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8th Grade Language Arts

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

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