Middle School English
Boston Trinity Academy’s English department educates students to be mature thinkers, discerning readers, and effective writers. Students explore questions of character, virtue, maturity, and courage as they explore writings such as Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Taylor's Let the Circle be Unbroken, Wiesel's Night, Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird, and Speares' The Bronze Bow. They develop the ability to articulate their thoughts clearly and creatively through essays, debates, and class discussions. Above all, students are encouraged to love and appreciate the power of the written word to shape ideas, culture, and society.
- English 6: Foundations of Storytelling
- English 7: Discovering Literature I
- English 8: Discovering Literature II
English 6: Foundations of Storytelling
Foundations of Storytelling introduces students to historical and fantastical novels, short stories, folklore, and poetry. Sixth grade students practice reading closely and thinking critically, developing their ability to understand and appreciate literature. Students learn to analyze themes and make connections between texts and their own lives. They also learn to make connections between English and their history and Biblical Studies classes. Students improve their ability to communicate ideas by writing expository, creative, and personal pieces and studying vocabulary and grammar every day.
English 7: Discovering Literature I
Discovering Literature I emphasizes the development of strong language arts skills along with an immersion in historical and fantastical novels, short stories, and poetry. Students review the basic elements of storytelling and learn to analyze them in novels and short stories. Novels are intentionally selected to expose students to significant historical periods and serve as an alternate to a history class. This course is structured with three double block periods a week, allowing time for in-depth focus on the fundamentals of language arts, including grammar and vocabulary. In the second semester, students write and illustrate their own stories.
English 8: Discovering Literature II
Discovering Literature II focuses on historical novels, short stories, and poetry. Students review the basic elements of good storytelling and learn to recognize, analyze, and reproduce the elements that combine to make good literature. They identify and use literary devices in reading, writing, and memorizing poetry. They become proficient in writing three paragraph essays, developing a solid thesis and supporting it with evidence from a text. Through rigorous language arts training, students further solidify their ability to write clearly and convincingly. Novels and poetry are selected to reinforce content taught in History 8.