Welcome to 8th grade humanities. I am very excited to have you in my class. This year we will be exploring our American history, reading various novels, and writing essays. Please visit this site frequently; it is a tool to help you stay
up-to-date with our class work and assignments.
"Wisdom begins with wonder." -Socrates
About me....Miss Claudia Lopez
It is with great pleasure that I welcome this new adventure to teach 8th grade humanities at Palm Desert Charter Middle School. For the past eight years, I have taught high school English at Indio High School and Xavier College Prep. Prior to teaching high school I taught 6th - 8th grade language arts for three years. I have been in the classroom for several years now and can honestly say that I love teaching and working with young indivduals. In addition to teaching, I am also a passionate traveler, who has checked exactly 50 countries off my bucket list. Every summer I make it a goal to visit at least three new countries. Second to the classroom, I find that traveling is also a great teacher because it allows a person to experience, first hand, what they learn in a classroom.
Miss Lopez's
travels from around the world.
About Humanities...
The Humanities class at Palm Desert Charter Middle School uses curriculum that combines social studies and language arts to provide students with a deeper connection to the world. Assessment is made through the use of writing and performance rubrics, text-dependent responses and curriculum-based tests.
During the course of the year, students will read various novels that will provide a literary focus that explores themes, literary devices, and historical events, develop an appreciation for literature and encourage students to become independent, purposeful, and lifelong readers.
In addition, students will write various essays and have daily writing tasks to develop their writing skills.
Lastly, this class is designed to develop the following skills:
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Develop simple, compound, complex, and compound-complex sentences.
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Write narratives, expository, persuasive, and literary analysis essays.
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Develop proofreading techniques dealing with grammar, punctuation, and content.
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Define and utilize the elements of poetry, short story, novel, and non-fiction in critical analysis through writing.
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Expand vocabulary strategies and usage.
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Use a variety of reading strategies to summarize and evaluate a text.
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Deliver oral presentations.
Enhanced 8th Grade Humanities:
Students enrolled in "Enhanced Humanities" are being given special attention to prepare for honors and advanced courses in high school. While the curriculum and assignments might be the same, the expectations and depth will often be greater with a focus on mature written expression and in-depth analysis of literature. At times, Enhanced students will be given certain specific requirements in addition to a standard assignment, or a different or more advanced reading/writing requirement. High school teachers are consulted regarding their expectations for incoming 9th graders in determining enhanced assignments and expectations.
Enhanced students are automatically considered for placement in Honors English for 9th grade, but performance and study habits are also taken into account for that recommendation. While not necessary to be "Enhanced" to receive recommendation for 9th grade Honors English, it is encouraged.