Course Description
This comprehensive course covers language arts, literature, and writing skills for eighth grade students. They will learn capitalization, punctuation, sentence structure, and paragraph organization, along with recognizing parts of speech and enhancing writing style. Through writing exercises, word studies, and learning Latin and Greek roots, students will strengthen their language skills. Assessment will include Language Arts Notebook entries, essays, oral presentations, worksheets, and word studies.
Students will engage with a variety of literary works including novels like The Alchemist, The Hiding Place, and Inside Out and Back Again, as well as selected short stories, poetry, and an introductory study of Shakespeare. Each class will have additional reading assignments tailored to their curriculum. Assessments will involve writing essays on literature, creating original poetry and short stories, and other composition tasks.
The course also emphasizes the writing process, covering pre-writing strategies, organization, revision, and editing. Students will explore various genres of writing and analyze sample writings to identify effective techniques. Assessment includes writing a personal narrative, persuasive essay, research paper (related to History/Geography), and experimenting with original poetry and short stories.
Course Details
Eighth Grade Language & Literature
Unit 1: Language Fundamentals
- Capitalization rules
- Punctuation usage
- Sentence structure and types
- Paragraph organization
Unit 2: Parts of Speech
- Recognizing and identifying nouns, pronouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs, conjunctions, prepositions, and interjections
Unit 3: Writing Style and Mechanics
- Improving writing style through vocabulary enhancement and sentence variety
- Spelling exercises and word studies
- Exploring Latin and Greek roots of words
Unit 4: Literature Studies
- Reading and analyzing novels such as The Alchemist, The Hiding Place, and Inside Out and Back Again
- Exploring selected short stories and poetry
- Introductory study of Shakespeare’s life and plays
Unit 5: Additional Reading Assignments
- Tailored reading assignments for each class section, including novels like The Water is Wide, David Copperfield, A Lion and a Lamb, and excerpts from Up from Slavery and Gifted Hands
Unit 6: Writing Process
- Pre-writing strategies and brainstorming techniques
- Organizational strategies for effective writing
- Revising and editing procedures for polished compositions
Unit 7: Written Communication
- Exploring various types of written communication such as personal narratives, persuasive essays, and research papers
- Writing in different genres and styles
Unit 8: Literary Analysis and Critique
- Analyzing sample writings to identify characteristics of good writing
- Incorporating effective writing techniques into personal compositions
Coming soon.
No texts are required for this course.
Ms. Esther Fisher
Esther Fisher is a disciple of Jesus Christ, a dedicated mentor, and a published writer. She loves her students and finds joy in teaching, learning, and watching students grow.
Esther Fisher grew up in Sandy, Utah, where she learned to love the gospel of Jesus Christ, the beauty of God’s creations, music, outdoor exploration, good literature, and the adventure of learning. She earned her bachelor’s degree from Brigham Young University in family studies with an emphasis in human development and her master’s degree from National University in Education.
As an educator and mentor—most recently at Brigham Young University – Idaho—Esther has mentored students in English composition, English as a second language, literature, life skills, voice, and the gospel of Jesus Christ. As a professional writer, she has also had experience in technical writing, policy communication, creative non-fiction, and project management, and she strives to bring these experiences regularly into her teaching practice.
In 2022, Esther Fisher stepped away from a career at Brigham Young University – Idaho to serve a full-time mission at the age of 30 for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. She served English and Arabic speaking in the Michigan Detroit Mission and loved every moment. This experience added tremendously to her testimony of the atonement of Jesus Christ and afforded high quality opportunities for skill development as she served in leadership positions, trained missionaries, learned from other missionaries, and worked under the Mission President to start, develop, and lead the mission’s Arabic-speaking program.
Following her mission, Esther Fisher moved to Salt Lake City, where she was later offered a position at American Heritage School. She is honored and delighted to bring her skills, talents, and experience to the school and looks forward to meeting each of her students in the coming school year.