Language Arts

Ministry of Education
Gr 8 LA outcomes/indicators

Saskatoon Public Schools places significant emphasis on literacy skills. LA consists of six strands; reading, writing, listening, speaking, interpreting, representing. Each day, one or more of them is addressed. Ongoing efforts to improve literacy skills this year will include:

• formal reading assessments

• specific instruction for reading strategies

• scheduled reading periods

• stories and novels read by me with response activities

• instruction and practice of various writing techniques such as the newspaper format, short essay, letter and poetry

Reading Requirements and Lists

Our classroom has a reading requirement. Choice reading plays a large role in the assigned work throughout the year. For the most part, students choose their own books with communicated expectations for level and content. Completed books are recorded in a log kept in the classroom. A sample version is linked below. A log update will be due about every three weeks, usually on a Friday. In class reading time is offered at least once, sometimes twice a week. Regular visits to Alice Turner Library are planned to support reading.

• Reading log - sample

Current Focus - Mystery Theme

For the next several weeks, we're using "mystery" as a genre and theme. Students are engaged in a series of activities aimed at building reading skills. A key element is finding inference or "reading between the lines". The process can be described as "What do you notice? What do you know about what you notice? What do you infer about what you notice?

Several short pieces, fiction and non-fiction are used to develop the theme. We will then spend several weeks using the multi award winning novel, The Graveyard Book, as our primary text. The bulk of work is intended to occur in class. Slower readers may need to finish up assigned portions at home. This book does count toward the reading requirement.