Cannon Middle School English:
Scope and Sequence
Grammar Scope and Sequence
Grade 5: Establishing the Foundations of Grammar – The Parts of Speech
Grammar:
 Identify and use nouns, pronouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs, prepositions (object of preposition),
conjunctions, and interjections.
Usage and Mechanics:
 Practice using parts of speech correctly.
 Commas - commas and conjunctions; words in a series; quotations; Dates, addresses, numbers, quotations,
interjections, direct address; adjectives
 Proper use of punctuation and capitalization in sentences.
 Introduction to use of quotation marks in dialogue.
Textbook used:
Glencoe Grammar and Language Workbook 6
Prentice Hall Writer’s Choice 6
Grade 6: Formulating an Understanding of the Function of the Basic Components of a Sentence
Grammar:
 Reviewing use of nouns, pronouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs, prepositions,
conjunctions, and interjections.
 Identifying function of words in sentences.
Usage and Mechanics:
 Using pronouns correctly.
 S-V agreement.
 Commas: - Dates, addresses, numbers, quotations, interjections, direct address; with adjectives; with series;
after long intro elements
 Practice with proper use of
punctuation and capitalization.
 Use of quotation marks.
Textbook used:
Glencoe Grammar and Language Workbook 7
Prentice Hall Writer’s Choice 7
Grade 7: Solidifying the Understanding of How Sentences Work as a Whole
Grammar:
 Review five elements of complete sentence
 Review of functions.
 Review of sentence parts.
 Phrases and clauses. (phrases: prepositional and appositive; clauses: independent and dependent;
introduction to combining sentences using phrases and clauses)
Usage and mechanics:
 Comma rules: After long intro elements, to separate clauses, parenthetical expressions, more complex
quotations, nonrestrictive vs. restrictive phrases and appositives, semi-colon
 Fragments and Run-ons
 Practice with s-v agreement, proper pronouns
 Right words (homophones)
 Choosing the right pronoun
 Practice with proper use of punctuation and capitalization.
 Using possessive vs. plurals
 Use of quotation marks – review of fundamentals for dialogue, also titles of works (quotations, underlining
and italics)
Textbook used:
Prentice Hall Writer’s Choice
Prentice Hall Grammar and Language Workbook 8
Glencoe Grammar and Language Workbook 8
Grade 8: Writing More Sophisticated Sentences
Grammar:
 Review of sentence parts.
 Review of phrases and clauses.
Usage and Mechanics:
 Comma rules: After long intro elements, to separate clauses, parenthetical expressions, more complex
quotations, nonrestrictive vs. restrictive phrases and appositives, semi-colon
 Review of possessive vs. plural
 Review of s-v agreement
 Maintaining consistent voice
 Combining sentences
 Fragments and Run-ons Focus
 Active vs. Passive voice
 Parallelism
 Sentence variation
 Choosing the right pronoun
 Right Words (homophones)
 Review of quotation marks
 Practice with proper use of
punctuation and capitalization.
Textbook used:
Prentice Hall Writer’s Choice
Prentice Hall Grammar and Language Workbook 8
Glencoe Grammar and Language Workbook 8
Commas in Summary
- 5/6 - Dates, addresses, numbers, quotations, interjections, direct address
- 5/6 -- with adjectives
- 5/6 -- with series
- 6/7/8-After long intro elements
- 7/8 --Separate Clauses
- 7/8 -- parenthetical expressions, more complex quotations
- 7/8 -- nonrestrictive vs. restrictive phrases and appositives
- 7/8 -- semi-colon
Writing Scope and Sequence
Writing areas to focus on across MS
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Hitting on at least four writing genres per school year [expository, narrative, descriptive, creative,
argumentative/persuasive (7&8 only)]
Research writing
Plagiarism
Writing across curriculum – denote with **
Resources for students who need additional support/ practice
Grade 5
Genres:
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Expository: essay prompt
Narrative: story about self
Descriptive: paragraph about class trip (from viewpoint of animal)
Creative: fictional story starters (no more than 2 pages)
Skills:
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Introduction to MLA heading
Introduction to paragraph structure
Continuation of study of 6 Traits – (ideas; organization; voice; word choice; sentence fluency; conventions)
Grade 6
Genres:
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Expository: Research Paragraphs for International Day**
Narrative: Letter-writing
Descriptive: Book summaries
Creative:
Skills:
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Review of MLA heading
Review of paragraph structure
Introduction to idea of transitional words between paragraphs
Introduction to citations
Presentation Skills**
Grade 7
Genres:
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Expository: letter-essays - reflections on independent reading (one per trimester) in which students will
respond to author’s style, characters, plot, themes, or any variety of selected topics related to their novels.
Students will understand the difference between summary and reflection as well as how to respond to
literature in a more analytical way.
Argumentative/Persuasive: History/English Essay Exam Tri 2 **
Writer’s Workshop: includes mini-lessons and models to structure and inspire. Students will create writing
territories that provide a bank of ideas for their writing. Over the second and third trimester, students will
explore the writing process, including the various layers of drafting, and finally, publishing a final copy.
