Oral language activities including choral reading, poetry recitations and drama increasingly give way to writing workshop activities. Spelling dictation and activities are conducted all year long and involve weekly-assigned units. They correspond with the teacher and each other about what they are reading in literary log letters. Grades for this course are based on goals which students to improve their writing techniques. This course is a combination of reading and writing workshop along with integrated projects with science and health to study the forms of the research paper and the personal essay.
Students choose their own reading materials except for two teacher chosen texts.
Grades are based on goals which the students set as well as their integrated projects. This course involves History, Physical and Human Geography. The focus, geographically, is Asia, the Middle East, and Africa. This course is a continuation of the thematic approach presented in Grade 7 and is designed to facilitate student understanding of selected regions of the Western Hemisphere. This course will cover the geography, history, culture, politics, and current events of selected countries in this region.