Evidence Outcomes:

a. Engage effectively in a range of collaborative discussions (one-on-one, in groups, and teacher-led) with diverse partners on grade 8 topics, texts, and issues, building on others’ ideas and expressing their own clearly. (CCSS: SL.8.1)

i. Come to discussions prepared, having read or researched material under study; explicitly draw on that preparation by referring to evidence on the topic, text, or issue to probe and reflect on ideas under discussion. (CCSS: SL.8.1a)

ii. Follow rules for collegial discussions and decision-making, track progress toward specific goals and deadlines, and define individual roles as needed. (CCSS: SL.8.1b)

iii. Pose questions that connect the ideas of several speakers and respond to others’ questions and comments with relevant evidence, observations, and ideas. (CCSS: SL.8.1c)

iv. Acknowledge new information expressed by others, and, when warranted, qualify or justify their own views in light of the evidence presented. (CCSS: SL.8.1d)

b. Analyze the purpose of information presented in diverse media and formats (for example: visually, quantitatively, orally) and evaluate the motives (for example: social, commercial, political) behind its presentation. (CCSS: SL.8.2)

c. Delineate a speaker’s argument and specific claims, evaluating the soundness of the reasoning and relevance and sufficiency of the evidence and identifying when irrelevant evidence is introduced. (CCSS: SL.8.3)

Transfer Goals: Based on the Evidence Outcomes, what will students transfer to new contexts/situations?

Creatively, effectively and efficiently communicate in a variety of group settings and situations through analysis and synthesis of information.

Essential Understandings: In order to meet these transfer goals, the essential ideas and core processes students must understand are...

How to:

• Communicate a credible argument clearly and concisely

• Listen to and analyze the arguments of others

• Analyze the information presented and the motive behind it

• Evaluate the speaker’s argument for credibility of evidence and soundness of reasoning

In order to meet these essential understandings, students must know...

• To prepare for discussion

  • Formulating a claim

  • Gathering evidence and referring to evidence to back up claims

  • Read/study/annotate required materials and resources

  • Using the evidence, creating analysis to

  • Develop/formulate questions related to topic/discussion

• To collaborate in a discussion

• The act of working with someone respectfully towards a common goal

• Defining roles for group members

• Developing and creating goals and deadlines for discussions/projects

• Furthering discussion with thoughtful open-end questions

• Connecting ideas

• Building on information and evidence of others through listening

• Listening to speakers and preparing to summarize and reflect on their opinions

• To evaluate contributors’:

  • Argument or specific claims

  • Relevance of evidence

  • Motives

• Amount of support/evidence

In order to meet these essential understandings, students must be able to...

• Prepare thoroughly for discussion and use prepared documents to draw upon in discussion

• Organize time and delineate jobs for self and groups

• Follow rules developed and goals created for formal discussion

• Develop, pose and respond to specific questions

  • Elaborate on ideas of others through questioning

  • Pose questions based on the reasoning of others

• Listen to ideas of others in order to reflect and respond appropriately

• Refer to evidence on the topic, text or issue to discuss and support ideas

• Reflect on ideas under discussion

• Distinguish between claims and counterclaims

• In discussion, clearly present ideas using support form research or annotations

• State own ideas and evidence for support

• Interpret information

• Listen for and acknowledge the motives, purpose, and meaning of the presentation

• Listen for and acknowledge importance of counterclaim/opposing argument and irrelevant evidence

Evidence Outcomes:

a. Present claims and findings, emphasizing salient points in a focused, coherent manner with relevant evidence, sound valid reasoning, and well-chosen details; use appropriate eye contact, adequate volume, and clear pronunciation. (CCSS: SL.8.4)

b. Integrate multimedia and visual displays into presentations to clarify information, strengthen claims and evidence, and add interest. (CCSS: SL.8.5)

c. Adapt speech to a variety of contexts and tasks, demonstrating command of formal English when indicated or appropriate. (CCSS: SL.8.6)

Transfer Goals: Based on the Evidence Outcomes, what will students transfer to new contexts/situations?

Deliver effective oral presentations for varied audiences and varied purposes.

Essential Understandings: In order to meet these transfer goals, the essential ideas and core processes students must understand are...

