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Language Arts 8th Grade


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7th GRADE LANGUAGE ARTS

 

Students have started on a social studies project about a Renaissance person. Some things will be turned in to Mr. Delaney while others will be due to Mrs. Moir. The Twin Peaks library has wonderful resources on how to write a MLA bibliography. http://www.powayusd.com/pusdtpms/library/bibliography/Joy.Bibliography/3%20Final%20Bibliography.pdf

Students will also be asked to write an outline, using note cards. Time will be provided in language arts on Wednesday, May 12 but students will find it helpful to review their notes on outlining. Many good sources exist but here are two you may find useful:

http://depts.washington.edu/psywc/handouts/pdf/outline.pdf

http://www.lkwdpl.org/study/research/outline.htm

Outline for Renaissance person

I.            Introduction

A.   Attention getter

B.    Overview of contributions (sentence or two)

C.     Other

D.   Thesis statement

II.          Biography (one paragraph)

A.   Where did they live?

B.    When did they live?

C.    Family

D.   Education, etc.

III.       Contributions (several paragraphs – most important part)

A.   Describe/explain

B.    Importance

C.    Impact

IV.         Conclusion (one paragraph)

A.   Revisit thesis statement

B.    Summarize most important contributions


 

 

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Organizing Your Paper

Making an Outline

Writing an outline in addition to the paper may seem like a lot of extra work, especially if your teacher doesn't require one. If you take the time to think about what you want to say and to put your ideas into an outline, writing the actual paper will be easier. An outline is a listing of brief ideas that will be in the paper.

 

The Outline's Outline

I. Reasons to write an outline
          A. Organizes your ideas
          B. Provides a “map” for the paper
          C. Your teacher made you do it
          D. You decided to give it a try

II. Parts of the outline
          A. Title
               1. Should include the subject of the paper
               2. Descriptive title will grab reader’s attention
          B. Introduction
               1. States the subject of the paper
               2. States what areas will be focused on
               3. Keep introduction concise and brief
                    a)   Helps to keep reader’s attention
                    b)   Save something for the “Main Body”
          C. Main Body
               1. Where all your information is presented
               2.  It’s time to use your notes
                    a) Find all your notes
                    b) Review your notes
                    c) Put the information in order
                    d) Write brief  phrases for ideas to be discussed
                         (1) No need to write in complete sentences
                         (2) Write just the main ideas down
                         (3) Elaborate on the main ideas in the actual paper
                    e) The ideas should follow in logical order
                    f)  If you have an "A" or an "a" you must have a "B" or "b"
                    g) If you have a "1" you must have a "2"
         D. Conclusion
               1. Think of how you want the paper to end
               2. Be sharp, concise and to the point
               3. Breathe a sigh of relief!  The outline is done.

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Go to Writing Your Paper

Research Paper Home

 

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The project has been broken down into steps and will prove to be very manageable. Seventh graders in the Thunderbolts Village will not need to do the oral report. Both Mr. Delaney and Mrs. Moir will be providing information as we go along.

 

3.   

2.   

4.   

 

Historical fiction related to the Middle Ages in Europe

Alder                       The King’s ShadowJ

Anouih                    (D) Becket

Ashe                        King Arthur in fact and legend

Avi                          Crispin: the cross of lead J ; Book without Words J

Baer                         (D) Down the Common J

Blackwood              Shakespeare Stealer J, Shakespeare Scribe J

Bradley                    (D)Mists of Avalon

Brooks                    (D)Year of Wonder (about the plague) J

Cadnum                   The Book of the Lion, In a Dark Wood

Cooper    *              Grey King , The King of Shadows J

Crichton*                                (D)Timeline J

Crossley                  The Seeing Stone

Cushman*               Catherine Called Birdy J, Midwife’s

 Apprentice J , Matilda Bone J

DeAngeli                 The Door in the Wall  (7th grade core lit) J           

Dickinson*              The Weathermonger

Dumas                     Count of Monte Cristo

Frazer                      (D)The Clerk’sTale J

Garden                    The Dove and Sword J

Goodman                                Peregrine, The Winter Hare

Gray                        Adam of the Road J

Greer                       Max and Me and the Time Machine

Haugaard                 Cromwell’s Boy

Higartner                 Murder for Her Majesty (7th grade core lit) J

Hugo                       (D)The Hunchback of Notre Dame

Kendall                    The Gammage Cup J

Kelly                       Trumpeter of Krakow  J

Konigsburg             A Proud Taste for Scarlet and Miniver (7th grade core lit)J

Konigsburg             The Second Mrs. Giaconda

Lasky                      Elizabeth I (Royal Diary) J, Mary, Queen of Scots J

Levitin                     The Cure

McKinley                Outlaws of Sherwood

Meyer                      Mary, Bloody Mary J , Eleanor J, Isabel , Beware, Princess Elizabeth J

