Welcome to a small insight into the OMPH Middle School English Language Arts classes! ELA classes cover reading, writing, grammar, and much more. Students read a variety of literature, write different types of papers, and build upon their grammar skills. “During the school year, students complete various projects and assessments to demonstrate their understanding of the material we cover in class,” explained Middle School ELA teacher Mrs. Pickett.
The Eighth Grade class recently finished reading "Roll of Thunder Hear My Cry" by Mildred Taylor. They discussed the topics of racism, coming of age, and friendship. In writing class, the Eighth Grade chose positions, then learned about and wrote persuasive essays. Each student needed to make sure they supported their position with facts and/or examples.
The Seventh Grade class learned, by reading "The Giver" by Lois Lowry, that a perfect community cannot exist. The students followed Jonas as he discovered his perfectly laid out community was not what he thought. To tie the lesson together, each student is creating their own utopian community. Seventh Grade is also participating in LNP’s News In Education Contest, by writing essays on what they feel is the importance of education.
Our Sixth Grade class has been studying the topic of theme, or "The Message." Students learned to start with a topic from the story, then to expand upon it. An example of this is “Family: We will do amazing things for family.” In a few weeks, the Sixth Grade will begin small group novel studies and write a literary analysis based on theme, setting, character, or plot.
During the month of March, our Sixth Grade students composed and presented "How-To" articles. Students picked a task they were interested in sharing, wrote an article with step-by-step instructions on how to complete that task, and then demonstrated their task for the class. Chosen tasks included making a milkshake, cooking fettucine alfredo, frying Oreos, and skateboarding!