How to…

• Formulate ideas using claim, evidence, analysis

• Use appropriate volume, eye contact, enunciation, volume and pronunciation

• Integrate visuals to presentations, to clarify, strengthen and enhance ideas

• How to use formal and appropriate language for the task at hand

In order to meet these essential understandings, students must know...

• Claims and Findings

  • Formulating claim, evidence, and analysis

    • Create/develop thesis

    • Develop direct support

  • Organizing details and reasoning for cohesion

    • Salient points (most important)

    • Sound, valid reasoning

• Appropriate Presentation Behavior

• Awareness of appropriate volume for audience and occasion

• Awareness of eye contact; visually connecting with

participants/audience

• Awareness of proper diction/pronunciation as well as enunciation, for audience clarity and understanding

• Visual Aids

  • Selecting appropriate and credible visual aids that clarify, strengthen and enhance ideas

    • Prezi, ppt, Google slides, poster/storyboard, etc.

• Language

  • Differentiating between formal and informal language

    • When is slang appropriate

    • When to use academic language

  • Using language appropriate to task and context

• What is the project

In order to meet these essential understandings, students must be able to...

• Present claim, evidence, and analysis formally

• Present details and reasoning for cohesion

• Employ appropriate volume for audience and occasion

• Employ eye contact; visually connecting with participants/audience

• Employ proper diction/pronunciation as well as

• Enunciation, for audience clarity and understanding

• Develop/present appropriate and credible visual aids that clarify, strengthen and enhance ideas

• Employ formal and/or informal language necessary for the task

• Employ language appropriate to task and context

Evidence Outcomes:

a. Use Key Ideas and Details to:

i. Cite the textual evidence that most strongly supports an analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text. (CCSS: RL.8.1)

ii. Determine a theme or central idea of a text and analyze its development over the course of the text, including its relationship to the characters, setting, and plot; provide an objective summary of the text. (CCSS: RL.8.2)

iii. Analyze how particular lines of dialogue or incidents in a story or drama propel the action, reveal aspects of a character, or provoke a decision. (CCSS: RL.8.3)

b. Use Craft and Structure to:

i. Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, including figurative and connotative meanings; analyze the impact of specific word choices on meaning and tone, including analogies or allusions to other texts. (CCSS: RL.8.4)

ii. Compare and contrast the structure of two or more texts and analyze how the differing structure of each text contributes to its meaning and style. (CCSS: RL.8.5)

iii. Analyze how differences in the points of view of the characters and the audience or reader (for example: created through the use of dramatic irony) create such effects as suspense or humor. (CCSS: RL.8.6)

c. Use Integration of Knowledge and Ideas to:

i. Analyze the extent to which a filmed or live production of a story or drama stays faithful to or departs from the text or script, evaluating the choices made by the director or actors. (CCSS: RL.8.7)

ii. Analyze how a modern work of fiction draws on themes, patterns of events, or character types from myths, traditional stories, or religious works such as the Bible, including describing how the material is rendered new. (CCSS: RL.8.9)

d. Use Range of Reading and Complexity of Text to:

i. By the end of the year, read and comprehend literature, including stories, dramas, and poems, at the high end of grades 6–8 text complexity band independently and proficiently. (CCSS: RL.8.10)

Transfer Goals: Based on the Evidence Outcomes, what will students transfer to new contexts/situations?

Read a wide range of literary texts to build knowledge and to better understand the human experience.

Essential Understandings: In order to meet these transfer goals, the essential ideas and core processes students must understand are...

How to:

• synthesize information and support thinking with evidence

• broaden vocabulary and understand the impact of words

• understand perspectives and structure of informational texts

• analyze information presented in different mediums and credibility of arguments

In order to meet these essential understandings, students must know...

• Key Ideas and Details

  • Text interaction skills

  • Analyzing character, plot, theme and setting

  • Summarizing

  • Close reading and analyzing text lines/sections for meaning

• Craft and Structure

  • Vocabulary skills: Connotative, Literal, Figurative

  • Text structure and style

  • Comparing and contrasting

  • Point of View and audience perspective

• Integration of Knowledge and Ideas

  • Analyzing similarities and differences in different mediums

  • Analyzing patterns drawn from literature in modern day works

  • Reading for complexity, proficiency and comprehension at grade level, higher level

In order to meet these essential understandings, students must be able to...

