Perfect for home schooling or traditional classroom environment. The Gray Book, eighth grade program is intended for use after The Green Book, seventh grade program.  The lessons in The Green Book utilize a unit study approach to language arts, while The Gray Book is largely based on dictation lessons.

The integrated language approach has the benefits of all teaching methods.  By working with pieces of real literature, you focus on English grammar, reading, vocabulary, spelling, creative writing, thinking skills, and penmanship.  Your student has the best advantage for learning skills in this effective and lasting manner.

Dictation Lessons
Twenty-three of the lessons are based upon literature passages to be dictated to your student.
Dictation is a very powerful learning activity.  It trains a student to look for details, strive for accuracy, and learn to write.  Using your voice to stress pauses and indicate punctuation marks during lessons using dictation teaches the student important listening skills, sentencing structure, and punctuation.
If your student has difficulty with dictation, allow him to copy the passages for several lessons and then try dictation again.
In addition to taking the passage from dictation, instruction will be given which covers such topics as punctuation, capitalization, parts of speech, grammar, creative writing, etc.

Review Activities
After most dictation lessons you will find optional Review Activities to reinforce the material covered during the week.

Assessments
Four Assessments are included throughout the year for evaluating your student's progress.

Book Studies
Approximately every eight weeks your student will have a two week literature lesson based upon a selected book.  After reading the book, the student will review vocabulary words and learn to interpret word meaning from understanding its content.   He may also choose from a variety of suggested activities that will expand his understanding of what he has read as well as his writing and thinking skills.  The four required books are:

• Across Five Aprils by Irene Hunt
• A Lantern in Her Hand by Bess Streeter Aldrich
• Eric Liddell by Catherine Swift

• God's Smuggler by Brother Andrew

Writing Unit
Finally, four lessons make up a special writing unit that covers five weeks.   In this unit your student will develop his writing skills by completing a narrative paper, a persuasive paper, a compare and contrast paper, and a research paper. 

Skills Index
The Language Arts Skills Index is located in the back of the Teacher's Book.   To ensure that skills commonly held appropriate for this grade level instruction were adequately covered, much research was involved in the writing of this curriculum.

Materials To Use
This program is designed to be easy to use.  The only materials necessary are:
1. A loose-leaf notebook with paper, pen or pencil, and highlighter.
2. Reference materials: thesaurus, dictionary, and Bible.
3. The required books listed under the Book Studies above may be found at your local or Christian bookstore, or you may check them out from your library.

Spelling
• copying words • spelling rules • studying words

Reading
• a Book Study Unit on: Across Five Aprils, A Lantern in Her Hand, Eric Liddell, God's Smuggler • alliteration • assonance • cliché • comparing • comprehension • consonance • figurative language • historical fiction • literature appreciation • metaphor • meter • narration • persons - 1st 2nd 3rd • poetry appreciation • prose • rhyme scheme • roots • similes • silent/oral reading • suffixes • vocabulary

Grammar
• action verbs • adjective clauses • adjectives • adverbs • adverb clauses • antecedents • antonyms • apostrophes • articles • capitalization • commas • common nouns • comparative adjectives • complement • complete predicate • complete sentences • complete subjects • compound predicate nominative • compound sentences • conjunctions • coordinating conjunctions • declarative sentences • demonstrative pronouns • dependent clause • direct object • exclamatory sentences • gerunds • helping verbs • imperative sentences • incomplete sentences • independent clause • indirect object •infinitive phrases • infinitives • interrogative pronouns • interrogative sentences • intransitive verbs • introductory phrase • irregular verbs • linking verbs • nouns clause • nouns • object of a preposition • objective pronouns • parenthetical phrase • participial phrase • participles • personal pronouns • persons - 1st 2nd 3rd • plural nouns • possessive nouns • possessive pronouns • predicate • predicate adjectives • predicate nominative • preposition• prepositional phrase • problem words • pronouns • proper nouns • punctuation • quotations • regular verbs • relative pronouns • semicolon • sentence length • simple predicate • simple subjects • speech tags • subjects • subjective pronouns • subordinating conjunctions • synonyms • transitive verbs • types of sentences • verbs • verbs tenses

Composition
• alliteration • autobiography • biblical fiction • biography • business letter • cause and effect paper • character sketch • cinquain • combining sentences • compare and contrast paper • comparison • cover sheet • descriptive paragraph • developing a writing plan • diamante • final draft • first draft • formal and informal writing • friendly letter • interviews • limerick • metaphors • modeling poetry • narrative paper • narrative paragraph • non-standard English • ordinal numbers • paraphrase • parts of a letter • persuasive paper • proof reading • reports • research paper • revision • riddle poems • sentence construction • standard English • structural poetry • supporting an opinion • thesis statement • topic outline • topic sentences • types of sentences • writing a story with a moral • writing dialogue

Research and Study Skills
• bibliography • concordance • encyclopedia • gathering sources • interviewing • listening skills • memorization • note-taking • outlines • research • revision • writing plan

Higher Order Thinking Skills
• memorization • outline • vocabulary study • word parts

Creative Expression
• creative writing • poetry • prose

Penmanship
• copy passages • final draft

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