Interactive Guide Grade 8

Eighth Grade Core Subjects : : Overview

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Language Arts : : Reading Comprehension Stories of the Saints, Volume IV contains four stories of heroic virtue (St. Katharine Drexel, Ven. Matt Talbot, St. Josephine Bakhita, and Pope St. Pius X), each accompanied by “Lesson Activities” which encourage the student to delve beneath the surface to understand the faith and virtues of each saint. Researching the relevant geographical and historical facts gives the reader an up-close look at the saint’s life/circumstances. In addition, the many topic choices for essay questions, reports, and biographies challenge the student to put his grammar, writing, and spelling skills into practice. Each story is followed by four pages of “Lesson Activities,” including: “Vocabulary,” “Terms to Know,” “Comprehension Questions,” “Analyze This,” “Essay Questions,” “Quotations,” “Geography and History,” “Research and Report,” “You, the Biographer,” and “Putting Your Faith into Practice.” Answer key included. Samples: • Excerpt from story: “St. Josephine Bakhita,” page 8 • Excerpt from Lesson Activities, page 9 Language Arts : : Literature The Secret Code of Poetry is unique not only for its Catholicity, but also because it combines poetry appreciation with an in-depth study of “how a poem works.” Hands-on activities and memorization assignments increase the student’s appreciation for the beauty of poetry, while clear explanations and step-by-step analyzation assignments de-mystify poetic techniques such as enjambment, alliteration, meter, irony, and more. The Secret Code of Poetry is an ideal preparation for high school and college literature studies. Even as it reflects on the beauty and truth in poetry, it also teaches skills that are crucially important for future literature studies. Samples: • Excerpt from Student Text: Lesson 13, page 10 • Excerpt from Student Workbook, page 11 Language Arts : : Grammar and Writing Composition Language of God, Level G is an engaging worktext that teaches English grammar and composition with clarity and humor, while also incorporating examples from great literature. Language of God, Level G follows a four-part format: I–Parts of Speech (complex subjects and predicates, appositives, linking verbs, progressive tenses, indefinite pronouns, etc.), II–Usage (participial phrases, gerunds, sentence diagramming, subject-verb agreement, etc.), III–Mechanics (commas, colons, semi-colons, quotation marks, italics, and other technical aspects of writing), and IV–Composition (diction, researching, pre-writing, drafting, editing, proofreading, presenting essays, reports, and narratives, etc.) Answer key included. Samples: • Table of Contents, page 12 • Excerpts from Parts I and IV, page 13