Ramona Said:

Do you have any fun ideas for projects/lesson plans for 8th grade language arts?

We Answered:

Congratulations! I started our teaching 8th grade language arts in January so I know exactly what you're going through. Plus I teache 7th grade Reading/Language Arts now. To be honest, 8th grade was still my toughest year of teaching yet. 8th graders act cool and grown up, but they really want to have fun, so try to make all lessons into a game. Your toughest problem will be classroom management. You have to be tough. Because you're coming in in the middle of the year, they will try to test you. They try to intimidate you with the grown up act, but still remember to CALL THEIR PARENTS. I forgot that one a lot. Don't worry about what the previous teacher taught them, because since she/he may ahve know they were leaving, they may not have worked that hard. Plan on beginning to teach them the most important things. Then at the end of class if they claimed they already knew it, give them a test or quiz or play a game as an assessment. If they seem to know it, move on. If they don't go over the aspects that they don't seem to know and then move on. You could ask you principal if you could borrow the previous teachers lesson plans if that still makes you nervous.

Really, keep looking on the internet, they have the best ideas. Let me reccommend this book "Caught Ya" by Jane Bell Keister. I use it to teach grammar and that's really the only time I concentrate on only grammar. It takes only 10-15 minutes of class time at the most. Really you'll want to spend most of your time on writing, vocabulary and the things you mentioned.

If they misbehave, you can have them write sentences. I know that sounds babyish but this is the trick. Have them label the part of speech of every word in the sentence. Part of speech is not something they need enough to really teach it on a regular basis. But, if they misbehave, why not use learning something they don't want to learn to make them want to behave and learn something they know they need to learn? Trust me, they will HATE it.

Have many strategies to keep yourslef calm and stress free. I made myself sick with stress my first half year with 8th graders. Also, take the time to make your clssroom pleasant and some place you'll want to be most of the time. Try to grade papers afterschool and during your planning period. You want to try to take as little work home as possible. That won't always be possible, but you really need your home to be a quiet place to relax.

Don't worry about cramming. You only have half a year and you're new.. Everyone knows that. You are not entirely responsible for the entirety of their language arts education. You will make many mistakes accept them, learn, move on. Try to consider this a practice year.

I don't have many websites off the top of my head, but the best way to search is to type in what you're covering for example "Emily Dickinson lesson plans" or "Nikki Giovanni lesson plans" "Freak the Mighty lesson plans" things like that.

Last, and I'm sorry to say, but in my expereince student teaching teaches you nothing. So please don't expect it to be the same. Its so different when you're on your own.

If you have any questions email me cause your first year sounds exactly like mine. dhornhms@yahoo.com

i do have one project that i do, you can try it if you have time, but you might want to save it for next year. here are some websites telling you about the kindness project. Middle schoolers really want to do something worthwhile.

http://www.actsofkindness.org/classroom/

http://www.actsofkindness.org/file_uploa…

http://www.actsofkindness.org/classroom/…

http://www.actsofkindness.org/file_uploa…

When I do this I also show the movie "Pay It Forward". Watch it first though, you will need to fast forward through some parts

I thought of another project that worked well with 8th grade. Have them design flyers for their own Sweet 16 party. Actually I used "Super" for the boys. They can design the flyers putting pictures of cars, decorations, their room and then put adjectives on the flyer. Then have them write a descriptive essay describing the party.

Another project I do is have them design a trip. They have to look up milege, hotels, tell about the kind of car they drive, draw up a budget for their trip, tell about the things they do at their destination. I actually did that one with 7th grade but I was given the idea from a colleague who did it with 8th graders. Anyway they both love it.

Gladys Said:

some good Language Arts sites for 6th grade?

We Answered:

http://www.internet4classrooms.com/lang_…

There are lots of free sites online just put in 6th grade language arts in your browser search engine.

Reading is great but you need to be sure he is comprehending what he reads.

Eduardo Said:

Language Arts/Novels Lesson Plan Help?

We Answered:

Compare and contrast characters, write new endings, make a poster to advertise the novel as a movie, create a theme song for the novel, do the book report as a powerpoint slide presentation,etc.