Riverton Middle School Quarterly Syllabus 2013-14
4th
Quarter
Subject
Reading
Last Update: March 2014
8th Grade
Unit Topics
 Literature, short
fiction, and nonnarrative text will be
used to develop
reading strategies :
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Nonfiction and Fiction
Inferring and Sensory
and Conceptual
Imaging
Close Reading
(Annotating)
Analyze the text for
implicit and explicit
meanings
 PARCC Assessment
practice
 Writing in Response to
Reading
 Vocabulary
 Novel Study: Roll of
Thunder, Hear My Cry
Resources
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Assessments
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The Language of Literature,
McDougal Littell
http://www.parcconline.org
Smithsonianmag.com
Theweek.com
Scope
Illinois Reading Assessment
Framework: Grade 8
“Dirty Laundry” by Lisa Rowe
Fraustino
“A Dance with Death” from
Phenomena
“They’re Made out of Meat” by
Terry Bisson
Poems from “The Way a Door
Closes” by Hope Anita Smith
Various sections from “Germ
Killers: Fighting Disease” by Sally
Morgan
Various Sections from “Freedom’s
Children” by Ellen Levine
“First Confession” by Frank
O’Connor from Best Short Stories:
Middle Level Ed. Raymond Harris
Poems from Swimming Upstream:
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Inferring Assessment
Imaging Assessments
Annotating Rubric
Reader’s Response Rubric
Word Wisdom
Article of the Week: textdependent questions
Riverton Middle School Quarterly Syllabus 2013-14
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Middle School Poems Ed. Kristine
O’Connell George
Excerpts from
Criss Cross by Lynne Rae Perkins
“Nonrepresentational Art” from
Mama Makes Up Her Mind and
Other Dangers of Southern Living
by Bailey White
“The Tell-Tale Heart” by Edgar Allan
Poe from The Language of
Literature McDougal Littell
Excerpts from Out of the Dust by
Karen Hesse
“Shot down Behind Enemy Lines”
by Don L. Wulffson from Bridges to
Literature McDougal Littell
“Black Whiteness”
- Bridges to Literature McDougal
Littell
- Science Explorer: Earth Science,
Prentice Hall, 2002
- The American Journey:
Reconstruction to the Present,
McGraw-Hill, 2005
-Infectious Diseases: Bugs You
Don’t Want to Catch, from World
Works, Level G, McGraw-Hill, 2008
-The Diversity of Life: From Single
Cells to Multicellular Organisms,
Heinemann-Raintree, 2008
Riverton Middle School Quarterly Syllabus 2013-14
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Language
Arts
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Writing
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Real world writing - focusing on
express & reflect, inform &
explain, analyze & interpret
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 Kelly Gallagher: Write Like This
book
 Various Essay/Speech Rubrics
 https://owl.english.purdue.edu
“My Favorite Mistake” Express &
Reflect Essay
“Jump the Shark” Analyze &
Interpret
“6 word memoir” Express &
Reflect
Speaking and Listening
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-“Do You Know What’s In Your
Food?” from Making Healthy Food
Choices, Heinemann-Raintree, 2006
-“Tornadoes” from Extreme
Weather, National Geographic,
2005
“Job Hunting” Inform &
Explain (Speech)
 Sentence of the Week notetaking sheets and quizzes
Riverton Middle School Quarterly Syllabus 2013-14
Grammar
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Based on what is seen in
students’ writing, certain
conventions of standard English
will be studied directly.
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