Working With Evidence
Grade Level: 8th
Subject: ELA
Time Frame: Quarter 2- 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.
Reading
• I can cite text-based evidence that provides the strongest support for my analysis of literary text.
• I can determine a theme or the central ideas of literary text.
• I can analyze the development of a theme or central idea throughout the text (including its relationship to the characters, setting, and plot).
• I can objectively summarize 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 how differences in points of view between characters and audience create effects in writing.
• I can analyze the extent to which a filmed or live production follows the text or script of the same literary text.
• I can evaluate the choices made by director or actors in presenting an interpretation of a script.
• I can analyze the connections between modern fiction, myths, traditional stories, or religious works (themes, patterns of events, character types).
• I can interpret, analyze, and evaluate narratives, poetry, and drama artistically by making connections to other texts, ideas, cultural perspectives, time periods, personal events, and situations.
• I can select texts to read to develop personal choices in reading.
• I can evaluate and make informed judgments about the quality of texts based on a set of criteria
• I can cite text-based evidence that provides the strongest support for an analysis of literary text.
• I can determine the central ideas of an informational text.
• I can analyze the development of a central idea throughout the text (including its relationship to supporting ideas).
• I can objectively summarize informational text.
• I can analyze the structure of a specific paragraph in a text (including the role of particular sentences in developing and refining a key concept).
• I can determine an author’s point of view or purpose in informational text.
• I can analyze how the author acknowledges and responds to conflicting evidence or viewpoints.
• I can evaluate the advantages and disadvantages of using different media to present an idea
• I can identify the argument and specific claims in a text.
• I can evaluate the argument and specific claims in a text (assessing whether the reasoning is sound and the evidence is relevant and sufficient to support the claims).
• I can identify when irrelevant evidence is used.
Writing
• I can write arguments to support claims with clear reasons and relevant evidence.
• 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.
• With support from peers and adults, I can use the writing process to ensure that purpose and audience have been addressed.
• I can write narrative texts about real or imagined experiences using relevant details and event sequences that make sense.
• I can create a presentation, piece of artwork, or a text in response to a piece of literature.
• I can comment on how my work connects to and diverges from the original literature.
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 analyze figurative language, word relationships, and nuances in word meanings.
Assessments
• Analyzing an Author’s Argument and Text Structure
• Text to Film Comparison
• Analyzing Narrative Structure and Author’s Craft
• Argument Essay on a topic of choice
• Character Confessional Narrative related to chosen text
Topics
• Building background knowledge about the universal appeal of Shakespeare’s works
• Studying the question surrounding the authorship of Shakespeare
• Analyzing text structure
• Determining the central idea and supporting details
• Analyzing the author’s perspective
• Understanding Shakespeare’s Language
• Analyzing a thematic concept of the play
• Analyzing Author’s Craft: The Poetry and Prose in the Play
• Text to Film Comparison
• Analyzing Character and the Thematic Concept of Control
• Analyzing how Shakespeare’s Play draws upon Greek Mythology
• Analyzing and Evaluating a Model Essay
• Studying Argument & Crafting a Claim
• Writing an Argument Essay
• Analyzing a Model of the Character Confessional Narrative
• Analyzing the Narrative Rubric
• Drafting the Narrative
• Peer Critique of Narrative
• Final Draft of the Narrative
• Sharing the Narrative
Standards
RL.8.1, RL.8.2, RL.8.3, RL.8.4, RL.8.5, RL.8.6, RL.8.7, RL.8.9, RL.8.11
RI.8.1, RI.8.2, RI.8.5, RI.8.6, RI.8.7, RI.8.8
W.8.1, W.8.3, W.8.4, W.8.5, W.8.9, W.8.11
SL.8.1
L.8.1, L.8.2, L.8.5