• Support claims with strong textual evidence/reference the text by

  • Paraphrasing

  • Direct quotes

• Determine central ideas/themes of a text

• Analyze key details or specific quotations in a text for impact on the story

• Summarize a text

• Use a text to broaden vocabulary

• Understand essential components/building blocks of a text

• Analyze perspective of a text

  • Point of view

  • Audience viewpoint

• Analyze different versions of literature and analyze meaning

• Analyze a text to determine patterns and themes

• Comprehend a variety of literature on grade level

Evidence Outcomes:

a. Use Key Ideas and Details to:

i. Cite the textual evidence that most strongly supports an analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text. (CCSS: RI.8.1)

ii. Determine a central idea of a text and analyze its development over the course of the text, including its relationship to supporting ideas; provide an objective summary of the text. (CCSS: RI.8.2)

iii. Analyze how a text makes connections among and distinctions between individuals, ideas, or events (for example: through comparisons, analogies, or categories). (CCSS: RI.8.3)

b. Use Craft and Structure to:

i. Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, including figurative, connotative, and technical meanings; analyze the impact of specific word choices on meaning and tone, including analogies or allusions to other texts. (CCSS: RI.8.4)

ii. Analyze in detail the structure of a specific paragraph in a text, including the role of particular sentences in developing and refining a key concept. (CCSS: RI.8.5)

iii. Determine an author’s point of view or purpose in a text and analyze how the author acknowledges and responds to conflicting evidence or viewpoints. (CCSS: RI.8.6)

c. Use Integration of Knowledge and Ideas to:

i. Evaluate the advantages and disadvantages of using different mediums (for example: print or digital text, video, multimedia) to present a particular topic or idea. (CCSS: RI.8.7)

ii. Delineate and evaluate the argument and specific claims in a text, assessing whether the reasoning is sound and the evidence is relevant and sufficient; recognize when irrelevant evidence is introduced. (CCSS: RI.8.8)

iii. Analyze a case in which two or more texts provide conflicting information on the same topic and identify where the texts disagree on matters of fact or interpretation. (CCSS: RI.8.9)

d. Range of Reading and Level of Text Complexity

i. By the end of the year, read and comprehend literary nonfiction at the high end of the grades 6–8 text complexity band independently and proficiently. (CCSS: RI.8.10)

Transfer Goals: Based on the Evidence Outcomes, what will students transfer to new contexts/situations?

Read a wide range of informational texts to build knowledge and to better understand the human experience and the world around us.

Essential Understandings: In order to meet these transfer goals, the essential ideas and core processes students must understand are...

How to...

• Synthesize information and support thinking with evidence

• Broaden vocabulary and understand the impact of words

• Understand perspectives and structure of informational texts

• Analyze information presented in different mediums and credibility of arguments

In order to meet these essential understandings, students must know...

• Key Ideas and Details

  • How to identify/cite evidence

    • To support analysis of text

    • What text states directly (explicitly)

    • draw inferences

  • Determine Central Ideas

    • Development over course of text

      • Include relationship to supporting ideas

      • Summarizing text objectively

  • Analysis how texts make connections to:

    • Individuals, idea and events

• Craft and Structure

  • Determining meaning of words/phrases

    • Figurative

    • Connotative and technical

    • Analyze impact of specific word choices regarding meaning and tone (analogies/allusions to other texts)

  • Analyze structure of paragraph (close reading)

    • Roles of particular sentences in developing and refining a key concept

  • Determine author’s POV and purpose

    • Analyze how author acknowledges and responds to conflicting evidence and viewpoints

Use Integration of Knowledge and Ideas to:

• Analyzing different mediums (printer, digital, text, video, multimedia)

  • Visually and quantitatively

  • Wording of message

• Delineate/evaluate argument and claims in a text

  • Assess whether reasoning is sound and evidence is relevant and sufficient

  • Recognize when irrelevant evidence is introduced

• Analyze multiple texts with conflicting information on same topic

  • Identify disagreement on matters of fact or interpretation

In order to meet these essential understandings, students must be able to...

