1. Welcome to 8th Grade
English

2. Please make sure to register yourself and
your student on Power School and the
classroom blog.
Because of the limited nature of Power
School, the blog will be used to elaborate
on class and homework assignments,
post informational articles, videos, and
extra credit.

3. Outline of Curriculum
Writing
Our goal is to prepare students
for high school English as well
as reviewing specific genres and
technical writing skills.
Annotative Journal: Analyzing
specific and relevant quotes.
One formal essay per semester.
Chunk Paragraph (short,
concise written responses).

4. Examples:
Research Paper: Daughters of the
American Revolution Contest
(English and History - Project Based
Learning)
Written literary analysis of short
stories, books, poetry and
informational reading.
Speech: End of the year promotion
speech.
* Plagiarism will automatically result
in an F and an Honor Code violation.

5. Daily Writing, Reading and
Vocabulary/Grammar
Journals

6. Students keep a writing journal
where they are assigned topics that
pertain to the current unit of study.
Reading journals will be used to
respond to literature.
Vocabulary/Grammar journal will
purely concentrate on vocabulary
and grammar studies.
*These must be brought to class
everyday.

7. Reading Schedule (Schedule
Subject to Change)
September - Review Summer Reading Books
October/November – The Outsiders
December/January – Animal Farm
January – The Diary of Anne Frank (Play)
February/March – Soldier’s Heart
April/ May – Flowers For Algernon
Note: We will also read various short stories,
news articles and other informational
materials throughout the year.

8. Homework

9. Homework is posted on the
homework board every Monday,
Power School and blog site. All
major writing projects are
(usually) due on Fridays.
I will call or email you if your
student does not turn in his/her
homework in a timely manner
but please remember that it is
always the student’s
responsibility to keep track of
his/her homework assignments.

10. Late Assignments
Late assignments will be
accepted for most projects. Ten
percent will be subtracted for
each day work is missing.
*Late reading journal entries
are not accepted.

11. Writing Contests and Publishing
Over the past ten years, our 8th
grade students have won
multiple writing contests and/or
have been published in literary
magazines and online journals.
We will continue the tradition.
All writing contests and
publishing opportunities will be
posted on Power School and the
class blog site.

12. 8th Grade Team Communication:
Due to our schedules and school
commitments, we cannot
accommodate drop-in conferences.
To schedule a meeting with a
teacher, please email a brief
message and we will schedule an
appointment that will include our
team of teachers, you and your
child.
*We will respond to all emails within

13. Finally…
Please do not forget to register
yourself and your student on Power
School (if you haven’t already).
Visit the class blog (the site address
is posted on Power School) and
register your email address for
instant updates.
Let’s have a great 2013-2014 school
year!