Grade 8 • Study Guide
English Home Language
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Reg. No.: 2011/011959/07
English Home Language
Study guide
Grade 8
CAPS aligned
J Mansfield A.Mills A.Schwartz
Activity
LESSON ELEMENTS
Vocabulary
The meaning of new words to fully understand the text/content.
Tips
A useful hint to help improve skills.
Language structures and conventions
Activity
Core content and questions to test the learner's knowlege.
SAMPLE
Key language elements that must be studied to be understood and applied to the content of the lesson
PREFACE
RECOMMENDED BOOKS
“Read. Read anything. Read the things they say are good for you, and the things they claim are junk. You’ll find what you need to find. Just read.”
-Neil Gaiman
It’s always a good idea to read widely. Read as many books as you can outside your field of interest. Below are some books you may want to explore.
SAMPLE
ISLAND OF THE BLUE DOLPHINS
Scott O’Dell
PAPER TOWNS
John Green
STEVE JOBS - A Man who thaught different: A Biography
THE MUSIC OF DOLPHINS
karen Hesse
STARGIRL - Jerry Spinelli
A WRINKLE IN TIME
Madeleine L’Engle
SPUD - John van de Ruit
BOB
Wendy Mass and Rebecca Stead
PAX - Sara Pennypacker
THE JOY LUCK CLUB
Amy Tan
SAMPLE
• Island of the Blue Dolphins (Scott O’Dell)
• Paper Towns (John Green)
• Stargirl (Jerry Spinelli)
• The Music of Dolphins (Karen Hesse)
• A Wrinkle in Time (Madeleine L’Engle)
• Steve Jobs – The Man Who Thought Different: A Biography (Karen Blumenthal)
• Pax (Sara Pennypacker)
• Bob (Wendy Mass and Rebecca Stead)
• Spud (John van de Ruit)
• The Joy Luck Club (Amy Tan)
Karen Blumenthal
INTRODUCTION
This study guide is organised into 4 units and 18 lessons. Each lesson is taught over 2 weeks.
• Unit 1 has five themed lessons.
• Unit 2 has four themed lessons and a mid-year examination.
• Unit 3 has five themed lessons.
• Unit 4 has four themed lessons and a year-end examination.
• At the end of units 2 and 4, learners write exams.
Each lesson has 4 sections:
• Listening and speaking
• Reading and viewing
• Writing and presenting
• Language structures and conventions
Each of these sections contains activities. At the beginning of each lesson is a list of the topics covered in that lesson. At the end of each lesson are remedial and extension activities, which you may complete if time allows.
YEAR PLAN
LESSON 1: The sound of the ocean
LESSON 2: Listen to the ocean
1
LESSON 3: Is winning everything?
LESSON 4: Pressure to perform?
LLESSON 5: Where do we get our news?
LESSON 6: Where to from here?
LESSON 7: What are we watching?
2
LESSON 8: How far can we go?
LESSON 9: What’s so funny? 3
LESSON 10: Let’s talk about it
LESSON 11: Attitude makes all the difference
LESSON 12: Mystery or miracle?
LESSON 13: It’s all in the words
LESSON 14: Family matters 4
LESSON 15: To space and back
LESSON 16: Peace in our time
LESSON 17: Get on track
LESSON 18: Stay on track
UNIT 1: Weeks 1 – 2
In this lesson you will:
LESSON 1:
The sound of the ocean
• complete a listening comprehension
• have a discussion
• revise the parts of a book
• read a short story
• discuss characterisation in a story
• write a summary
• focus on a short story for literature study
• write a reflective essay
• revise punctuation
• revise adverbs
• revise the eight parts of speech
• learn about prepositional phrases
• identify independent and dependent clauses
1
SECTION 1 Listening and speaking
Activity 1: Complete a listening comprehension
Look at the illustration on the opening page. What does it tell you? Remember to use your senses when you interpret an image. What can you hear? What would you be able to smell? Have you ever been in this setting?
There are eight parts of speech. Revise the first four below.
Quick revision of parts of speech and a few examples.
