Welcome to 8th grade ELA! TERM 2

As we dive into the next unit we will learn from famous poets, such as Emily Dickinson and Robert Frost, a little bit about ourselves. We will write poetry and make connections with what we read and write throughout the term.

Our next novel study will be The Outsiders by S. E. Hinton. Fourteen-year-old Ponyboy Curtis is smart and thoughtful, but he lives on the wrong side of the tracks. The Curtis brothers are part of a gang known as “greasers,” boys who slick back their hair and get into petty crimes. Greasers have a long-time feud going with a gang of privileged kids called the “Socs” (SOH-shes).As students read The Outsiders, they will think about how the pressures to fit in with a group are sometimes at odds with being true to oneself. Are the greasers and Socs two sides of the same coin? What does it mean to be an outsider?

Materials are on the StudySync app and in a StudySync workbook that is provided.

Unit 2: Past and Present

Essential Question: What makes you, you?

Genre Focus: Poetry

Extended Writing Project: Mystery Narrative and Literary Analysis

What makes us who we are? As we form bonds with other people and our communities over time, we realize that experiences from our past shape who we are in the present. With a genre focus on poetry, this Grade 8 unit prepares students to explore questions about how we see ourselves in the world.