Welcome to our classroom!

Advanced 8th Grade English Language Arts focuses on the four academic standards: speaking and listening, reading for all purposes, writing and composition, and research and reasoning. Our classroom resources will facilitate high level learning and appropriately match instructional methods with student need.
Our goal is to:

• Emphasize problem-based learning and inquiry
• Incorporate advanced research and technology skills
• Model and encourage intellectual struggle and high level academic discussion
• Support social and emotional needs
• Develop and practice creative thinking and creative problem solving skills with a variety of complex topics
• Incorporate critical thinking skills to successfully argue a point, justify reasoning, evaluate for a purpose, infer to predict and draw conclusions

This class is designed for the student who enjoys reading, discussion and analysis, thinks critically, has strong writing and grammar skills and is self motivated. The Advanced English Language Arts class moves beyond the curriculum expectations of a standard course by offering increasing instructional depth and complexity. Students are engaged in dynamic and high-level learning. 

Books to Explore

Before We Were Free (Julia Alvarez)
The Story of Owen: Dragon Slayer of Trondheim (E. K. Johnston)
Soldier's Heart (Gary Paulsen)
Eleanor Roosevelt: A Life of Discovery (Russell Freedman)
Hero (Mike Lupica)
The Once and Future King (T.E. White)
The Killing Sea (Richard Lewis)
A Wrinkle in Time (Madeline L'Engle)
The Alchemist (Paul Coelho)