English 6 (2 semesters required)
This course is to create an environment where sixth graders practice with & develop skills in written and spoken language. In reading, students are guided through carefully chosen examples of good literature in order to create a love of reading that will grow with each new novel, as well as creating a solid foundation in reading and comprehension. Reading skills and comprehension strategies are the focus of lessons. Thirty minutes a day are devoted to silent reading and note taking. With lessons on basic grammar interwoven into the writing program, students learn to apply these concepts into their own personal writing. The course will review the steps of the writing process. With the use of Daily Oral Language, text, spelling and the Six Traits of Writing, the students’ knowledge and skills will progress.

English 7 (2 semesters required)
This course is to create an environment where seventh grade students develop skills in written and spoken language. Writing is emphasized in grade seven. Writing skills are developed through a variety of prompts and styles including persuasive writing, procedural writing, narrative writing, note-taking and essay writing in a more mature writing style. Standard conventions of writing will also be emphasized via the Six + 1 Traits of Writing. Seventh graders read with the purpose of analyzing a character and study literature through a number of genres including novels, poetry, and plays. With lessons on mechanics, grammar, spelling, and vocabulary integrated into all subjects, students learn to apply these concepts into their own writing. Students are expected to use the writing process. Daily silent reading and lessons in the elements of literature are introduced. All students need to have a dictionary and a thesaurus for this class.

English 8(2 semesters required)

Stella Schola students will further develop their reading, writing, listening, speaking, research, and critical thinking skills during their 8^th grade year. We want all of our students to be analytical readers, writers, and thinkers who can decipher any text, however difficult. As writers Stella builds competent, creative writers who have mastered rhetorical structure as well as developed their own voices. Stella Schola 8^th graders are attentive, respectful listeners who understand how to examine multiple points of view and how to incorporate new knowledge and thinking into their own opinions and ideas.

8^th grade Literature is closely interwoven with the time period that 8^th grade students study – from the Age of Exploration through the Reconstruction era in the United States. Students will read, analyze, and respond to a variety of authors in both fiction and non-fiction genres. Students will read and analyze first person documents to understand and appreciate issues from multiple points of view. A sampling of authors 8^th grade students will read includes Aristotle, Shakespeare, authors from the Scottish Enlightenment, all the way to current authors such as Ta-Nehisi Coats, Laurie Halse Anderson, and Joseph Bruchac.