Morris                     Parsifal’s Page, The Squire, His Knight, and His Lady

Newman                  (D) Death Comes as Epiphany J

O’Dell                     The King’s Fifth, Road to Damietta

Orczy                      Scarlet Pimpernel J

Paterson                  Parzival: the Quest of the Grail Knight

Peters                      The Potter’s FieldJ, Monk’s Hood J, other titles (sophisticated readers)

Philip                       Robin Hood

Pierce                      In the hand of the Goddess, Alanna: the First Adventure

Platt                         Castle Diary: the journal of Tobias Burgess

Pope                        The Perilous Gard J

Pyle                         Otto of the silver Hand

Robb                       (D)The Apothecary Rose J, The Nun’s Tale J , Lady Chapel J

Roberson                 Lady of the Forest: a novel of Sherwood

Scott                        (D) IvanhoeJ

Springer                  I am Mordred:  A Tale from Camelot, I am Morgan le Fay

Stewart                    (D)Crystal Cave  J, Hollow Hills J

Stewart                    Last Enchantment (10)

Stone                       (D)The Agony and the Ecstasy  (also biography) J

Strauss                    The Lady of Rhuddesmere

Sutcliff                    The Lantern Bearers, Silver Branch, Sword and the circle

Temple                    Ramsay Scallop J

Trevino                    I, Juan de Pareja J

Twain                      A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court, Prince and the Pauper

White                       Once and Future King

Woolley                   Guineviere: the Legend in Autumn, Child of the Northern Spring

Yolen*                    (D)The Queen’s Own Fool  J

 

J indicates I have read the book and recommend it. D means the book is difficult and a * means the author has written many wonderful books.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Language arts encompasses many things: reading, spelling, vocabulary, grammar, and writing.  All students are expected to read daily during RAM Time (25 minutes) and another 25 minutes at home.  This amounts to 250 minutes per week or at least 125 pages.  Students need to complete reading logs for RAM time.

Literacy is a goal for the district which pleases me no end.  To guide students in selecting good books, I have an extensive classroom library and  developed a bibliography for use by my seventh and eighth grade students. Seventh grade students are often pointed toward "Young Adult" books.  Be wary of these since they may cover topics more suitable for 8th graders or high school students.

Ordinarily, students will have monthly book reports. I would like students to try a variety of genres so each month, a specific one will be assigned. The following are the genre we will be reading this year:
     Coming of age/survival books
     Multicultural                   
     Historical Fiction
     Fantasy                           
     Mystery                                 
     Short stories                         
     Science fiction                   
We will also read short stories, novels, essays, and poetry in class. 

Grammar is an important component of a strong language arts program. Many students are very unclear on verb tenses. if you could spend some time on this at home, it would be a huge help!

Help students learn that the present tense verb form utilizes the infinitive.  For   example:
                        to walk
  I           walk          we    walk
you         walk          you    walk
he/she/it  walks        they   walk

Students can practice with any regular verb such as to run, to study, to think, to sleep, to own,  to stay, to belong, to meet, etc.  They seemed more comfortable with the simple past and simple future. These are the notes we started on --

Verb Tenses: Present, Past, and Future

The tense of a verb tells when an action takes place.

The present tense of a verb names an action that is happening now or happens regularly. It can also express a general truth.

In the present tense of a verb, the base form of a verb is used with all subjects except singular nouns and he, she, and it. When the subject is a singular noun or he, she, or it, -s or -es is added to the verb.

The past tense of a verb names an action that has already happened. The past tense of many verbs is formed by adding -ed to the base form of the verb.

The future tense of a verb names an action that will take place in the future. In the future tense the word will is used before the verb. Sometimes shall is used when the pronoun I or we is the subject.

Progressive Forms: Present and Past

The present progressive form of a verb names an action or condition that is continuing in the present. The present progressive form of a verb consists of the present form of the helping verb be and the present participle of the main verb.

I am watching We are watching
You are watching You are watching
He, she, or it is watching They are watching

The past progressive form of a verb names an action or condition that was continuing for some time in the past. The past progressive form of a verb consists of the past form of the helping verb be and the present participle of the main verb.

I was hoping We were hoping
You were hoping You were hoping
He, she, or it was hoping They were hoping

Perfect tenses: Present and Past

The present perfect tense of a verb names an action that happened some time in the past. It also names an action that happened in the past and is still happening now. The present perfect tense consists of the helping verb have or has and the past participle of the main verb.

I have traveled
You have traveled You have traveled
He, she, or it has traveled They have traveled

 We will be working on root words, prefixes, and suffixes this year. I will share more about vocabulary and spelling as I become more familiar with my students' skills and needs.

 

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Ellen Moir
Twin Peaks Middle School
14640 Tierra Bonita Road | Poway, California 92064 | (858) 748-5131
Poway Unified School District
ellen@moir.org