8th Grade Curriculum
Unit 1 Journeys
The journeys theme invites students to think about the way people grow through the goals they set and the difficulties they encounter. The supplementary and anchor texts provide the opportunity to discuss journeys as both literal and symbolic adventures that reveal and shape characters. Along with the common tasks, reading, writing, and discussion should offer an occasion for self-reflection, for students and teacher to see themselves as participants in varied journeys towards learning, growth, and discovery.
Enduring Understandings
- People learn about themselves through their journeys
- Authors use journeys to develop plot and character
- Conflict creates the opportunity for growth.
Essential Questions
- How are people shaped by their journeys and experiences?
- What motivated people to take journeys?
- How do authors use different techniques to develop various types of characters?
- How do authors use literal and symbolic journeys to structure stories?
Core Novels
- Canyons
- The Hobbitt
- The House of Dies Drear
- Johhny Tremain
- Kim/Kimi
- My Brother Sam is Dead
- The Pearl
- Stealing Hom: Jackie Robinson Biography
Unit 2 Community
We all are on one earth. It is important that we survive togther. In Unit 2 students examine carious communities including their own. The anchor and supplementary texts present a variety of modles and invite students to consider the characteristics of communities, the impact of individuals on communities, and the challenges that being a member of a community presents. In this unit students read, discuss, and research issues affecting communities and reflect on their role in providing solutions to existing problems and creating new pathways for impoving socirty.
Enduring Understandings
- All individuals have roles in their communities
- Persuasive writing and speaking influences individual and comminity thought.
Essential Questions
- How do authors develop stories about communities to comment on human behavior?
- What persuasive strategies do people use to influence their communities?
- How can an individual's beliefs and actions impact a community?
Core Novels
- Animal Farm
- The Contender
- Dicey's Song
- The Giver
- The Light in the Forest
Unit 3 Responsibility
Character' individual responsibilities and their ability to fulfill them are oftern a driving force in the character and plot development seen in fiction. In addition, the way we respon to responsiility in our own lives helps to define our personality and affects our future. The reading selections for this unit provide the opportunity for students to examine characters from various historical time periods, both real and fictional, who make diffciult choices when charged with assuming responsibility. Along with the common tasks, reading, writing, and discussion should offer an occasion for self-reflection, for students and teachers to consider the outcome of accepting or not accepting personal or societal responibility.
Enduring Understandings
- With all rights and privileges come responsibility
- Responsible people consider the consequences of their actions
- People need communications skills to be responsible members of society
Essential Questions
- What makes a person act resonsibly?
- What motivates a person to take risk?
- How is honesty a social responsibility?
- What are a writer's responsibilities?
Core Novels
- Across Five Aprils
- Beauty
- Deathwatch
- Harriet Tubman
- Homecoming
- Narrative of Fredrick Douglas
- Of Nightinggales that Weep
- Roll of Thunder, Hear my Cry
- Snowbound
Unit 4 Discoveries
Mankind's progress can be chronicled through a succession of discoveries. Many discoveries are personal in nature, quietly changing the character and life of an individual. Others are global, haveing significant consequences for society. In this unit, students explore the concept of discovery in a variety of contexts. In reading William Shakespeare's As You Like It, students discover the power and beauty of language created by a man whose works continue to delight readers and audiences around the world. Other readings lead students to consider the eddect of self-discovery on the individual and his or her surroundings. Along with the common tasks, reading, writing, and discussion should offer an occasion for self-reflection and for students and teachers to consdider the many discoveries of our lives.
Enduring Understanding
- People grow from the discoveries they make during their journeys
- Literature helps us make discoveries about ourselves
- Writers help us discover the power and beauty of language.
Essential Questions
- What have you discovered about yourself this year?
- How are discoveries both accidental and deliberate?
- Why are discoveries sometimes frightening or confusion?
- How does language create images of people, events, places, and feelings?
Core Novels
- As You Like It
- Treasure Island