6th Grade English Language Arts:

Quarter 1: Mythology

The 6th Grade ELA Curriculum begins with an emphasis on the analysis of narrative structure, and the identification of elements that form myths. Students engage in a study of “The Hero’s Journey,” and apply its steps to readings of traditional myths. Throughout their study of mythology, students in 6th Grade also discover common themes associated across myths, and work to identify and analyze these themes in the mythology module.

Quarter 2: Extended Mythology Module

In this extension of the mythology module, students continue using the skills practiced during the first module in order to analyze a more traditional rendering of a Greek Myth. While students continue to engage in discussions and writing exercises on “The Hero’s Journey,” and elements / themes of mythology, the study of this module’s text involves a more rigorous approach to vocabulary acquisition through context clues. Students also focus more intently on character studies, and evaluate how character decisions and actions are responsible for shaping the plot of  a text.

Quarter 3: Chinese Folklore and Immigration

In this text situated around a young boy who immigrates to the United States from the Middle Kingdom in the early 20th century, students are introduced to a text where they evaluate a character’s changing perspective over time. Because the book is also connected to traditional aspects of ancient Chinese culture and folklore, students use their understanding of material from the previous modules to make sense of how myth and legend can influence character decisions. In this module, students are introduced to the literary device of symbolism, and explore the symbolic meaning of several objects and events throughout the text.

Quarter 4: Sustainability in Fiction and Nonfiction Sources

In this module, which serves as a cross curricular text with science, students engage with questions of sustainability and respecting the natural world, which are both focuses in the texts. Students begin with a study of a nonfiction text that outlines the historic impact of human activity on ocean life and the possible approaches mankind can take to preserve it. Students then read a work of fiction that details similar issues in a Florida town. With both texts, students evaluate how an author’s perspective influences his or her written work, and how they use their influence as writers to spread a message.

Also Quarter 4: Poetic Form and Medieval Life

In a text that aligns with their study of the medieval era in Social Studies, students read and analyze select poems from the text in order to compare character perspective. The poems themselves are presented in sets of two, where the main characters of each are interconnected in some way. Students evaluate this connection, and in doing so discover a portrait of how individuals of different social classes classes lived during this time period.

7th Grade English Language Arts:

Quarter 1: Narrative Structure and Juxtaposed Texts

Along with nonfiction articles to supplement their reading of the core text, students read a novel that is set in two different time periods, thereby telling two narratives simultaneously. Because of the narrative structure, students are tasked with evaluating why these two separate, yet interconnected stories are juxtaposed together for the reader. As students read, they answer questions concerning how one’s culture, the time period, and place can affect a character’s identity formation. Students also use the dual narrative as source material for discovering themes of survival in a text, and how the same thematic issues are seen across several stories.

Quarter 2: Factory Life in 19th Century America

With this text, students extend their understanding of how themes of survival are depicted in a text. The story about a young girl seeking a means to provide for her family in the 19th century allows students to evaluate topics such as survival and freedom, and the lengths to which a character is willing to go in order to achieve them. The literary device of motif shapes students’ engagement with the novel, and a study of the different types of figurative language is used with examples from each chapter of the text.

Quarter 3: Language and the Literary Genre of Drama

To begin this module, students read and analyze several articles about the evolution of language usage throughout the last century, focusing on how different demographic areas and different time periods may produce new terms and phrases. Additionally, articles about the social norms and etiquette of the Victorian Era are utilized to build an understanding of the setting of the play to be studied. Because the module introduces students to the literary genre of drama, considerable time is spent familiarizing students with the form of plays, how to effectively read stage directions, and exercises in analyzing material that is strictly dialogue. As students engage in their reading of the play, they discover such things as themes of transformation, how individuals of differing social classes are portrayed and interact with one another, and how language shapes one’s identity.

Quarter 4: Technology and the Adolescent Brain: Research Unit

This module, rather than focusing on one core text, utilizes a number of scientific articles concerning the adolescent brain and how technology affects its development. Throughout the module, students read articles both for and against extending screen time, and strengthen research skills by annotating each article and keeping a detailed log of whether the articles’ argue in favor of or against technology use for teens. As a secondary goal, students are also encouraged to look at their own technology habits, and keep a one-week record of how often they use technology, and for what purpose.

8th Grade English Language Arts

Quarter 1: Narrative Poetry and the Vietnam War

This module, centered around a fiction text that details a young girl’s experience growing up during the Vietnam War in South Vietnam shortly before its fall, introduces students to narrative poetry and the literary devices of symbolism and foreshadowing. Along with the novel in verse, students read multiple articles about the war in Vietnam, including those on its impact for the Vietnamese civilians and US involvement in the war. Because the module makes use of both fiction and nonfiction sources, students practice evaluating how the character’s fictional experience relates to individuals’ actual experience during the war.

Quarter 2: Poetic Form and Shakespeare’s Works

In this module, students are introduced to the language, structure, and themes in Shakespeare’s Sonnets and plays. After a brief study of sonnets, as a means to engage in Shakespeare’s works before tackling a play, students discover and evaluate new and antiquated vocabulary and sonnet structure. The 8th Grade then conducts a reading of the graphic novel edition with original text of a Shakespearean play. Visuals paired with Shakespeare’s original language allow the students to obtain a more complex understanding of the material. Because the 8th Graders will engage in studies of Shakespeare’s works throughout their upcoming high school years, this formative introduction will prepare them for future studies.

Quarter 3: Society and the Individual: Dealing With Social Injustice

Prior to beginning this novel, students participate in a word study including terms such as prejudice, discrimination, and oppression in order to build an understanding for the basis of the conflict at the heart of the novel. While reading the accompanying novel, students are involved in evaluating issues such as societal expectations, family upbringing, the impact of rumor and gossip on reputation, how education and parental presence affect identity formation, and how extreme discrimination and racial prejudice cause conflict within a community and how they have the power to destroy innocent lives. In each chapter, students evaluate how characters interact within, and are shaped by their community. Ultimately, students also discover how the text operates as a “coming of age” novel for its young characters.

Quarter 4: World War II and the Holocaust

In a module that aligns with their study of the second World War in Social Studies, students engage in a reading of the true story of one individual’s experience as a bombardier pilot and prisoner of war in Japan during World War II. In addition to analyzing the historical content of the novel, students spend the module characterizing the subject of the biography and evaluating his determination to survive in the face of extreme opposition and hardship.

Also in Quarter 4: World War II Literature Circle

In addition to reading the core text, students will also read a literature circle book centered on Word War II from a list of possible choices. Each literature circle group has no more than 3 or 4 members to allow for smaller group activity and discussion. The literature circle is meant to provide students with a more extended study of World War II literature, and promote small group discussion with peers.