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General Statement
Eighth grade Writing Workshop examines the question,
"what makes good writing?" Students look for and practice the common
elements of quality writing in all genres,  becoming competent and forceful writers who can use clarity, organization, vividness, and word choice in order express a range of ideas. Writing Workshop meets for three 45-minute periods each week.
Concepts
Students begin the year by studying the connection between quality analytical writing and descriptive writing. The class examines and discusses many models of successful pieces in both genres. Assignments require students to build their powers of observation and organization and connect directly with the class's first group novel in Reading Workshop. Students also conduct a thorough review of the parts of speech and of the components of vivid and direct writing in order to begin studying the power of words and of word choice.
As the fall progresses, students transfer this understanding of word choice to expository writing, emphasizing the importance of a solid essay structure that allows for smooth transitions, clear explanations, and insightful connections within that structure. Students practice comparison/contrast essay writing as well as with analytical writing from prompts, short readings, and material from both History and Reading classes. Specific components of the students' study of grammar also become areas of emphasis within student essays. During the fall term, students write one essay each week as a regular exercise and create scoring rubrics based on their understanding of the elements that comprise a quality essay or memoir. Students also write persuasive letters and journal and formal responses to art, music, and poetry.
Grammar, Punctuation, and Spelling
 Eighth graders build upon their knowledge of the sentence by working with parallel sentence structure, dependent and independent clauses, and sentence combining. Students are expected to use simple and complex sentence structure in their writing as best fits a given piece and to edit with attention to the subject and clarity of a sentence. Students will also work with the grammatical construction of linking ideas within and between paragraphs in an essay. Students will learn to incorporate quoted material smoothly into their own writing. Students also follow appropriate academic conventions for citing sources. Students are expected to use Write Source 2000 as a reference book and guide for their writing and editing.  Lessons and exercises in grammar are a regular component of Writing Workshop, using writing models for editing along with exercises drawn from a variety of sources, including Warriner's English Grammar and Rules of the Game Students are expected to check their work for spelling and grammatical accuracy, revising until a piece flows all conventions perfectly.
Writing Across the Curriculum
As students get older, the emphasis on clear writing as a method of demonstrating understanding in all subject areas becomes more pronounced. Students in the eighth grade are expected to execute a variety of different types of writing, and proficiency in essay writing becomes especially important in History and Science. Students are expected to apply concepts and conventions from Writing Workshop to their writing in other classes.
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