Preliminary Semester Plan and F.I.E.
Grade 8 English
Paul Rombough

General Goal applied to all genres:

Students will be able to analyse any text of literature without the aid of a teacher, by using a series of generally applicable questions called "Questions to Ask Myself".

and the list will build throughout the semester to amount to approximately 10 of each sort.

Unit 1 -  Poetry Unit and Individual Reading  (February)

-->  To be able to analyse poetic writing using their "Questions to consider".
-->  To write a "poetic correspondence', a kind of epistolary novel between a traveller and someone who stays in Ormstown, containing poems, letters, and illustrations.  (similar to Griffin and Sabine Books)
-->  To analyse a novel, using the  "Questions to consider" and writing the analysis in proper essay form.


Unit 2  -  The Short Story and Individual Reading (March 3 weeks)

-->  To read and analyse various short stories, focussing on notions of conflict, and suspense.
-->  To produce a 'reading theatre play' on a short story we studied.
-->  To produce a short story..


Unit 3  -  Novel Study (April 4 weeks)

-- >   To study form, content and mood of a short novel.  To respond using a variety of writing exercises coming out of an ongoing essay unit.
-->    To form reading circles and study group novels by creating self-evaluations, a visually pleasing "scrapbook" containing "ten minute tasks" self-chosen according to that student's feeling of appropriateness.  Students will also create their own test and display their final collection of "tasks" to the class.


Unit  4 -   TV teleplays, Film, and Theatre  (May 3-4 weeks)

-->  To analyse form differences in all three genres
-->  To analyse content of a film and the play from which it is based
-->  To read and understand the contents and context of the play "The Tempest"
-->  To rewrite a small scene from the play in modern English, and to reproduce it for the class.

Unit 5   - The F.I.E
The Final Instrument of Evaluation

---->    To produce a webpage or bound book anthology of various work the students have presented throughout the year.
---->    To tie the work together in such a way as to create a narrative, a kind of multi-genre novella.

Presentation Options:
1.  A solidly bound book, with illustrations, a hard back, typed pages, table of contents, etc.
see sample by Heather.
2.  A web page, with scanned illustrations, an original background, and links to different sections.
see sample by Carolyn.

---->     Click Here for the F.I.E's specific contents and marking scheme.