English Language Arts

CURRICULUM

The Corte Madera English curriculum is developed based on California State Standards, in alignment with PVSD's goals and priorities. All of our students are provided a high-quality program that motivates, engages, and challenges them to be critical thinkers and problem solvers.

6th Grade Core

During the course of the school year, students will build their reading, writing, speaking and language skills as outlined in the Common Core State Standards. Students will read and discuss a range of texts that include: fiction, nonfiction, articles, poems, and short stories. Students will plan and write arguments, informative/explanatory and narrative pieces. Additionally, students learn and practice grammar concepts, vocabulary building and presentation skills.

Teacher syllabus - Ms. Hartman

Teacher syllabus - Becca

Textbook used: Sadlier

Secondary ELA

Throughout the year, students will build their skills in reading, writing, listening, speaking, and language as outlined in the Common Core State Standards. Students will expand the range and complexity of texts they read through a variety of sources, which may include: novels, non-fiction books, articles, poems, short stories, and plays. Students will analyze the structure, composition, and key ideas of the material they engage with and make broader connections to other works, society at large, or the human condition. In addition, students will build their vocabularies as well as learn to distinguish facts, opinions, and reasoned arguments.

Students will develop their writing skills using clear and coherent organization to compose narrative, response to literature, informational, and argumentative pieces. With support from their peers and the teacher, students will also engage in the revision process to improve their writing while deepening their command and sophistication in all aspects of language use and conventions. Furthermore, students will gather resources from multiple print and digital sources to support conclusions, while evaluating the quality of source material and correctly citing information so as to avoid plagiarism. Finally, students will become more proficient at presenting and consuming information from multiple sources. They will engage in structured discussions as well as craft individual and group presentations that employ diverse media and formats.

7th Grade

7th Grade Syllabus

7th Grade Texts used: The Giver, The Pearl, Grammar for Writing by Sadlier

8th Grade

8th Grade Syllabus

8th Grade Texts used: Grammar for Writing by Sadlier, Farewell to Manzanar, The Outsiders, The Book Thief, Fahrenheit 451, and The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time.