8th Grade English
Yearlong theme- Identity
Yearlong assignments- 5-10 chapter autobiography; Mapping Your Journey
Unit 1- Coming of Age –Students will produce a web magazine during this unit
Choice of stories about theme
Choosing jobs for magazine- writers, editors, lay-out, etc.
Chapter one of autobiography- Being Your Age and Everyday Life at Your Age
Book on issues of growing up
Beginning the Mapping Your Journey project
Unit 2- Literature of Our Diverse Culture
Chapter two of autobiography- Before I Started School
Readings from various cultures- folktales and legends from American literature
Reading of The Circuit by Jimenez
Unit 3- Youth and Justice – Students will produce a web magazine during this unit.
Various readings and writing assignments on the theme
The play,Twelve Angry Men, by Reginald Rose- Read and act out drama
Chapters three and four of autobiography- Family and Family Life ; Friends
Unit 4- The Holocaust
The play, The Diary of Anne Frank
Novels or nonfiction on the Holocaust
Appreciating a television drama- Escape from Sobibor
One pager project on quotes from the unit
Chapter five of autobiography- The Future
Unit 5- You and the Future
Science fiction or fantasy book report
Researching a problem of the future and finding solutions
Choice chapters of the autobiography and Mapping Your Journey assignment
Unit 6- The Grand Finale
Putting together the autobiography
Finishing the Mapping Your Journey assignment
*** Grammar and mechanics lessons will be taught throughout the year.