ELA Grade 8 Course Outline

School: Ajyal International Schools Department: English and Social Studies Department
English Language and Literature Course Outline Grade: Grade 8 Semester: First Semester
Course Teachers: Merlin D’Silva Email: [email protected] Academic Year: 2024-2025
Course Description
Through the journey of this course, students will understand the concepts of freedom, equity, and sustainability. Students develop deeper
understanding of the meaning of these concepts and how this understanding might have its impact on shaping their relationship with the world
they are part of. Students will also go through a number of readings to explore these concepts from different perspectives.
Course desired goals Start with a command term

Conduct inquiry on different types of matter
Identify the challenges a musician might encounter when playing the piano
Analyze an author’s word choice and style
Map a short story for short story elements
Essential Questions
Essential Question UNIT 1: SUSTAINABILITY UNIT 2: PERSPECTIVE
Factual What does sustainability mean? How does perspective shape our understanding of the world?
Debatable Why is sustainability important for the future of our How does the author's perspective influence the message of a
planet? text?
Conceptual How do human activities impact the environment's How can we consider multiple perspectives to develop a
sustainability? deeper understanding of an issue or event?
Units to be studied
Unit Title Content Duration Assessment Weightage

Students will conduct inquiry on the Citizen Detective 15 %
concept of sustainability to analyze how Roleplay: Divide the class
the concept of sustainability can be used into groups and assign
Unit Objective: to create a compelling mystery narrative, each group a fictional
explaining the inherent human attraction unsolved crime. Students
to both mysteries and solutions for a conduct a mock
sustainable future. investigation, following
steps like interviewing
Genre: Fictions and Realistic Fiction
Unit 1 witnesses, examining
Sustainability Texts: The Lucky Coin, The Tell-Tale Heart, 5 weeks evidence, and forming a
The Lottery, So where are you from? hypothesis about the
Writing: Narrative writing culprit.
Grammar: Participles and Participle Summative Assessment 15%

Phrases, Gerunds, Gerund Phrases, and Imagine you're writing a
Infinitives, Greek and Latin Affixes and mystery story where the
Roots solution to the mystery is
directly tied to a
sustainable practice.
Week Lesson Duration Homework Notes
Week 1 OPEN HOUSE/ ORIENTATION WEEK 1 week

 Icebreakers
 TRUST Values
 Classroom Agreements
 TRUST Activities
 Setting SMART Goals
Week 2 Text: The Lucky Coin 1 week

Skills:
 Story Elements; character,
 plot, subplot, setting, point
 of view, and theme
 Short-constructed response
 Academic Vocabulary
Inquiry Based Activity

Week 3 Conventions: 1 week
 Participles and Participle Phrases
Writing Workshop: Narrative Writing
 Introduction and analyzing the elements and effective
techniques of narrative writing.
 Brainstorming and planning narrative writing using a graphic
organizer.
 First draft
 Peer evaluation and editing of your first draft.

Week 4 Text: Lottery 1 week
 Textual Analysis
 Making and confirming predictions.
 Identify and analyze the theme.

Conventions:
 Connotation and Denotation
 Greek and Latin Affixes and Roots
Week 5 Poem: Unit 2: The Road Not Taken 1 week

 Poem Analysis
 Elements of the poem
 Figurative Language: Simile, Metaphor, and Personification

Unit 2 Students will conduct inquiry on the 5 weeks Formative Assessment 15%
Prespective concept of perspective to explore how Historical
our understanding of ourselves and the Debate: Choose a
world is shaped by our experiences and controversial topic from
perspectives on the past. the historical period.
Divide the class into
Essential Questions: opposing sides and have
 In what ways can we identify and them debate the issue,
analyze different perspectives within a using evidence from the
text? novel and their historical
 How can we consider multiple research.
perspectives to develop a deeper
understanding of an issue or event? Summative Assessment 15%
Prepare a magazine in
Genre: groups? Pick a topic based
Historical Fiction on the historical events.
Texts: History of the Space Shuttle, So
where are you from?, Slam, Dunk and
Hook
Writing: Narrative writing
Grammar:
 Appositive and Appositive Phrases
 Active and Passive Voice
 Infinitive Pronouns
Week Lesson Duration Homework Notes

Week 6 Text: Unit 2: So where are you from? 1 week
Skills:
 Central or Main Idea
 Summarizing Informational Text
Conventions:
 Gerunds, Gerund Phrases, and Infinitives

Week 7 Text: Unit 3- History of the Space Shuttle. 1 week
 Informational Text Elements
Conventions:
 Appositive and Appositive Phrases
Inquiry Based Learning

