Reading and Writing Grades 6 to 8

Free online middle-school English language arts course · 12 weeks

Grade: Grades 6 to 8
Ages: Ages 11 to 14
Price: Free
Format: Self-paced online course at learn.lanternlearn.com

About this course

Reading and Writing Grades 6 to 8 is a free 12-week online English language arts course for middle schoolers that needs only a notebook and a pencil. Students run The Signal, the crew's neighborhood paper, from the Signal Desk on the porch: citing evidence, theme and objective summary, plot and character, word choice and tone, structure and point of view, narrative writing, informational texts, explanatory writing, tracing arguments, argument writing, comparing a story and a poem, and revising and editing for Press Day.

Skills covered

· Cite textual evidence for what a text says explicitly and for inferences, and write an objective summary of its theme or central idea
· Describe how a plot unfolds and how characters change, how a narrator's point of view shapes a story, and how a sentence, scene or stanza fits the whole
· Determine the meaning of words and phrases in context, including figurative and connotative meanings, and explain how word choice sets tone
· Read informational texts for central idea and structure, trace an argument and judge whether its reasoning and evidence hold up
· Write a narrative, an explanation and an argument with a clear organization, relevant details or evidence, transitions and a conclusion
· Plan, revise and edit writing for clarity, and use standard punctuation and sentence structure
· CCSS: RL, RI, W and L, Grades 6 to 8

12-week list

Each week has short lessons Monday to Friday, a Writing Lab on Wednesday, and a Press Day with the family on Saturday.

Week	Topic	Focus	CCSS
1	Evidence Hunters	Cite the line that proves it	RL.6.1, RI.7.1, RL.8.1
2	Theme and Central Idea	An objective summary with no opinions	RL.6.2, RI.7.2, RL.8.2
3	Plot and Character	How a character changes by the resolution	RL.6.3, RL.7.3, RL.8.3
4	Word Choice and Tone	Why "trudged" and not "walked"	RL.6.4, L.7.4, L.8.5
5	Structure and Point of View	The same scene told by two narrators	RL.6.5, RL.7.6, RL.8.6
6	Narrative Writing	Write a story with a hook, dialogue and an ending	W.6.3, W.7.3, W.8.3, L.6.2
7	Informational Texts	How the sections build the idea	RI.6.5, RI.7.5, RI.8.6
8	Explanatory Writing	Explain it in sections with transitions	W.6.2, W.7.2, W.8.2
9	Tracing Arguments	Which evidence actually supports the claim?	RI.6.8, RI.7.8, RI.8.8
10	Argument Writing	A claim, reasons, evidence and the other side	W.6.1, W.7.1, W.8.1, L.7.1
11	Comparing Texts and Poems	A story and a poem on one theme	RL.6.9, RL.8.5, RL.7.5
12	Revise, Edit and Press Day	The final issue of The Signal	W.6.5, W.7.5, W.8.5, L.8.2

Reading and Writing Grades 6 to 8

About this course

12-week list

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