Summer Reading: Read I Am Malala. Be sure to have a copy on hand for the first weeks of school.
The eighth grade English program strives to encourage students to read and think critically and creatively, analyze literature and text, and write with power and clarity for various purposes. The literary selections seek to expand on the idea that students can use their personal life experiences and what they know of the universal concerns of mankind to make meaning from texts. Students will explore the following essential questions:
-How do we balance the need to conform with the desire to retain our individuality?
-How do we know if the progress we make benefits us and the world around us?
-How can exploring multiple perspectives inform our ideas of what is true?
-How do we maintain our beliefs and advocate for what is right when challenged by those around us?
In works such as Night, Fahrenheit 451, and Anthem, students will consider the tensions between ethnicity and intolerance and individuality and conformity. Students will engage with the literature through text-based critical discussions, collaborative multimedia projects, and opportunities for creative and analytical writing and performance. Writing for varied purposes is regularly assigned in order to develop the higher order thinking skills required for analysis, argument, and synthesis.