In reading, we will study a variety of genres from fiction, nonfiction and poetry.

Among our units, which are organized into themes, we are studying:

• Coming-of-age stories; 

• Social issues

• Revolution and the nature of revolutionaries;

• Heroes and legends;

• Poetry.

The writing projects mirror the students' work in reading. 

Students will write, for example, a memoir, a realistic fiction story, a research paper, a fantasy story, and a poetry anthology.

Students will also write a number of essays on a variety of subjects related to written texts. They will also work on improving their grammar skills.

Overall, vocabulary appears to be the students' greatest weakness.

Most students' vocabularies are below grade level, something that has a serious effect on reading comprehension. In order to add to their vocabularies, students must get in the habit of looking up words they do not understand, must study an in-class word list, and must keep a personal dictionary.