English 8R Course Overview

Mrs. Johanson

Extra help: Every Wednesday and Thursday in room 139 at 7:10AM

MISSION STATEMENT

              Literature introduces us to characters who are faced with challenging obstacles, yet find the courage to persevere and prevail, demonstrating the human spirit at its best.

COURSE DESCRIPTION

      The purpose of this course is to provide students with an eighth grade English education in accordance with the Next Generation Learning Standards, using a humanities framework. You will learn how to access, interpret, and write about literature and informational texts in class and at home. In addition, you will acquire skills to look beyond the literal meaning of written pieces and identify the author’s deeper purpose.  These skills focus on reading, writing (writing process), language, speaking and listening.  Students will learn to articulate their interpretations and ideas in well-written pieces of various genres. Our study of grammar and vocabulary in context will also support you in becoming more effective writers and readers.  

      In the humanities framework, we will be making a committed effort to relate the texts that we read in class to what you will be studying and learning in your history class.  We will read texts that are set during the time of Slavery (e.g., Day of Tears, To Be A Slave – both by Julius Lester).   As the year progresses, we will focus on texts set right before and during The Great Depression (e.g. Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck).  We end the year with literature set during the time of the Jewish Holocaust (e.g., Night by Elie Weisel, Friedrich by Hans Peter Richter).  This is just a sample of the literature we will cover this year.  This framework will enable you to be prepared for both courses.  Short stories and poetry will also be covered.

INDEPENDENT READING

             The expectation is that students will always be reading something independently.  Sometimes students will be challenged to read a book within a specific genre.  The genre will be chosen by the students.   Students will be given reading calendars to help chart their progress.  We will discuss the process in class, as the calendars are graded as quizzes and the process is designed to reward students for reading.

Course Overview

LITERATURE:

*Day of Tears, To Be A Slave – both by Julius Lester

*Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck

*Night by Elie Weisel,

*Friedrich by Hans Peter Richter

*The Diary of Anne Frank (the play)

*Independent reading

We will also be reading various short stories, poetry, and articles throughout the year.

WRITING:

Review of the Writing Process (This includes revision and editing, check for mastery of basic rules of grammar, punctuation, and spelling.)

TIED/TIEED/TIEDIED Paragraphs

Literature Essay

Argument Essay

Poetry

GRAMMAR:

Verbals (gerunds, participles, infinitives), active and passive voice, verb tense, voice and mood (Again, we will work to ensure they can demonstrate a command in the conventions of standard English grammar and usage.)

VOCABULARY:

Structured vocabulary units assigned

Vocabulary in context (highlighted in literature and articles, fiction and nonfiction, throughout the year)

RULES / EXPECTATIONS

The main rule in this classroom focuses on RESPECT.  Ladies and gentlemen, you will respect us as your teachers.  We expect that.  You will also respect each other.  We will discuss specific issues as they arise, in class. 

SUPPLIES

You will need the following: pens (blue or black) or a 4-color ballpoint pen, red pens (or other colors); a highlighter, a notebook (spiral with perforated sheets or a section in a binder), a marble notebook, a folder, post-its, your fully charged Surface Pro device.

GRADE CALCULATION

Your grade for each quarter is made up of the following components:

Homework—15% (Points will be deducted for late homework.  Students have up to a week to submit any missing homework.  Missing assignments will not be accepted at the end of the quarter, unless there is a unique situation that arises.  An arrangement can be made, including mandatory extra help.)

 Quizzes - 30% (These are usually based on homework and reading assignments.)           

 Exams/Major Assessments - 40%                    

 Class Participation /Preparedness/Classwork—15%             

TEAMS and Parent Square are the main vehicles we will use to communicate.  Assignments, exams, and due dates will be shared there.  Students are also expected to use their agenda books as well.

Each quarter is worth 22.5%.   You will have a midterm and a final exam.  These exams will count as 10% of your final grade.

In addition, the ELA exam will take place in the Spring. Students are encouraged to take this assessment as it is excellent practice and prep for the English Regents Exam.

JH Reading Workshop Course Overview

Grades 7 & 8

Mrs. Johanson

Extra help every Wednesday and Thursday in room 139 at 7:10AM

Mission Statement: Our mission is to cultivate a lifelong love of reading by empowering individuals to engage deeply with diverse texts, apply reading sstrategies, enhance critical thinking skills, and foster a collaborative learning environment.

Overview

We want our middle grades students to become flexible, resilient readers who read for pleasure as well as for academic purposes. We want them to have a toolkit of strategies for dealing with difficulty, and we want them to know when and how to use those strategies.

To accomplish such ambitious goals, we must reconsider how we think about our classrooms and our curriculum. We can no longer conceive of the curriculum as a few books kids will master. We now recognize the value and importance of teaching a repertoire of skills and strategies to help students be more powerful in any book. With that, the following pages will outline the genres, skills, and strategies we will utilize to become successful readers across the curriculum.

This is a pass/fail class.

We will explore the five major genres of literature:

Fiction

Invented stories with imaginary characters and events.

• Realistic Fiction
• Historical Fiction
• Science Fiction
• Fantasy/ Fairy Tales
• Mystery

Play

A story for sage performance by actors.

Poetry

Words arranged in metrical pattern, often using rhymed verse in an imaginative style.

Non-Fiction

True stories of actual events or characters.

