Welcome to the page for Language Arts 8 with Ms. Fairfull!

This year we're going to hit on the six strands of ELA as much as possible - reading, writing, listening, speaking, viewing, and representing. Our course will include a variety of assessments, and much of the learning will be directed through different projects. For detailed information, including assignments, agendas, and announcements, please see the Google Classroom. Your child has the link available through their Google account.

September

This month will begin with a brief unit on grammar as well as setting up class routines, such as ensuring students choose a novel for silent reading throughout the year. Afterwards, we will complete a short story unit to help understand elements of a story and practice our reading comprehension. This month will also include several formative assessments, meaning students will write a few practice quizzes to help inform my teaching and teach me what areas they are strong in and what areas students need some more practice in. These will not be for marks.

Once a week, students will practice goals they set for themselves in Language Arts. On Wednesdays, students will target goals in the areas of content, organization, sentence structure, conventions, or reading. These goals will grow and change throughout the year.

October

This month students will be beginning their first novel study of the year, The Hound of the Baskervilles by Arthur Conan Doyle. The Sherlock Holmes novel has a rich setting and a spooky mystery perfect for fall. Students will be using this novel to study the structure of an essay, learning how to write thesis statements, introductions, conclusions, and body paragraphs, which will also improve their abilities to make evidence-based arguments and critical thinking skills.

November

This month, we’ll spend a couple weeks wrapping up our novel and essay unit. Then, we’ll have a short film study unit to compare the depictions of the original Sherlock Holmes with a modern take.

December

In December, we'll be finishing our film study before moving on to practice reading comprehension in a variety of genres, including poetry, letters, comics, short stories, and more. Then, we’ll learn about functional and persuasive writing, analyzing advertisements and writing pitches for products developed in groups.

January

This month, we’ll be tackling my favourite unit: Shakespeare! We’ll study the completely bonkers play Twelfth Night, reading the text and watching a version of the play put on by the Globe in London.

February

We’ll begin the month by wrapping up our Shakespeare unit and follow it with our film study, Black Panther, directed by Ryan Coogler. Our film study will include an analysis of film direction, narrative parallels, and the use of sound in film. 

March

Students will begin their major novel study, Suzanne Collins’ The Hunger Games, which is rich in many of the most important topics in ELA 8, including conflict, setting, and genre. While this novel contains some mature themes, it will always be framed and analyzed with guidance and in an age-appropriate manner.

April

After wrapping up Shakespeare, we’ll have a handful of smaller units to complete, including another go at reading comprehension, a poetry unit including classical and modern poetry, and a creative writing unit.