8th Grade Generals Language Arts
Mrs. Carpenter, Mrs. Smyth, and Mr. Houghton
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"The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more you learn, the more places you'll go! — Dr. Seuss
LA Class Philosophy:
We value comprehension over memorization. We believe in the integration of the subject areas and feel that learning the skills that allow you to make connections is the most important aspect of Language Arts. This year our focus will be on going beyond simply reading information. Instead, we hope to help you strengthen your abilities to research and analyze a variety of materials. We will accomplish this by always asking why, by allowing for individuals to develop independent research, and by fine-tuning the basic skills necessary for writing and analysis.
We will do our best to foster an atmosphere of academic excellence that encourages you to challenge yourself to go beyond simply memorizing. For this to happen we need each of you to take charge of your own learning by becoming responsible for your actions. We ask you to take responsibility by showing respect to your teachers and your classmates, by completing your work when asked, and by keeping an open mind so that you can learn something from every activity or experience.
1.Proper classroom decorum is expected at all times:
Never speak when another person is speaking
Be prepared for all classes: book, LA
binder, homework, flash drive, and blue/
black pen
Never distract any other students
Adhere to all school rules: carry an agenda
book, no gum, no bag, etc.
2. Homework will be collected in the beginning of class, all HW turned in after this will be late.
3. Essays will be due on posted dates. If a student requests that their essay be printed out on due date will be considered late. One grade will be taken off each day that the essay is late. Additional penalties such as lunch/ after school detentions or rewrites may be assigned until an essay is satisfactorily completed.
4. Grade updates are available on sapphire, students and parents should make sure that access is established and monitored.
5. It is the responsibility of the student to bring concerns to us well BEFORE a due date. This website will contain long-term assignments to help the students while at home.
6. Extra-credit will not be offered on an individual basis. Opportunities will be built into required assignments that allow for extra points. In addition, a student may decide to partake in the reading incentive program, which will earn them extra- credit. Directions will be given in class.
_____________________________________________________
Agenda and Assignments:
Monday, August 31,
Welcome and introductions
Syllabus
HW- Get syllabus Signed
Tuesday, September 1
Tolstoy, “The Two Brothers”
Setting goals and visualizing the perfect year
Letter to self
Review of classroom expectations
HW- Bring summer reading book and notes
Wednesday, Sept 2
Summer reading Assessment
Letter Collage directions
HW- Start finding pictures/ words that describe you
Thursday, Sept 3
Letter Collage Example
Work session
HW: collect pictures for collage
Bring your binder/ dividers/ and loose-leaf for
Friday
Friday, Sept 4
Organize binder
Book Chat
Share favorite recent reads
Rules/ expectations for classroom library
Work session
HW: Letter Collage due on Tuesday!!!
Have a great day off on Monday!
Thursday, Sept 10
Analyzing a quote
What is reader's role?
Annotation (visualizing)
understanding its purpose/goals
"Sucker"
beginning annotations
Work Session
Letter Collages
HW: begin annotation of "Sucker" word by word/line by line to the bottom of page 2 for Friday
Friday, Sept 11
Letter Collages
finish presentations
make connections with peers
"Sucker" annotations
Check in - How did we do?
continue annotations
- word by word - what do they mean?
- line by line
HW: continue annotation of "Sucker" word by word/line by line to the bottom of page 4 for Monday
Monday, Sept 14
Current Events
Reading critically using the newspaper:
recognizing main ideas/best points
reacting to information/finding importance to you/to the world
Annotation
independent
HW: annotations of "Sucker" - word by word/line by line
Wednesday Collection:
Sept 16 - p. 1-4
Sept 23 - p. 5-8
Sept 30 - p. 9-end
Tuesday, Sept 15
Establishing a definition for "memoir"
Read magazine article about memoirs
- word origin
- characteristics
- objectives
Brainstorming - questions for memoirists
- narrowing down out life experiences
Independent work on Sucker
HW: annotations of "Sucker" - word by word/line by line
Wednesday Collection:
Sept 16 - p. 1-4
Sept 23 - p. 5-8
Sept 30 - p. 9-end
**Brainstorm possible memories/narrow to best choice for Wed.
Wednesday, Sept 16
Memoir brainstorming
recalling sensory details
"Show don't tell" review
building a story with specific details and action verbs
Writing time
begin drafting your memoir
must contain all 3 parts
HW: annotations of "Sucker" - word by word/line by line
Wednesday Collection:
Sept 16 - p. 1-4 - collected
Sept 23 - p. 5-8
Sept 30 - p. 9-end
Thursday, Sept 17
Annotation Chat: How did we do?
