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Middle School Language Arts 3/Middle School Language Arts 3 Advanced
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Maybe change would not be hard if we knew where it was all going. This course is not about telling fortunes, but it is about seeing how people and ideas have changed. It is also about discovering which ideas have lasting value for each student.
Books, poems, and songs are filled with stories about people discovering the world around them and the world inside them. Authors share their reflections about how people respond to changes and challenges. In this course, students encounter the many faces of change. They are also challenged to define and describe their place in a changing world.
The purpose of this course is to give students the tools to understand and express who they are and where they want to go. By the end of the course, each student’s portfolio of writings will provide a descriptive self-portrait of a young adult growing up.
Major Topics and Concepts
- Reading Comprehension
- Informational & Expository Writing
- Narrative Writing
- Text connections
- Identifying theme
- Moving a story forward
- How theme develops
- Comparing and contrasting mediums
- Using context clues
- Thesaurus and dictionary skills
- Implicit and explicit meaning
- Finding the main idea
- Writing an effective summary
- Assess internet sources
- Why writers choose words
- Reading informational texts
- Researching and organizing information
- Avoiding plagiarism/citing sources
- Writing an introduction
- Connecting and supporting ideas
- Syntax and voice
- Writing a conclusion
- Revising writing
- Using formal language in writing
- Recognizing point of view
- Identifying the narrator
- Planning narrative writing
- Beginning a narrative
- Writing dialogue
- Writing the body of a narrative
- Using commas
- Temporal transitions
- Identifying and using verbals
- Reading Comprehension
- Argumentative Writing
- Structure of a text
- Writing an effective summary
- Identifying conflicting points of view
- Using supporting evidence
- Using correct spelling
- Capitalization rules
- Presenting information in different mediums
- Evaluating modes of communication
- Analyzing theme
- Greek and Latin roots and affixes
- Figurative language
- How words affect meaning and tone
- Syntax and diction
- American rights in Civic expression
- Interpreting implicit and explicit ideas
- Identifying irony and puns
- Poetic elements
- Types of Literary Conflict
- Point of view
- Analyzing plot pattern
- Interpreting symbolism
- Using and correcting types of verb moods
- Making a movie pitch
- Argumentation vs. persuasion
- Identifying multiple perspectives on an issue
- Finding credible sources
- Knowing your audience
- Making a claim
- Writing an effective introduction
- Using quotations
- Supporting your claim
- Acknowledging counter-claims
- Writing effective transitions
- Preparing a rebuttal
- Concluding an argument
- Maintaining a formal style
- Revising and editing
Segment 1 Advanced includes: Novel Study
- Historical context
- Analyzing style
- Writing in a different genre
Segment 2 Advanced includes: Poetry Study
- Analyzing poem structure
- Effect of poem structure on meaning
- Diction and poetic devices
- How authors create meaning and tone
Competencies
Themes and Main Ideas
Students will demonstrate an understanding of themes and main ideas by explaining theme development in narrative fiction, comparing story representations in different media, explaining strategies for determining word meaning, and creating an objective summary expressing the main idea of a text.
Informational Writing
Students will demonstrate an understanding of informational writing by summarizing the process of gathering and organizing research, explaining the language and structure of informational texts, and creating a cause and effect article.
Narrative Elements
Students will demonstrate an understanding of narrative elements by explaining the impact of narrative point of view on a story, creating a narrative with an organized plot, and explaining the impact of dialogue and temporal transitions on a narrative.
Presentation and Expression of Ideas
Students will demonstrate an understanding of the presentation and expression of ideas by comparing texts on the same topic with conflicting ideas, evaluating mediums for presenting information, explaining a modern presentation of a universal theme, and analyzing an author’s use of word choice and order to express ideas in a poem.
Literary Analysis and Presentation
Students will demonstrate an understanding of literary analysis and presentation by describing the conflict and dialogue of a story, creating a movie pitch for an adaptation of a work of fiction, and presenting ideas using speaking skills.
Argumentation
Students will demonstrate an understanding of argumentation by explaining the purpose of argumentative writing, integrating credible research into argumentative writing through direct and indirect quotation, and creating an argumentative text respectful of its audience.
Open
Projects allow students to demonstrate competence and understanding of concepts and skills by completing a career-related task. For example, the assignment might be to create a mural, a package design, a speech, a film review, or a movie set – you name it! These creative projects are about applying your learning acquired through in-depth research to real-world career tasks.
Each competency will be addressed through a project that is based on a real-life career task. Here are the careers you will explore: Literary Publicist, Atmospheric Scientist, Video Game Designer, Editor, Filmmaker, and Pediatrician.
Projects
Competencies
Themes and Main Ideas
Students will demonstrate an understanding of themes and main ideas by explaining theme development in narrative fiction, comparing story representations in different media, explaining strategies for determining word meaning, and creating an objective summary expressing the main idea of a text.
Informational Writing
Students will demonstrate an understanding of informational writing by summarizing the process of gathering and organizing research, explaining the language and structure of informational texts, and creating a cause and effect article.
Narrative Elements
Students will demonstrate an understanding of narrative elements by explaining the impact of narrative point of view on a story, creating a narrative with an organized plot, and explaining the impact of dialogue and temporal transitions on a narrative.
Presentation and Expression of Ideas
Students will demonstrate an understanding of the presentation and expression of ideas by comparing texts on the same topic with conflicting ideas, evaluating mediums for presenting information, explaining a modern presentation of a universal theme, and analyzing an author’s use of word choice and order to express ideas in a poem.
Literary Analysis and Presentation
Students will demonstrate an understanding of literary analysis and presentation by describing the conflict and dialogue of a story, creating a movie pitch for an adaptation of a work of fiction, and presenting ideas using speaking skills.
Argumentation
Students will demonstrate an understanding of argumentation by explaining the purpose of argumentative writing, integrating credible research into argumentative writing through direct and indirect quotation, and creating an argumentative text respectful of its audience.
