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Seventh graders explore connections in their learning
and writing as Social Studies and English departments
join forces to introduce novels that address adolescent
experiences or current issues in other cultures and
regions of the world.
Students use their broad studies as a basis for writing
their own essays on social justice issues.
Eighth graders study the Civil War in a personal
way, assuming the role of an historic figure or an
ordinary teenager in the 1860s. Through letter writing
with a fellow role player, the issues and struggles of the
era become real to the students.
Each of these integrated learning opportunities
provides a unique yet substantive way to foster student
writing through interdisciplinary study.
In addition to these deep real-world integrated
connections, middle schoolers have myriad writing
experiences. The primary goal of the English program is
to teach and model the skills necessary for students to
effectively articulate responses to literature, the world
and themselves. Students are taught to read, think and
write in a careful, critical and creative manner.
Eighth grade English teacher Lori Kloehn is filled
with energy when she speaks about her students and
writing. "Good writing fits the audience, fits the
subject and compels the reader," she says. By including
audience, purpose, plot development and character
development in teaching her students how to craft a
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Taking on the roles of Civil War era characters,
eighth graders write letters to pen pals.
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Latin Magazine