Use Key Ideas and Details to:

• Cite textual evidence

• Determine central idea in a text

• Analyze how text makes connections/distinctions

Use Craft and Structure to:

• Determine meaning of words and phrases

• Analyze the structure of a specific paragraph in a text

• Determine author’s point of view or purpose

Use Integration of Knowledge and Ideas to:

• Evaluate the advantages/disadvantages of different mediums

• Delineate and evaluate the argument and specific claims in a text

• Analyze a case in which 2 or more texts provide conflicting information on same topic

  • Identify disagreement on matters of fact or interpretation

Evidence Outcomes:

a. Determine or clarify the meaning of unknown and multiple-meaning words or phrases based on grade 8 reading and content, choosing flexibly from a range of strategies. (CCSS: L.8.4)

i. Use context (for example: the overall meaning of a sentence or paragraph; a word’s position or function in a sentence) as a clue to the meaning of a word or phrase. (CCSS: L.8.4a)

ii. Use common, grade-appropriate Greek or Latin affixes and roots as clues to the meaning of a word (for example: precede, recede, secede). (CCSS: L.8.4b)

iii. Consult general and specialized reference materials (for example: dictionaries, glossaries, thesauruses), both print and digital, to find the pronunciation of a word or determine or clarify its precise meaning or its part of speech. (CCSS: L.8.4c)

iv. Verify the preliminary determination of the meaning of a word or phrase (for example: by checking the inferred meaning in context or in a dictionary). (CCSS: L.8.4d)

b. Demonstrate understanding of figurative language, word relationships, and nuances in word meanings. (CCSS: L.8.5)

i. Interpret figures of speech (for example: verbal irony, puns) in context. (CCSS: L.8.5a)

ii. Use the relationship between particular words to better understand each of the words. (CCSS: L.8.5b)

iii. Distinguish among the connotations (associations) of words with similar denotations (definitions) (for example: bullheaded, willful, firm, persistent, resolute). * (CCSS: L.8.5c)

c. Acquire and use accurately grade-appropriate general academic and domain-specific words and phrases; gather vocabulary knowledge when considering a word or phrase important to comprehension or expression. (CCSS: L.8.6)

Transfer Goals: Based on the Evidence Outcomes, what will students transfer to new contexts/situations?

Understand how language functions in different contexts and adjust and adapt to various situations when writing or speaking.

Essential Understandings: In order to meet these transfer goals, the essential ideas and core processes students must understand are...

How to...

• Broaden Vocabulary using context clues, roots and reference materials

• Make inferences to determine meaning

• Understand Figurative Language

• Comprehend word meanings and nuances

• Use vocabulary accurately in different situations (formal, informal, academic, etc.)

In order to meet these essential understandings, students must know...

• To broaden vocabulary

• Using and understanding context clues

• Using knowledge of Latin/Greek roots

• Using reference materials

• Making inferences

• Figurative language

• Distinguish between figurative and literal language

• Interpret figures of speech

• Understand word and meaning relationships

• Use word relationships/context clues to determine meaning

• Understand differences between denotative and connotative

In order to meet these essential understandings, students must be able to...

• Incorporate knowledge of vocabulary into reading and writing

• Use context clues to determine meaning

• Demonstrate knowledge of Latin/Greek roots, and reference books

• Interpret figures of speech

• Determine relationship between words

• Distinguish between the literal and connotative meaning of words

• Employ the use of grade or context appropriate language and demonstrate knowledge of vocabulary and word meaning

Evidence Outcomes:

a. Write arguments to support claims with clear reasons and relevant evidence. (CCSS: W.8.1)

i. Introduce claim(s), acknowledge and distinguish the claim(s) from alternate or opposing claims, and organize the reasons and evidence logically. (CCSS: W.8.1a)

ii. Support claim(s) with logical reasoning and relevant evidence, using accurate, credible sources and demonstrating an understanding of the topic or text. (CCSS: W.8.1b)

iii. Use words, phrases, and clauses to create cohesion and clarify the relationships among claim(s), counterclaims, reasons, and evidence. (CCSS: W.8.1c)

iv. Establish and maintain a formal style. (CCSS: W.8.1d)

v. Provide a concluding statement or section that follows from and supports the argument presented. (CCSS: W.8.1e)

Transfer Goals: Based on the Evidence Outcomes, what will students transfer to new contexts/situations?

Craft arguments using techniques specific to the genre.

Essential Understandings: In order to meet these transfer goals, the essential ideas and core processes students must understand are...

How to...

• Create a credible and cohesive argument using claim, evidence, and analysis

• Understand different perspectives

• Understand formal writing structures and formats

In order to meet these essential understandings, students must know...

