8th Grade Gateway English

Instructor: Ms. Bridget Moriarty

Personal planning time: 8:15-9:00 daily
Phone: 614-501-5600 ex. 7637
Room: W211
E-mail: bridget.moriarty@reyn.org

Course Description:
English is a required yearlong course for all 8
th
grade students. In English we will uncover a significant amount of material and
find the joy that comes from reading and writing while preparing for the rigors of high school English and beyond. Our classes
will contain a mixture of writing, reading, language, speaking, and listening. Class syllabus is attached.

Grades:
Grades will be posted on-line through powerschool. Please check these regularly and contact the teacher with any questions
or concerns.

Classroom Expectations:
Most importantly:
1. Be respectful
2. Be responsible
But also
3. Come to class on time and prepared to learn; bring ALL materials.
4. Bring your manners with you when you enter my room. Conduct yourself appropriately.
5. Leave whining and excuses at the door. If you have a question or concern, you are expected to deal with it in a mature
manner with the teacher first.
6. Be kind to your classmates (and teacher). Avoid put downs and interruptions.
7. Know that you will be expected to do YOUR best. Anything less is unacceptable.
8. Dress appropriately.
9. Cell phones and electronics are allowed in class for approved activities only. They should be silenced at all times.
10. Bring an outside reading book with you to class every day.
Homework: Homework is to be turned in on the day it is due. Late work will suffer a reduction in credit or may not be
accepted at all. Homework will be posted on my itslearning page as soon as it is up and running.
Absences: It is the students responsibility to get missed assignments. E-mailing teachers when absent is a great way to find
out missed work.
Final Note: I am excited about this school year! Everyone gets a fresh start and a new beginning. I believe we have a terrific
team of teachers for an extraordinary group of students! Lets make it a great year!






































8
th
Grade Gateway English Syllabus
Each unit is approximately 9 weeks long. I will teach from
the following texts, however, I believe in student
achievement, success, and understanding rather than
simply covering a breadth of material. Therefore, the
syllabus is subject to change.

Unit 1:
Fahrenheit 451: The Influence of Literature.

Anchor Text
Fahrenheit 451, Ray Bradbury

Core Writing
Literary Analysis Paper

Reading: Informational Texts
Learning to Read and Write, Frederick Douglass
Superman and Me, Sherman Alexie
You Have Insulted Me: A Letter, Kurt Vonnegut
Reading Books Is Fundamental from The New York
Times
The Country That Stopped Reading from The New York
Times

Reading: Literary Texts
Burning a Book, William Strafford (Poem)
Barter, Sara Teasdale (Poem)

Unit 2:
The American Dream

Anchor Text
The American Dream: A Short History of an Idea That
Shaped a Nation, Jim Cullen (informational)

Core Writing
Compare and Contrast/Literary Analysis Paper

Reading: Informational Texts
Volume II: Chapter XIII, Why Americans Are So Restless in
the Midst of their Prosperity, Alexis de Tocqueville
The Fallacy of Success, G.K. Chesterton
A Quilt of a Country, Anna Quindlen
American Dream Faces Harsh New Reality, Ari Shapiro

Reading: Literary Texts
Winter Dreams, F. Scott Fitzgerald
The Ballad of the Sad Caf, Carson McCullers
Paper Pills, Sherwood Anderson
The Egg, Sherwood Anderson
I Hear America Singing, Walt Whitman
Let America Be America Again, Langston Hughes
Ex-Basketball Player, John Updike
Acts 1 and 2 of Death of a Salesman, Arthur Miller (Play)








Unit 3:
Hope, Despair, and Memory: Hope and Remembrance
during Times of Tragedy.

Anchor Text
Hope, Despair, and Memory, Elie Wiesel

Core Writing
Research Paper

Reading: Informational Texts
Declaration of Independence, Thomas Jefferson
Gettysburg Address, Abraham Lincoln
Gettysburg Address The Hay Draft, Abraham Lincoln
I Have a Dream, Martin Luther King, Jr.
Loving Your Enemies, from Strength to Love, Martin
Luther King, Jr.

Reading: Literary Texts
Night, Elie Wisel
The Book Thief, Markus Zusak
Antigone, Sophocles (Drama)
The Lottery, Shirley Jackson
In Warsaw, Czeslaw Milosz (Poem)
Internment, Juliet S. Kono (Poem)
Antigone Today, Richard Jackson (Poem)

Unit 4:
Shakespeare

Anchor Plays
Will soon be determined by the Reynoldsburg Shakespeare
Festival.