Problem Spots/Good Stuff
"Sucker" annotation
partner pair, p. 5
word by word/line by line
Rough Draft of Memoir - independent
3 Parts
HW: Typed rough draft of Memoir for Friday
Friday, Sept 18
How to peer review
- example and guidelines
The importance of peer reviewing and editing
Peer Review of rough draft
"Sucker" annotations
HW: annotations of "Sucker" - word by word/line by line
Wednesday Collection:
Sept 16 - p. 1-4 - collected
Sept 23 - p. 5-8
Sept 30 - p. 9-end
First complete draft due Wednesday.
Wednesday, Sept 23
An Author and his text
Peer Review of Memoir Rough Draft
- making specific individualized suggestions
- meeting Mrs. Neduscin
Author Search
will knowing about Philbrick help with analysis? online search
HW: Discussion questions 2, 3 & 4 for Freak the Mighty for Thursday
Next draft of Memoir for Fri
Final good copy of Memoir for Tues
annotations of "Sucker" - word by word/line by line
Wednesday Collection:
Sept 16 - p. 1-4 - collected
Sept 23 - p. 5-8 - collected
Sept 30 - p. 9-end
Thursday, Sept 24
personal Responsibility in a book discussion
Establishing expectations/checking out the Rubric
Book Discussion Questions 2, 3 & 4
Read
HW: Next draft of Memoir for Fri
Read Chapters 6, 7 & 8 (Freak the Mighty) for Fri
Final good copy of Memoir for Tues
annotations of "Sucker" - word by word/line by line
Wednesday Collection:
Sept 16 - p. 1-4 - collected
Sept 23 - p. 5-8 - collected
Sept 30 - p. 9-end
Friday, Sept 25
Warm-up/weekend check-in
Memoir - final read through
consult the rubric - but DO NOT write on it!
read "Freak"/update packets through chapter 12
feel free to start independent projects
HW: Finish reading "Freak" through chapter 12
update "Freak" packet (vocabulary pages, Venn diagram
update "Freak" packet discussion questions through #7 for Tues
Best Copy of Memoir due Wed
-includes all rough drafts
-include peer review sheets
-include rubric
Tuesday, Sept 29
Warm-up: characterization
Bionics
significance vs. reality?
