Reading Closely and Writing to Learn
Grade Level: 8th
Subject: ELA
Time Frame: Quarter 1- 8 weeks
Essential Questions
Speaking and Listening:
- What does good listening look like?
- How do individuals contribute to the success of a team?
- Do all teams need leaders?
- How is asking questions a useful strategy in learning?
- How do delivery techniques change in relation to audience purpose or content?
- How does language help or hurt the message being communicated?
- How do presenters determine what information is relevant when preparing a report or presentation?
- How do speakers know if an audience is actively engaged in a presentation?
- What are the structural elements of a speech and what strategies can be used to enhance each part?
Reading
- How do authors develop theme?
- How do authors convey mood?
- How do different authors approach story elements?
- How do we evaluate an author's credibility?
- How do visuals convey information?
- How can bias influence a reader?
- What elements make a text more attractive to some readers than others?
- How does the history of language affect our understanding of a text?
- How does slang, dialect, or colloquial language affect a listener?
- How do we learn new words?
Writing
- What techniques do authors use to persuade readers?
- How can authors use diction to convince or persuade others?
- How do writers select evidence to best support their claim(s)?
- What techniques do writers use to "hook" their readers?
- What tools do writers use to summarize ideas?
- What kind of organization is most effective in informational writing?
- How do writers know when they have given enough information?
- Are all styles of informational writing equally appropriate?
- What are the elements of a well-developed character?
- How do authors use imagery to create tone?
- What makes text elements engaging to a reader?
- How does foreshadowing create connections for a reader?
- How do we know what resources meet our needs?
- What do we do when our immediate resources are not adequate?
- How do we know our information is reliable?
- What organizational strategy best suits this research?
- How do we determine the most appropriate format for presenting our research?
- How do we cite our research?
Language Usage
- How does the use of correct grammar, usage, and mechanics add clarity to writing?
- How can various tools help a writer edit work?
- What are some common punctuation errors? How can writers avoid these challenges in the future?
- When is it beneficial to use the thesaurus?
By the end of the unit, students will know/be able to:
Speaking and Listening
• I can effectively engage in discussions with diverse partners about eighth-grade topics, texts, and issues.
• I can express my own ideas clearly during discussions.
• I can build on others’ ideas during discussions
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Reading
• I can cite text-based evidence that provides the strongest support for my analysis of literary text
• I can analyze how specific dialogue or incidents in a plot propel the action, reveal aspects of a character, or provoke a decision.
• I can determine the meaning of words and phrases in literary text (figurative, connotative, and technical meanings)
• I can analyze the impact of word choice on meaning and tone (analogies or allusions).
• I can compare and contrast the structure of multiple texts.
• I can analyze how different structures impact meaning and style of a text.
• I can analyze full-length novels, short stories, poems, and other genres by authors who represent diverse world cultures.
• I can interpret, analyze, and evaluate narratives, poetry, and drama, artistically and ethically by making connections to: other texts, ideas, cultural perspectives, eras, personal events, and situations.
• I can cite text-based evidence that provides the strongest support for an analysis of informational text.
• I can determine a theme or the central ideas of an informational text.
• I can analyze the development of a theme or central idea throughout the text (including its relationship to supporting ideas).
• I can objectively summarize informational text.
• I can analyze the connections and distinctions between individuals, ideas or events in a text.
• I can determine the meaning of words and phrases in text (figurative, connotative, and technical meanings).
• I can analyze the impact of word choice on meaning and tone (analogies or allusions).
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Writing
• I can write informative/explanatory texts that convey ideas and concepts using relevant information that is carefully selected and organized.
• I can write narrative texts about real or imagined experiences using relevant details and event sequences that make sense.
• I can produce clear and coherent writing that is appropriate to task, purpose and audience.
• I can produce text (print or non-print) that explores a variety of cultures and perspectives.
• With support from peers and adults, I can use the writing process to ensure that purpose and audience have been addressed.
• I can conduct short research projects to answer a question (including a self-generated question).
• I can use several sources in my research.
• I can generate additional research questions for further exploration
• I can use evidence from literary or informational texts to support analysis, reflection, and research.
• I can write stories, plays, and other works in response to what I have read in literature
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Language Usage
• I can use correct grammar and usage when writing or speaking.
• I can use correct capitalization, punctuation, and spelling to send a clear message to my reader
• I can use a variety of strategies to determine the meaning of unknown words or phrases.
• I can analyze figurative language, word relationships, and nuances in word meanings.
• I can accurately use eighth-grade academic vocabulary to express my ideas.
• I can use resources to build my vocabulary
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Assessments
• Getting to Know a Character: What Details in the Text Help Us Understand?
• Analyzing an Informational Text
• Analysis Essay
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Topics
• Launch novel study
• Character analysis of the main character
• Building background knowledge related to novel
• Historical fiction compared to informational text: purpose and perspective
• Analyzing word choice, meaning, and tone
• Unifying themes between fiction and non-fiction chosen texts
• Close reading and comparison of texts: continue with novel, paired with informational text
• Close reading of a complex informational text to deepen students understanding
• Analyzing the Significance of the Novel’s Title
• Preparing to write an analysis essay by examining a model essay and the essay rubric
• Drafting, revising, and editing literary essay
• Close reading of critical incidents in novel related to aspects of the research-based narrative
• Structured research and planning for research-based free-verse narrative poems
• Mentor text writing: select a snapshot of the planned story to write two free-verse, narrative poems using the novel as a mentor text
• Drafting, revising, and editing of research-based narrative
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Standards
RL.8.1, RL.8.3, RL.8.4, RL.8.5, RL.8.6a, RL.8.11
RI.8.1, RI.8.2, RI.8.3, RI.8.4
W.8.2, W.8.3, W.8.4, W.8.5, W.8.7, W.8.9
SL.8.1
L.8.1, L.8.2, L.8.4, L.8.5, L.8.6