Unit 1

Launching

The Reading Fundamentals Launching Unit of Study provides models for many reading behaviors, rituals, and routines. Active listening, thinking, engagement, and participation are fundamental expectations for reading workshop. Establishing a community that fosters these behaviors is vital and will help your students develop and grow.

Students will:

■ Develop an understanding of themselves as readers;

■ Develop habits of mind for engaging with a variety of texts;

■ Learn and apply the expectations and routines for active participation in a reading community;

■ Self-select appropriate texts and apply self-monitoring skills;

■ Cite textual evidence to support analysis of text;

■ Determine themes or central idea(s) of a text;

■ Analyze story elements and their role in fiction;

■ Use a variety of strategies to determine the meaning of challenging words and phrases in a text;

■ Analyze the impact of word choices on meaning and tone;

■ Analyze how the structure of texts supports meaning;

■ Utilize multimedia sources to support understanding of a topic;

■ Apply comprehension strategies to increase proficiency in understanding complex texts across fiction, poetry, and nonfiction;

■ Prepare for and engage in a range of collaborative conversations to deepen their own and others’ understanding of texts;

■ Write routinely to process their thinking about texts; and

■ Set and monitor goals for themselves as readers

Unit 2

Fiction

Fiction encompasses many different types of stories—historical, realistic, fantasy, mystery/horror, contemporary, or science fiction—and there is something for everyone. By reading and studying different types of fiction, students will develop an understanding of various forms, features, and purposes of the genre. Their reading of fiction texts will be enhanced by an understanding of the narrative structure, story elements, and themes associated with each particular type of fiction writing. Students will learn and apply specific reading skills and strategies that will enable them to visualize historical settings, infer characters’ feelings and traits, analyze the author’s message, and actively engage with the texts they read. Their reading of complex fiction texts should lead to a deeper understanding of characters and lessons about themes such as integrity, courage, and determination. Finally, students will deepen their knowledge through evaluating and analyzing fiction texts that contain similar themes and texts presented in diverse media formats.

Students will:

■ Understand that there are sub-genres of fiction that share the same purpose of enlightening, entertaining, and involving the audience in the life of the story;

■ Understand that fiction texts have particular elements and chronological structures;

■ Understand that there are different types of conflicts and resolutions present in fiction;

■ Recognize the power of historical settings and how fiction writers use history in their stories to shape characters and plot development;

■ Explore and evaluate characters’ points of view and the effects differing points of view or perspectives have on a story;

■ Understand that the theme of a text is often a repeated idea that is extracted by the readers as they explore and analyze a text;

■ Question what they read with the goal of developing a deep understanding of the text and the author’s purpose;

■ Actively read by keeping track of key events in a story and articulating their understanding by summarizing, posing questions, and seeking answers;

■ Recognize that fictional stories contain dialogue that propels the action, reveals aspects of characters, and/or provokes a decision;

■ Interpret and analyze literature by paying attention to specific words and phrases in order to determine the effect these words have in creating the mood and tone;

■ Expect comprehension challenges when reading fiction and apply self-monitoring skills and strategies to construct meaning;

■ Critically read texts to identify who is telling the story and from what point of view, as well as how these reliable or unreliable points of view contribute to the author’s purpose across the text;

■ Recognize how particular themes are illustrated by motifs or repetition of images and phrases, which shed light on the theme;

■ Compare and contrast the structure of texts and analyze how the different structures contribute to the meaning and style;

■ Identify and compare modern-day literature that draws on the themes, characters, and patterns of traditional tales;

■ Engage in collaborative discussions on a range of texts, topics, and issues to build upon others’ ideas and to express their own clearly;

■ Compare and contrast texts with movie, stage, audio, or multimedia versions that address similar stories and themes; and

■ Interpret, analyze, and evaluate texts by making connections to other texts and synthesize their new thinking through writing.

Unit 3

Nonfiction

The emphasis in grade 8 is on literary nonfiction, including narrative nonfiction, essays, speeches, memoirs, and biographies, to deepen students’ appreciation for nonfiction that not only informs but also argues, entertains, or provokes complex thinking. Students’ reading of both reference and literary nonfiction texts will be enhanced by an understanding of the structure, layout, and text features associated with each particular type of nonfiction writing. Common conventions and features enable authors to make their ideas and information clear and accessible to readers. Nonfiction writers stir the imagination and write in vivid, engaging styles. Students will enjoy the aesthetic features of nonfiction and learn to analyze how authors of literary nonfiction use those features to present their distinctive viewpoints on their topics.

Students will:

■ Read a variety of types of reference and literary nonfiction, including essays, speeches, memoirs, and biographies;

■ Use knowledge of genre, text structure, and text features to support understanding;

■ Use comprehension strategies before, during, and after reading to monitor and deepen comprehension;

■ Employ a repertoire of strategies to figure out unfamiliar vocabulary (including technical language) while reading;

■ Use textual evidence to support thinking about nonfiction reading in both conversation and writing;

■ Infer an author’s purpose or viewpoint;

■ Summarize and synthesize information to determine important ideas;

■ Analyze the impact of the author’s language choices on the meaning and tone of the text;

■ Analyze and evaluate arguments presented in nonfiction texts;

■ Synthesize and compare information across texts and in various formats (e.g., print, visual, multimedia); and

■ Determine and pursue meaningful goals for enhancing the reading of nonfiction.

Unit 4

Content Literacy

Our goal is to teach students to build knowledge through reading a variety of texts, discussing them from multiple stances, and writing from various sources. We teach students not to memorize disconnected facts but to sort through information, think about it, and analyze their own and others’ perspectives—in other words, to deeply comprehend it. Content literacy encompasses the skills and strategies necessary to acquire content knowledge through the exploration of a variety of complex texts.

Students will:

■ Participate in shared research and inquiry about the topic of study;

■ Recognize how new learning relates to essential questions in a historical study;

■ Cite relevant textual evidence to support thinking about reading in both conversation and writing;

■ Use prior knowledge and textual information to make inferences, draw conclusions, and synthesize information across texts;

■ Employ a repertoire of strategies to recognize, define the meaning of, and apply challenging academic and domain-specific vocabulary;

■ Deal with the challenges of complex text by reading closely, monitoring confusion, and applying comprehension strategies;

■ Learn and analyze key information from a variety of nonfiction sources, including reference nonfiction, speeches, memoirs, biography, poetry, and multimedia sources such as political cartoons;

■ Infer an author’s point of view and how it affects the meaning of a text;

■ Analyze speeches for meaning, organization, and rhetorical devices;

■ Compare and contrast multiple primary and secondary sources about a controversial issue to form independent judgments of actions and events in history;

■ Effectively contribute to peer discussions to clarify and develop thinking and identify key ideas;

■ Determine and analyze content for cause and effect relationships;

■ Analyze information in texts to determine importance, summarize key ideas, and synthesize important lessons and concepts;

■ Select appropriate online resources for accuracy and relevance;

■ Apply the lessons of historical study to present-day issues;

■ Clearly communicate content understanding both orally and in writing; and

■ Demonstrate synthesis and extension of learning by writing and delivering an argumentative speech with a clear thesis, strong reasons and evidence, a rebuttal of opposing arguments, and appropriate vocabulary and rhetorical devices.