th
8 Grade
Curriculum Night
January 8, 2013
Ms. JoAnn DiGiandomenico
Foreign Language Department Head
Ms. Margaret Hagemeister
English Department Head
Spanish Course
Sequence
French Course
Sequence
German and Latin Course
Sequences
• Mandarin Chinese 1 (grades 9-12)
• Mandarin Chinese 2 (grades 10-12)
Mandarin Chinese
• Recycle information from Spanish 1 with little or no
review
• Apply previously learned material to produce a new
product
Honors Traits for Foreign
Language
• Spanish 20 (Honors)
• Four grammatical structures from Spanish 1
• Four new grammatical structures
• Vocab quizzes are definitions with word bank, current and recycled
vocab
• Spanish 21 (CP)
• Recycled vocabulary from Spanish 1
• One new grammatical structure
• Vocab quizzes include visuals and prompts
Honors Traits for Foreign
Language
• Highly organized and excellent time management
• Able to take adequate notes and access information
quickly
• Confident that they can do challenging work
• Self-directed
• Willing to acknowledge and tolerate risk
• Willing to accept constructive criticism
• Critical thinker. Able to make abstract connections.
• Can construct new patterns from existing ideas
Honors Traits For All
Students
• Classic and Contemporary Works:
• Primary Works: Romeo and Juliet, To Kill a Mockingbird,
The Odyssey, selected short stories, poetry from Literature
and Language (text).
• Additional Selections may include Bad Boy: A Memoir of
Walter Dean Myers, When I Was Puerto Rican, The Gospel
According to Larry, Curious Incident of the Dog in the
Night-time, The Hound of the Baskervilles, Forgotten Fire,
Witness, Homecoming, A Christmas Carol, The Chocolate
War
• CCSS and MA ELA Framework Standards emphasize
fiction and informational texts (non-fiction).
English - Literature
• All students at each grade level complete core writing
assignments, which follow the writing process.
• Prewriting (brainstorming, graphic organizer, prewriting,
freewriting, etc.)
• Drafting
• Feedback/reflection (teacher, peer, self – may be formal or
informal)
• Revision
• Final Draft (graded using rubric)
• Teachers differentiate and scaffold assignments, depending on
the needs of the students.
English - Writing
• Argumentative: Literary criticism, theme explication,
“Shades of meaning” exercise
• Informational: Articles of the week, teen urban issue
project, issues tracking, research connection to literature,
analysis of rhetorical strategies
• Narrative: Add new scene to book, POV paper, write a
modern tragedy, God/Goddess project, sonnet writing
Writing to be College and
Career Ready
Writing Skills by Grade Level (Grade 9)
• In addition the the core writing assignments, students engage
in a number of additional writing experiences, both formal and
informal, throughout the year.
• A few examples:
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Argumentative/Persuasive pieces
Open Response
Timed Writings
Blogs and Journals
Discussion Forums
Responding to Texts (literary and informational)
Quick write (reading quiz, ticket to leave, etc.)
Projects
English - Other Experiences