Book discussion questions 5-7
-check rubric/grading
-assessment this time
Work session
-read through Chapter 14
-update packet (vocab/venn diagram), projects
HW: best copy of Memoir due Wed
-includes all rough drafts
-include peer review sheets
-include rubric
Read "Freak" through chapter 12
update "Freak" packet (vocabulary pages, Venn diagram
update "Freak" packet discussion questions through #7 for Wed
Wednesday, Sept 30
Warm-up: book discussion expectations
Book disucssion #2 - Assessment points
-focus on utilizing the book, textual support
-analysis/questioning/connecting
Work session
read chapters 15 and 16
update packet
consider Tic Tac Toe projects
HW: Read "Freak" through Chapter 16
update your packet
-discussion Questions, vocabulary, allusion, Venn Diagram
-work on Tic Tac Toe Choice projects - use the text
Thursday, Oct 1
Warm-up: dictionary entry
How much do you know
Dictionary use
-importance/significance of the information
-using the information effectively
-define yourself-mimic the dictionary format
Freak the Mighty
Chapters 17 & 18
Projects
HW: Read "Freak" through Chapter 18
update your packet
-discussion Questions, vocabulary, allusion, Venn Diagram
-work on Tic Tac Toe Choice projects - use the text
"Sucker" annotations p. 9-end for Wed., 10/7
Friday, Oct 2
Warm-up
annotation exercise for Freak
Finding significance
Freak - read through chapter 21
update discussion questions 8-13 for Mon., 10/5
Tic Tac Toe project
"Sucker" annotations - last 4 pages
HW: Finish reading Freak through chapter 21
update discussion questions 8-13 for Mon., 10/5
finish vocabulary, allusion, Venn Diagram'
work on Tic Tac Toe Choice projects - use the text
Monday, Oct 5
Warm-up: Newspaper
Selecting main ideas - quotes
explaining and responding to information
discussion
Work session
complete reading "Freak"
complete packet
HW: Finish reading Freak through the end
complete Freak packet for wed., 10/7
complete Sucker packet due Thurs., 10/8
TIC TAC TOE project due Tues., 10/13
Tuesday, Oct 6
Warm-up
connecting to the text
understanding the character
Book discussion #'s 8, 10, 12
utilizing textual evidence
going deeper - analysis
work session
TIC TAC TOE, packet, sucker
HW: Finish reading Freak through the end
complete Freak packet for wed., 10/7
complete Sucker packet due Thurs., 10/8
TIC TAC TOE project due Tues., 10/13
Wednesday, Oct 7
Warm-up
considering the novel's message
Work session
TIC TAC TOE, packets
Watch "Freak the Mighty"
Compare and contrast
HW: completed Sucker packet due Thurs., 10/8
TIC TAC TOE project due Tues., 10/13
Thursday, Oct 8
Warm-up
Consider Quiet Riot
Finish "The Mighty"
HW: TIC TAC TOE project due Tues., 10/13
Monday, Oct 12
Warm-up: check-in
Newspaper write-up
choosing main ideas and reacting to them
discuss
Work session/book preview
-Tic Tac Toe
-look at Lit circle choices
pg #s/print size
vocal/voice
read back/look at cover
HW: TIC TAC TOE project due Tues., 10/13
Tuesday, Oct 13
Warm-up
Reflection and project submission
Project Share
Compare and consider
Presentations
Journal #1
Free write - your goal = continuous writing
HW: Make sure all projects are completed
Read something fun tonight!
Wednesday, Oct 14
Warm-up
Role of Confidence
Read aloud - 51st Dragon
Making predictions/recognizing details
Guided Reading
-assigning meaning to textual evidence
HW: Complete 51st Dragon (writing)
Read something fun tonight!
Friday, Oct 16
Warm-up - Lit Circles
- participation of individual members
Lit Circle Overviews
- Google docs - individual grades
textual evidence -- relationship Big questions
analysis
Lit Circle Group/books
begin reading - SSR/marking pages with post-its
HW: Read Lit Circle Books
Monday, Oct 19
Warm-up
Root words - creating a pathway
Root Words Unit 1
*connecting new words/new meanings to existing vocabulary
- must use synonyms in every answer for credit
Review of Lit Circle expectations
*preparing textual evidence for tomorrow - Post-its
SSR
HW: Read according to your lit circle agreement
* post-its
-vocab/connections
-characters who show character
-characters choosing friends
-examples of choices affecting/effecting others
Tuesday, Oct 20
Welcome, Mrs Kosh!
Mrs. Kosh will present a mini-leson about scary stories.
