Class Description
The eighth grade language arts curriculum will focus around the enduring understanding that is central to all language arts classes at Cawley: "What we read and write affects how we make sense of the our world, the world around us, and of others." Students will read various selections from the Holt McDougal literature anthology, in addition to works by Edgar Allan Poe, Shakespeare's A Midsummer Nights Dream, a young adult novel about the Holocaust/WWII, and The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd. All students are encouraged to read a book of their choice on a nightly basis as well as in class and will be required to write short responses to this reading each week. Students will write often and in a variety of ways, including argumentative, informative, and narrative. Vocabulary studies will include a focus on Greek and Latin roots, prefixes / suffixes, as a way to construct meaning and understand unfamiliar words. Students will also learn how to be effective and efficient independent researchers.
The eighth grade language arts curriculum will focus around the enduring understanding that is central to all language arts classes at Cawley: "What we read and write affects how we make sense of the our world, the world around us, and of others." Students will read various selections from the Holt McDougal literature anthology, in addition to works by Edgar Allan Poe, Shakespeare's A Midsummer Nights Dream, a young adult novel about the Holocaust/WWII, and The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd. All students are encouraged to read a book of their choice on a nightly basis as well as in class and will be required to write short responses to this reading each week. Students will write often and in a variety of ways, including argumentative, informative, and narrative. Vocabulary studies will include a focus on Greek and Latin roots, prefixes / suffixes, as a way to construct meaning and understand unfamiliar words. Students will also learn how to be effective and efficient independent researchers.