Middle School 6-8

Contact Information

Nancy Fuchs
Secondary Curriculum Coordinator
Email
314-983-5315

Grade 6

Grade 6: Course Description

The English Language Arts-6 curriculum prepares students through a reading and writing workshop structure to be college and career-ready. Students will continue to develop reading, writing, information literacy, and listening and speaking skills. Students will use metacognitive and active reading strategies to manage texts of steadily increasing complexity. By ensuring all students develop necessary literacy skills in reading, writing, speaking and listening, language, and research, students are better prepared for success in other content area classes.

Units of Study

Unit 1 | Building a Reading Life

Unit 2 | Deep Study of Character

Unit 3 | Narrative Writing

Unit 4 | Nonfiction Exploration

Unit 5 | Inquiry-Based Research Unit

Unit 6 | A Novel Study

Grade 7

Grade 7: Course Description

The English Language Arts-7 curriculum prepares students through a reading and writing workshop structure to be college and career-ready. Students will continue to develop reading, writing, information literacy, and listening and speaking skills. Students will use metacognitive and active reading strategies to manage text of steadily increasing complexity. By ensuring all students develop necessary literacy skills in reading, writing, speaking and listening, language and research. Students are better prepared for success in other content-area classes.

Units of Study

Unit 1 | Investigating Characterization

Unit 2 | Writing Realistic Fiction

Unit 5 | Essential Research Skills

Enduring Understanding

Quality research allows us to understand the world around us better, develop informed opinions, and make effective decisions.
Effective researchers collaborate with each other to strengthen their understanding of topics.
Effective researchers share their findings with new audiences to persuade and/or inform.

Essential Questions

How do researchers create and organize efficient note-taking systems?
How do researchers detect author bias?
How do researchers use search engines and libraries effectively?
How do writers create effective research-based arguments?

Unit 3 | Whole Class Novel

Enduring Understanding

Powerful readers use different lenses to make meaning of texts and interpret the messages authors share to reveal their purpose.
Literary texts can help us understand both the past and the present as well as make informed decisions about the future.

Essential Questions

Powerful readers use different lenses to make meaning of texts and interpret the messages authors share to reveal their purpose.
Literary texts can help us understand both the past and the present as well as make informed decisions about the future.

Unit 4 | The Art of Argument

Enduring Understanding

To be compelling when you argue, state a claim, give reasons to back up that claim, give evidence to support each of your reasons, and analyze that evidence for your audience.
When developing an argument, it is important to start weighing the reasons and evidence offered up by both sides, remaining open and suspending judgment.

Essential Questions

How do writers research all sides of a topic?
How do writers develop persuasive arguments?
How do writers use feedback to revise and edit their work?

Unit 6 | Dystopian

Enduring Understanding

When you know something about the genre of book you’re reading, you’ll start noticing more about that genre anytime you read those kinds of books.
Readers draw on a repertoire of strategies, reflecting on the thinking work that most pays off for them at different points in their reading.

Essential Questions

How do readers investigate settings, relationships, and conflicts to build stronger understandings of challenging texts?
How do authors use fictional worlds and conflicts to reflect on real-world topics and conflicts?
How does power impact environments and relationships?

Grade 8

Grade 8: Course Description

The English Language Arts 8 curriculum prepares students through a reading and writing workshop structure to be college and career-ready. Students will continue to develop reading, writing, information literacy, and listening and speaking skills. Students will use metacognitive and active reading strategies to manage text of steadily increasing complexity. By ensuring all students develop necessary literacy skills in reading, writing, speaking and listening, language, and research, students are better prepared for success in other content area classes.