Topic: Turning Points
Essential Question: What can cause a sudden change in someone's life?
Performance Mode: Informative Essay
🔍Focus Standards
Reading
7-8.R.5 Cite textual evidence that supports an analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text.
7-8.RL.7 Analyze the impact of character and plot development on the overall story or drama.
7-8.R.10 Analyze the structure an author uses to organize a text, and how it contributes to the text meaning.
7-8.R.12 Compare a text to another text in a different medium about the same topic and evaluate the impact of the differences on the audience.
Writing
7-8.W.2 Write informative/explanatory texts to examine a topic and convey ideas and information through the selection, organization, and analysis of relevant content, and provide a conclusion that supports the information or explanation presented.
a. Introduce a topic, previewing what is to follow; organize ideas and information into broader categories; utilize formatting, graphics, and multimedia related to the topic.
b. Develop the topic with relevant facts, definitions, concrete details, quotations, and examples.
c. Use appropriate and varied transitions to create cohesion and clarify the relationships among ideas.
d. Use precise language and content-specific vocabulary to inform about or explain the topic.
e. Use appropriate conventions and style for the audience, purpose, and task.
Academic Vocabulary
contribute
consistent
maintain
observation
sufficient
💡 It is essential to have students use these words throughout the unit, particularly in their performance tasks/assessments.
Launch Text: At the Crossroads (click to expand)
Unit Supplementary Resources
Novel Study Suggestions
Al Capone Does My Shirts | Gennifer Choldenko | 600L
The Crossover | Kwame Alexander | 750L
Ghost Boys | Jewell Parker Rhodes | 360L
Good Kind of Trouble | Lisa Moore Ramée | 720L
Holes | Louis Sachar | 660L
The In-Between | Katie Van Heidrich
The Kaya Girl | Mamle Wolo
New Kid | Jerry Craft | GN320L
The Outsiders | S.E. Hinton | 750L
Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes | Eleanor Coerr and Ronald Himler | 690L
Taking Flight: From War Orphan to Star Ballerina | Michaela Deprince and Elaine Deprince | 940:
We Beat the Street | Sampson Davis, Rameck Hunt, and George Jenkins | 860L
A Wish in the Dark | Christina Soontornvat | 720L
Zora and Me | Victoria Bond and T.R. Simon | 860L
Newsela Supplementary Resources
Life-Changing Moments
Essential Question: How can the challenges in our lives affect our perspective on the world?