META24 CORE · PROJECT-BASED · ENGLISH · MIDDLE SCHOOL · GRADE 8 · 1 CREDIT · CCSS ELA
English 8 · The Case
Argument from evidence: the story read for what it claims, the source read for who wrote it, the seminar held to the text. The year ends with a film, a case and a manga that are yours.
THE MIX · HOW MUCH OF EACH CORE SUBJECT THIS COURSE CARRIES · IN ORDER
READING & WRITINGHISTORY, GEOGRAPHY & HUMANITIESART & DESIGNTECHNOLOGY & TRADES
The squares are a picture of a course — how much of each core subject its own rooms carry, read from the rooms’ text — never a score of a student. Every course in a lab is graded to the core across the board; the squares say which columns it feeds most.
WHAT YOU WILL BE ABLE TO DO
- Read a story for its argument and name the devices that make it
- Read primary sources against each other and write the case the evidence carries
- Hold a position in a seminar with the text open, and concede the point the text wins
- Produce — a film, a manga, a script — and defend the choices in writing
AT A GLANCE · 36 WEEKS
Q1 Story as argument — The film, second cut
Q2 The Record · Rebels — THE CASE · rebels
Q3 The Last Meal · write it, shoot it, sell it — A produced scene
Q4 The Seminar · the year’s argument — The portfolio defense
Semester 1
WEEKS 1–18 · QUARTERS 1 AND 2Story as argument
WEEKS 1–9THE WEEKS · THE ROOMS EACH ONE OPENS
WK 1–2The eight parts, fast
The parts named in a page; the hunt begins at your rung.
WK 3–6Ship-Trap · the whole hunt
Every device at the eighth-grade rung; the film planned.
WK 7–9The Monkey’s Paw · the trick
How a story makes you want the thing that ruins you.
THE PROJECT · WHAT THE QUARTER IS FOR
The film, second cut
The question. What is the story arguing about wanting — and how does your cut argue it?
The make. A short film of Ship-Trap or The Monkey’s Paw with a director’s statement naming the argument and the three devices
The evidence. The film (link) and the statement, handed in through the unit
RL.8.2RL.8.3RL.8.4W.8.1SL.8.5
The Record · Rebels
WEEKS 10–18THE WEEKS · THE ROOMS EACH ONE OPENS
WK 10–14Rebels in History
The sources read in order; the map, the line, the ledger.
WK 15–16Sugar · the sources against each other
Two units, one question: who gets to write the record?
WK 17–18The Scramble
The game the Record plays: every ledger entry with its cite line.
THE PROJECT · WHAT THE QUARTER IS FOR
THE CASE · rebels
The question. Who was the rebel — and who wrote the record that says so?
The make. A written case with a claim, three sources cited by line, and the opposing source answered
The evidence. THE CASE, handed in through The Record
RI.8.1RI.8.6RI.8.8RI.8.9W.8.1
Semester 2
WEEKS 19–36 · QUARTERS 3 AND 4The Last Meal · write it, shoot it, sell it
WEEKS 19–27 · IN THIS OFFERINGTHE WEEKS · THE ROOMS EACH ONE OPENS
WK 19–20The cold open
Read for the wants.
WK 21–24The script
The rest written as a script; the scene list; the shot list.
WK 25–27The cut
The scene shot and cut; the Sell-It page written.
THE PROJECT · WHAT THE QUARTER IS FOR
A produced scene
The question. What does the scene have to make the audience feel in its first ten seconds?
The make. A scene written, shot, cut and pitched on a Sell-It page
The evidence. The cut (link) and the Sell-It page, handed in through the Studio
W.8.3W.8.4W.8.6SL.8.4SL.8.5
The Seminar · the year’s argument
WEEKS 28–36THE WEEKS · THE ROOMS EACH ONE OPENS
WK 28–31Sparks and the Seminar
Three seminars: a position each, the split counted.
WK 32–34Your own manga
Story Forge at the eighth-grade rung: the argument built into the panels.
WK 35–36My Work · the portfolio
The year read back: what you made, what it claims.
THE PROJECT · WHAT THE QUARTER IS FOR
The portfolio defense
The question. What does your year’s work argue — and where is the evidence?
The make. A portfolio of the film, the case, the scene and the manga, with a two-page defense
The evidence. The defense, handed in through My Work
W.8.1W.8.2W.8.5SL.8.1SL.8.4
A course is a quarter, a semester or a year — nine, eighteen or thirty-six weeks — a project a quarter. Offered as the year, a semester or a quarter, it is the same course seen through a window. A lab is a family: its year, each of its tracks as a course, and its rooms. The evidence is what a student hands in through the room; the Report reads it from there. Nothing in the catalog is a grade.
THE PASS · THIS COURSE AND EVERY OTHER ONE
One pass includes English 8 · The Case and every course in the catalog. Pick a pass, or enter a school code; checkout stays on this page.