Middle School ELA: Seventh and Eighth Grade English Language Arts

Middle School English Language Arts is taught to common core standards. The learning goals of this class are to reinforce and expand learners' knowledge of literature, literary devices, grammar, language usage, speaking and listening skills, making presentations, writing, analyzing arguments, conducting research, and completing a research paper. 

I am currently enrolled in my final course through the Gettysburg College-Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History master of arts in American history program. In addition, I have bachelor of arts degrees in English, journalism, and political science. I was the director of a social justice center for three years during which time I routinely taught about and facilitated conversations about historical and current political events for both teen and adults participants. I have been teaching history, social studies, and English Language Arts classes for the past five years. I have also completed the Echoes & Reflection: Teaching the Holocaust Inspiring the Classroom course in "Creating Context for Teaching 'Night'". 

Following each class, learners will have a reading assignment, journal prompt to which they respond, and a grammar, language usage, or literary device worksheet or short project. There will be short presentations and projects assigned four times each unit. At the end of Unit 1, a book report is due. At the end of Unit 2, a campaign project is due. At the end of the course, a five-page research paper is due. 

Learners are assessed on weekly homework, participation in live classes, journal entries, projects, and the research paper. 

The final grade is calculated as follows: 
Grammar/Language Usage/Literary Device Worksheets: 10 percent
Speaking and Listening (In-Class Participation and Projects): 10 percent
Journal: 20 percent
Unit 1 Book Report: 10 percent
Unit 2 Campaign Project: 10 percent
Research Paper Scaffold Assignments: 10 percent
Final Research Paper: 30 percent

Students receiving a C (70 percent) or greater in the class, will receive a letter of completion at the end of the course. 

1 hour 30 minutes per week in class, and an estimated 2 - 4 hours per week outside of class.

The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, Echoes & Reflections: Teaching the Holocaust Inspiring the Classroom, Facing History and Ourselves, Vancouver Holocaust Education Centre, The World Holocaust Remembrance Center, "Watership Down" by Richard Adams, "Night" by Elie Wiesel, "Watership Down" the movie, "The Story of Night" from the "New York Times," Oprah Winfrey's interview with Elie Wiesel video, "The Perils of Indifference" by Elie Wiesel, Martin Niemöller, “First They Came…”, "Never Shall I Forget" by Elie Wiesel, “One Friday Morning” by Langston Hughes, “Lather and Nothing Else” by Hernando Tellez, “One of These Days” by Gabriel García Márquez, “The Friday Everything Changed” by Anne Hart, “The Aged Mother” By Matsuo Bashō, “The Last Class: The Story of a Little Alsatian” by Alphonse Daudet, “Excerpt from Black Beauty: The Autobiography of a Horse” by Anna Sewell, “Identity” by Julio Noboa, “The Blind Men and the Elephant” by John Godfrey Saxe, “There Will Come Soft Rains” by Sara Teasdale, “Caged Bird” by Maya Angelou, “The Rime of the Ancient Mariner” by Samuel Taylor Coleridge.