LAN0800: 8th Grade Language Arts
05/01/2024 to 05/30/2025 • Modified 04/23/2024Course Description
In this year-long course, students review grammar and vocabulary skills to strengthen their writing abilities. Students incorporate this knowledge as they develop creative writing pieces, nonfiction essays, and narrative, expository, persuasive, and informational pieces. Students will read works from a variety of genres, including novels, short mystery stories, poetry, speeches, and historical nonfiction. Students study all steps of the development of a research paper and then utilize the learned skills to produce and orally present a well-structured research paper. Students learn to approach the written word through the lens of a Christian worldview and analyze the secular worldview messages they encounter daily.
Prerequisite
7th Grade Language Arts
Schedule
Module 1: Introduction & Grammar Review
- Week 1: Introduction to Course, Vocabulary, and Plagiarism Review
- Week 2: Grammar
- Week 3: Grammar, continued
- Week 4: Writing a Strong Paragraph
Module 2: The Adventures of Tom Sawyer
- Week 5: Tom Sawyer, Chapters 1-8
- Week 6: Tom Sawyer, Chapters 9-16
- Week 7: Tom Sawyer, Chapters 17-26
- Week 8: Tom Sawyer, Weeks 27-35
- Week 9: Vocabulary Quiz, Tom Sawyer Test, Paper Submission
Module 3: A Christmas Carol
- Week 10: A Christmas Carol, Staves I-IV
- Week 11: A Christmas Carol, Stave V and Analysis
- Week 12: Compare/Contrast Essay, Vocabulary Quiz, Module 3 Test
Module 4: Mystery Stories & Book Report
- Week 13: First Semester Book Report; Introduction to Mysteries
- Week 14: “The Red-Headed League” and “The Adventure of Silver Blaze”
- Week 15: Write Your Own Mystery; Test on Sherlock Holmes
Module 5: Poetry & Midterm
- Week 16: Introduction to Poetry
- Week 17: Forms of Poetry
- Week 18: Modules 1-4 Vocabulary Quiz; Book Report Submission; Semester 1 Exam
Module 6: Media Literacy, Fallacies, & Critical Thinking
- Week 19: Media Literacy: Facts, Opinions, and Bias in Media
- Week 20: Effective Persuasion and Fallacies
- Week 21: Applying Persuasive Techniques; Module 6 Test
Module 7: The Research Paper & Oral Presentation
- Week 22: Introduction to the Research Paper
- Week 23: MLA Citations and Annotated Bibliography
- Week 24: Note Cards, Thesis Statement, and Outline
- Week 25: Writing Skills
- Week 26: First Draft of Research Paper
- Week 27: Oral Presentation
Module 8: Types of Literature & Writing
- Week 28: Literary Genres
- Week 29: Persuasive Writing
Module 9: The Hiding Place & Book Report
- Week 30: Introduction to the Holocaust
- Week 31: The Hiding Place, Chapters 1-5
- Week 32: The Hiding Place, Chapters 6-12
- Week 33: The Hiding Place, Weeks 13-15; Module 8 Test
Module 10: Alice in Wonderland, Book Report and Quarter Exam
- Week 34: Alice in Wonderland
- Week 35: Descriptive Writing; Alice in Wonderland Quiz
- Week 36: Review and Final Exam