1. Nouns name people, places and things. There are different types of nouns:
• Proper nouns are names used for specific people, places, things or ideas. Days, months and holidays begin with a capital letter: Busisiswe, Cape Town
• Common nouns refer to regular people, places or things – not capitalised: computer, textbook
• Abstract nouns identify concepts, experiences, ideas, qualities and feelings you cannot touch, see, hear, smell or taste: happiness, joy, pride
• Collective nouns indicate a group of people objects, ideas or animals as a single concept: a litter of puppies, the flight of stairs
• Compound nouns are words for people, animals, places, things or ideas, made up of two or more words. Compound nouns often have a meaning different to, or more specific than, the two separate words. They can be ‘closed’ (all one word), e.g., grasshopper, or ‘open’ (two words to make the noun), e.g., bus stop, take-off. Other examples: watermelon, daughter-in-law, swimming pool
Give THREE of your own examples for each type of noun.
2. Pronouns replace nouns in a sentence
• Personal pronouns refer to people and things and are used in the place of a person or thing: he, she, it, they
• Possessive pronouns indicate ownership and are used to avoid repeating information already given: yours, mine, ours, theirs
• Reflexive pronouns indicate that the object and subject of the sentence are the same: himself, herself, themselves, ourselves
• Indefinite pronouns refer to people, places or things that are unknown or not stated. Indefinite pronouns use the singular form of verbs: one, anyone, someone, no one, everyone
• Relative pronouns refer to nouns mentioned previously and can be used to join two sentences: who, whose, that, which
Write THREE sentences using each of these pronouns.
3. Verbs show actions or states of being
• Action verbs show motion, i.e. something you can ‘do’: sail, walk, dance
• Auxiliary verbs help the main verb show the action: is, am are, has, have, was, were
• Linking verbs show a state of being or a condition. They also connect a subject with a noun or adjective that is the subject: is, am, are, was, were. It seems like it is a nice day.
Trevor is a good driver.
Give TWO sentences using each of these verbs.
4. Adjectives describe, identify, quantify or modify nouns or pronouns. The order of adjectives in a series should be: Quantity or number quality or opinion size age shape colour origin purpose.
For example: I love those two big, yellow German trucks
• Descriptive adjectives tell us the size, colour or shape of a person, place or thing: the rough seas, the high tides, the enormous ocean liner
SAMPLE
• Proper adjectives are modifiers formed from a proper noun, they typically look like their original proper nouns but have an alternative ending to make them adjectives: the South African public, the Icelandic project, I love Italian food
• Numerical adjectives say something about the number or quantity): several, some, most, one, twelve, every
• Adjectives of order: first, second, last
• Demonstrative adjectives point out which specific pronouns and nouns are mentioned and always come before the word they are referring to: this, that, these, those
• Possessive adjectives show possession or ownership and always come before the noun: his savings account, our cruise ship
• Interrogative adjectives ask questions and always come before the noun they refer to: Whose book is that? What did Mr Botibol want to do?
• Compound adjectives are single adjectives made up of more than one word e.g., two-seater aircraft, free-range eggs. The words in a compound adjective are often linked together with a hyphen (or hyphens) to show they are part of the same adjective.
Write ONE sentence for each of the different adjectives.
SAMPLE
This year, you will read a set book by Roald Dahl: The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar & Six More.
Listen as your facilitator reads to you about the life of Roald Dahl. You will have to answer questions on what you have heard. The first time your facilitator reads the synopsis, just listen. On the second reading have a pen and paper ready and write down important points as you listen.
Write 1 – 15 in the margin of your exercise book. As your facilitator reads the questions, write only the letter of the correct answer.
Activity 2: Have a discussion
1. Listen to the passage your facilitator reads to you. How does the story make you feel?
2. Which of these words would you use to describe the boy’s actions? a) thoughtful b) selfless c) generous d) considerate
3. From the context, can you determine the meaning of ‘brusquely’?
4. Do you know any heart-warming stories you could share?
5. Briefly revise the next four parts of speech using the information and activities below.
Adverbs describe or intensify the meaning of a verb, an adjective or another adverb. There are adverbs of:
• Time (when, how long or how often the action happened): today, yesterday, now, later
• Place (where the action happened): here, there, behind, inside
• Manner (how something is done): greedily, happily, solemnly
• Frequency (how often something happens): often, seldom, never, frequently
• Degree (the intensity or degree of an action): so, very, quite, rather, almost, absolutely
• Affirmation (to say yes): certainly, probably, definitely
• Negation (to say no): not, never
• Interrogative adverbs: The interrogative adverbs why, where, how, and when are placed at the beginning of a question. These questions can be answered with a sentence or a prepositional phrase. After an interrogative adverb in a question, you must invert the subject and verb so the verb comes first.
