8th Grade English Syllabus
2015-2016
Ms. Bemis & Ms. Sauer
Materials Needed – Passbook should be with you every day
--Notebook
--Folder to store handouts and graded assignments
--Pencil or pen (black or blue ink)
--Reading Counts book
--Literature book
Expectations
Be on time and be prepared with your materials
Show respect for others and their property
Grading Categories:
Tests/Quizzes
50%
Homework
40%
Reading Counts
10%
Grading Scale:
94-100 A
80-83
90-93 A78-79
88-89 B+
74-77
84-87 B
70-73
BC+
C
C-
68-69
64-67
60-63
0-59
D+
D
DF
Grading Policies
Participation: Participation involves being on time. Tardies are tracked by the office and may result in
detention. Inappropriate behavior/lack of participation will be referred to the office.
Make-up Work: Planned Absence: See the teacher 1-2 days before you will be gone. If you are absent
(sick/emergency), check with a classmate first and then check with the teacher.
Late Work—Assignments not turned in when requested, if you are present in class, may result in a
lowered grade. Late work must be completed before the end of the quarter.
Cheating: Students need to conduct themselves ethically and honorably. It is expected that the grade a
student earns is based upon work that the student has performed. Cheating is dishonest. It harms you and
it harms the other students who do not cheat. Cheating includes copying homework (the person who
allows the cheating is as responsible as the person who does the cheating), wandering eyes or talking
during a test, or plagiarism (intentionally copying (ex. from the internet) and passing the work off as your
own), electronic cheating (cell phones), etc. Students who cheat will receive a zero (0) for the work.
Parents and the office may be notified of the cheating offense.
Year Plan
SpellingLessons 1-17
Student will demonstrate spelling, definition recognition, compound words, homophones, word endings,
easily confused words, prefixes, etc.
Grammar- Purpose and focus, paragraph development, clarity of meaning, conjunctions, punctuation
and verb tense, forms of usage and grammatical agreement, commas
The student will apply standard English conventions when writing.
Literature-
Elements of Literature Collections 1-7 and additional readings in nonfiction
Novels (to be determined) including Birchbark House and Chains
The student will understand the meaning of texts using a variety of strategies and will demonstrate literal,
interpretative, inferential and evaluative comprehension.
Writing-
Paragraph structure (topic sentences and supporting sentences)
Essay practice – persuasive, research, (narrative (writing lab) and informative- Semester 1)
Letter writing
MLA style for all writing.
Speech -
Poem memorization and podcast (possibly), Presentation of essays
MCA Test Preparation
Reading Counts!
1. Students are expected to read 100,000 words per quarter.
2. Students may have to read more than one book to reach the 100,000 word requirement.
3. Students will only receive credit for the words they have read and successfully tested.
Example: 72,000 words read and tests passed equals 72/100 points. 100,000 words read and tests passed
equals 100/100 points.
4. Students without Reading Counts tests must have those books approved by their teacher ahead of time.
5. Students are encouraged to read books of their choice above 700 lexile.
6. Students will need to get books approved by their teacher that are below 700 lexile.
7. A passing score on a reading counts test is a 7/10 or higher.
8. Students may take a test twice, but they need to wait 24 hours between tests.
9. Students who cheat on Reading Counts tests WILL NOT receive credit for those tests. Example:
Taking a test for someone else, only watching a movie, testing with a book open, etc.
Word Count Numbers for Popular/Taught Novels
- Word Count Search Site: http://www.arbookfind.com/
- Lexile Number Search Site: https://lexile.com/
-Check word count and lexile Search Site: http://src.scholastic.com/bookexpert/detail_title.asp
Book Title
Lexile
Word Count
The Giver
760
43,617
Harry Potter
880
77,508
To Kill a Mockingbird
790
99,121
The Maze Runner
770
101,182
Chains
780
75,475
Of Mice and Men
630
29,572
The Orphan Train
890
81,847
Touching Spirit Bear
670
56,025
Divergent
700
105,143
Pride and Prejudice
1100
121,342
Hatchet
Lexile
1020
Word Count
42,328
Twilight
720
118,975
The Diary of Anne Frank
1080
82,762
The Hunger Games
810
99,750
Wicked
890
153,353