STANDARD COURSE
OF STUDY
STANDARD COURSE
OF STUDYLANGUAGE ARTS
:: 2004 :: GRADES 6-8
GRADES 6-8
| Purpose/ Overview | The North Carolina English Language Arts curriculum for grades
6-8 is written to address the distinctly different educational needs
and characteristics of middle school students. Middle school students
are responsible for increasingly complex and demanding tasks. Therefore,
it is imperative that the middle school English Language Arts curriculum
guide students through a sequenced program of study that is clear,
focused, and measurable. The ultimate goal of the middle school English Language Arts curriculum is to foster personal, social, and civic literacy. Since our society depends upon language as communication, students must be provided daily opportunities to enhance control of the skills needed to communicate effectively. Students should have multiple opportunities to deepen their understanding of language by applying what they have learned. The English Language Arts curriculum for grades 6-8 is constructed around communication environments-settings for exchanging information that all of us enter when we need to communicate with clarity, purpose, and care. By teaching specific aptitudes that each environment requires from users of oral language, written language and other media/technology, the curriculum strives to create real life learning experiences for students to communicate in different contexts, for different purposes, and with different audiences. |
| Competency Goals And Objectives | The goals and objectives for grades 6-8 reinforce the skills
and processes learned in elementary school. These goals and objectives
are embedded in the following learning contexts or environments,
all of which bring together oral language, written language and
other media/technology. The environments are the same for grades
6-12. However, while the environments may stay the same, grade level
goals and objectives become more complex from grade to grade - from
middle school to high school. Expressive Expressive communication involves exploring and sharing personal insights and experiences. The writer/speaker of expressive text addresses the reader/listener as a confidante, a friendly, though not necessarily personally known, audience who is interested in how thoughtful people respond to life. As authors, students write, speak, and use media for expressive purposes; as readers/listeners, they learn to appreciate the experiences of others. As students enter adolescence, they begin to question their role in the world around them. Understanding self and others is a part of expressive communication as are autobiographies, journals, friendly letters, and fictional accounts. The expressive environment is emphasized in grade six and reinforced in grades seven and eight. By the end of middle school, students should be thoughtful, reflective learners who actively interact in a wide variety of settings. Informational Informational communication involves giving information to explain realities or ideas, to teach people who want to know what the writer/speaker knows. The writer/speaker of informational text should be knowledgeable and should communicate so that the audience may gain the knowledge as well as circumstances required. Informational texts often depend upon the traditional prompts of who, what, when, where, and how and can include definitions, instructions, directions, business letters, reports, and research. Grades six and seven provide the foundation for the emphasis of the informational environment in grade eight where students are expected to create a research product in both written and presentational form. Argumentative Argumentative communication involves defining issues and proposing reasonable solutions. Argumentative works include but are not limited to debates, problem/solutions, speeches, and letters to the editor. In middle school, students must learn the differences between an informal hallway confrontation and a logical, detailed, coherently organized argumentative work; therefore, sixth grade students learn the foundations of argument. After establishing the foundations of argument in grade six, the argumentative environment is emphasized in grade seven with refinement occurring at grade eight. By the end of middle school, students should be able to construct engaging, thoughtful solutions to problems as well as detailed, well-argued, coherent, and convincing responses. Critique With the influx of technology and as more and more materials become available, students will need to be conscious consumers and make informed choices and decisions. Critical communication involves interpreting, proposing, and judging. The critic approaches the reader/listener as an independent consumer who is interested in thinking more keenly about the subject. Critical works include media or book reviews and essays that provide critical analysis. Emphasized throughout middle school, this environment focuses on learning to create standards and on making informed choices. It encourages students to become knowledgeable, discriminating users of text and multimedia. Literary The study of literature, which includes print and non-print texts, is extremely important in the English Language Arts curriculum. Students should develop a deep appreciation for literature, understand its personal, cultural, and historical significance, and learn how to analyze its meaning and relevance. They should view reading and studying literature as enjoyable and interesting. Middle school students should read different authors and genres to learn the scope of what is available and to help define students' taste. They should read literature that is written for them as well as beyond them - literature from the traditional mainstream as well as from outside the mainstream (Wilhelm, 1997). Literary study should revolve around meaningful and significant conversations about the texts students are reading. Students should learn to participate in, not merely learn about, literary discussions (Applebee, 1996). Written and oral conversation provides students a way to explore, analyze, and develop ideas and concepts of literature. Through conversation, students gain control of their own interpretations, the language and vocabulary of the discipline, and the concepts and conventions of literary study. Transitioning from the elementary school, literary study in the middle school helps students deepen and expand their understanding and experience. All four major genres (fiction, non-fiction, poetry, and drama)-both contemporary and traditional works-should be taught at each grade level. Students should be encouraged to read in class and outside of class. They should continue to refine strategies for dealing with unfamiliar text and should strengthen their understanding of literary conventions. Finally, the study of literature should involve the following:
Emphasized in all grades, this learning environment asks students to refine their grammar and language usage. Students should continue to develop increasing control of sentence formation, conventional usage, punctuation, capitalization, and spelling. Grammar and Language Usage focuses on students' developing increasing proficiency in the understanding and control of their language, including vocabulary development, the importance and impact of word choice and syntax, and the development of the English language in both oral and written forms. Students should learn how to use effective and interesting language including:
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| Strands | Middle grades students need continued instruction and extended
guided practice in oral language for formal and informal
situations. They should refine strategies and skills learned in
the elementary school to articulate ideas clearly, appropriately,
and accurately. Middle grades students should recognize when it
is appropriate to use informal speech and understand when and how
to use conventional language. Students should be thoughtful, careful,
and respectful listeners and should contribute to group discussions.
