Welcome to 8th grade English with Ms. Weathers! Located in room 403, we have an exciting year planned filled with standards-based projects, reading clubs, essays and more! English in 403 requires nightly reading (M-Th) for 30 minutes, homework, classroom participation, and a dedication to becoming a better reader and writer. Over the course of this year, we will cover the California State Standards, implementing SDUSD curriculum in an effort to achieve ADVANCED on the California Standards Test. We will be focusing on four major essays (Narrative, Persuasive, Expository, and Response to Literature ) while completing a number of tasks and projects to build reading comprehension, writing skills, and develop a general understanding of the English language. Students can communicate with teacher and classmates, check class calendar, and download materials at edmodo.com Please check on your student's grades and academic progress at gradebookwizard.com.
 
Ebonee Weathers (eweathers@sandi.net)
 
"The aim of education should be to teach us rather how to think, than what to think - rather to improve our minds, so as to enable us to think for ourselves, than to load the memory with thoughts of other men." -Bill Beattie

This class is based on developing understanding of English language concepts through the use of technology, supplemental educational programs, text, film, collaborative projects, and independent research.  

Student participation and completion of classwork, homework, and projects is integral in students' understanding and grading process for the school year.The major components of this class are as follows:

• Reading:  independent reading selections, short stories, and poetry
• 4 major writing compositions: Narrative, Persuasive/Research, Expository, and Response to Literature
• Smaller writing components:  Reflective Journals, Summaries and reflections, personal narratives, quick writes, and creative writing pieces

Our school year is seperated into 6 Units of Study:

• Unit 1: Narrative: memoir, narrative, plot, figurative language, essay
• Unit 2: Expository/Persuasive: 3 appeals, proposition and support, textual analysis
• Unit 3: Response to Literature: poetry, short stories, figurative language continued
• Unit 4: Technical Documents: warranty, technical directions, contracts, legislative bill, project
• Unit 5: CST Prep: review of units 1-4, California Standards Test
• Unit 6: The Diary of Anne Frank and the Holocaust: standards review, historical applicatoins

This class is a support for students who need additional help in the areas of reading comprehension, writing, and/or listening and speaking. The primary intervention for this class is a rigorous, effective computer program called Achieve 3000. Kids can access the student portal during class, after school in the computer lab, or on a computer at home through the website teenbiz3000.com. Students access a variety of up-to-date, interesting expository articles at their own reading level and answer questions to help increase their level of understanding and critical analysis. Through this program (with frequent, meaningful use), students are expected to increase at least 2 reading levels over the course of one school year. In addition to teenbiz, intervention students will also be using learningupgrade.com to review ELA standards and practice language skills.

Horace Mann Middle School
Ebonee Weathers