Preparing for Usefulness: English 8 Pupil Text
The Preparing for Usefulness: English 8 Pupil Text is part of an advanced grammar course with 124 lessons divided into 11 chapters. This comprehensive, God-honoring text is easy-to-use and teaches key concepts of grammar, mechanics, and writing.
Plans include lessons on…
- Applying upper-level grammar concepts
- Developing theme and style in stories
- Improving sentence coherence and structure
- Using rhythm and parallelism in poetry
- Taking organized notes
- Writing persuasive arguments
- Polishing oral and written reports
- Proofreading
- Revising
- And more!
Since this is an advanced text, Preparing for Usefulness: English 8Â is scheduled as part of high school language arts in U.S. History I and U.S. History II. It is divided over two years in those guides.
Note: The Teacher’s Manual is necessary at this level as an answer key and for additional help with the lessons.
Table of Contents
(Bold indicates Written Composition and Oral English lessons.)
Chapter 1 – Sentence Elements – Writing Letters
- 1. The Gift of Language
- 2. Writing Friendly Letters
- 3. Complete Sentences
- 4. Subjects and Predicates
- 5. Subjective Complements
- 6. Writing Business Letters
- 7. Object Complements
- 8. Objective Complements
- 9. Appositives and Independent Elements
- 10. Chapter 1 Review
Chapter 2 – Sentence Structure – Writing Paragraphs
- 11. Sentence Types and Word Order
- 12. Phrases and Clauses
- 13. Paragraph Unity and Topic Sentences
- 14. Simple and Compound Sentences
- 15. Complex Sentences
- 16. Compound-Complex Sentences
- 17. Sentence Styles
- 18. Achieving Paragraph Coherence
- 19. Transition Between Paragraphs
- 20. Chapter 2 Review
Chapter 3 – Mechanics – Developing Paragraphs
- 21. Capitalization
- 22. End Punctuation
- 23. Commas
- 24. Types of Compositions
- 25. More Comma Rules
- 26. Quotation Marks
- 27. Colons and Semicolons
- 28. Methods of Developing Paragraphs
- 29. Dashes, Parentheses, and Brackets
- 30. Italics (Underlining) and Numbers
- 31. Apostrophes and Hyphens
- 32. More Methods of Developing Paragraphs
- 33. Chapter 3 Review
Chapter 4 – Nouns – Using Outlines
- 34. Nouns and Substantives
- 35. Outlining
- 36. Plural Nouns
- 37. Possessive Nouns
- 38. Developing an Outline From a List of Notes
- 39. Using an Outline to Write a Composition
- 40. Verbals and Verbal Phrases Used as Nouns
- 41. Noun Clauses
- 42. Proofreading Your Composition
- 43. Chapter 4 Review
Chapter 5 – Verbs – Preparing and Giving Reports
- 44. Gathering Information About a Topic
- 45. Identifying Verbs
- 46. Principal Parts of Verbs
- 47. Organizing Your Notes
- 48. Simple Verb Tenses
- 49. Perfect Verb Tenses
- 50. Simple, Progressive, and Emphatic Forms of Verbs
- 51. Giving an Oral Report
- 52. Transitive Verbs
- 53. Intransitive Complete Verbs
- 54. Writing a Report From Your Notes
- 55. Intransitive Linking Verbs
- 56. Proofreading and Rewriting a Report
- 57. Chapter 5 Review
Chapter 6 – Verb Usage – Writing Stories
- 58. The Theme of a Story
- 59. Characterization in Story Writing
- 60. Subject-Verb Agreement
- 61. Using Problem Verbs
- 62. More Problem Verbs
- 63. Effective Style in a Story
- 64. The Opening of a Story
- 65. Writing a Story
- 66. Active and Passive Voice
- 67. Proofreading and Rewriting a Story
- 68. Chapter 6 Review
Chapter 7 – Pronouns – Writing Effective Sentences
- 69. Personal Pronouns
- 70. Using Personal Pronouns Correctly
- 71. Writing Effective Sentences: Unity and Coherence
- 72. Compound Personal Pronouns and Demonstrative Pronouns
- 73. Writing Effective Sentences: Conciseness and Parallelism
- 74. Indefinite Pronouns
- 75. Writing Effective Sentences: Action
- 76. Writing Effective Sentences: Emphasis
- 77. Interrogative and Relative Pronouns
- 78. Writing Effective Sentences: Variety
- 79. Chapter 7 Review
Chapter 8 – Adjectives – Studying Poetry
- 80. Recognizing Adjectives
- 81. Rhyme in Poetry
- 82. Rhythm in Poetry
- 83. Forms of Comparison for Adjectives
- 84. Verbals and Phrases Used as Adjectives
- 85. Repetition and Parallelism in Poetry
- 86. Descriptive Language in Poetry
- 87. Adjective Clauses
- 88. Using Adjectives Correctly
- 89. Writing Poetry
- 90. Appreciating Poetry
- 91. Chapter 8 Review
Chapter 9 – Adverbs – Writing Persuasive Argument
- 92. Recognizing Adverbs
- 93. Forms of Comparison for Adverbs
- 94. Verbals and Phrases Used as Adverbs
- 95. Taking Notes From a Sermon
- 96. Adverb Clauses
- 97. Distinguishing Between Adjectives and Adverbs
- 98. Using Adverbs Correctly
- 99. Understanding Persuasive Argument
- 100. Planning a Persuasive Argument
- 101. Writing a Persuasive Argument
- 102. Chapter 9 Review
Chapter 10 – Prepositions, Conjunctions, and Interjections – Writing Directions and Descriptions
- 103. Prepositions and Their Objects
- 104. Using Prepositions Correctly
- 105. Writing Directions to Place
- 106. Coordinating Conjunctions
- 107. Subordinating Conjunctions
- 108. Descriptive Writing
- 109. Interjections
- 110. Review of the Parts of Speech
- 111. Planning a Descriptive Composition
- 112. Writing a Descriptive Composition
- 113. Chapter 10 Review
Chapter 11 – Reference Sources – Giving Summaries and Book Reports
- 114. Using a Dictionary
- 115. Using a Thesaurus
- 116. Writing a Summary
- 117. Using Encyclopedias and Atlases
- 118. Using Concordances, Bible Dictionaries, and Topical Bibles
- 119. Using a Public Library
- 120. Using a Card Catalog
- 121. Give an Oral Book Report
- 122. Chapter 11 Review
- 123. Final Review 1
- 124. Final Review 2