English Language Arts Curriculum

8th Grade

Course Purpose:

Students will debate significant global issues through comparing, contrasting, and presenting solutions via various media sources and fiction/nonfiction text.

Outcomes and Components:

LA.8.1

Students will analyze historical events from a personal perspective and evaluate ways society can stand up for its most vulnerable.

Pacing  

Instruct/

Assess

Component Code

Component

Standard(s)

 

LA.8.1.1

Read, comprehend, and evaluate grade level books, stories, articles, and poems independently and proficiently.

8.RL.10

8.RI.10

 

LA.8.1.2

Analyze how differences in the points of view of the characters and the audience or reader create effects such as suspense, and analyze how the author acknowledges and responds to conflicting evidence or viewpoints.

8.RL.6

8.RI.6

 

LA.8.1.3

Interpret the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, including figurative and connotative meanings; analyze the impact of specific word choices on meaning and tone, including analogies or allusions to other texts.

8.RL.4

 

LA.8.1.4

Interpret a central idea/theme of a text, and analyze its development over the course of the text, including its relationship to the characters, setting, and plot; provide an objective summary of the text.

8.RL.2

 

LA.8.1.5

Analyze how particular lines of dialogue or incidents in a story or drama propel the action, reveal aspects of a character, or provoke a decision.

8.RL.3

 

LA.8.1.6

Write and use technology to publish clear and coherent arguments to support claims with clear reasons and relevant evidence. Develop and strengthen this argument by planning, editing and revising.

8.W.4

8.W.5

8.W.6

 

LA.8.1.7

Conduct short research projects that answer a question using multiple, credible sources. 

8.W.7

8.W.8

 

LA.8.1.8

Prepare and follow rules for collegial discussions and summarize key ideas discussed. Pose questions to connect with the ideas of others. Identify new information in order to justify their own views.

8.SL.1a

8.SL.1b

8.SL.1c

8.SL.1d

Academic Vocabulary: claim, evidence, pronunciation, language, poise

Content Vocabulary: freedom, civil rights, equality, justice, gender