Hello and welcome to everything 8th grade English! As we enter our final trimester we will continue working on grammar, sentence structure, and reading Night by Elie Wisel.
This year we will focus on many components of the English language including grammar, vocabulary, and spelling. In addition, reading comprehension, and writing will be strengthened throughout the year.
At the start of our school year, the Catholic High School Entrance Exam will be at the forefront of our daily activities. We will spend a good portion of our time becoming comfortable with the examination and the material that will be on it. We will also learn test-taking skills to prepare for the big day.
While working with our four major novels, which can be seen below, many Common Core Standards will be addressed and assessed.
Summer reading: Chasing Lincoln's Killer by James Swanson.
Please email me at the address above or visit the GoogleSites class page for the PDF documents needed to complete this summer reading.
After reviewing the mandatory summer reading, we will begin with our class novels:
We will begin our literature review with Fahrenheit 541, a novel by KRay Bradbury. While reading this novel, we will also be spending time preparing for the Catholic High School Entrance Exam.
Following this novel will be Twelve Angry Men. This is a play written by Reginald Rose. We will also spend time watching the short series and comparing/contrasting the two.
Next will be To Kill a Mockingbird, an all-time favorite novel written by author Harper Lee.
We will end the year reading Night. We will be able to gauge what life was like during a traumatic time through the story of Elie Wiesel.
With each novel we work with there will be shorter articles, poems, etc. that will be examined and analyzed to help with the understanding of the main piece of literature. Throughout the Unit, you can expect open-ended classroom discussions, quizzes, homework and classroom assignments, as well as creative projects (both partner and individual), as well as a unit test.