• Welcome to Ms. Swan’s English 8 Class!!! I am looking forward to an exciting year of investing in your lives as we strive to achieve academic and personal excellence.  Due to the rigorous curriculum, your students last year in middle school will be an adventure of challenges and academic as well as social growth. We are going to be very busy; therefore, success is going to be in direct correlation to our dedication and hard work.

    English 8 is a yearlong course that will enable students to become skilled readers of a wide range of literature, including prose, poetry, and short stories. Students are expected to read and respond to a variety of literature, independently, in group discussion and in writing. All facets of language arts - listening, speaking, reading, writing will be covered. The study of language in use – grammar, mechanics, sentence structure, and usage will be incorporated in this yearlong course as well. Common Core standards, test-taking skills and enrichment activities will also be tackled . These standards will help focus the rigorous instruction needed to ensure students gain adequate mastery of a range of skills and applications while working with complex texts.

    Academically, year is going to be exciting, challenging, and enriching. Students will be held accountable to the California State Standards for 8th Grade English-Language Arts.