Bartholomew's Buzz
January Newsletter for 8th Grade Language Arts
There's snow season like winter!
Stay warm and Happy New Year!
Ms. B.
8th Grade Language Arts
Curriculum Focus:
We have already begun discussing and researching the Holocaust in preparation for our reading of this unit's texts. It's a heavy subject, but one that is important for remembrance and reflection.
This week we will create a class Holocaust Museum by becoming the curators of Holocaust exhibits to display. Students will research and compile elements of the humanities to include in our museum, and will then do a museum walk to gain insight from classmates' exhibits.
Next week, Pre-AP will begin reading Night by Elie Wiesel. We will collaborate with peers in literature circles to annotate and discuss the book in class. Reading is expected at home each evening in preparation for class discussion.
On-level students will begin reading the dramatic version of The Diary of Anne Frank. This is generally a very popular text with the 8th graders. They enjoy the suspense of the story, the background and historical context of The Holocaust, and the in-depth discussions that arise with this topic. I enjoy it too, and the students are already becoming captive to the power of this unit. Pre-AP students will read this dramatic text as well upon completion of our novel.
In addition, we will be reviewing persuasive elements and analyzing some persuasive speeches, one of which being Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s I Have a Dream speech among others. This accompanies the Anne Frank text beautifully and is so relevant to current events.
Additionally, we will look at some poetry and connect it to the themes in our fiction and nonfiction texts.