English 8

The English 8 curriculum is aligned with current New York State English Language Arts standards. Throughout the year, students will work toward skill acquisition with a balanced approach of targeted instruction in reading, writing, speaking, listening and language. For reading instruction, students will read whole- class mentor texts and small group book club texts within various genres to build a repertoire of reading skills, such as analyzing the effect of setting on mood, identifying and analyzing the author’s use of archetypes, synthesizing evidence to analyze character development and change, etc. Writing units are paired with reading units to reinforce previous skills and build new ones, strengthening the connection between reading and writing by focusing on the work of an author. Students will also develop their speaking and listening skills. Whole class, formal public speaking/listening opportunities and small- group, informal speaking/listening opportunities; including speeches, presentations and book club discussions will be utilized. The students’ language development is further supported beyond these experiences with vocabulary introduction in the contexts of their reading and with use of a vocabulary workbook, as well as direct instruction in grammar and language use. This is reinforced through reading and writing activities.

Major Exams: Midterm, NYS Assessment, Final Exam (Research Paper)