Honors Language Arts - 8th
Below you can find details about the Honors Program offered at Southwest Middle School.
Honors Language Arts is designed to teach and reinforce advanced language arts skills. The content of this course requires that students should be skilled readers and writers, ask penetrating questions, and work independently with challenging materials.
Honors Language Arts demands the highest level of participation, effort and quality from students. Curriculum in an honors course is extended beyond the core and places additional emphasis on higher-level thinking and exploring curriculum at greater depths and levels of complexity.
Honors Language Arts students will:
- Read a variety of texts at a rapid rate.
- Focus on various reading strategies that can be utilized to enhance reading and comprehension skills of both fiction and non-fiction text.
- Explore a variety of literary genres, such as fiction, non-fiction, and poetry.
- Focus on advanced writing skills and essay construction.
- Engage in substantive discussions involving higher order thinking & critical questioning
- Receive guidance toward upper level analysis and critical interpretation of literature at an accelerated pace.
Students are expected to:
- Maintain a minimum of a “B-” average (including tests, quizzes, class work and homework),
- Complete all assignments and homework when assigned,
- Satisfy ALL independent reading requirements (per quarter)
- Read at least 6 books independently.
- Complete a choice activity for each book read.
- Earn at least 40 Reading Counts points.
- Earn at least a 90% Reading Counts average.
- Fully participate in class discussions and group work, and
- Satisfy any other expectations assigned by the teacher.
