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Core Content and Skills
English Language Arts 8
2008-2009
BOE Approved

Grammar Mini Unit  Content   Skills  Parts of Speech Verb Tense Subject/Verb Agreement   Dissecting sentences Correcting sentences Using words correctly     Short Story Unit  Content   Skills  "The Drummer Boy of Shiloh" by Ray Bradbury "Charles" by Shirley Jackson "I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings" by Maya Angelou "Harriet Tubman: Guide to Freedom" by Ann Perry "Thank you M'am" by Langston Hughes Simile Metaphor Foreshadowing Flashback Point of View   Elements of Fiction Elements of Historical Fiction Elements of an Autobiography Elements of a Biography

Mini-Unit - Review of Writing Strategies  Content   Skills  Quick Plan Developing a Thesis Statement Understanding the Elements of the Writing Rubric   Using transition words Creating a concluding sentence Planning an essay Critical thinking skills Reading Comprehension skills Creating thesis statements     Mini-Unit - Reading: Review of Coding the Text  Content   Skills  Process of Coding the Text   Identifying important information Identifying confusing information Identifying new or interesting information Making predictions Assessing predictions

Realistic Fiction Unit - The Pigman  Content   Skills  "The Pigman" by Paul Zindel   Understanding and recognition of various literary devices such as: dual narration, flashback, tone, and foreshadowing Understanding of the thematic topics on which the author focuses Importance of morality in the home Loyalty and honesty in friendships Appropriate adult role-models Consequences related to detrimental behaviors

Realistic Fiction Unit - The Pigman  Content   Skills  "The Pigman" by Paul Zindel   Understanding and recognition of various literary devices such as: dual narration, flashback, tone, and foreshadowing Understanding of the thematic topics on which the author focuses Importance of morality in the home Loyalty and honesty in friendships Appropriate adult role-models Consequences related to detrimental behaviors

Satire Unit - Animal Farm  Content   Skills  Communist Russia Dictatorships Propaganda Satire Allegory Fable "Animal Farm" by George Orwell Characterization Theme Symbolism Setting Coding the Text Quick Plan/essay writing Short Responses Short story "Harrison Bergeron" by Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.   Analyzing author's purpose Reading comprehension Self-monitoring Listening skills Note-taking skills Understanding character development Developing short responses Quick-planning essays Writing essays Making personal responses/connections Test-taking strategies Visualizing Summarizing Expressing concepts artistically

Satire Unit (continued)  Content   Skills  see January   see January

Historical Fiction - Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry  Content   Skills  "The Other Side" by Jacqueline Woodson "Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry" by Mildred D. Taylor Southern Culture in the 1930s The Great Depression Sharecropping Poetry by Langston Hughes Article: "Racial Etiquette" Listening Passages Coding the Text Theme Symbolism Foreshadowing Setting Vocabulary Enhancement Quick Plan Short Responses   Reading comprehension Self-monitoring Making predictions Completing graphic organizers Listening skills Note-taking skills Understanding character development Developing short responses Quick-planning essays Writing essays Making personal responses/connections Test-taking strategies Visualizing Inferencing Collaborating with peers Using Power Point Using Inspiration Accessing/utilizing eBoard

Poetry  Content   Skills  "The Secret Heart" by Robert P. Tristam Coffin "The Wreck of the Hesperus" by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow "love is a place" by e.e. cummings "Freedom of the Moon" by Robert Frost "Harlem Night Song" by Langston Hughes "Blow, Blow, Thou Winter Wind" by William Shakespeare 'Sonnet 130" by William Shakespeare   Understanding lyric poetry Understanding narrative poetry Understanding sonnets Recognition of figurative language and literary elements Simile, metaphor, and personification Understanding elements of sound such as: Rhyme, rhythm, alliteration and onomatopoeia

Nonfiction Unit - The Diary of Anne Frank  Content   Skills  The Holocaust Holocaust WebQuest "The Diary of Anne Frank" by Anne Frank Dictatorships "First They Came For the Jews" by Pastor Martin Niemöller Format of a Play Quick Plan Short Responses   Reading comprehension Self-monitoring Listening skills Making personal responses Making predictions Comparing and contrasting literature Quick-planning essays Writing essays and short responses

Ann Frank Continued - Final Exam Review  Content   Skills  Act III, Scene II of William Shakespeare's "A Midsummer Night's Dream" Final Exam Review