Become effective readers through:

• Strategies for acquiring, interpreting, and applying information.
• Identifying and recalling significant details.
• Recognizing the main idea.
• Recognizing sequences of events.
• Recognizing cause-and-effect relationships.
• Beginning to understand inferences and to draw conclusions.
• Predicting outcomes.
• Discriminating between fact and fiction.
• Reading a selection of poetry, essays, short stories from the anthology.
• Reading novels from the following choices: Because of Winn Dixie, The Green Book, Island Books, Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH, The Landry News, The Giver, Number the Stars,The Devil’s Arithmetic, Nothing But the Truth, The Westing Game, Toilet Paper Tigers

Experiment and become skillful in writing through:

• Composing, revising, and editing.
• Using of the word processor.
• Writing in groups for the purpose of developing feedback on ideas, organization, and sentence structure.
• Practicing the following writing modes: friendly letter, poetry (Haiku and other “formula” poetry), personal narrative, folktale writing (myth, pourquoi, fractured folktale) three- paragraph essay, persuasive writing, entries for contests and student publications

Experience listening and speaking through:

• Reading aloud original composition drafts and/or journals to share ideas, and to build confidence in public speaking.
• Reading aloud original poems, essays, and stories to share and explore the immediate impressions and/or reaction.
• Presenting and explaining project work.
• Listening to oral readings and/or commercial recordings and responding orally or in writing.
• Participating in cooperative groups.
• Develop vocabulary skills by... learning about word families, learning about words in context, understanding word relationships and analogies, and consulting a dictionary and using a thesaurus.

Listening and speaking through:

• Participating in “Open Forum” discussions or debates in which they attempt to resolve a problem or issue
• Reading aloud original composition drafts and/or journals to share ideas, build confidence in public speaking and clarify personal concepts
• Reading aloud original poems, essays, and stories to share and explore the immediate impressions and/or reaction
• Presenting and explaining project work
• Listening to oral readings and/or commercial recordings and responding orally or in writing
• Participating in cooperative groups

Literature through:

• Reading a selection of poetry, essays and short stories from the seventh grade anthology as well as several novels (for example, The Outsiders, Ransom, The Witch of Blackbird Pond, The Little Prince, A Wrinkle in Time, Old Yeller, Where the Red Fern Grows, The House of Dies Drear, The Call of the Wild)
• Develop vocabulary skills by... learning about word families, learning about words in context, understanding word relationships and analogies, and consulting a dictionary and using a thesaurus.
• Reading additional works chosen during library “booktalk” presentations for individual appreciation or for Literature Circles (topics include: memoirs, historical fiction)

Composition and writing through:

• Composing, revising, and editing
• Using of the word processor
• Writing in groups for the purpose of developing feedback on ideas, organization, and sentence structure
• Practicing the following writing modes: letters, poems, personal and persuasive essays, first- and third-person narratives, book and movie reviews, short stories, dialogues, journals, and entries for contests and student publications

Vocabulary development by studying:

• Word breakdown and word families
• Words in context
• Synonyms and antonyms
• Connotation and denotation
• Clarification and comprehension 
• Word relationships and analogies

Listening and speaking through:

• Participating in “Socratic Seminar” discussions in which they analyze and understand a text
• Reading aloud original composition drafts and/or journals to share ideas, build confidence in public speaking and clarify personal concepts
• Reading aloud original poems, essays, and stories to share and explore the immediate impressions and/or reaction
• Presenting and explaining project work and sharing in Literature Circles
• Listening to oral readings and/or commercial recordings and responding orally or in writing
• Participating in cooperative groups

Literature through:

• Reading a selection of poetry, plays (for example, A Midsummer Night’s Dream), novels (for example, The Pigman, The Chocolate War, The Hunger Games), historical fiction and essays, short stories, biographical and autobiographical excerpts from the eighth grade anthology
• Studying the story elements and literary devices used by authors to convey subtle meanings
• Reading to identify fact vs. fiction, make inferences, identify author’s purpose/pt. of view
• Reading additional works chosen during library “booktalk” presentations (topics include: immigration, WW II, biographies and autobiographies, poetry selections)

