Class Overview
English 7 is a year-long class.
In this class students will read a variety of short stories from our district-approved textbook.  This textbook has a wide array of authors from around the world and starts each story with a theme or key idea.  Students will also be reading "The Giver."  
Students will be able to identify the stages of plot, analyze the importance of setting, understand methods of characterization.  
In addition to fiction and non-fiction, students will learn terms and sound devices in poetry.  We will also look at effective writing and practice the editing and revision process.  I teach the 5-paragraph thesis-style essay, which is used throughout out high school and college.  Grammar and punctuation is addressed in the textbook, and added throughout the year to bolster correct usage.


English 8 is also a year-long class.
Student have a district-approved textbook which includes reading, "The Diary of Anne Frank," and a wide array of authors with multi-cultural backgrounds.  Students will also read John Steinbeck's "Of Mice and Men" and "Hunger Games."
8th graders will continue to write a variety of essays and also have a unit on oral interpretation in which they "perform" a story with only their voice (no props).
They will read poetry and analyze sound devices and learn terms, vocabulary, and have routine practice reading tests.