EIGHTH GRADE ENGLISH

Mrs. Cottle

 ENGLISH GRADE

On the report card there will be one grade for English. That English grade will be an average of the grades received in the four components listed: Literature, Composition, Grammar, and Vocabulary.  

HOMEWORK

Homework is posted in the room on the chalkboard and on Mrs. Cottle's Moodle site. Parents should expect their student to have English homework in vocabulary. Various composition assignments will be given throughout the year. The assignment is made on Monday and collected on Friday. Grammar and literature assignments will be given as topics are studied. Some of these assignments will be due the day after the assignment is made. Other assignments will require several nights for completion. 

TESTS

Vocabulary tests are given every Friday. Students will be tested on each novel that they read in some fashion. Grammar tests will be given after each area studied. Pop and announced quizzes will be given in literature and grammar.  

BOOK PROJECTS

Students should be reading books outside of school on a regular basis. Book projects on outside reading are assigned approximately every six weeks. A schedule with those due dates and the type of project has been distributed to each student and is available on the homework site.  

GRAMMAR JOURNAL

Each English student should have a marble composition book for his/her grammar journal. All grammar notes should be kept in this journal and should be reviewed before all tests and exams. 

OVERVIEW

            LITERATURE UNITS:

                        Drummers of Jericho

                        No Promises in the Wind

                        To Kill a Mockingbird

                        Ethan Frome

                        Romeo and Juliet

                        Contemporary Poetry

                        Short Stories by Edith Wharton & Nathaniel Hawthorne

            COMPOSITION:

                        Practice in writing application essays

                        Personal Poetry

                        Responsive essays related to short story assignments

                        Song Lyrics

                        Autobiography

                        Various other writing assignments

            GRAMMAR:

                        RULES OF THE GAME #3

                        Workbook with lessons and assignments

            VOCABULARY:

                        CLASSICAL ROOTS C & D

                        Friday vocabulary tests

Exercises in the booklet