Use one of each adverb in a sentence.
Prepositions show the relationship between a noun or a pronoun and another word in the sentence: towards, across, in, on, with, under, behind, against, beneath, above. For example: He walked along the beach.
Write THREE sentences using one preposition in each sentence.
Conjunctions join two or more phrases.
SAMPLE
• Co-ordinating conjunctions join two or more sentences or main clauses. They always connect words, phrases or clauses of equal importance: for, and, but, or, yet, so. For example: She loves dancing and modelling
• Subordinating conjunctions join the main clause to a subordinate (dependent) clause of the same idea: after, although, since, before, because, until, so as, if, when, whenever
• Correlative conjunctions work in pairs to join phrases or words that carry equal importance in a sentence: either/or, neither/nor, rather/than, no sooner/than, not/ but. For example: Neither Dahl nor the producer liked the film version
Write one sentence with each conjunction.
Interjections show emotion, facial expressions and body language. They are the emojis of the sentence: Yay! Yipee! Ouch! Wow! Gosh! Really!
Write two sentences using interjections.
6. Have you ever tried to persuade someone to do something? Provide examples and explain what type of words you used.
7. You have one minute to persuade someone (your facilitator or another learner) to vote for you in the upcoming Junior Council elections. He/she must then evaluate how persuasive you were. Swap roles.
8. Write a list of all the persuasive words and techniques you both used. Can you determine the difference between persuasion and manipulation?
9. Share some of your favourite television or radio advertisements and explain what they are trying to persuade you to do, and why you think they are successful or not.
10. Look at the list of persuasive words and techniques. Do you have similar words and techniques on your list?
11. Can persuasion be both good and bad? Give reasons for your answer.
12. Discuss the notes on persuasive and manipulative language below.
• Connotation: words have a positive, neutral or negative feeling that goes beyond the literal meaning.
SAMPLE
• Persuasive language: We all use persuasive language when we want to convince others to accept our ideas and opinions, or to convince them to take a course of action. It is generally regarded as positive. For example, a persuasive speech can be used to inspire people to change for the better or to do something good and worthwhile.
• Manipulative language: Persuasion can become negative if it is used to convince someone to do something that is harmful or if it employs trickery or cunning. This negative effect is called manipulation – when we try to manipulate (control or influence) someone for our own good. For example, in advertising, we are often ‘manipulated’ into wanting or buying things we do not really need or cannot afford.
Persuasive and manipulative techniques
• Use facts and figures or give expert evidence. Three thousand people have already benefitted. Professor Bhengu states …
• Say why something is a good idea
• Tell an anecdote that shows why it is a good idea. My uncle Jim was …
• Use emotive words that evoke strong emotions in the listener. Your family relies on you …
• Use hyperbole (exaggeration). I’ll be the best in the world!
• Use inclusive language. Say us and we, not you. Together we can do it
• Use flattery You are all thinking people …
• Repetition. Never, never and never again!
• Use rhetorical questions. We all want to benefit from the programme, don’t we?
• Use figures of speech, for example, alliteration. Never, never and never again!
Give your own examples of some of these techniques.
SECTION 2
Reading and viewing
Activity 3: Know the parts of a book
It is important to familiarise yourself with the various parts of a book. Use this study guide and find these text features and parts of the book.
title page, contents page, introduction, year plan, unit headings, lesson titles, illustrations, headings, appendix with list of references and rubrics
Look at the book your facilitator gives you and find these parts of the book.
SAMPLE
title page, contents page, chapters, glossary, index, appendix, footnote, bibliography
Look at some of your other textbooks and identify the different parts.
Match the part of the book in column A, with the definition in column B and write the illustration number in column C.
• Includes texts for comprehension exercises, speeches and reading.
• Use with Roald Dahl’s The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar & Six More for the literature component.
• Contains tips for better writing, critical reading and understanding.
• Various levels of questions and activities to develop language skills.
• Complete explanations on grammar and syntax.
• Practical examples of writing tasks.
• Encourages independent reading and broadens vocabulary
• Use in school or at home.