Long Beach Middle School

English Language Arts Department

Grade 8

The eighth grade English course is designed to further develop students’ skills in writing, reading, speaking, and listening.  Students are engaged with their learning as they work through various kinds of inquiry:  personal inquiry, social inquiry, and global inquiry.  They will work through four workshops framed by the Expert 21 program published by Scholastic.  Each of these workshops is geared to prepare students to be successful participants in the 21st century workplace, and the skills are grouped in six categories to support this goal:  communication and collaboration; creativity and innovation; critical thinking and problem solving; information and media literacy; information and communication technology; and college, workplace, and life skills.  Emphasis is placed on writing in a variety of forms and for a variety of audiences.  The students will be instructed in the principles of correct grammar and spelling and will be expected to implement these skills in their writing.   Reading instruction focuses on the development of vocabulary, comprehension, and critical analysis skills.  The reading program includes drama, novels, short stories, non-fiction, poetry, and informational text, and students are required to choose texts to read independently.  Students will continue to develop their research skills and will be required to write a paper wherein they synthesize ideas from multiple sources.  
 
The New York State English Language Arts Assessment will be administered to all students.  This exam includes critical reading and short and extended writing tasks.
 
Outcomes for students in eighth grade ELA:
 
Reading:

• Cite textual examples of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text
• Determine how major ideas are developed throughout the text
• Understand author’s craft and how authors create meaning
• Determine the meaning of new words by using context clues
• Analyze how a works format and structure is related to a text’s meaning
• Compare and contrast texts on similar topics or with similar themes (fiction and non-fiction)

 
 
Writing:

• Write arguments and support their claims with clear reasons and relevant evidence
• Write informative/explanatory texts to examine a topic and convey ideas, concepts, and information
• Write narratives to develop real or imagined experiences
• Research topics using multiple print and digital sources
• Develop editing and revision skills
• (This information for reading and writing standards is adapted from the Common Core standards documents found at http://www.corestandards.org/ELA-Literacy)

 
Sources for grades:

    Writing:  Process and Product Scores
    Class participation
    Independent and group work
    Rubrics and checklists
    Outside Reading Activities
    Reading responses
    Notebooks
    Projects
    Homework
    Skills Tests

 
Curriculum approach used:

    Whole-class instruction
    Small-group work
    Inquiry workshops that require individual and small-group collaborations
    Team projects and inter-disciplinary connections
    Literature Circles: small group reading groups
    Individual and small-group exploration of Expert Space—online resource with thousands of articles appropriate for students to read to support their work in the inquiry workshops
    Common Core State Standards for English and Language Arts Literacy