8th grade English Language Arts Overview
1st quarter
Collection 1 selections
The Wise Old Woman, p. 5
Broken Chain, p. 16
Road Warriors, Listen Up, p. 30
Flowers for Algernon, p. 32
The Landlady, p. 71
The Monkey’s Paw, p. 85
The Third Wish, p. 101
The Open Window, p. 110
Writing personal narrative
Collection 7 selections
The Treasure of Lemon Brown, p. 729
The Medicine Bag, p. 759
An Hour with Abuelo, p. 773
Writing short story
2nd quarter
Collection 5 selections
Edgar Allan Poe: His Life Revealed…, p. 534
The Tell-Tale Heart, p. 536
Raymond’s Run, p. 546
A word is dead, p. 569
The Word/La palabra, p. 570
Brer Rabbit and Brer Lion, p. 575
The Ransom of Red Chief, p. 579
Brer Possum’s Dilemma, p. 597
Thanksgiving: A Meal Without Forks, p. 137
(Collection 2)
Writing character analysis
Collection 6 selections
Introduction to Poetry, p. 622
Paul Revere’s Ride, p. 628
The Cremation of Sam McGee, p. 636
Casey at the Bat, p. 650
Oda a las gracias/Ode to Thanks, p. 657
I, Too, p. 672
The Naming of Cats, p. 686
Oranges, p. 696
Writing poetry
3rd quarter
Collection 4 selections
The People Could Fly, p. 357
The Diary of Anne Frank, p. 364
from The Diary of a Young Girl, p. 439
A Tragedy Revealed, p. 443
Camp Harmony, p. 468
In Response to EO 9066, p. 475
from Just Enough is Plenty, p. 790
(Collection 7)
from I Have a Dream, p. 482
Writing research paper
Collection 8 selections
- use as needed
Writing problem-solution
essay
4th quarter
Collection 2 selections
Mrs. Flowers, p. 185
Historical Data About the Battle of Shiloh, p. 195
Drumbeats and Bullets, p. 197
The Drummer Boy of Shiloh, p. 203
How I Came to Write…, p. 209
from No Pretty Pictures, p. 224
Writing -
Collection 3 selections
The Green Mamba, p. 239
In Trouble, p. 250
Fast, Strong, and Friendly Too, p. 261
There Will Come Soft Rains, p. 265
Picking Strawberries, p. 295
Shipwreck at the Bottom of the World, p. 331
Writing persuasive essay
+ Many of the indicators are ongoing and/or can be addressed more than one time
throughout the year. The titles listed above are those selected by the 8th grade teachers of
the 2007-2008 school year, as key to meeting the indicators. There are a large number of
titles listed to allow for some personal choice within the classroom. Any titles not listed
may be used for common assessment. Supplemental novels also may be used by the
teachers, depending on which books are available within each building.