This unit of study is geared toward a heterogeneous eighth grade language arts class. The unit's goal is to show students that the American story chronicled in "My Brother Sam Is Dead" is not simply a story about a series of events that occurred in the past but about taking pride in your heritage and not being afraid to fight back when…

Describes a project that involved an eighth-grade advanced English class in learning about banned books and censorship with the hope that students would learn enough about a highly controversial subject to be able to form intelligent options. (EL)

This unit intends for students to explore various literary devices such as theme, characterization, and vocabulary while they read Jack London's "The Call of the Wild." While reading this text, students will explore the relationship of these devices in connection to the unit's overall theme: survival. Students will be exposed to history,…

Intended to serve as a general model for the teaching of poetry writing, and written from the perspective of one individual teacher's thinking and experience, this guide, although originally written for teachers of seventh and eighth graders, is adaptable to other levels--elementary, high school, and college. Chapter 1, "Students and…

Self-expression is a key component that adolescents at a certain stage of development (eighth grade) need to be aware of and understand. Students are undergoing dramatic change during this time of their lives--they are moving from Erikson's Industry versus Inferiority stage to Identity versus Role Confusion stage. Poetry is a literary genre in…