to determine the meanings and synonyms of words.
  • Analyze, make inferences, and draw conclusions about theme and genre in different cultural and historical contexts.
  • Explain figures of speech, such as metaphors and idioms, used in a fictional work.
  • Analyze linear plot development to determine whether and how conflicts are resolved.
  • Analyze how the central characters’ qualities influence the theme of a fictional work and resolution of the central conflict.
  • Analyze different forms of point of view.
  • Write responses to literary texts that demonstrate the use of writing skills for a multi-paragraph essay and provide evidence from the text using quotations.

Lessons:

  • Introduction to the Novel
  • Part One: Chapters 1-2
  • Part One: Chapters 3-6
  • Part One: Chapters 7-8
  • Part Two: Chapters 1-5
  • Part Two: Chapters 6-10
  • Part Two: Chapters 11-15
  • Part Three: Chapters 1-3
  • Part Three: Chapters 4-8
  • Part Three: Chapters 9

Unit 8 - Persuasive Writing and Speaking

Objectives:

  • Choose and read a nonfiction book as a primary or secondary source.
  • Make predictions, ask questions, define an author’s purpose, and analyze informational text.
  • Define and recognize elements of persuasive writing and rhetorical devices.
  • Analyze elements of persuasion in a political speech.
  • Define, recognize, and analyze fallacies.
  • Define and analyze stereotyping and prejudice.
  • Analyze and compare arguments and appeals in persuasive essays.
  • Analyze and plan an argumentative essay.
  • Compose a multi-paragraph argumentative text using genre characteristics.
  • Research for valid sources and cite them using Modern Language Association (MLA) format.
  • Revise and edit for spelling and grammar errors.
  • Deliver a persuasive speech.
  • Evaluate a speaker’s argument and presentation skills.

Lessons:

  • Persuasion and Arguments: Choose a Nonfiction Book
  • Elements of Persuasive Writing Including Rhetorical Devices
  • Analyze Nelson Mandela’s Inaugural Speech
  • Logical Fallacies
  • Comparing Two Persuasive Essays
  • Analyzing and Planning an Argumentative Essay
  • Creating An Argumentative Essay
  • Revising and Editing: Spelling and Verb Agreement With Prepositional Phrases
  • Delivering and Evaluating a Persuasive Presentation

Unit 9 - Speaking, Listening, and Viewing

Objectives:

  • Understand the purposes of various types of media.
  • Analyze how words, images, graphics, and sounds work together in various forms to ­impact meaning.
  • Interpret how visual and sound techniques influence the message.
  • Evaluate the role of media in focusing attention on events and informing opinion on issues.
  • Evaluate various techniques used to create a point of view in media.
  • Evaluate the impact of media on the audience.
  • Understand the use of propaganda techniques in media.
  • Assess the correct level of formality and tone for successful participation in digital media.
  • Use comprehension skills to listen attentively to others in formal and informal settings.
  • Follow and give complex oral instructions to perform specific tasks, answer questions, or solve problems.
  • Summarize formal and informal presentations.
  • Speak clearly and to the point, using the conventions of language.
  • Use eye contact, speaking rate, volume, enunciation, a variety of natural gestures, and ­conventions of language to communicate ideas effectively.
  • Advocate a position using anecdotes, analogies, and/or illustrations.
  • Work productively with others in teams.
  • Participate productively in discussions, plan agendas with clear goals and deadlines, set time limits for speakers, take notes, and vote on key issues.

Lessons:

  • Media Basics
  • Elements of Media
  • The Influence of News Media
  • Propaganda in Visual Media
  • Examining Media
  • Digital Media
  • Formal and Informal Speaking and Listening
  • Advocating a Position
  • Participating in a Debate

Unit 10 - Drama: The Miracle Worker

Objectives:

  • Read with fluency and comprehension.
  • Understand, make inferences, and draw conclusions about the structure and elements of drama and provide evidence from the text to support understanding.
  • Use a dictionary or thesaurus to determine the meanings of words.
  • Analyze, make inferences, and draw conclusions about the theme and genre of a literary work.
  • Understand, make inferences, and draw conclusions about the structure and elements of fiction and provide evidence from text to support understanding.
  • Analyze how playwrights characterize their protagonists and antagonists through the dialogue and staging of their plays.
  • Gather information from a range of relevant print and electronic sources.
  • Analyze how the central characters’ qualities influence the theme of a fictional work and resolution of the central conflict.
  • Analyze linear plot developments to determine whether and how conflicts are resolved.
  • Analyze different forms of point of view.
  • Understand, make inferences, and draw conclusions about how an author’s sensory language creates imagery in a literary text.
  • Use context to determine or clarify the meanings of unfamiliar words.
  • Explain how the values and beliefs of particular characters are affected by the historical and cultural setting of the literary work.
  • Write responses to literary texts that demonstrate the use of writing skills for a multi-paragraph essay and provide sustained evidence from the text using quotations when appropriate.

Lessons:

  • Introduction to Drama; Act I, Scenes i-ii
  • Act I, Scenes iii-iv
  • Act I, Scenes v-vi
  • Act II, Scenes i-ii
  • Act II, Scenes iii-iv
  • Act II, Scenes v-vii
  • Act III, Scenes i-iii
  • Act III, Scenes iv-v
  • Theme in The Miracle Worker

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