Canton Middle School is affiliated with the Teacher's College Reading and Writing Project. Therefore, our philosophy of teaching revolves around three main components: 1) All students will produce a high volume of reading and writing in the classes, allowing them to have daily practice deepening their skills; 2) Students will have a wide variety of choice in their curriculum often including what they read, how they're assessed, and what topics they explore; and 3) Teachers will utilize individual and small-group conferencing as a way to personal their instruction for every student.
Students may be enrolled in either English 8 or English 8 Honors. The distinction between these two courses is the level of independence of the learners, and the pace at which the curriculum moves.
Students in English 8 or 8 Honors will be on either Team 8 or Team Hybrid.
Reading: Textual Lineage, Deep Study of Character, Dystopian Book Clubs, Historical Fiction
Writing: Investigative Journalism, Literary Essay, Memoir Writing
Students in 8th grade may also choose to take one or more of our 30-day experiential courses. This year we are offering both Drama and Creative Writing taught by Ms. Foster
October 2018: Mrs. Turano getting excited about her students' love of their mentor text, Jewell Parker Rhodes' Ghost Boys.
February 2019: Get ready, 8th graders! It's time to explore the world of ancient Greek mythology! Ms. Chafetz and Mrs. Turano will be your guides throughout this mini-unit of myths!
September 2018: Welcome to 8th grade English! Students are finishing their units on Textual Lineage, and are about to start a unit about the Deep Study of Characters in literature. They'll be reading Ghost Boys as a mentor text before beginning to explore Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird.
Students working on their dystopian final projects!
All students should be settling into a habit of reading for at least 20 minutes every night!
Teachers preparing for upcoming units!