Course Syllabus

    Welcome to English 8

Course Description

English 8 focuses on fostering a culture of reading and writing. Students will engage with different genres and forms of literature, such as poetry and prose as well as fiction and non-fiction sources. Students will continue to develop their critical and creative thinking skills while also improving their literacy foundations. English 8 is part of the Grade 8 Cohort program, meaning that students will engage in cross-curricular learning opportunities with their Science and Socials courses as part of this course. 

Course Expectations

St. George’s School expects all students at the Senior School to be interested and motivated in achieving their personal best while at the School. We expect students will be engaged in their endeavours, responsible to their studies, classmates and teachers, and demonstrate integrity in their pursuit of learning.

Workload

Most of the work for this course will be completed during class time.  However, at times there will be some reading or writing assigned for homework, up to 45 minutes. Project work will require some time management.

Submitting work

Teachers will provide opportunities, when appropriate, for students to submit work via their class Canvas page. Students will be expected to use Assignments, Quizzes, Discussions, and Modules on Canvas to complete assignments and discuss with their peers.

Students in this course are expected to complete work assignments on the date assigned and to submit their work on Canvas.

If circumstances prevent the student from completing a work assignment on the assigned due date, the student must inform the teacher prior to the due date for the work assignment. The teacher will provide a second due date through 5th block system. 

Instructional Aims

Based on the B.C. Ministry of Education curriculum, students will learn through the following experiences:

• Increase reading volume and create a culture of reading for enjoyment
• Write daily to experiment in a low stakes environment and create a culture of writing for enjoyment
• Apply reading strategies (contextual clues, phonics, predicting, summarizing)
• Be exposed to a variety of texts, authors, point-of-view and cultures
• Use oral stories to communicate perspectives, values, beliefs, and point of view
• Experiment with and refine language to effectively convey message for audience and purpose (notebook writing, drafting, etc

Learning Outcomes

Based on the B.C. Ministry of Education curriculum, students will learn and be evaluated on the following knowledge and skills:

• • Evaluate credibility of provided text by identifying reliability (facts vs. opinions; motivation/purpose; author)
  • Speak with appropriate tone, volume, pace, and body language to enhance the message for the given purpose/audience
  • Accurately summarize texts using their own language
  • Identify and explain how a character’s perspective is different or similar than their own
  • Identify organizational features in text and explain their purpose (hooks, thesis placement, spacing/breaks, and paragraph, sentence and punctuation breaks)
  • Use organizational features in their writing
  • Identify literary elements (characterization, story, structure, metaphor, conflict, theme) and devices (imagery, figurative language) and explain how they contribute to meaning/understanding
  • Use literary elements and devices appropriately in their own writing to enhance meaning and understanding 
  • Use evidence to support claims in argumentative writing
  • Use description, dialogue, and action to show not tell in narrative writing
  • Craft various texts (opinion pieces, poetry, short stories, argumentative) appropriate for given purpose and audience
  • Consistently use proper conventions (syntax, agreement, spelling, and punctuation) for correctness

Assessment and Evaluation

A student's final mark will be determined by evaluation of their ability to demonstrate proficiency in these skills and learning these concepts.

Skills

• Writer’s Craft                                        25%

  • Grammar and editing skills
  • Take-home assignments and/or multi-day assessments, group or individual
  • Writer’s Notebook
  • Multiple-literacy representations
  • Peer/self-editing
  • Metacognitive responses to personal work

   

  In-class Writing                                     25%

  • In-class writing: essays, free writes, stand-alone responses
  • Timed responses and performance tasks

   

  Reading and Viewing                             25%

  • Reading comprehension, analysis, and synthesis
  • Multiple choice and short answer assessments
  • Canvas discussions

   

  Oral Language                                     25%

  • Presentations
  • Debates, discussion-based assessment
  • Scene reenactments
  • Poetry in Voice

We anticipate adjustments may be made throughout the year due to the extenuating circumstances we are facing. Any adjustments will be posted here and discussed as a class.

Both the school’s assessment expectations and supports that teachers provide can be found online. Academic dishonesty to any degree is not acceptable.

There are a variety of academic supports available at St. George’s for students. Students are encouraged to take advantage of the range of supports available to them which include:

• Faculty support
• 5th Block
• Head of Grade
• Student Success Centre
• Personal Counselling