Week 8 Text: Unit 1- The Monkey’s Paw 1 week
Skills:
 Theme
 Collaborative conversation
Conventions:
 Active and Passive Voice
Week 9 Text: Unit 3- The Call of the Wild 1 week

Skills:
 Media Analysis
 Short-constructed responses
 Research Writing
Conventions:
 Infinitive Pronouns
Week 10 Writing Workshop (Project Based Learning- Graded) 1 week

Narrative Writing
 Introduction and analyzing the elements and effective
techniques of narrative writing.
 Brainstorming and planning narrative writing using a graphic
organizer.
 First draft
 Peer evaluation and editing of your first draft.
 Submission of Final Draft
Preparation and
Participation
Final Exam 20%
Course Resources
Please list all the resources to be used.
Assessment
Formative assessment:
These are assessment tasks employed by teachers during the learning process in order to modify teaching and learning activities to improve
student attainment regarding a skill or a group of skills. The goal of formative assessment is to gather feedback that can be used to guide
instruction and provide students with insights into their learning progress. This may include, but limited to questioning, learning logs, exit
tickets, quizzes, and personal reflections. Formative assessment tasks are not graded. There is no specific, fixed time for formative assessment;
it can be run any time during classes. Formative assessment tasks are not graded; however, the data it provides gives a picture of what
assistance a student need.
Common Formtive Assessment
These are the assessment task conducted by the teacher to assess his or her class performance against the skills and content knowledge the unit
is targeting. Common formative assessment tasks are also meant to provide teachers of data on whether students are ready for the summative
assessment ot not. This assessment is usually conducted one week before the summative assessment for teachers and learners need time to
make the necessar adjustments and get more well-prepared for the summative task. Common formative assessment is not graded; still, students
are expected to take it seriously, for teachers need to have accurate date on their learning. Common formative assessment dates and assessment
criteria are set and announced in advance.
Summative assessment
These are the assessment task meant to measure what students learnt, and if they mastered the skills and content knowledge they studied
through the course of the unit. Summative assessment tasks are graded, and the grade allotted is descided based on the given rubric.
Course Policies
Participation and Preparedness
All students are expected to:
 be in class on time and ready with the required materials; this includes textbooks, digital devices, and notebooks.
 maintain a digital device and bring it to class daily.
 maintain all daily assignments/objectives neatly organized.
 ask and answer questions.
 give constructive feedback and accept others’ ideas.
 show empathy other perspectives.
 read all assigned literary works.
Assignments Submission
Submitting a school assignment generally involves meeting several key expectations to ensure that the work is completed correctly and
professionally. These are the AIS expectations for submitting a school assignment:
Adherence to Guidelines:
 Format: Follow the specified format for the assignment, which may include font type and size, line spacing, and margins.
 Structure: Organize the assignment according to provided structure, such as including an introduction, body paragraphs, and a
conclusion.
 Length: Ensure that the assignment meets any word count or page length requirements.
Content Quality:
 Relevance: Address the prompt or question directly, ensuring that all content is relevant to the topic.
 Accuracy: Provide accurate information, supported by research and evidence where applicable.
 Clarity: Write clearly and concisely, making sure your ideas are easy to follow.
 Grammar and Spelling: Check for and correct any grammatical, spelling, or punctuation errors.
 Proofreading: Review the assignment multiple times and consider having someone else proofread it for mistakes or areas that need
improvement.
Originality:
 Plagiarism-Free: Ensure that all work is original and properly cite any sources used. Use plagiarism detection tools if necessary.
 Paraphrasing and Quoting: Properly paraphrase or quote sources and
provide appropriate citations.
 Citation Style: Use the required citation style (MLA) consistently throughout the assignment.
 References: Include a complete list of references or works cited at the end of the assignment.
 Timeliness:
 Deadline: Submit the assignment by the specified deadline. Late submissions may result in penalties unless there are extenuating
circumstances.
 Digital Submission: All assignments will be submitted on AIS Schoology platform
 Hard Copy: If a physical copy is required, make sure it is neatly printed and stapled or bound as instructed.

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School: Ajyal International Schools Department: English and Social Studies Department

Course desired goals Start with a command term

Unit Title Content Duration Assessment Weightage

Grammar: Participles and Participle Summative Assessment 15%

Week 1 OPEN HOUSE/ ORIENTATION WEEK 1 week

Week 2 Text: The Lucky Coin 1 week

Inquiry Based Activity

Inquiry Based Activity

Week 5 Poem: Unit 2: The Road Not Taken 1 week

Inquiry Based Activity

Week Lesson Duration Homework Notes

Inquiry Based Activity

Inquiry Based Learning

Week 9 Text: Unit 3- The Call of the Wild 1 week

Week 10 Writing Workshop (Project Based Learning- Graded) 1 week

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