FBISD 8th Grade PreAP English Language Arts
At-a-Glance 2014 – 2015
Course Description:
This course is for students who are highly motivated and interested in a rigorous ELA
program. In grade 8, the PreAP students refine and master previously learned knowledge and skills
in increasingly complex presentations, classical and contemporary reading selections, research, and
writing in all genres. Students identify various literary forms and use different forms of writing for
specific purposes. Students learn how to edit their writing based on knowledge of grammar, usage,
spelling, punctuation, and other conventions of written language. Students organize ideas in timed
and untimed writing assignments. Students collaborate with other writers to compose, publish, and
analyze published examples for writers. Significant blocks of time outside the classroom are required
for reading both independent and instructional-level materials for varied purposes. The differentiated
curriculum prepares students for the Pre-Advanced Placement program in high school. Summer
reading is required before entering 8th grade—check the district website for lists.
Grading Periods
Grading Period 1
Unit Name
Reading Workshop: Blended Genre Focused on Fiction (Short Story,
Novel)
Writing Workshop: Narrative Genre*—Personal or Imaginative
(include poetry)
Reading Workshop: Blended Genre Focused on Drama
Reading Workshop: Blended Genre Focused on Literary Nonfiction
Grading Period 2
Reading Workshop: Blended Genre Focused on Expository
Writing Workshop: Expository* (may be research paper)
Reading Workshop: Blended Genre Focused on Persuasive/Media
Literacy
Grading Period 3
Writing Workshop: Persuasive* (may be research paper)
Reading Workshop: Literature Circles
Grading Period 4
Writing Workshop: Literary Response*
Vertical Alignment
Textbooks: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Texas Literature, Grade 8 and The Write Source, Grade 8