Welcome to Mrs. Aguirre's Classroom!

    Welcome to 8th Grade English Language Arts! I am very excited to start another wonderful year here at Townsend.  

  This year, not only will students become masters of the California common core state standards for 8^th grade English Language Arts, they will also finish the year prepared for the rigorous English curriculum that awaits them in high school.  It is the goal of this course to enable all students to be effective thinkers, planners, organizers, and communicators.  However, this task is impossible to do alone and I look forward to working as a team with parents to advance students to be successful, responsible, independent young adults. 

Course Description

This course is designed to teach the 8^th grade CA State Standards for Language Arts.  Reading, writing, listening, and speaking are taught in relation to one another through a variety of types of assignments throughout the school year.

Course Objectives/Standards

Students will demonstrate academic growth in the following areas:

Reading

• Read and understand grade-level appropriate material.
• Read and respond to historically or culturally significant works of literature.

Writing

• Write clear, coherent, and focused essays that exhibit awareness of audience and purpose.
• Write narrative, expository, persuasive, and descriptive text of at least 500 – 700 words.

Language

• Use knowledge of word origins and relationships to determine the meaning of words.  
• Write and speak with a command of standard English conventions.  

Speaking and Listening

• Deliver focused, coherent presentations that convey ideas clearly and relate to the background and interests of the audience.  

• Deliver well-organized formal presentations employing traditional rhetorical strategies.  

The California State Standards for Language Arts and all other content areas at all grade levels may be found in their entirety at the following website: www.cde.ca.gov 

    In short, it is going to be a challenging but wonderful year.  If you need to contact me, e-mail is the best method.  I am committed to responding to all student and parent emails within 24 hours on weekdays.  I will respond to emails Monday - Friday, until 4:00 pm.