-What makes a story scary
Book discussions - Googledocs
HW: read according to your lit circle agreement
* post-its
-vocab/connections
-characters who show character
-characters choosing friends
-examples of choices affecting/effecting others
think about your fears
Wednesday, Oct 21
Warm-up
reviewing plot (definition and parts)
"If Cornered Scream"
-Isolating plot line = details integral to the story
-watch and compare: How do details change mood
Journal #2
writing about fear
HW: read according to your lit circle agreement
* post-its
-vocab/connections
-characters who show character
-characters choosing friends
-examples of choices affecting/effecting others
Thurs., 10/22 - Lit Circle meeting
Thursday, Oct 22
Warm-up
-review/recall root words I
-extend/use words
Lit Circle groups
running record of discussion
- goal is variety
SSR
HW: read according to your lit circle agreement
* post-its
-vocab/connections
-characters who show character
-characters choosing friends
-examples of choices affecting/effecting others
Tues., 10/27 - Lit Circle meeting
Monday, Oct 26
Check-in
-paragraphs (5)
-persuasion
-organize edit - best copy
Read or write
lit circle book / scary story
HW: read according to your lit circle agreement
* post-its
-vocab/connections
-characters who show character
-characters choosing friends
-examples of choices affecting/effecting others
Tues., 10/27 - Lit Circle meeting
Tuesday, Oct 27
Warm-up
*infusing details into writing
- creating a scary feeling
Writing time
translating 5-W sheet into Rough Draft
Book discussion meeting
HW: read according to your lit circle agreement
* post-its
-vocab/connections
-characters who show character
-characters choosing friends
-examples of choices affecting/effecting others
Thurs., 10/29 - Lit Circle meeting
Thurs., 10/29 rough draft of scary story (typed)
Wednesday, Oct 28
Warm-up
quote significance
The Landlady
-details that add suspense
-details that create mood
Video - What's better/what's worse?
Write/Read independently
HW: read according to your lit circle agreement
* post-its
-vocab/connections
-characters who show character
-characters choosing friends
-examples of choices affecting/effecting others
Thurs., 10/29 - Lit Circle meeting
Thurs., 10/29 rough draft of scary story (typed)
Thursday, Oct 29
Do Now -
-judge your scary story
-rough draft using the writing rubric
-evaluate and discuss each category: descriptive words, setting, plot, scare factor, and ending. What do you need to change/improve for each section? Best/worst area?
Two peer edits
Lit Circle
HW: read according to your lit circle agreement
* post-its
-vocab/connections
-characters who show character
-characters choosing friends
-examples of choices affecting/effecting others
Mon., 11/2 - Lit Circle meeting
start working on changes to scary story.
Friday, Oct 30
Warm-up: relating to personal experience
Tell Take Heart
-Elements of a short story
-recognizing details/suspense
-understanding meaning - is is horror?
Video about Tell Take
Raven
HW: read according to your lit circle agreement
* post-its
-vocab/connections
-characters who show character
-characters choosing friends
-examples of choices affecting/effecting others
Mon., 11/2 - Lit Circle meeting (book finished)
Wed., 11/4 - Next Draft of Scary Story
Thurs., 11/5 - Final copy of Scary Story
Monday, Nov 2
Warm-up: Revenge Questionnaire
How vengeful are we?
Begin Poe's "Cask of Amontillado"
Listen/Record Notes
Finish on Wed.
Lit Circle Final Meeting
Finish up notes/post its, etc.
HW: Wed., 11/4 - Next Draft of Scary Story
Thurs., 11/5 - Final copy of Scary Story
Wednesday, Nov 4
Warm-up: organize post-its/submit
check Scary Story Rubric/Reflect
Cast of Amontillado
finish reading
Guided annotation
with a partner/submit (in ink legible)
HW: Best copy of Scary Story due Thurs., 11/5
- proper MLA format
- Rubric
- Rough Draft
- Peer Review Sheet
(all of the above, in that order, then staple it together)
mini-annotation: pg #1 due Friday (page #2 - turn in Friday for extra credit)
Thursday, Nov 5
Warm-up: Critiquing Cask of Amontillado
Horror? Short Story?
Cast of Amontillado
mini-annotation
Free choice specifications
making the right choice for you
HW: mini-annotation: pg #1 due Friday (page #2 - turn in Friday for extra credit)
Friday, Nov 6
Collect annotation
Annabelle Lee
The romantic side to Poe
Looking at meaning/lyrical quality
Free choice read
*remember, you need to finalize on Monday
HW: read your free choice book
enjoy the beautiful weekend
Some Favorite Links:
easy bib Online site that helps with MLA works cited format
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