We will cover the following novels/units this school year:
The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton
9/11 Novel in Verse: The Places We Sleep by Caroline DuBois
Civil War Unit involving Soldiers Heart by Gary Paulsen
WWII/Holocaust Unit involving Surviving the Angel of Death by Eva Kor and Resist by Alan Gratz
Mystery Unit involving Edgar Allan Poe Stories and poetry as well as a few others
Each novel, poem, or short story is paired with classroom activities, language studies, and nonfiction pieces.
The students will also be completing a Holocaust Unit and a Civil War Unit in which they will have individually chosen books. If parents wish to see a list of book options for their children, please contact me and I will give you a listing of their choices.
8th Grade Autobiography
The students will be working on their autobiographies starting in August and working through until the first Monday in May.
The autobiographies will require assistance from family in a few areas; however, most will be individual writing assignment that the students will be required to complete on their own.
Each student will be given a copy of the requirements in Google Classroom. They can access this information at any time as long as they have an internet connection.
8th Language Arts
Academic Vocabulary
Students will have weekly academic vocabulary assignments. These will be posted in Google Classroom. The weekly list assignment is due on Wednesday of the week it is assigned.
Papers and Projects
Students will have one large paper due each quarter.
Students will be required to cite sources using MLA format.
They will complete their papers in Google Docs. They will be able to access this from any device that has internet. When the papers are assigned, the students will receive a schedule for peer editing, due dates, as well as a detailed list of requirements for the assignment. Those pieces of information will be posted to Google Classroom.
IXL
Students will use IXL for both grammar and reading. This is a supplement to the lessons in class and will be used as homework practice prior to assessment.
Nonfiction
Students will use online programs such as: Newsela, ListenWise, ReadWorks, and CommonLit to read and study nonfiction news articles and short stories. Each student is assigned stories in reading class and is required to complete the readings and the quizzes/writings weekly.
All articles will be available on Google Classroom which is accessible from ANYWHERE the student has an internet connection.
Novel Requirements
Students will be required to read FOUR books per quarter. They need one fiction, one nonfiction, one student choice, and one of their choosing based on the classroom challenge board.
Late Work Policy
For ALL late assignments (excluding essays and novel requirements)
1 day late = 10% deduction 2 days late = 20% deduction 3 days late = 30% deduction 4 days late = 0%
Students will need to attend Extra Help Day OR submit a request to complete form signed by student and a parent/legal guardian. Work over FOUR days late will receive an automatic deduct of 30% when finally submitted.