Composition and writing through:

• Composing, revising, and editing
• Using of technology to publish writing
• Writing in cooperative groups for the purpose of developing feedback on ideas, organization, and sentence structure
• Practicing the following writing modes: literary letters, poems, personal and persuasive, compare/contrast and reflective essays, editorials, first- and third-person narratives, book reviews, short stories, dialogues, journals, critical analyses, and entries for contests and student publications
• Reflecting and writing on their journey as an English student

Vocabulary development by studying:

• Word breakdown, word families, words in context
• Synonyms and antonyms
• Connotation and denotation
• Clarification and comprehension
• Word relationships and analogies

MYP Standards

Objective A: Analysing

Through the study of language and literature students are enabled to deconstruct texts in order to identify their essential elements and their meaning. Analysing involves demonstrating an understanding of the creator’s choices, the relationships between the various components of a text and between texts, and making inferences about how an audience responds to a text, as well as the creator’s purpose for producing text. 

Students should be able to use the text to support their personal responses and ideas. Literacy and critical literacy are essential lifelong skills; engaging with texts requires students to think critically and show awareness of, and an ability to reflect on, different perspectives through their interpretations of the text.

In order to reach the aims of studying language and literature, students should be able to:

•       analyse the content, context, language, structure, technique and style of text(s) and the relationships among texts
•       analyse the effects of the creator’s choices on an audience
•       justify opinions and ideas, using examples, explanations and terminology
•       evaluate similarities and differences by connecting features across and within genres and texts.

Objective B: Organizing

Students should understand and be able to organize their ideas and opinions using a range of appropriate conventions for different forms and purposes of communication. Students should also recognize the importance of maintaining academic honesty by respecting intellectual property rights and referencing all sources accurately.

In order to reach the aims of studying language and literature, students should be able to:

•        employ organizational structures that serve the context and intention
•        organize opinions and ideas in a sustained, coherent and logical manner
•        use referencing and formatting tools to create a presentation style suitable to the context and intention.

Objective C: Producing text

Students will produce written and spoken text, focusing on the creative process itself and on the understanding of the connection between the creator and his or her audience. In exploring and appreciating new and changing perspectives and ideas, students will develop the ability to make choices aimed at producing texts that affect both the creator and the audience.

In order to reach the aims of studying language and literature, students should be able to:

• Produce texts that demonstrate insight, imagination and sensitivity while exploring and reflecting critically on new perspectives and ideas arising from personal engagement with the creative process
• Make stylistic choices in terms of linguistic, literary and visual devices, demonstrating awareness of impact on an audience
• Elect relevant details and examples to develop ideas.

Objective D: Using language

Students have opportunities to develop, organize and express themselves and communicate thoughts, ideas and information. They are required to use accurate and varied language that is appropriate to the context and intention. This objective applies to, and must include, written, oral and visual text, as appropriate.

In order to reach the aims of studying language and literature, students should be able to:

•       use appropriate and varied vocabulary, sentence structures and forms of expression
•       write and speak in a register and style that serve the context and intention
•       use correct grammar, syntax and punctuation
•       use appropriate non-verbal communication techniques.
•       Each course must include study of a balance of language and literature.
•       Each course must include study of a balance of genres.

Reading/language arts and English teachers subscribe to the following breakdown for the computation of quarterly grades:

 Grading Policy 

Suffolk Reading Council Honor School
The English Department has received the Suffolk Reading Council Honor School Award for over ten years. This annual award is given to an English department that promotes student literacy and fosters excellence and creativity in student writing.
 

Contests
Students are encouraged by their English teachers to participate in any of the numerous contests offered to middle-schoolers. Our students annually participate in the Suffolk County Spelling Bee, as well as in poetry and prose writing contests. Many of our students have received recognition in these contests and, several of our eighth graders have had their essays published in Newsday’s “New Voices” column.