8th Grade Accelerated English Calendar

Skills:

• • Recognizing story elements

  • Following a story's plot

Reading (one of the following):

• • The Hobbit - J.R.R. Tolkien 

  • The Hunger Games - Suzanne Collins

Activities and Assignments:

• Students will choose and read one of the two books (listed above)

• Students will complete a reflective journal for the book they've chosen to read and turn it in on Google Classroom.

Skills:

• • Text annotation

    • • Vocabulary

      • Repetition in a story

      • Contrasts in a story

      • Character revelations in a story

  • Defining and recognizing specific story elements

    • • Genre

      • Characters

      • Setting

      • Narrator

      • Point-of-View

  • Identifying the interaction between a story's plot and the elements of the story

    • • Exposition and Point-of-View

      • Initial Incident and Conflict

      • Rising Action and Characterization

      • Climax and Conflict

Reading:

• • "The Essay at the Front of Your Literature Book" - essay by Drs. Beers and Probst

  • "The Brave Little Toaster" - short story by Cory Doctorow

  • Literature Circle novel options:

    • • The Martian (Classroom Edition) - Andy Weir

      • Out of My Mind - Sharon Draper

      • Artemis Fowl - Eoin Colfer

      • Wonder - R.J. Palacio

Activities and Assignments:

• • Small-group and whole-class discussions

  • Reading apprenticeship practice

  • Google slides presentation of summer reading analysis

  • TDA analysis essay on "The Brave Little Toaster"

Skills: (in addition to practicing the ones from last month...)

• • Text annotation

    • • Vocabulary

      • Contrasts in a story

      • Repetition in a story

      • Character revelations in a story

  • Differences between mood and tone

  • Story elements that create mood and tone

  • Elements of the horor genre

Reading:

• • "In the Fog" - short drama by Milton Geiger

  • "What Is the Horror Genre?" - nonfiction essay by Dr. Sharon A. Russell

  • "The Tell-Tale Heart"  - short story by Edgar Allen Poe

  • Literature Circle novel:

    • • Coraline - Neil Gaiman

Activities and Assignments:

• • Small-group and whole-group discussion

  • Analysis questions

  • Creative writings

  • TDA analysis essay on "The Tell-Tale Heart"

Skills: (in addition to practicing the ones from last month...)

• • Text annotation

    • • Making connections to a story

      • Repetition in a story

      • Contrasts in a story

      • Character revelations in a story

  • Recognizing and using the elements of dialogue in a story

Reading:

• • "Thank You, M'am" - short story by Langston Hughes

  • "A Police Stop Changed This Teenager's Life" - Nonfiction article by Amy B. Wang

  • Literature Circle - student choice

Activities and Assignments:

• Small-group and whole-class discussion

• TDA analysis essay of "Thank You, M'am"

• Literature Circle project

• Short story creative writing assignment

More details coming soon!

Skills: (in addition to practicing the ones from last month...)

Reading:

• • Poetry

Activities and Assignments:

Coming soon!

Skills: (in addition to practicing the ones from last month...)

Reading:

Activities and Assignments:

Coming soon!

Skills: (in addition to practicing the ones from last month...)

Reading:

Activities and Assignments:

Coming soon!

Skills: (in addition to practicing the ones from last month...)

Reading:

Activities and Assignments:

Coming soon!

Skills: (in addition to practicing the ones from last month...)

Reading:

Activities and Assignments: