Jordan Middle School

Language Arts Curriculum Maps

Grade 6

Standards

August – September

  • Writing Fundamentals:
    • What is a sentence?
    • What is a paragraph?
    • Single and multi-paragraph assignments.
  • Introduce Collins Mgmt System
  • Reading:
    • Short Story Unit
    • Components of the story
    • Short response to lit
  • Quarter 1 – Outside Reading - bio/autobio

October - November
Extended writing assignment

  • Choice of one or more:
    • Passion Project
    • Personal Narrative (focus on leads, point of view, sensory detail, dialogue; 1st person singular account, one event)
    • Expository Essay (thesis statement, topic sentences, supporting details, transitions, conclusions)
  • Reading: First novel
    • Well developed response to literature; single paragraph
Quarter 2 – Outside Reading Project – fantasy/scifi - Start November
December – January
  • Extended writing assignment - Choice of one or more:
    • Personal Narrative (focus on leads, point of view, sensory detail, dialogue; 1st person singular account, one event)
    • Expository Essay (thesis statement, topic sentences, supporting details, transitions, conclusion)
    • Research Report (guiding question, area of study, note-taking, outlining, pre-writing, table of contents, bibliography)
  • Reading:Start second novel
Quarter 3 – Outside Reading Project – historical fiction - Start end of January
February - March
  • Extended writing assignment - Choice of one or more:
    • Expository Essay (thesis statement, topic sentences, supporting details, transitions, conclusion)
    • Research Report (guiding question, area of study, note-taking, outlining, pre-writing, table of contents, bibliography)
    • Persuasive Essay (taking a position, backing it up and addressing a counterargument; research skills, writing process)
  • Reading: Start third novel
  • Multi-paragraph well developed response to lit (cite quotes, examples)

April – May

  • Extended writing assignment - Choice of one or more:
    • Research Report (guiding question, area of study, note-taking, outlining, pre-writing, table of contents, bibliography)
    • Persuasive Essay (taking a position, backing it up and addressing a counterargument; research skills, writing process)
    • Summary Writing (chronological order, transitions, relevant data)
Reading: Third novel
Reading choice:
D’Aulaires’ Myths
The Odyssey
Julius Caesar
Quarter 4 - Outside Reading Project - mystery/suspense – Start April

June
Wrap up (poetry unit, story writing)

Ongoing
Grammar – Parts of speech (focus on pronouns), complete sentences, capitalization, subject-verb agreement, tense agreement, punctuation (commas and apostrophes, end)
Spelling
Vocabulary
Figurative Language

Grade 7

Standards

Millie Balsam:

August - September
Short Stories (narrative)
Lit term, fable
Autobio vignette
September - October
Outsiders
(To Kill a Mockingbird)
Expository—
compare/contrast
November - December
Beowulf
(expository)
January - February
The Diary of A Young Girl by Anne Frank
Lit response
March - April
The Adventures of Tom Sawyer
Descriptive
May-June
Lit circles
Persuasive

Kelly Zalatimo:

August - September
Short Stories
(narrative—short story)-- Coming of Age theme
Literary Terms
September - October
Beowulf
Descriptive--
(unlikely hero)
“ Through the Tunnel”
Expository
November - December
Outsiders
memoir
expository
(compare/contrast)
January - February
The Diary of A Young Girl by Anne Frank
Lit Response
March - April
The Adventures of Tom Sawyer
Response to lit
May-June
Lit circles
Persuasive

Renee Johnson:

August - September
Literary Terms Intro.
Short Stories—Coming of Age theme
Writing Territory

Novel--
The Outsiders
The Outsiders essay
Character Analysis
Independent Reading (summaries)
November - December
Supplemental Core - Homecoming, Holes or Out of the Dust
Persuasive
Independent Reading (summaries)
January - February
The Diary of A Young Girl by Anne Frank
Selected Poetry Applying literary terms
Lit. Response
March - April
The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (Twain)
How To Poem (Twain)
Independent Reading (summaries)
May-June
Poetry
Eulogy Project or I-Search Report

 

 

 

Grade 8

Standards

August-September Novel #1 & accompanying essay
October - November Novel #2 & accompanying essay

December - January
Novel #3 & accompanying essay
February - March
Short stories:
  • To build a fire by Jack London
  • Flowers for Algernon by Keys
  • Lady or the Tiger by Stockton
  • The man without a country by Hale
April - May Research report on a topic of their choiceReflection/evaluation essay of their learning in middle school
Core Novels:
  • The Pearl by John Steinbeck
  • The Martian Chronicles by Ray Bradbury
  • Whirligig by Paul Fleischman
  • The Call of the Wild by Jack London
  • The Chosen, Tisha and The Glory Fields
  • Breaking Through by Francisco Jimenez
  • The Circuit by Francisco Jimenez
  • The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros
Essay Writing:
  • Memoir
  • Response to Literature
  • Persuasive
Other Readings DramaSelected Poetry
OngoingGrammarVocabulary