The 8th grade English Language Arts curriculum at Concord Middle School (CMS) focuses on the following question

1. What makes a just society?
2. How does the individual impact society?
3. What does the writer want the reader to know, understand, believe, feel?
4. What did the reader learn about him or herself?
5. What did the reader learn about the human condition?

Eighth graders study The Giver by Lois Lowry, The Pearl by John Steinbeck, and/or Animal Farm by George Orwell. Further, the students select additional novels for independent small group and individual exploration. These titles include but are not limited to Anthem by Ayn Rand, Lost Horizon by James Milton, Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury, The City of Ember by Jeanne DuPrau, The Cure by Sonia Levitin, and Uglies/Pretties by Scott Westerfeld.   Beyond the utopian/dystopian novels, the students read numerous short stories and poems and two plays, "Twelve Angry Men" and   "A Midsummer's Night Dream." Throughout these literature units, students write multi-paragraph analytical essays and reader's response journals.  

COMPOSITION

Explore various links under "Writing Tutorials"!

The English department at Concord Middle School encourages constant, demanding, and diverse writing experiences. The students respond to open ended questions. Some assignments are initiated and completed within the classroom setting. Longer assignments require significant time outside of the classroom and result in three to five paragraphs or pages. They require individual planning, organization, and effort. The rubrics address the formulation of a thesis statement, depth of analysis, topic development, organization, identification and elaboration of support, the connection of support to thesis, transition from idea to idea as well as paragraph to paragraph, sophistication of word choice, and the clarity of sentence structure. In terms of creative writing, the students write an original short story in the second half of the year. Students must word process all written assignments and demonstrate competent editing skills for sentence clarity, spelling, punctuation, capitalization, and grammar.  

LANGUAGE STUDY

Grammar instruction focuses on verb construction, subject verb agreement, pronoun usage, possessive nouns/pronouns, internal punctuation, and sentence sense. Students also engage in ongoing vocabulary instruction.

For direct instruction in the acquisition of vocabulary, Peabody 8th graders complete Vocabulary Through Classical Roots, Book B. I assess mastery of grammar and vocabulary with publisher and teacher made assessments.  Students may elect various opportunities to extend or enrich their work in English.   For example, students may select an accelerated vocabulary program and complete Book C, possibly Book D in the Vocabulary Through Classical Roots series.    I offer additional writing exercises and encourage students to develop personalized reading goals.

Click here for homework assignments and worksheets. Click here for Very Important Papers (VIPs).

I expect students to work on English homework for 30 minutes each school night. Some nights students will not have "observable" English homework. Rather, the students need to engage in reflection and deep thought. On other occasions students need to engage a family in conversation for homework. Occasionally, your child will request an adult conference on a piece of writing.

Finally, each trimester students must engage in independent reading, referred to as "Required Outside Reading" aka RORs. The number of pages read for RORs earn a test grade in Literature.

• For School: 1. Functional and Colorful Writing Utensils, 2. Assignment Book, 3. Lined Paper, 4. Notebook, and 5. Five Pocket Folders ( Assignment Sheets, Writing in Process, Very Important Papers (VIPs), Vocabulary (VCRs), and Grammar.)
• For Home: 1. A working computer with user friendly word processing software, 2. A working printer with spare ink cartridges, 3. Merriam Webster's Collegiate Dictionary, 4. a thesaurus, and 5. a well used Library Card with an active account with the Concord Free Public Library.
• A 1G or 2G FLASH DRIVE for the transportation of works-in-process! Click the face for a link to Micro Center.