| Reading Grade 8 |
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| Course Objectives (taken from upper grade Reading curriculum) To have students read and decode the written word at grade level. To allow students to discuss and write about the themes of personal autonomy vs. parental obedience, and family culture vs. surrounding culture within the framework of a story that touches strongly on their own personal experience as Chinese living in the United States. To discuss the theme of war and armed conflict with the class, and to elicit thoughtful verbal and written responses from them as to their own attitudes toward it. To introduce the sub-genre of the "fair-play" detective story to the young people as a means of stimulating critical and logical thinking in them. To present the theme of love vs. jealousy to the students so as to elicit creative and critically thought-out ideas as to what forms it may take, especially within the context of a classic tale. |
| To involves students in the intricacies of life-or-death deliberations within the jury room so as to get them to think critically about the facts presented in a case -- and to realize how complex the issues can become. To introduce students to the plot and characters of Victor Hugo's Les Miserables by taking the script of the musicalized version as a class play -- as well as to immerse them in the beauty of the lyrics and music. If possible, to also take them to see the play if it is running in Chicago during the school year. To give students a basic education in poetry: students will learn basic poetic terms and devices such as alliteration, simile, metaphor, onomatopoeia, stanza, symbol, and verse. They will learn the concept of metric feet and scansion, as well as having exercises in these. Naturally, students will read a number of poems, a portion of which will demonstrate and reinforce the above devices and concepts. Lastly, students will get a taste of some of the most difficult-to-understand verse, called cubist poetry, as employed by E.E. Cummings. To introduce students to the Fantasy genre of literature by means of a 400+ page novel. Students will get the chance to involve themselves in the basic setting of the story by eventually taking on fictional personas and completing various written and group challenges. To educate students, if time permits, in the basics of classical Greek mythology, and to give them the opportunity to demonstrate their knowledge of it by means of original skits. Material for the class is drawn from both the Reading text and from photocopied handouts provided by the teacher. Materials 1. Textbook: Exploring Literature, Ginn and Company, Lexington, MA, 1981. 2. Students will need their Reading notebook from previous years, which they will finish this year. Some Fun Stuff: The two major units of eighth grade Reading -- Les Miserables and DragonLance -- tend to be the ones students most remember. Click below for a window into these two topics, which I hope both current and former students (and anybody else) will enjoy. |
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| This course is the last Reading class students will have me for, and in many ways it tends to be the most enjoyable, I think. It combines stories from the text, a major play, a novel, and other elements. Many students remember eighth grade Reading, especially the Les Miserables and DragonLance units, and with good reason! |
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| Important note: The Les Miserables page has yet to be updated to the site's new format as of August 7, 2003. No link yet -- sorry! |