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Middle School: Language Arts

Course Intro Videos

English 8A

StrongMind Courses

English 6A

Students will read and analyze informational texts. These texts take many different forms, including biographies, personal accounts of events, instructional documents, film reviews, and persuasive letters. The course’s reading selections demonstrate ways to understand explicit and implicit information, central ideas and key details, and claims and arguments, among other ideas and concepts. Over the course of ENG061, students will read the novel The Road by Jack London. They will also examine informational texts to better their understanding of the science behind sunsets, the lives of several important historical

Suggested Grade Level: 6
Prerequisite: None

English 6B

Students will focus on learning reading skills based on literary texts. The texts come from a number of genres and include a novel, excerpts from novels, short stories, poems, and plays. The course’s reading selections demonstrate ways to understand explicit and implicit information, theme, characters, plot, poetic techniques, and figurative language, among other ideas and concepts. students will read the entire novel The Wonderful Wizard of Oz in almost every lesson throughout the course. They will read excerpts from the novels Little Women and The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, and stories and plays about challenging situations, getting caught doing something wrong, finding something unexpected, and why the crocodile has a wide mouth. Additionally, students will read poems from famous poets, such as Robert Louis Stevenson, Robert Frost, and Carl Sandburg, to name a few. You will also watch several videos of famous poems being read aloud.

Suggested Grade Level: 6A
Prerequisite: None

English 7A

In this course, students will improve their reading and writing skills, helping them become communicators that are more effective. Students will organize their ideas and prepare structured essays based on various topics such as personal experience and persuading others. Students will learn and practice effective research techniques as they, prepare, complete and polish reports and essays. This course will also provide interactive activities, readings and PowerPoint presentations to extend learning beyond the textbook. Students participate in discussions that will include teacher feedback on a daily basis throughout the course.

Suggested Grade Level: 7
Prerequisite: None

English 7B

The purpose of this course is to build upon the basics of English 7A and enhance the ability of students to read literature of a wide variety. Students continue to develop their writing through unit projects and the application of the Six Traits of Writing to the processes of prewriting, organizing, drafting, revising, editing and publishing. Students will complete six units of varying topics, comprised of five lessons each.

Suggested Grade Level: 7
Prerequisite: English 7A

English 8A

In this course, students will read and analyze literary and informational texts. These texts will come from a number of genres and from a number of sources, including short stories, novels, myths, poems, magazine articles, and autobiographies. Through the presentation of these types of reading selections, the course demonstrates ways to understand explicit and implicit information, theme, central idea, and figurative language. They will read the novel The Call of the Wild and short stories, such as “The Lottery,” “A Sound of Thunder,” and “The Tell-Tale Heart.” They will examine informational texts to better your understanding of the Yukon, the Klondike Gold Rush, dog sledding, and wolves. In addition, students will encounter numerous infographics and videos that build on the instruction.

As students read the selections in this course, they will practice ways to use supporting evidence, identify central ideas, make inferences, analyze word choice, and identify figurative and connotative language in both literary and informational texts. In addition, they will learn about basics in grammar, usage, and punctuation, including phrases and clauses, sentence structures, ellipses, dashes, and commas. Students will also review context clues to determine word meaning and learn about Greek and Latin prefixes, suffixes, and roots.

Suggested Grade Level: 8
Prerequisite: None

English 8B

In this course, students will read and analyze both literary and informational texts. These texts come from a number of genres and from a number of sources, including short stories, novels, poems, Internet articles, and political speeches. The course’s reading selections demonstrate ways to understand explicit and implicit information, theme, central idea, and figurative language, among other ideas and concepts. They will read parts of the novels Fahrenheit 451, Hatchet, and Black Beauty, as well as short stories such as “How the World Was Saved,” “Harrison Bergeron,” and “All Summer in a Day.” As they read the selections in this course, they will practice ways to use supporting evidence, identify central ideas, make inferences, analyze word choice, and identify figurative and connotative language in both literary and informational texts.

Students will also learn about basics in grammar, usage, and punctuation, including phrases, clauses, sentence structures, verbals, mood, and active and passive voice. They review context clues to determine word meaning, and will learn various vocabulary words and more about Greek and Latin prefixes, suffixes, and roots. In addition, students will learn the elements of informational and argument writing so that they can plan, create, write, revise, and edit their own informational and argumentative essays.

Suggested Grade Level: 8
Prerequisite: English 8A