Unit 4 ELA 8GT

ELA 8 GT Unit 4: Language and Community

DURATION:

This unit has been designed to last approximately 1 quarter.

UNIT OVERVIEW:

The unit "Language and Community" will offer students the opportunity to explore how language can influence a community. To that end, students will analyze the use of rhetoric by various writers and speakers and to apply rhetorical skills to a piece of original writing. Students will read various speeches, poems, letters, and articles related to the seminal texts, identify elements of rhetoric used by the writers, and evaluate the effectiveness of the rhetoric. The unit culminates with a PBA in which students select and analyze the rhetoric used in two commencement speeches and use one of those speeches as a mentor text in which to compose their own "farewell to middle school" speech. Since it is the end of the school year, it is recommended that teachers introduce this PBA in the middle of the unit rather than at the very end to ensure its completion; students should have enough practice with rhetorical analysis at that point to be successful with the PBA and they ought to be able to work on it independently as the lessons progress.

There are two seminal texts for this unit to be taught using the Whole Novels approach. Suggested resources can be found in the Whole Novel Resources folder. The first text is The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass. Suggested reader's response journal entries for this text focus on Douglass's use of the rhetorical appeals (which they first learned in unit 1). The second text is Chasing Lincoln's Killer. Suggested reader's response journal entries for this text are more reflective than all of the rest for the year and simply ask students to list questions they have regarding the people and events of each chapter with the assumption that many students might be curious enough to research on their own. Teachers are welcome to adapt Whole Novel activities to suit their students' needs and to incorporate their own extension or mini-projects related to the texts.

ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS:

How does language influence community?

TARGET STANDARDS:

For further clarification, teachers may consult the Maryland College and Career Ready Standards for Clarifications.

RI.8.8: 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.

W.8.1: Write arguments to support claims with clear reasons and relevant evidence.