Since effective communication grows from understanding the context,
purpose, and audience of the communication, oral language instruction
should be infused with instruction in written language and with
other media/technology in all environments. In written language instruction and practice, students should make connections between their reading and their writing. They should read and write frequently. Middle school students need to write so that they consider the reader who will read their writing (audience), and they need to read so that they consider the author who wrote what they are reading (voice). Students need to read a variety of types of text, and they need to use different types of writing for a variety of audiences and purposes. Students should read widely and deeply in all environments, in all genres and in diverse traditions; they should read for different purposes, including entertainment, and they should be allowed to choose their own texts at least some of the time. In their reading, students should become more insightful as they progress from grade to grade. They should develop increasing control of how and when to use strategies before, during, and after their reading. Middle school students should read extensively in all content areas, using a variety of media and texts. Likewise, students need to learn how to use writing processes in all environments. While no one writing process is used by every writer in every piece of writing, students need to understand how to write purposefully and strategically. They need to learn how to generate ideas; to organize and prioritize; to rethink and revise language and ideas; and to edit their own work. They should learn how to use a range of strategies (such as elaborating, classifying, describing, noting similarities and differences, and constructing outlines and vignettes) to create a final product. They should provide a sense of organization, movement, and closure. Students should also learn how to present their written work in one-to-one interactions, group meetings, and classroom discussions. Middle school students not only are consumers and viewers, they are also active users and creators of media/technology. Communication media and technology can include television, videotapes, radio, film, and computers. Students can access and use a full range of electronic media that can enrich other communication strands - reading/literature, writing, speaking/listening. For example, students can access Internet and CD-ROM technology in reading and research; they can construct and incorporate visual and audio enrichment such as multi-media presentations, charts, graphs, video clips, audio clips, and photographs into their written and oral communications. They can construct web pages, produce documentaries, or participate in video/audio conferences with peers or experts in other states, even other countries. Middle school students should learn how to evaluate media/technology. They should also be able to create and use media/technology themselves. Learning how to use media/technology thoughtfully is best accomplished by integrating the use of media with reading, writing, and speaking/listening so that students learn how effective communication constantly incorporates media for specific purposes and effects. Again, students will create and evaluate media/technology in all environments-expressive, informational, critical, argumentative, literary, and language usage. |
| Connections | The goals and objectives of the 6-8 English Language Arts curriculum
are written to include all the strands. For example, in producing
narratives, students will need to have read and reflected on narratives
written by published authors. Narratives can be oral as well as
written; thus students should have opportunities to tell their stories
orally as well as listen to others' stories. Teachers should build
on the connections and overlapping areas of the curriculum, asking
students to find insightful connections, revisit significant concepts,
participate in meaningful conversations, and develop knowledge and
skills. Thus, the middle school English Language Arts program is
a spiraling program that is based on strong connections and interrelationships
between:
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Applebee, Arthur. Curriculum as Conversation: Transforming Traditions of Teaching and Learning: Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1996.
Wilhelm, Jeffrey. "You Gotta Be the Book": Teaching Engaged and Reflective Reading with Adolescents. New York, Teachers College Press, Columbia University, 1997.
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