8th Grade ELA Units:
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TOPIC
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SELECTED READINGS
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PROJECTS/ASSIGNMENTS
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Identity
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Poems: “Identity” “Knock, Knock” “If” “The Road Not Taken”
Stories: “Raymond’s Run” “The Treasure of Lemon Brown” “The Medicine Bag”
Articles: “Sleeping Under a Roof, but Homeless Nonetheless”
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Memoir Writing Assignment
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Surprising Twists in Life
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Poems: “The Raven” “Boots of Spanish Leather” “The Lesson of the Moth”
Stories: “The Tell-Tale Heart” “Johanna” “The Monkey’s Paw” “The Ransom of Red Chief” “The Hitchhiker”
Articles: “Dia de los Muertos” “Ronald Reagan on the Challenger Disaster” “Stress for Success” “The REAL Stories Behind These Disney Movies Will Ruin Your Childhood”
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Mock Trial
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Hero’s Journey
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NOVEL UNIT
Novel Choices: The Outsiders, House of the Scorpion, The Secret Life of Bees, Ender’s Game, Serafina Series
Poems: “Paul Revere’s Ride”
Articles: “Joseph Campbell: The Hero’s Journey”
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Hero Essay
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Motivation
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Poems: “Mother to Son” “My Father’s Song”
Stories: “Flowers for Algernon”
Articles: Ethics TedTalk, “IQ tests are 'meaningless and too simplistic' claim researchers” “Limits of Empathy”
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Multiple Assignments
BENCHMARK
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Tolerance and Compassion
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NOVEL UNIT
Novel: To Kill a Mockingbird
Poems: “Incident” “We Wear the Mask”
Stories: “The Birthday Party”
Articles: “Ain’t I a Woman” “On Being Informed” “Growing Up White in the 1930’s” “Who was Jim Crow?” “Herd Behavior” “Codeswitching” “The Scottsboro Boys”
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Taking a Stand Project
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***Text selections are subject to change as we get to know our students and their needs