Middle School English Department

Our comprehensive English program is literature-based, which enables us to focus on developing students’ abilities to analyze literary elements, develop complex rhetorical analysis, and craft organized and academically rigorous written responses. Students will also hone their grammar, advance their vocabulary, explore creative writing and poetry, and improve their public speaking.

For international students from non-English speaking backgrounds, our Summer Intensive ESL Program facilitates the development of essential academic and everyday English language skills.

Course Description

Grades Offered: 6

Prerequisites: None

English 6 exposes sixth graders to a variety of literary genres and aims to help students become effective readers and writers. They will also comprehensively study grammar, including topics such as parts of speech, Independent and Dependent clauses, and subject-verb agreement. Students will read and analyze novels, short stories and poetry, and study point of view, plots, settings, themes, and characters. They will develop their writing skills through assignments such as book reports, poems, short works of fiction, expository paragraphs, personal narratives, and journal entries. They will also continue developing their vocabulary and practice their speaking skills through poetry recitations.

Grades Offered: 7

Prerequisites: None

English 7 continues to advance students’ skills in reading, writing, and public speaking. They will continue reading novels, short stories, poetry, and nonfiction works, and learn to explain and write about symbolism, metaphor, simile, personification and other literary elements. Students will learn the six traits of effective writing (ideas, organization, word choice, sentence fluency, voice, and conventions), develop their skills at in-depth analysis, and write book reports, character analysis essays, poetry, and short stories. They will continue to develop their grammar skills, studying topics such as verb conjugation and sentence diagramming, and will study increasingly advanced vocabulary.

Grades Offered: 8

Prerequisites: None

English 8 guides eighth graders in furthering their literary analysis skills, enhancing their vocabulary and grammar, and honing their writing skills. Students will develop their speaking skills through class discussions, collaborative group work, presentations, and Socratic seminars. In their study of novels, short stories, and more, students will focus on the themes of identity, diversity, and justice. They will write five-paragraph literary analyses and persuasive essays, original poetry, and short analytic responses, and they will learn editing skills through peer-editing sessions.

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