Welcome to the eighth grade! Congratulations on successfully making it to your last year of middle school. This is an exciting year but also an important year of school for you as you prepare you for high school and the world beyond.  As an eighth grader you will be able to take advantage of the fun parts of being “top” of the school, but you also must take responsibility with this role.  You must acknowledge that younger students look up to you and that you must lead by example. Show 6^th and 7^th graders what it means to be strong students and good community members through your actions.  Most importantly, however, this year more than any, you must learn to take responsibility for your own education.  Next year, you will move on to high school and then on to college.  What you do everyday within these four walls matters. There is no greater gift you can give yourself than education.  A good education opens doors to you in life that will be closed otherwise.  Take advantage of the opportunity school gives to you and make the best of it.

To insure your success in school this year and outside school in the “real” world, you need to work on what we call the “5 selfs” -- self-expression, self-motivation, self-control, self-discipline, and self-confidence.  These “selfs” are extremely important to success, but require that you work at them now and in the future.  You will continue to work on these “selfs” throughout your life, even as an adult. We work on them all the time. 

Together, we will work on balancing these “5 selfs.” This may seem like a lot to think about because it is!  This hard work is part of growing up.  However, we know that if we each work on our “selfs” and the responsibilities that come with maturing, we will grow as students and teachers as well as individuals.  Together we will learn to become better readers, writers, thinkers and citizens.

We hope that along the way we will also learn about ourselves, develop new friendships and laugh.  Cheers to a great year together!  We look forward to getting to know all of you.

Sincerely,

8^th Grade ELA Syllabus 2011-2012

“There’s a difference between interest and commitment.  When you’re interested in something, you do it only when it is convenient.  When you’re committed to something, you accept no excuses, only results.”

                                                                      - Kenneth Blanchard

Welcome to 8^th Grade!

The following syllabus will outline the objectives and expectations for the next one hundred and eighty days that we will share, learn and grow together.

Outcomes

Throughout the year you will continue to develop your English skills. You will write with a clear focus.  You will organize your ideas and write for different audiences and purposes.  You will pose questions and listen to the ideas of others.  You will make oral presentations that demonstrate appropriate consideration of audience and purpose.  You will acquire new vocabulary and use it correctly.  You will identify basic facts and main ideas in texts.

You will be making connections to deepen your understanding of literary works.  You will analyze characteristics of different genres.  You will also identify theme, structures and elements of fiction.  You will be able to identify how an author’s words appeal to sense, create imagery, suggest mood and set tone.  You will provide evidence from the text to support your understanding.

Classroom Expectations

We expect all students to follow the school rules and the agreed-upon class guidelines for kindness, respect and responsibility. Students will also work on the 5 "self"s:  self-expression, self-discipline, self-control, self-motivation, and self-confidence.

Assessment

Your work will be assessed through class work, class participation, conferencing, essays, projects, quizzes, tests, quarterly exams and homework.

Grading Policy

Term1 (September – November)

Reader’s Workshop/Personal Narrative