Students may work on any number of the following types of writing:
o Creative: poetry, shorts stories, drama, non-fiction-memoir (creative opportunities also provided
through journal prompts). These are all choice pieces.
o Essay-style writing in a variety of forms (also choice pieces based on prompts/territories):
 Narrative: personal narratives, memoir
 Descriptive: ex. special place, person or moment in life
 Expository: favorite sport, family pastimes, importance of friend
Skills:
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Using models to structure and inspire: mini lessons
Following a rubric
MLA citations: within letter-essays
Outlining: variety of styles
Presentation skills** introduction to public speaking, book talks, group book presentations
Grade 8
Genres:
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Expository: Irony/POV essay, TKM essay, Cornerstone script **
Narrative: Non-fiction narrative piece, choice pieces in form of essay/poetry/story
Descriptive: Book talks, choice pieces in form of essay/poetry/story
Creative: Mythology plays, Choice pieces – one per trimester based on prompts/territories – in form of
essay/poetry/story
Argumentative/Persuasive: Book review (x 1 or 2), Letter essay (x 1 or 2)
Skills:
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Outlining
Looking at sample pieces for inspiration and structure
Using a rubric
MLA citations and creating a works cited
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Presentation skills**: mythology plays, book talks (individual or group), Cornerstone project
Reading Scope and Sequence
Grade 5
Genres: fiction, non-fiction, short story
Skills:
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Character
Conflict (types)
Plot (exposition, rising action, climax, falling action, resolution)
Setting
Symbol
Content:
Titles read:
Short Stories: “Mazy May” (setting); “Wounded Wolf ” (character); “The Old Woman Who Lived with Wolves”
(conflict); “Stray” (plot); “All American Slurp” (Theme); “Sounds of Summer,” Running,” “Eleven” (Symbolism)
The Egypt Game by Zilpha Keatley Snyder (fiction)
The Call of the Wild by Jack London (fiction)
Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes by Eleanor Coerr (non-fiction)
Textbook used: Prentice Hall Literature 6
(at least one outside reading book per trimester)
Grade 6
Genres:
Skills:
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Protagonist/Antagonist
Dialogue
Dialect
Imagery
Foreshadowing
Inference
Context Clues
Content:
Titles read (books, short stories, poetry):
Short stories: “Papa’s Parrot”; “A Day’s Wait”; “All Summer in a Day”; “Stolen Day”; “Suzy and Leah”; “The
Treasure of Lemon Brown”; “Two Kinds”; “Seventh Grade”; “The Third Wish”; “After Twenty Years”
Poetry: “The Cremation of Sam McGee”; concrete poetry; haiku; lyric poetry; “The Courage That My Mother
Had”; “Fog”; “The Highwayman”; “Annabel Lee”; “I’m Nobody”; “Stopping By Woods on a Snowy Evening”;
Drama: “A Christmas Carol”; “The Monsters Are Due on Maple Street”
Mythology/Folk tale/Legend: “Icarus and Daedalus”; “Demeter and Persephone”; “Popocatepetl and Ixlaccihuatl”;
“Sun and Moon in a Box”; “How the Snake Got Poison”; “The People Could Fly”; “All Stories Are Anansi’s”;
“The Fox Outwits the Crow”; “The Fox and the Crow”
Crispin by Avi (historical fiction)
The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain (fiction)
Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery (fiction)
(Students also read a minimum one book per month of their choice.)
Textbook used: Prentice Hall Literature 7
The Book of Virtues, Wm. Bennet, ed.
Grade 7
Genres: fiction, non-fiction, short stories, poetry, essay samples, drama
Skills:
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Indirect vs. Direct characterization (show vs. tell)
Theme
Point of View
Review elements of plot
Symbolism
Allusion
Figurative language
Various poetic devices (including imagery, metaphor, simile, alliteration, assonance, consonance,
onomatopoeia, rhyme, rhythm)
Content:
Titles read:
Boy by Roald Dahl or Knots in My Yo-yo String by Jerry Spinelli
Seedfolks by Paul Fleischman
The Pearl by John Steinbeck
Narrative of the Life of Fredrick Douglass, an American Slave (excerpt) by Fredrick Douglass
A Wrinkle in Time (excerpt) by Madeleine L’Engle
Travels with Charley (excerpt) by John Steinbeck
Short stories: “The Storm” by McKnight Malmar, “The Tell-Tale Heart” by Edgar Allen Poe, “A Retrieved
Reformation” O.Henry, “Baseball” Garcia, “Thank You M’am” by Langston Hughes, “The Vision of Maya Ying
Lin” Ashabranner, “The Trouble with Television” MacNeil
Poetry: You Can’t Write a Poem About McDonald’s,” “Maybe Dat’s Youwr Pwoblem Too,” “My Room,” “New
Eyes,” “Fat Man,” “Nothing Gold Can Stay,” “O me! O Life,” “Invictus”
Textbook used: Prentice Hall Literature 8
Grade 8
Genres: fiction, nonfiction, classics, drama, short story, poetry
Skills:
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Irony
Mood
Tone
Point-of-View
Allusion
Figurative language
Content:
Titles read:
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Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry by Mildred Taylor
The Wanderings of Odysseus by Rosemary Sutcliff
Mythology by Edith Hamilton
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To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
Romeo & Juliet by William Shakespeare
Nonfiction narrative short stories (“New Direction,” “The Wash Woman”)
Poetry (various, mostly free verse/modern, some classics)
Fictional short stories on irony and point-of-view (“The Interlopers,” “The Gift of the Magi,” “Cask
of Amontillado,” “The Birthday Party,” “A Stolen Life,”)
Textbook used: Prentice Hall Literature 9
Vocabulary Scope and Sequence
Grade 5
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Introduction to Stems
5 words per week, 10 every 2 weeks
Bi-weekly quizzes
Introduction to Analytical Thinking Questions
Grade 6
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Continuation of Stems work
10 stems per week (5 new)
Weekly quizzes
Tests every 5 weeks
Analytical Questions all year
Grade 7
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Continuation of Stems work
15 stems per week (5 new)
Weekly quizzes
Tests every 5 weeks
Analytical Questions all year –add variety
Grade 8
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Continuation of Stems work
20 stems per week (5 new)
Weekly quizzes
Tests every 5 weeks
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Analytical Questions all year – add SAT style questions, or actual SAT questions