English Language Arts — Grade 8

Antebellum North Carolina

In this lesson students will examine pictures & documents relating to the Hayes Plantation (Edenton, NC). Students will also use various maps of North Carolina to help them analyze how James Cathcart Johnston (owner of Hayes Plantation) used, modified and adapted to the physical environment of Edenton.

Students will decipher original manuscripts from the Southern Historical Collection at UNC-Chapel Hill Campus and draw conclusions about antebellum society in North Carolina with regard to reform movements and the history and status of blacks.

From a list of volumes found in the Hayes Plantation Library exhibit at the North Carolina Collection Gallery, students will determine what catagories of books were most prevalent in the library and hypothesize as to why those types of books would be so important to an antebellum plantation owner.

Click Here to access Photographs & documents relating to this lesson plan.

Format: lesson plan (grade 8 English Language Arts, Social Studies, and Mathematics)

By cissy o'neal.

Eight Parts of Speech Grammar Project

This project represents the culminating activity for a study of the eight parts of speech and presents the student a creative manner of expressing mastery of the functions of each part of speech. A ten paragraph paper is produced developing a life model reflecting the functions of each part of speech. Prior to this assignment biographies have been read, and students have created large life maps chronologically charting their lives. Students then are ready to relate various life experiences to the functions of the parts of speech. Students represent the noun; various life experiences must be shown to reflect the definitions of the parts of speech.

Format: lesson plan (grade 8 English Language Arts)

By Suzanne Brookshire.

Good medicine

Students will examine changes in technology, medicine, and health that took place in North Carolina between 1870 and 1930 and construct products and ideas which demonstrate understanding of how these changes impacted people living in North Carolina at that time. To achieve these goals, students will employ the eight intelligences of Howard Gardner's Multiple Intelligences Theory.

Format: lesson plan (grade 8 English Language Arts, Social Studies, Mathematics, and Science)

By Leslie Ramsey.

Impressed With Embargo

Students will learn about the causes of the War of 1812 and make connections to current world events.

Format: lesson plan (grade 8 English Language Arts and Social Studies)

By Andrea McGuire.

The Life of Twain

This assignment allows students to explore the life of Mark Twain by using concept map graphic organizers to compile their research in an interesting and creative way. This is a great way to assess students' comprehension!

Format: lesson plan (grade 7–8 English Language Arts)

By Pam Stonesifer.

Literature Biography Project

For this project, students will learn to develop the various processes used in researching and writing a biographical research paper, including brainstorming, notetaking, outlining, creating a bibliography, and writing the final draft. This project is designed to act as an independent study geared toward AG or Level 3 and Level 4 students, but each step in the research process can also be taught directly to students in the classroom.

Format: lesson plan (grade 6–8 Information Skills and English Language Arts)

By Sandra Dail.

Literature Lamps: The Weirdo

Literature is tied to an integrated curriculum for student success. Emphasis is on reading and communication.

Format: lesson plan (grade 8 English Language Arts, Social Studies, and Computer Technology Skills)

By Wendy Sirias.

Living History - Civil War

After researching antebellum North Carolina and the role of North Carolina in the Civil War, students will write, edit, publish, and produce their own plays.

Format: lesson plan (grade 8 English Language Arts and Social Studies)

By Pam Johnson.

Master Artist Internet Research Project: Timeline

Students apply their knowledge of how to find specific information about a topic on the Internet using an outline created by the class prior to the lesson. Using this outline, the students will create a chronological timeline of the artist's life on MSPublisher.

Format: lesson plan (grade 7–8 English Language Arts, Visual Arts Education, and Computer Technology Skills)

By Gail Dreis.

Scientific inquiry

In their study of scientific inquiry, students will use an activity sheet to make inferences about what activities go on at different places in school (desk, locker, etc.) and form an hypothesis about how space is used. They will also simulate how archaeologists learn about past people by designing and conducting a research project.

Format: lesson plan (grade 8–9 English Language Arts and Social Studies)

Understanding the Complexities of Setting

In order to address a variety of learning styles with emphasis upon the tactile learner, students will participate in a class project to construct a wall-sized, three dimensional mural of the setting of the novel, Where the Lilies Bloom. This project cannot be too large. (An outside corridor wall is suggested.) The massive size of the mural makes the project distinctly different from similar art projects attempted in the past; it and also allows students enough space for all of the details desired in the end result of the mural; and affords enough space for all students in the class to display their work.

Format: lesson plan (grade 8 English Language Arts and Visual Arts Education)

By Pam Altom.

Zoo integrated unit

The unit uses the North Carolina Zoological Park as a teaching tool rather than as a nice place to visit. It can be used by a single teacher or multiple teachers of different subjects, and it is aimed at 7th and 8th graders.

Format: lesson plan (grade 6–8 Information Skills, English Language Arts, Social Studies, Computer Technology Skills, Mathematics, and Science)

By Craig Smith.

Lesson plans on the web

Authentic persuasive writing to promote summer reading

Invites students to create brochures and flyers that suggest books and genres to explore during the summer months. (Learn more)

Format: lesson plan (grade 8–9 English Language Arts)

Provider: IRA/NCTE

Battling for liberty: Tecumseh's and Patrick Henry's language of resistance

This lesson extends the study of Patrick Henry's “Give Me Liberty or Give Me Death” speech to demonstrate the ways Native Americans also resisted oppression through rhetoric and action. (Learn more)

Format: lesson plan (grade 8 English Language Arts and Social Studies)

Provider: IRA/NCTE

Campaigning for fair use: Public service announcements on copyright awareness

In this lesson that introduces issues of fair usage and copyright laws, students create audio public service announcements that can be broadcast over the school's public address system or published as podcasts on the Internet. (Learn more)

Format: lesson plan (grade 7–8 English Language Arts)

Provider: IRA/NCTE

Choose your own adventure: A Hypertext writing experience

In this lesson that focuses on reading and writing, students discuss various stories and plan their own adventure story. (Learn more)

Format: lesson plan (grade 6–8 English Language Arts and Computer Technology Skills)

Provider: IRA/NCTE

Cooking up descriptive language: Designing restaurant menus

In this lesson students explore the genre of menus by analyzing existing menus from local restaurants and creating their own original menus. (Learn more)

Format: lesson plan (grade 6–8 English Language Arts)

Provider: IRA/NCTE

Critical media literacy: Commercial advertising

Conducting an evaluation of television and magazine advertisements, students critique the effect mass media has on American culture. (Learn more)

Format: lesson plan (grade 7–8 English Language Arts)

Provider: IRA/NCTE

Entering history: Nikki Giovanni and Martin Luther King, Jr.

Students read Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech in conjunction with Nikki Giovanni’s poem “The Funeral of Martin Luther King, Jr.” in order to better understand the speech and the impact it had on observers like Giovanni during the Civil Rights movement and Americans today. (Learn more)

Format: lesson plan (grade 6–8 English Language Arts)

Provider: IRA/NCTE

Expository escapade-Detective's handbook

In this lesson, students combine reading the detective fiction genre with expository writing. (Learn more)

Format: lesson plan (grade 6–8 English Language Arts)

Provider: IRA/NCTE