• Biography
• Autobiography
• Information
• Newspaper
• Reference

Folk Tale

An anonymous, timeless, and placeless story that is originally told rather than written.

Reading Skills and Strategies

• Use background knowledge
• Ask questions
• Identify author’s purpose
• Draw conclusions
• Describe figurative language
• Identify genre
• Describe plot
• Identify point of view
• Describe story structure
• Identify the main idea
• Recognize sequence
• Recognize cause and effect
• Make inferences
• Make predictions
• Summarize
• Distinguish fact and opinion
• Find facts and details
• Recognize compare and contrast
• Make connections
• Visualize
• Reread for clarity
• Adjust your pacing
• Identify explicit information in non-fiction text
• Determine theme
• Ask questions
• Understand the application of literary devices and techniques

The Use of i-Ready

Engaging and Personalized Instruction for All Readers

The i-Ready reading program is an online program that helps students of all ages become thoughtful, analytical readers. Grounded in best practice, it engages students as they build new skills and learn to access rigorous, culturally responsive texts. Its personalized instruction adjusts the lesson path to meet every reader at their individual level, enabling teachers to provide a personalized learning experience for each student.

i-Ready Learning

i-Ready Learning is a collection of high-quality instructional resources that help students learn and grow by accessing grade-level materials. Grounded in best-practice instructional design, these tools provide rigorous and motivating reading and mathematics instruction that:

• Engage students of all levels and backgrounds
• Motivates students to persist in skill building
• Provides scaffolded support that meets the needs of all students
• Creates personal learning pathways for each student in i-Ready personalized instruction
• Connects to i-Ready diagnostic data so teachers can make informed teaching decisions

Grade 9R English Course Description

Mrs. Johanson

Extra help: Every Wednesday and Thursday in room 139 at 7:10AM

Mission Statement: Our mission is to explore the timeless narrative of the Hero’s Journey in literature, empowering students to recognize and analyze its structure across diverse cultures and texts. Through engaging reading, writing, and discussion, we aim to deepen students’ understanding of character development, thematic elements, and storytelling techniques. By connecting these stories to their own lives, students will build critical thinking skills, develop empathy, and gain insight into the universal human experience of growthy, challenge, and transformation.

Course Description

This year’s class continues the preparation for the New York State Regents Examination in English.  As such, all literary genres are covered with an emphasis on higher level cognitive skills to improve reading comprehension skills. Writing instruction and structuring of assignments to meet the New York Regents’ standards continues on a more sophisticated scale. 

Notwithstanding, the Regents exam is meant to evaluate literacy and writing skills and is taken by Babylon students in their junior year. However, everything we do in this course will serve to prepare students for the Regents exam and beyond. Therefore, we will make direct references to the exam, its components, and specific strategies for success. Furthermore, the skills and content students are acquiring will be directly applicable to the state exam and beyond. Indeed, it is an important skills-based test for which students will be well prepared.

Writing in the 9th grade will focus on developing essay writing skills. Pre-writing, post-writing, peer review and student/teacher conferences will be major components of the study of the writing process. Literature is taught through a genre approach with attention given to the short story, the novel, drama, and poetry as well as an infusion of informational texts.  Furthermore, students will analyze works by authors or artists who represent diverse world cultures.  Literary techniques and devices will also be taught, and outside reading will be assigned. Various oral and written projects are implemented, making use of students’ public speaking, research, and organizational skills, as well as their use of technology as 21^st century learners.

Basic Course Outline: 

Texts: 

The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie 

The Dystopian Literature Unit

Antigone by Sophocles 

Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare 

Short Stories 

Poems  

Major Writing Pieces/Projects: 

Text-Based Responses 

Editorials 

Personal Essays (This I Believe)

Group Presentations 

Grammar: (review of past topics, including Parts of Speech, Subject/Verb Agreement, Punctuation (commas, dashes, hyphens, apostrophes), and Parallel Structure)

Vocabulary: words in context, Greek and Latin roots, academic vocabulary

Independent Reading: 

Students are expected to be reading independently throughout the year.  Furthermore, when students have a voice in the reading process, they are learning to contribute to their own knowledge.

Grading Procedures:                                                                                                                                   

• Tests/major writing assignments/projects: 40%
• Quizzes/informal writing assignments: 30%
• A grade based on homework: 15%
• Work habits: 15%

*Each quarter is worth 22.5%. You will have a midterm and a final exam. These exams will count as 10% of your final grade.

Work habits include:

• Preparedness/notebooks/folders/1:1 device (charged and ready for use) 
• Making up missed work when absent (if you are absent one day, you have one day to complete missing work, so be sure to clarify what you missed when you are absent)
• Positive participation/staying on task

Supplies

You will need the following: pens (blue or black) or a 4-color ballpoint pen, red pens (or other colors); a highlighter, a notebook (spiral with perforated sheets or a section in a binder), a marble notebook, a folder, post-its, your fully charged Surface Pro device.

*To support students to be college and career ready, it is crucial that they complete their work by the designated due date. With that, adequate time is given for assignments and reminders are posted daily in the homework channel in Teams. Failure to comply will result in grade penalties. Notwithstanding, as per our English department policy, late work will be not accepted after one week.

*Please check the Eschool parent portal, Microsoft Teams (homework channel), and OneNote on a regular basis for grades and upcoming assignments.