Writing Structure:

• Elements of a paragraph

  • Thesis/claim

  • Evidence and reasoning (will need multiple parts)

• Elements of an effective claim and counterclaim (both included in a thesis)

• Relevant: clearly related to the prompt

• Arguable: debatable, not a statement of fact

• Acknowledge counterclaims, but no need to prove with evidence

• Resources for evaluating sources

  • Validity of source

  • Strength of evidence

• Characteristics of strong evidence

  • Students must evaluate evidence (via critical reading) before use

  • Credible: from a reliable and reputable source, as determined using credibility-testing tools

  • Relevant: related to the claim/thesis

  • Detailed

  • Proper in-text citation methods for the format (MLA, APA, etc.)

• Organize evidence within argument

• Elements of compelling analysis/ reasoning

  • Demonstrate understanding of how each piece of evidence supports the claim

• Steps to write a logical conclusion that explains the relevance or significance of the argument

Writing Style:

• Understand formal writing style/format (thesis/intro/body/conclusion)

• Use knowledge of vocabulary and language to support an argument

• Stylistic tools appropriate to the objective

  • Create cohesion and clarity with transitions (words, phrases and clauses)

In order to meet these essential understandings, students must be able to...

• Write an argument that includes these elements:

  • Make a claim, and acknowledge counterclaims

  • Support the claim with strong evidence and reasoning

  • Use appropriate transitions to create clarity and cohesion

  • Provide appropriate conclusion

• Use appropriate stylistic tools to achieve the objective

Evidence Outcomes:

a. Write informative/explanatory texts to examine a topic and convey ideas, concepts, and information through the selection, organization, and analysis of relevant content. (CCSS: W.8.2)

i. Introduce a topic clearly, previewing what is to follow; organize ideas, concepts, and information into broader categories; include formatting (for example: headings), graphics (for example: charts, tables), and multimedia when useful to aiding comprehension. (CCSS: W.8.2a)

ii. Develop the topic with relevant, well-chosen facts, definitions, concrete details, quotations, or other information and examples. (CCSS: W.8.2b)

iii. Use appropriate and varied transitions to create cohesion and clarify the relationships among ideas and concepts. (CCSS: W.8.2c)

iv. Use precise language and domain-specific vocabulary to inform about or explain the topic. (CCSS: W.8.2d)

v. Establish and maintain a formal style. (CCSS: W.8.2e)

vi. Provide a concluding statement or section that follows from and supports the information or explanation presented. (CCSS: W.8.2f)

Transfer Goals: Based on the Evidence Outcomes, what will students transfer to new contexts/situations?

Craft informational/explanatory using techniques specific to the genre.

Essential Understandings: In order to meet these transfer goals, the essential ideas and core processes students must understand are...

How to…

• Write to inform or explain a topic

• Provide relevant evidence and details

• Organize information

• Use vocabulary and language appropriate to topic, style, situation

In order to meet these essential understandings, students must know...

• Writing Structure

  • Develop the topic

    • Select the well-chosen and relevant (relates to topic) facts, concrete/solid details, quotations, or other information and examples

    • Awareness of audience's knowledge of the topic.

  • Transitions

    • Appropriate and varied

    • Clarify relationships among ideas to create cohesion

  • Conclusions

    • Follows from and supports the information or explanation presented

• Writing Style & Techniques

  • Elements of formal style appropriate to the discipline

    • Professional diction and voice (eliminate slang)

    • Third-person pronouns

    • Sections or paragraphs as indicated by prompt

  • Strategies to use domain-specific vocabulary effectively

    • Include definitions or appropriate context

In order to meet these essential understandings, students must be able to...

Write informative/explanatory texts that include:

• Introduce a topic

• Organization

  • Broad categories

  • Provide a conclusion

  • Formatting (headings/subheadings, etc.)

