It is truly an honor to have the opportunity to be involved in the education of your children. English Language Arts is the pursuit of mastery in understanding and communicating ideas.  Our ideas do not exist without methods to share them.  Our focus in the 8th Grade ELA class is the development of evidence-based claims.  It is essential that our conclusions be born of facts rather than just emotions or prejudice.  We will explore a wide variety of texts from novels, narrative poetry, nonfiction articles and biographies.  Socratic seminars and formal debates will guide our units of study.  Together, we will expand our knowledge and develop our ability to impact our world in positive ways.  Thank you for allowing me to be a part of this journey.