
8th Grade Language Arts
8th Grade
English Language Arts
Course Description:
In eighth grade English/Language Arts, students will read from a variety of narrative and expository texts, including classic and contemporary literature, magazines, newspapers, and online information. They will determine and articulate the relationship between the purposes and characteristics of different forms of poetry, evaluate structural elements of plot, and identify literary devices. They will continue to follow the writing process as they craft clear and coherent narrative, expository, persuasive, and descriptive essays.
Semester 1
Unit 1: Gadgets and Glitches
Texts from Cory Doctorow, Susan Hamlyn, James Bessen, Claudia Alarcon
Unit 2: The Thrill of Horror
Texts from Edgar Allen Poe, W.W. Jacobs, Ricky Lewis Jr., Sharon A. Russell
Unit 3: Places We Call Home
Texts from Joy Harjo, Cristina Henriquez, Jean Davies Okimoto, Brooke Hauser
Semester 2
Note: if the following section is blank the course is 1 semester long
Unit 4: The Fight for Freedom
Texts from Frederick Douglass, Ray Bradbury, Walt Whitman, Ann Petry
Unit 5: Finding Your Path
Texts from Nikki Grimes, Jeanne Miller, Audre Lorde, Gloria Arnescua
Unit 6: The Legacy of Anne Frank
Texts from Anne Frank, Elie Wiesel, Billy Collins, Wislawa Szymborska