• Develop the topic thoroughly

  • Include aids and visuals to enhance audience comprehension

• Use transitions to create cohesion

• Use precise language and domain-specific vocabulary,

• Establish and maintain a formal style

Evidence Outcomes:

a. Write narratives to develop real or imagined experiences or events using effective technique, relevant descriptive details, and well-structured event sequences. (CCSS: W.8.3)

i. Engage and orient the reader by establishing a context and point of view and introducing a narrator and/or characters; organize an event sequence that unfolds naturally and logically. (CCSS: W.8.3a)

ii. Use narrative techniques, such as dialogue, pacing, description, and reflection, to develop experiences, events, and/or characters. (CCSS: W.8.3b)

iii. Use a variety of transition words, phrases, and clauses to convey sequence, signal shifts from one time frame or setting to another, and show the relationships among experiences and events. (CCSS: W.8.3c)

iv. Use precise words and phrases, relevant descriptive details, and sensory language to capture the action and convey experiences and events. (CCSS: W.8.3d)

v. Provide a conclusion that follows from and reflects on the narrated experiences or events. (CCSS: W.8.3e)

vi. Use stylistic techniques (for example: alliteration, onomatopoeia); figurative language (for example: simile, metaphor, personification, hyperbole); and graphic elements (for example: capital letters, line length, word position) to express personal or narrative voice.

Transfer Goals: Based on the Evidence Outcomes, what will students transfer to new contexts/situations?

Craft engaging and significant narratives that illustrate universal truths about the human experience.

Essential Understandings: In order to meet these transfer goals, the essential ideas and core processes students must understand are...

How to…

• Creatively write about imagined or real experiences

• Organize the narrative logically to engage the audience

• Use sensory details and stylistic/narrative techniques to enhance the story and create further engagement

In order to meet these essential understandings, students must know...

Writing Structure

• Narrative plot structures

  • Varieties of plot structures

  • Pacing to maintain interest

  • Sequence events (plot) to unfold logically

  • Use transition words and phrases to signal shifts in time or setting, and connect events

• Engage and orient reader:

  • Introduce setting, character, problem/situation

  • Establish point of view (1st, 2nd, 3rd person), narrative voice

  • Progression of story

• Character types and development

• Conflict types and resolution/change

• Conclusions

  • Resolution or transformation of main conflict

  • Reflects on the meaning or impact implicit in the story (theme)

Style, Mechanics and Conventions

• Characteristics of genres

• Writing conventions

  • Formatting

  • Dialogue

  • Syntax

• Writing techniques

  • Graphic elements (letters, line length, etc.)

  • Diction

  • Precise and relevant details

  • Figurative language

• Relevant sensory details

In order to meet these essential understandings, students must be able to...

Write narratives that:

• Utilize appropriate style for the genre

• Structure a story for maximum engagement and impact

  • Concise and Engaging introduction (character, setting and conflict)

  • Progression of events toward climax

  • Develop strong characters

  • Craft impactful conclusion

  • Utilize varied writing conventions and techniques to achieve goal

Evidence Outcomes:

a. Demonstrate command of the conventions of Standard English grammar and usage when writing or speaking. (CCSS: L.8.1)

i. Explain the function of verbals (gerunds, participles, infinitives) in general and their function in particular sentences. (CCSS: L.8.1a)

ii. Form and use verbs in the active and passive voice. (CCSS: L.8.1b)

iii. Form and use verbs in the indicative, imperative, interrogative, conditional, and subjunctive mood. (CCSS: L.8.1c)

iv. Recognize and correct inappropriate shifts in verb voice and mood. (CCSS: L.8.1d)

b. Demonstrate command of the conventions of Standard English capitalization, punctuation, and spelling when writing. (CCSS: L.8.2)

i. Use punctuation (comma, ellipsis, dash) to indicate a pause or break. (CCSS: L.8.2a)

ii. Use an ellipsis to indicate an omission. (CCSS: L.8.2b)

iii. Correctly spell frequently used words and consult reference materials (for example: dictionaries, both print and digital, spell check, and/or trusted peers and/or adults) to determine the spelling of less frequent vocabulary. (adapted from CCSS: L.8.2c)

c. Use knowledge of language and its conventions when writing, speaking, reading, or listening. (CCSS: L.8.3)

i. Use verbs in the active and passive voice and in the conditional and subjunctive mood to achieve particular effects (for example: emphasizing the actor or the action; expressing uncertainty or describing a state contrary to fact). (CCSS: L.8.3a)

d. Produce clear and coherent writing in which the development, organization, and style are appropriate to task, purpose, and audience. (CCSS: W.8.4)

e. With some guidance and support from peers and adults, develop and strengthen writing as needed by planning, revising, editing, rewriting, or trying a new approach, focusing on how well purpose and audience have been addressed. (CCSS: W.8.5)

f. Use technology, including the Internet, to produce and publish writing and present the relationships between information and ideas efficiently as well as to interact and collaborate with others. (CCSS: W.8.6)

g. Write routinely over extended time frames (time for research, reflection, and revision) and shorter time frames (a single sitting or a day or two) for a range of discipline-specific tasks, purposes, and audiences. (CCSS W.8.10)

Transfer Goals: Based on the Evidence Outcomes, what will students transfer to new contexts/situations?

