Eighth Grade Language Arts Curriculum Presentation South Charlotte Middle School September 11, 2014

Growth Expectations for Eighth Graders To make routine decisions concerning materials necessary f or class To prepare for the transition to ninth grade and beyond To recognize the difference between a quality product and one that is mediocre To accept responsibility for the learning process and behavior

All S.C.M.S. eighth graders are expected to: Meet local promotion requirements Score at grade level or above on end-of-year assessments. Ninth Grade Recommendations: Recommendations above current level are only given to students who have consistently maintained a grade of “B” or better in the class. Tutoring: We are preparing your child to be successful at the high school level and with the ELA Common Core State Standards. In the event your child requires additional instruction, tutoring is available on a weekly basis. Eighth Grade Academic Expectations

Your child can attend any of the following tutoring sessions: Mondays at 7:30 a.m. with Mrs. Yasurek Tuesdays at 7:30 a.m. with Mr. Gross Thursdays at 7:30 a.m. with Mrs. Estro Please make sure your child knows why he or she is attending tutorial. Weekly Tutoring Opportunities

We work as a team – a true Professional Learning Community. As a department and grade level, we meet frequently to plan lessons that challenge your child to think critically about text. We collaborate to create assessments that measure student comprehension and determine when to provide remediation and/or enrichment. To achieve our shared goal of ensuring ALL students succeed at South Charlotte Middle School, we have a common planning period that fosters a more collaborative learning environment. While our teaching styles may differ, we have the same expectations for our students. As the parent of an eighth grader, you should expect to find the following happening regularly in your child’s language arts class: -vocabulary instruction -outside research -"Article of the Week" assignments -daily grammar practice -novel studies -lots of writing Professional Learning Community

Students are assigned a new article each Monday. They have until Friday to complete the following tasks: 1) Students must perform a close read of the article. We have already taught your child how to perform a close read. They have a handout (in their binder / notebook) that outlines the strategies. 2) If included, students must also respond to the text-dependent (comprehension) questions. 3) Students must reflect on the topic by responding to one of the post-reading questions provided. (Minimum length = one page) "Article of the Week" Assignment

Grammar instruction in the eighth grade classroom occurs daily. All students at South Charlotte have been provided with a composition book for their daily grammar practice (D.G.P.), responses to literature (writing), and grammar notes. A week of D.G.P. typically looks like this: Day 1: Identify the part of speech for all the words in this week’s sentence. Day 2: Identify the word functions (subject, predicate, phrases, objects). Day 3: Identify sentence kind and type. Then, add capitalization and punctuation—as necessary—to the sentence. Day 4: Diagram this week’s sentence. Sample sentence: “good readers compare and contrast the structure of two or more texts and then they analyze the structure of each text for meaning and style” The sentences are never random. They generally pertain to the reading comprehension portion of our lessons. Daily Grammar Practice (D.G.P.)

8 th Grade Novels Select "Dystopian" Novels (All classes will begin literature circles in September.) Steve Jobs: The Man Who Thought Different by Karen Blumenthal (We will start this text with all classes in October.) Chasing Lincoln's Killer by James Swanson (All classes) A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry (Yasurek 1, Estro 1 and 3, Gross 3 and 4) To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee (Yasurek 3 and 4, Estro 4, Gross 1) *All novels are available for purchase tonight at the South Charlotte Book Fair.

Video Games: The average boy spends ~13 hours a week playing video games. When a child plays more than six hours a week, academic achievement suffers. Most are sleep deprived. Video games also promote short attention spans. (*Sleep deprivation mimics ADHD perfectly.) Online Websites: Programs such as Webroot and CyberPatrol ( allow parents to track the amount of time a child spends on sites such as Facebook. Cell Phones: Mymobilewatchdog.com allows parents to monitor the photographs sent and received on a child’s cell phone. Have you considered a cell phone curfew? Source: Dr. Leonard Sax Did you know?

Communication Edmodo: Staff.aspx Teacher Websites:

Thank You for Coming! We are looking forward to working with you and your child this year!