Eighth graders study an American heritage unit which includes tall tales, legends, speeches, poems, and short stories, by and about famous Americans. Students do a planned and researched three minute biographical speech on a famous American. Students learn to organize thoughts and ideas through pre-writing and revising their work. Skills and grammar are reinforced in computer lab. A multi-cultural is integrated into the curriculum.
Students focus on writing in the narrative, descriptive, expository, and persuasive modes.
They continue their study of the grammar and structure of the English language. Organization and ideas are stressed along with the writing process. Students continue to practice the four writing modes. Special focus is placed on preparing for the Oklahoma writing assessment in the spring. Students go deeper into the structure and grammar of the English language.