Demonstrate mastery of the writing process with clear, coherent, and error-free polished products.

Essential Understandings: In order to meet these transfer goals, the essential ideas and core processes students must understand are...

How to...

• Apply grammar skills to speaking and writing, formal or informal

• Collaboratively and independently engage in the revision process to improve the clarity of writing and speaking

In order to meet these essential understandings, students must know...

• Conventions: Grammar & Usage

  • Grammar skills and tools:

    • Verbals, Active and Passive voice, Verb moods

    • Shifts in verb voice and mood

• Mechanics: (capitalization, punctuation, spelling)

  • Using commas and dashes appropriately

  • Correct use of the ellipsis

  • Correction of spelling and where/how to find correct spelling

  • Proper capitalization formatting (proper nouns, beginning of sentences…)

• Writing & Revision Process

  • Writing format and style for different genres

  • Planning/outlining/revising/formatting

    • Feedback

      • peer and adult

      • Giving and taking

  • Editing skills and tools

  • Publishing and producing writing

  • Writing extended pieces in order to research, write, reflect and revise

  • Timed writing

• Technology supports

  • Voice to text

  • Grammarly.com

  • Google/comments

In order to meet these essential understandings, students must be able to...

• Employ correct grammar

  • verbals, passive/active voice, mood, and tense

• Demonstrate command of conventions (capitalization, punctuation, and spelling)

• Organize and create a clear and cohesive written work (final draft)

• Plan/outline written work (early drafts)

• Edit and revise written work

• Use technology to produce, share, and collaborate on work

• Write in different styles and in varied time frames

Evidence Outcomes:

a. Conduct short research projects to answer a question (including a self-generated question), drawing on several sources and generating additional related, focused questions that allow for multiple avenues of exploration. (CCSS: W.8.7)

b. Gather relevant information from multiple print and digital sources, using search terms effectively; assess the credibility and accuracy of each source; and quote or paraphrase the data and conclusions of others while avoiding plagiarism and following a standard format for citation. (CCSS: W.8.8)

c. Draw evidence from literary or informational texts to support analysis, reflection, and research. (CCSS: W.8.9)

i. Apply grade 8 Reading standards to literature (for example: “Analyze how a modern work of fiction draws on themes, patterns of events, or character types from myths, traditional stories, or religious works such as the Bible, including describing how the material is rendered new”). (CCSS: W.8.a)

ii. Apply grade 8 Reading standards to literary nonfiction (for example: “Delineate and evaluate the argument and specific claims in a text, assessing whether the reasoning is sound and the evidence is relevant and sufficient; recognize when irrelevant evidence is introduced”). (CCSS: W.8.9b)

Transfer Goals: Based on the Evidence Outcomes, what will students transfer to new contexts/situations?

Gather information from a variety of sources, analyze and evaluate its quality and relevance, and use it to provide credible answers complex questions

Essential Understandings: In order to meet these transfer goals, the essential ideas and core processes students must understand are...

How to…

• Gather credible evidence from a variety of sources

• Determine and evaluate the credibility of the evidence

• Use the evidence to answer questions and support claims

In order to meet these essential understandings, students must know...

Research Process

• Questioning skills/tools; generating and answering

• Gather and use evidence

  • Analyzing, based off of credible evidence, to support the claim/topic

  • Analyzing arguments/claims for accuracy, reasoning, relevance

• Source/text analysis

• Creating citations and bibliographies

• Finding and using multiple and varied sources

• Analyzing and evaluating the credibility and relevance of a source

In order to meet these essential understandings, students must be able to...

• Create a research project that uses multiple, varied, and credible sources

• Analyze and evaluate the credibility and relevance of sources

• Use credible evidence to support claims/explain topic

• Create analyses, based off of credible evidence, that supports that claim/explains topic

• Create formal citations/bibliography for sources