Middle School Language Arts Curriculum

In middle school, language arts courses are important for students to effectively communicate their ideas and understand others. A quality program should also promote critical thinking and prepare them for high school.

Our goal is to teach your students to be successful readers and fearless writers! Miacademy’s middle school English language arts lessons cover everything students need to know for ninth grade. Students learn to apply the writing process to multiple genres, including everything from poetry to drama and historical fiction. With daily reading opportunities and vocabulary practice, your students will learn something new each day. 

Reading Comprehension Level G (Revised 2023)

6th Grade

Our Reading Comprehension courses let students practice their reading skills with a wide variety of literature. These include different genres and exercises for students to practice the techniques and strategies they learn in our Language Skills courses. For our Reading Comprehension Level G course, key topics include: 

• Fiction, including excerpts from works such as The One and Only Ivan, Holes, and Stargirl
• Literary nonfiction, including excerpts from works such as I Am Malala and Hidden Figures
• Drama, including original works such as The Mentor’s Game and Flight of Mystery
• Poetry, including excerpts from Love That Dog and Brown Girl Dreaming
• Nonfiction, including topics such as Egypt, cacao beans, and royal corgis

Language Skills Level G (Revised 2023)

6th Grade

Our Language Skills courses teach students techniques and strategies to become stronger readers and writers. In sixth grade, students learn about the writing process, grammar, conjunctions, types of nouns, main ideas, and paragraph structure. We also recommend that students participate in our Daily Vocabulary Practice. Key topics include: 

• Context clues, synonyms, and antonyms
• Reading skills, such as summarizing, making inferences, determining point of view, and more
• Figurative language, such as similes, metaphors, personification, and hyperbole
• Different types of poetry and poetic devices
• Elements of fiction, such as characters, setting, plot, and more
• Grammar, including pronouns, antecedents, sentence fragments, and tone
• How to write an expository essay
• Independent novel study project

Reading Comprehension Level H (Revised 2023)

7th Grade

Similar to the Reading Comprehension course for 6th grade, in this course, students will read many different genres and practice their language skills through reflective exercises. Students will gain new reading strategies by taking our Language Skills courses. The Reading Comprehension courses reinforce those skills. For Reading Comprehension Level H, key topics include: 

• Fiction, including works such as The Lightning Thief and When You Trap a Tiger
• Literary Nonfiction, including works such as The Boys in the Boat and The Playbook
• Drama, including original works such as Mark is Missing and works such as The Diary of Anne Frank
• Poetry, such as “The Road Not Taken” and “A Dream Within A Dream”
• Nonfiction, including topics such as the Bermuda Triangle, dragons, and parkour

Foundations in Language Arts 1

7th Grade

In this course, students will continue to learn about various parts of speech, advanced punctuation, and persuasive writing. The skills students will learn in this course can be applied and practiced directly in Reading Comprehension Level H. We also recommend that students participate in our Daily Vocabulary Practice. Key topics include: 

• Pronoun case, demonstrative adjectives and pronouns, correlative conjunctions
• Comparative and superlative adjectives and adverbs
• Persuasive writing with The Wizard of Oz
• Greek and Latin roots vocabulary

Reading Comprehension Level I (Revised 2023)

8th Grade

Similar to the Reading Comprehension course for 7th grade, in this course, students get to read many different genres and practice their language skills through reflective exercises. Students will gain new reading strategies by taking our Language Skills courses. The Reading Comprehension courses reinforce those skills. For Reading Comprehension Level I, key topics include: 

• Fiction, including works such as Refugee and The Outsiders
• Poetry, including works such as “Annabel Lee” and “I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud”
• Nonfiction, including topics such as black holes, video games, and the electric guitar

Foundations in Language Arts 2 (NEW 2023)

8th Grade

Our Foundations in Language Arts 2 course teaches reading comprehension, writing, critical thinking, and language skills. We also recommend that students participate in our Daily Vocabulary Practice. Key topics include:

• Exploring the themes of “home” and descriptive writing
• Elements of short stories such as theme, characterization, and setting in narrative writing
• Exploring how exceptional individuals overcame adversity through a study of nonfiction
• How to research, including identifying bias and reliable sources
• Analysis of literary devices in a close reading of Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night 
• Techniques of effective persuasive writing

Miacademy’s Language Arts Homeschool Curriculum

As a main curriculum, our language arts program includes all of the necessary resources to take students through middle school and beyond. Our curriculum is built with our MiaPrep high school curriculum in mind, so students using it as their main curriculum will be perfectly prepared for what’s coming their way in upper grade levels.

With our homeschool language arts curriculum, students are engaged with a combination of high-quality lesson videos, practice questions, assessments, and PDF extension activities. Our lesson plans offer many different assignments to strengthen  students’ writing skills and knowledge of grammar rules and sentence structure. Our commitment to quality, accessibility, and inclusion helps Miacademy meet the needs of various learners.

Many lessons provide graphic organizers, methods for brainstorming, reminders about the writing process, and editing checklists. Plus, we provide detailed rubrics allowing students and parents to clearly see the objectives for these lessons. Our goal is to provide students with the tools they need to make themselves successful readers and writers for life.

Additional Resources for Language Arts 

Check out these fun resources to shake up your language arts curriculum!

If you have any questions about how Miacademy or MiaPrep can help your child on their reading and writing journey, feel free to chat with our friendly customer service agents! They’ll be happy to help with any questions you may have.

Updated 01/03/2024