A Year-at-a-Glance--Aligning with Georgia State Performance Standards

During the summer, many talented Cobb County teachers got together to design curriculum and lesson plans that will align both with our new textbooks, as well as with the Georgia State Performance Standards and the Georgia State Frameworks.  For those of you who aren't familiar with these tools, the GSPS outline the criteria that the state uses to ensure that students from all over Georgia are learning, and the GSF show us how to get there.  The Georgia State CRCT that students take in April of each year assesses that students have been learning according to these standards. Our year, therefore, is planned out in accordance wth the Georgia State Frameworks (a curriculum guide recommended by the state) to ensure that students are learning the standards in the order the state of Georgia prescribes.  Below is a brief overview of our year-at-a-glance.  A course syllabus can be downloaded from the "pages" of this blog, over on the right hand side.

Semester One:

Unit One:  Narrative to include Style Builders (figurative language)--4 weeks

Unit Two:  Expository Writing--7 weeks

Unit Three:  Persuasive Writing--7 weeks

 

Winter Break

 

Semester Two:

**(2 week standards review for writing test)**

Unit 4:  Research and Exploration--6 weeks

**(2 weeks standard review for CRCT test)**

Unit 5:  Response to Literature--4 weeks

Unit 6:  Poetry/Drama/Response to Literatur--4 weeks

 

The idea is to prepare students to further develop their reading and writing skills in a variety of genres, so that by the time they get to high school, they are ready for anything!  This 8th grade year is a very important year to really pay attention and prepare yourselves for what lies ahead!