September
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.
October
This month students will be beginning their first novel study of the year, And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie. This classic novel by the Queen of Mystery has a rich setting, complex characters, 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. We’ll have a mini film study to help us look at the mystery genre in different mediums. Afterwards, we’ll have a quick unit on reading comprehension.
December
In December, we will complete a persuasive writing unit before moving onto poetry, studying classical poetry and modern poetry in the form of popular music.
January
Firstly, we have a film study for the film Thor: Ragnarok. Then students will being their major novel study, Cherie Dimaline’s The Marrow Thieves, which is rich in many of the most important topics in ELA 8, including character and characterization, conflict, allegory, and more. While this novel contains some mature themes, but it will always be safeguarded, framed, and analyzed with guidance.
February
We’ll begin this month by wrapping up our major novel study and then have a second round of practice with functional writing.
March
This month, we’ll be tackling my favourite unit: Shakespeare! We’ll study the completely bonkers play Much Ado About Nothing, reading the text and watching a version of the staring Catherine Tate and David Tennant.
April
After wrapping up Shakespeare, we’ll have a handful of smaller units to complete, including a review of functional writing and a creative writing unit.
May
The first part of this month will be spent wrapping up our last unit and then prepping for our PAT Part A final, which is usually in mid-May. Then, we will practice reading comprehension in preparation for Part B of the PAT, which will be near the end of June.
June
Students will prepare for our final exam, the second part of the PAT.