Eighth Grade Language Arts Course Syllabus  

Description:

Eighth Grade Language Arts will enable students to write and speak clearly and coherently.  We achieve this by learning the eight parts of speech, diagramming sentences, and applying the rules of grammar and punctuation.  Paragraphs, essays, and reports will be written throughout the year.  The skills learned will provide each student a foundation for effective communication.

Standards:

Upon completing the Eighth Grade Language Arts course students should be able to:

• Apply knowledge of denotation and connotation to derive meaning from text.
• Demonstrate an understanding of the meaning of content area vocabulary.
• Derive meaning from unfamiliar words in text using context.
• Understand relationships between and among words-synonyms, antonyms, homonyms, analogies.
• Use effective and concise language appropriate to content, purpose, and audience to write clear, complete sentences.
• Use objects, complements, phrases, and clauses to produce a variety of simple, compound, and complex sentences.
• Apply usage, grammar and writing convention rules when editing, revising, and proofreading one’s own and another’s written work.
• Omit non-agreement and faulty tense changes.
• Use correct subject-verb agreement with personal pronouns, indefinite pronouns, and compound subjects.
• Edit for clarity of language, appropriate word choice, and effective sentences.
• Differentiate between active and passive voice.
• Identify the parts of speech and their functions in speaking and writing.
• Establishes a purpose and maintains clear focus; strong awareness of audience; evidence of distinctive voice and/or appropriate tone.
• Employ the writing process to all forms of writing.
• Analyze informational, practical/workplace, and persuasive material to create responses through addressing issues, confirming predictions, paraphrasing information to support ideas, and formulating/supporting opinions.
• Gather information from primary and secondary sources; use quotes, paraphrase material, and summarize to write a technical or research report.
• Write expository, narrative, persuasive, and descriptive pieces for authentic purposes, and audiences. 
• Make distinctions between the types of writing; expository, narrative, persuasive, and descriptive.

Grading:

Students will be evaluated on class assignments and activities including but not limited to the following:

• Notebook (open response questions, entrance and exit questions)
• Projects (Speeches, Writing pieces)
• Tests/Quizzes
• Homework/ Participation

Course Content:

FIRST QUARTER

Introduction to LA class (syllabus, entrance/exit questions, portfolios, setup of week-writing day, grammar day, etc.), introduction to Demonstration speech.

Unit 3 Grammar: Nouns

·        Kinds of Nouns, compound and collective nouns, Unit 1 of Vocabulary book.

1 week

·        Unit 1 of Vocabulary book, topics and outline for demonstration speech, singular and plural nouns, possessive nouns, appositives.                               1 week

·        Unit 2 of Vocabulary book, review of nouns and test, introduction to writing process for demonstration speech, introduction of speech.                      1 week

·        Unit 2 of Vocabulary book, memorized introduction and conclusion of demonstration speech, rough draft of speech, revision through practice, begin unit 5 verbs, kinds of verbs, verb phrases, quiz on linking verbs.                     1 week

·        Unit 3 of Vocabulary book, final draft of speech, practice speech in class, verb tenses, forms of be, have, and, do, irregular verbs.                     1 week

·        Unit 3 of Vocabulary book, present speeches in class, practice irregular verbs. 1 week

·        Review of Units 1-3 Vocabulary book, transitive and intransitive verbs, direct and indirect objects, predicate nouns, and predicate adjectives.         1 week

·        Unit 4 of Vocabulary book, active and passive voices, subject-verb agreement, inverted and interrupted order.                                       1 week

·        Unit 4 of Vocabulary book, verb usage, verb review and test.      1 week

SECOND QUARTER

·        Unit 5 of Vocabulary book, begin Unit 7 Modifiers, adjectives, comparing with adjectives, quiz on adjectives, introduction to aspects of research or technical reports.

