My ultimate goal as a language arts teacher is to have students who can write and write well. In their 8th grade year, the students have two MAJOR writing assignments (one a semester). Both of these assignments end up being the majority of their language arts grade. A large amount of class time will be given to each assignment; however, it is impossible to complete the projects solely in class.
First Semester: NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) Students aim to write a novel in one month (November). It sounds like a daunting task, but it is doable. There will be plenty of prep work the month before and time to work on it in class.
Second Semester: Education Fair: This is a semester-long research project that focuses on research, proper citations, and the MLA format. Students will choose their topic to study and be expected to write a paper and create an informational video.
Grammar
The text used is “Sadlier: Grammar for Writing.” This book builds on the concepts that were taught in previous years.
Vocabulary
The students will continue learning vocabulary through the Sadlier-Oxford program and use academic vocabulary from their other studies.