Roemmich, William
Laguna Torre, Patagonia, Argentina
July 2018
Dear Parents:
Welcome to 8th Grade English and Honors English. It will be a pleasure and privilege to be your child's teacher this year.
My expectations for student achievement are high, my interest in my subject equally high, and I promise to be an active advocate for each individual student. Please contact me at any time if there is a question, or any clarification or assistance needed. THIS is important: I do not use Zangle Parent Connect, but I DO send home grades and announcements each week through my own grading program, iGradePlus. Often this includes information about upcoming projects, assignments, and long-term activities. During the first week of school, I will send you an invitation to log-on to your child's grade portal, so you can check grades and progress 24/7. The students will also be able to log-on to the iGradePlus portal and check their grades whenever they want. For this to work, and for you to be kept informed, I need an active, accurate e-mail address for each family that an involved guardian monitors at least once a week. The student can also supply a personal e-mail address to which grade reports and announcements will be sent each week, but the district-issued gmail address will not work. I can save two guardian email addresses per family, and one for the student. If you are not receiving grade reports each week, please make me aware of this so I can update a working e-mail address for you. Please check your emails each week and make sure my reports do not get sent to spam. Otherwise, please connect with me anytime through e-mail: roemmich@cajonvalley.net. I will respond either within the hour, by the end of the day, or early the next morning. Course descriptions for English and Honors English are given below. If you navigate to "Papers and Documents" on this site, you will find the core curriculum by trimester for this year for both Regular English and Honors English.
Wm Roemmich
8th Grade English Course Descriptions 2025-2026
ENGLISH 8:
Course Description: Through careful guided reading of thematically rich material, including classics of youth literature and traditional and contemporary poetry, students will experience the diversity of genre and richness of theme and style of world-class writing. Special emphasis will be given during discussion and student responses and projects on global responsibility, and the connection between the literature discussed and other events throughout the world, past and present. Students will be required to incorporate daily free reading into their lives. Writing instruction will emphasize persuasive essays, analysis of literature, narrative sketches and problem solution writing. Various domains of personal writing will be collected in a representative portfolio for each student and published at the end of the year as a final project. Grammar instruction, spelling and vocabulary enrichment will proceed on a regular basis. A major research project in the heart of the academic year will focus on the fine arts, and will encourage use of online resources, a wide variety of reference materials, and allow great creativity in terms of final presentation. The art history research project will encourage students to learn about different time periods, different cultural attitudes towards aesthetics, and the variations of human experience around the world. The Common Core Standards will be followed closely, ensuring a comprehensive and enriching English program.
HONORS ENGLISH 8:
Course Description:
All descriptors of regular English 8 apply to honors level English. In addition, honors students will be asked daily to consider their reading and writing and thinking in the greater context of world art and culture. Honors students will read poetry throughout the year with a goal of understanding the wide range of organization in verse models. Honors students will be encouraged to write for personal satisfaction, intellectual inquiry, for the clarification of ideas and for the development of voice. Honors students will learn the Socratic methods of shared inquiry, and start the year with a focused unit of analyzing short fiction taken from the Great Books Foundation. Interpretive investigation as a method of literary analysis will be the focus of in-class and independent reading throughout the year. The Fine Arts Research Project will especially be directed to the higher-level interests and abilities of honors students. The art history research project will encourage students to learn about different time periods, different cultural attitudes towards aesthetics, and the variations of human experience around the world. Students in honors English will participate in a Winter Arts Program, which will be based on some aspect of literature, music, or visual arts TBA. All honors students will pursue an active home reading schedule, including a unit on the Holocaust, which will involve a study of Kohlberg’s Moral Development Scale, a non-fiction unit, and stories of special structural and thematic interest by authors of international significance. In addition, I will lead an Honors English/Shakespeare Club once a week on Wednesday mornings before school. I will only be able to have 20-25 students in the club. More information on this during the middle of September.