      1 week

·        Unit 5 of Vocabulary book, identifying adverbs, position of adverbs, comparing with adverbs, negatives, brainstorm and pick topics for research report. 1 week

·        Unit 6 of Vocabulary book, adjective or adverb, research for report, guidelines given, review exercises for Unit 7 Modifiers.                                1 week

·        Unit 6 of Vocabulary book, test on Unit 7 Modifiers, research for report, work on outlines and notecards.                                            1 week

·        Review of Units 4-6 in Vocabulary notebook, speech requirements, discuss persuasive type speeches, continue working on research report, rough draft of research report, begin Unit 11 Pronouns, personal an possessive pronouns, pronoun antecedents, quiz on pronouns.                                                     1 week

·        Unit 7 of Vocabulary book, 10 questions for speech, final draft of research report, subject and object pronouns, pronouns in compounds, interrogative pronouns, demonstrative pronouns, quiz on pronouns.                      1 week

·        Unit 7 of Vocabulary book, research for speeches, indefinite pronouns, reflexive and intensive pronouns, choosing the right pronoun, work on writing persuasive pieces.                     1 week

·        Unit 8 of Vocabulary book, discuss conclusion and rough draft of persuasive speech, review of pronouns, test on pronouns.                                            1 week

·        Unit 8 of Vocabulary book, practice introduction and conclusion of speech in class, begin Unit 13 Phrases, prepositions and prepositional phrases, quiz on prepositions and phrases.                                                               1 week

THIRD QUARTER

·        Revise first draft of speech, student conferencing for speeches, Unit 9 of Vocabulary book, more practice with persuasive writing, prepositional phrases as modifiers, choosing the right prepositions, verbals.                                          1 week

·        Peer Conferencing of speeches, write final draft of speech, continue practicing introduction and conclusion, Unit 9 of Vocabulary book, participial phrases, gerunds, gerund phrases.                                                               1 week

·        Review of Vocabulary units 7-9, practice speeches in class with partners, gerund phrases cont’d, infinitives, infinitive phrases.                                 1 week

·        Practice speeches in class with partners, Unit 10 of Vocabulary book, infinitive phrases cont’d, combining sentences with phrases, begin review of Unit 13 Phrases.

      1 week

·        Practice speeches in class with partners, Unit 10 of Vocabulary book, finish review of phrases and test on phrases.                                                            1 week

·        Practice speeches in class with partners, Unit 11 of Vocabulary book, begin Unit 9 Mechanics, interjections, titles, organizations, dates, and subjects. 1 week

·        Speeches delivered in class, uses for commas, dates, addresses, and letters. 1 week

·        Unit 11 of Vocabulary book, colons, semicolons, abbreviations and numbers, apostrophes, hyphens and parantheses.                                        1 week

·        Unit 12 of Vocabulary book, Review of Mechanics, Test on Mechanics. 1 week

FOURTH QUARTER

·        Unit 12 of Vocabulary book, Introduction to Narratives, Pre-write for Narrative, begin Unit 14 Clauses, independent and subordinate clauses, adjective clauses.

      1 week

·        Review of Vocabulary units 10-12, begin writing rough draft of narrative, peer-conferencing of narrative, essential and nonessential clauses, adverb clauses, noun clauses.                                                                     1 week

·        Unit 13 of Vocabulary book, subordinate clauses, review clauses, second draft of narrative, student conferences of narrative.                              1 week

·        Unit 13 of Vocabulary book, test on clauses, work on final draft of narrative. 1 week

·        Unit 14 of Vocabulary book, Reality store guidelines, 4H visit, review eight parts of speech.                                                                      1 week

·        Unit 14 of Vocabulary book, 4H visit, research career project, open responses to informational, practical/workplace, and persuasive material (newspapers), review eight parts of speech.                                               1 week     

·        Unit 15 of Vocabulary book, Reality Store, finish career paper, start review for finals, continue looking at newspapers.                                            1 week

·        Unit 15 of Vocabulary book, review for finals, reflection of portfolio pieces. 1 week

·        Take final for English and Vocabulary, sort through portfolio. 1 week