English

Both levels of Middle School English also cover grammar basics such as parts of speech, parts of sentences, usage, and punctuation. In addition, students work regularly on vocabulary development, which helps them expand their analytical knowledge of how word choice can clearly express ideas in their own writing.

By the end of their Middle School years at Laguna Blanca School, students have the solid foundation needed to be well-prepared for their high school-level English courses.  
 

ENGLISH 5 - LANGUAGE ARTS

The fifth grade language arts program includes the areas of grammar, vocabulary, spelling, reading, writing, and public speaking. All of these subjects come together as students develop their abilities to analyze literature critically in expository essays, book reports, and oral presentations.

Students in the fifth grade read five books with the whole class, reflecting cross-curricular themes of challenge, personality characteristics, interpersonal relationships, and conflict. In addition, monthly book reports lead students on a literary journey with the purpose of reading from a variety of genres. These categories include mystery, biography, science fiction, historical fiction, fantasy, humorous fiction, sports, ghost stories, adventure, and animal stories.

Students develop writing, research, and presentation skills through a variety of assignments, both individually and in groups. Critical analysis and interpretations of literature are cultivated through essays, book reports, research reports, and PowerPoint presentations. In addition to formal grammar, vocabulary, and spelling instruction, self editing, peer editing, and teacher supported editing help the students master the specific skills necessary to communicate effectively. The fifth grade poetry/songwriting unit exposes fifth grade students to a variety of poets and songwriters, both past and present. Additionally, students create original works of poetry and lyrics. Students share their work in a culminating performance of poetry and songs.

ENGLISH 6

The sixth grade curricular reading list is composed of high quality children’s literature that reflects the students' current stage of development with the themes of coming of age, critical thinking, and deductive reasoning. Literary selections are chosen from a list of recent, classic, and award-winning authors of historical fiction for young people. A balance of male and female main characters are represented to ensure that all students have a literary contemporary to which they may personally relate. Book examinations include class discussions on the four elements of story and literary devices.

The focus of the writing instruction in the sixth grade - the five-paragraph essay - lays the foundation for the remainder of the students’ academic careers. This process helps to remove the conceptual ambiguity of writing from student-produced work and allows each child to focus on developing specific writing skills through guided instruction and practice. Grammar instruction utilizes multiple modalities while building on the students’ previous learning of parts of speech and parts of sentences. A phonetic-based spelling program and vocabulary and homophones studies are also presented.

ENGLISH 7
Full year

English 7 challenges students to practice empathy through close reading of texts that feature diverse narrators and real-world connections. Seventh graders are held to a high grammatical standard while writing formal essays, passage analyses, Op-Eds, and free-form creative pieces. Much of the literature explored in English class is tied to units in the seventh-grade Geography and Science classes. Classwork and discussions stress the utilization of technology as a means to deliver content in an engaging manner.

ENGLISH 8
Full Year

English 8 is a yearlong, inquiry-based humanities exploration of process writing, close reading, and public speaking. Each quarter, English 8 centers around an interdisciplinary theme (TIES,) uniting multiple English assignments and larger interdisciplinary projects. Literature, selected with the four themes of quests, identity, justice, and transformation, includes a variety of American narratives that align with History 8. The class reading list includes a combination of short stories, poetry, memoir, historical fiction, and science fiction.