5th-8th ELA & Social Studies
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Welcome to 5th-8th Grade
English Language Arts-
At St. John of God School, our Junior High program teaches Common Core Standards for Reading and Writing and the California State Standards for Social Studies/ History.
Our English Language Arts and Writing Program offers students multiple opportunities to practice argumentative writing, persuasive essays, narrative writing, and creative writing. Students also participate in Writing Workshops throughout the year which allows them to get immediate peer and teacher feedback on their drafts and projects. Students are also assigned weekly news articles to keep them informed and allow them to see multiple modern examples of informative and persuasive writing.
In Reading/ Literature students are introduced to and analyze multiple fiction and non-fiction texts. Students are assigned multiple short stories and informational articles throughout the year using NEWSELA, Freckle, and READWORKS to help them practice their analytical, comprehension, and critical thinking skills. Students also complete two novels during the year.
Our Social Studies program has two curriculum rotations that take place over two years:
Grades 5 and 6: Rotation 1: United States History and Geography/ Ancient History
Grades 7 and 8: Rotation 2: World History and American History
Throughout the year students are introduced to and analyze primary sources and documents as well as participate in multiple creative and group projects.
Here are some Project Highlights from our Junior High ELA and Social Studies programs:
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Persuasive / Argumentative Writing
Students begin the year with essays and persuasive writing. Students begin by learning and reviewing the parts of a paragraph. This then expands to the types of paragraphs found in an essay. Finally students will write a structured five paragraph essay with multiple writing workshop sessions where they receive teacher and peer feedback. Students then move on to timed essay prompts. We finish the entire school year with a persuasive essay on an article/ topic of their choice.
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Culture Bags
Culture is the history, values, passions, and traditions that make you, YOU! This project at the beginning of the year is intended to assist students in understanding how their own history and cultural background influences and affects their belief/value system and attitudes toward their own identity and those of distinctive cultural groups different from their own. Everyone (including the teacher) presents their culture bags in class so we can learn more about each other and the unique mosaic our class represents.
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Song Projects
One of my favorite projects is our Song Projects. Using a primary source document (Declaration of Independence or the Magna Carta) students use the words of the document to create their own original Rap or Song. After studying the time period and close reading the document itself, students use the words of the document as lyrics in a song they create. In groups they will either take a popular song and change the lyrics OR create and write their own original song. This allows students to truly work with the words of the text and allows them to get creative in class.
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