Grade 8 Language Arts

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