Caveat: This scope and sequence was developed and approved by the board at the end of the 2013-2014 school year. Due to changes in the dates for the SAGE test (state standardized test), some of the material may be taught in a different order. Elements of research and informative writing will begin with the first unit and carry through to the research paper. Any changes in the timing for specific assignments will be found on the class blog. For a link to the class blog, click here.
our year at a glance
Month
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Ideas
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Literature
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Writing/Grammar
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August
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Students will learn and review active reading strategies (visualizing, predicting, questioning, making connections, summarizing), annotation, dialectic journaling, discovering principles.
Learn to participate in Socratic discussions: elements of effective communication, benefits of learning from others. Students will discuss principles and character traits in Little Britches. |
Little Britches: Father and I Were Ranchers (Ralph Moody)
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Journaling, personal narratives, intro, to research
Nouns: common, proper, concrete, and abstract Verbs: acting, linking, helping |
September
October
November
December
January
February
March
April
May
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Examine and erase biases about poetry.
Elements of poetry: rhyme scheme, meter, iamb, free verse, couplet, onomatopoeia, alliteration, assonance, sonnet, haiku, stanzas, refrains, metaphor, simile, imagery, types of rhyme. Write and share poetry focused on sensory and concrete detail. Elements of fiction: plot and setting, theme, point of view in narration (omniscient, unreliable, third person limited, first person), conflict (external and internal), suspense, climax.
Discuss storytelling--what makes a good story Choose and analyze one short story using the elements of fiction. Write a fictional story using the six traits of writing (ideas, organization, voice, word choice, sentence fluency, and conventions). Discuss selected short stories from Realms of Gold. Learn about and examine different types of informative writing including magazines, newspapers, and scholarly articles.
Discuss elements of persuasion in life and writing: ethos, pathos, and logos. Discuss elements of persuasion in various forms of advertising and how they affect us. Continuation of persuasion in advertising and literature.
Read and discuss Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. Discuss the motives of Dr. Jekyll--what does he stand for? Middle School Intensive.
Read and discuss The Hiding Place. Investigate various character motives--what do they stand for? Students will create a 5+ hour service project they will do to help someone else. Project proposals will require parent and teacher approval. Continue reading The Hiding Place.
5+ hour service project continued. Write an expository paper explaining the most important lesson learned in The Hiding Place. Explain how it will change their behavior and how it could change society. Specific examples should be given from the book. Author Study: Red Scarf Girl.
Research on Ji-Li Jiang and the Chinese cultural revolution. Look for specific connections from research to the book. Discuss main themes, vocabulary, and other elements of literature in Red Scarf Girl. Students will learn about/review research writing, including: finding valid sources of information, citing sources, and avoiding plagiarism.
Write a research paper about a hero who lived during the time they are studying in history. Review good test-taking strategies--especially to prepare students for the reading portion of the SAGE. Background on Shakespeare and the Globe Theatre.
Analyze events, themes, motifs, symbols, and plot from Shakespeare's plays. Jigsaw various tales from Shakespeare, including class presentations. |
Assorted poems
Assorted short stories.
Angel on the Square (Gloria Whelan) Various articles from magazines, newspapers, and scholarly journals.
Examples of persuasion in writing and advertising. The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
(Robert Louis Stevenson) The Hiding Place
(Corrie ten Boom) The Hiding Place
(Corrie ten Boom) Red Scarf Girl
(Ji-Li Jiang) Various short articles.
Tales from 12th Night, various poems and sonnets
(Shakespeare) |
Poetry
Verbs continued Subjects/ predicates Finding the subject of the sentence. Types of sentences: simple, compound, complex, compound-complex Short story, analysis essay
Fragments & run-ons Punctuation: end marks, commas Pronouns Informative writing; considering the audience in writing and persuasion
Pronouns: subject/object, personal, reflexive, demonstrative, interrogative Adjectives Informative writing; considering the audience in writing and persuasion--continued.
Adjectives: used for advertising Articles: definite/indefinite Adverbs: show, don't tell Direct & indirect objects
Prepositions: object of the preposition, memorize common Expository writing: literary criticism of The Hiding Place using specific evidence from the text. Should also include a works cited page and in-text citations
Conjunctions: coordinating & subordinating interjections Nouns of address Literary criticism--author study tying research to book.
Appositives Misplaced modifiers Parallelism Punctuation: semi-colons, colons Research writing
Punctuation: hyphens, dashes, parenthesis Commonly misused words (ex. good/well, accept/except) Commonly misused words--continued
Final grammar test. |