Course InfoRmation

Seventh Grade English Language Arts

ELA Grade 7 is a full-year course for middle school students. The English/Language Arts Units of Study are structured around the philosophy of Lucy Calkins, founder of the Reading and Writing Project at Columbia University. The philosophy highlights Balanced Literacy through a workshop model. 

The seventh-grade reading curriculum includes Investigating Characterization, Determining Themes, Historical Fiction, and Literary Nonfiction, and culminates with Identity and Belonging, a Novel Study of The Outsiders that explores characters and themes.  The workshop approach includes a teacher-led mini-lesson followed by independent student work. The mini-lesson includes the day's teaching point, modeled writing or an interactive read-aloud using a mentor text, an opportunity for students to turn and talk, and the “forever” link. This approach also allows for one-on-one and small-group guidance within a homogeneous classroom setting.

In writer's workshop, students focus on specific text types: narrative, informative and explanatory text, and argument. The differentiated workshop approach engages students in reading and writing experiences appropriate to their developmental stage and allows teachers to assess students at regular intervals to inform instructional decisions. Instruction focuses on assisting students to build independence as readers, writers, speakers, listeners, and language users. Students will build a base of knowledge across a wide range of subject matter and will respond to the varying demands of audience, task, and purpose.

Overall, the seventh grade curriculum is organized into units of study that engage the maturing reader and writer in a variety of opportunities to interact with outstanding young adult literature and use the writing workshop structure to create fluent, cohesive writing in narrative, argument, and information forms. Each unit includes the following: goals, standards, essential questions, teaching points, and assessments.

Eighth Grade English Language Arts

ELA Grade 8 is a full-year course structured around the philosophy of Lucy Calkins, founder of the Reading and Writing Project at Columbia University. The philosophy emphasizes Balanced Literacy through a workshop model. These units cover a range of genres. The workshop approach includes a teacher-led mini-lesson followed by independent student work. The mini-lesson includes the day's teaching point, modeled writing or an interactive read-aloud using a mentor text, an opportunity for students to turn and talk, and the “forever” link. This approach also allows for one-on-one and small-group guidance within a homogeneous classroom setting.

The 8th Grade Curriculum includes two stand-alone units: Launching Literacy and Poetry; three reading units in the form of book clubs - Horror Book Clubs, Dystopian Book Clubs, and Social Issues Book Clubs; and three writing units to complement the reading units - Horror Literary Essay, Research Writing, and Comparative Literary Analysis Essay. Each unit includes overarching goals, standards, essential teaching points/questions, assessments, and suggested activities. Each unit includes the following: goals, standards, essential questions, teaching points, and assessments.