Grade 8 ELA
Unit — Fiction
The Outsiders
Essential Questions
What is friendship?
What is loyalty? Can one impact the other?
Does knowledge contribute to or inhibit true happiness?
Guiding Questions
What is the value of reading?
Do we need books and stories? Are they important? Why?
What are we denied when we are denied access to books?
Has the value of reading changed over time? How and why has it?
How do the characters in the text symbolize the theme?
Text/Materials
Choice Texts:
Poems:
"We Real Cool” by Gwendolyn Brooks
“Nothing Gold Can Stay” by Robert Frost
“What Love Isn’t” by Yrsa Daly-Ward
Skills Taught
Students will:
summarize text.
identify central ideas.
interpret and explain the impact of the chosen quote in the context of the text.
make use of vivid word choice, imagery, figurative language, transitional statements, and varying sentence structures.
identify characters’ motivations.
identify the significance of particular allusions.
identify themes in text and analyze how the theme is shaped and refined by the character’s transformation.
identify various literary elements in the text and analyze the use of the element through the text and how it contributes to the development of the theme.
highlight words and phrases that reveal the author’s attitude toward the subject of the text.
Reading: 8R1, 8R2, 8R3, 8R4, 8R6, 8R7, 8R9
Writing: 8W1, 8W2, 8W3, 8W4, 8W5
Speaking/Listening: 8SL1, 8SL2, 8SL3, 8SL4, 8SL5, 8SL6
Language: 8L1, 8L2, 8L3, 8L4, 8L5, 8L6
Unit — Short Stories
Essential Questions
How does an author develop characters?
What details in the story contribute to our understanding of the theme?
Guiding Questions
How do authors craft stories?
What effect does figurative language have on a reader’s understanding of theme?
How does irony play a role in understanding the story?
Text/Materials
Choice Texts by the following authors:
Walter Dean Myers
Roald Dahl
Joan Bauer
Sandra Cisneros
Jason Alexander
Jaqueline Woodson
Julia Alvararez
Issac Asimov
Kyoko Mori
Ray Bradbury
Skills Taught
Students will:
summarize text.
Students will be able to identify central ideas.
interpret and explain the impact of the chosen quote in the context of the text.
make use of vivid word choice, imagery, figurative language, transitional statements, and varying sentence structures.
identify characters’ motivations.
identify the significance of particular allusions.
identify themes in text and analyze how the theme is shaped and refined by the character’s transformation.
identify various literary elements in the text and analyze the use of the element through the text and how it contributes to the development of the theme.
highlight words and phrases that reveal the author’s attitude toward the subject of the text.
Reading: 8R1, 8R2, 8R3, 8R4, 8R6, 8R7, 8R9
Writing: 8W1, 8W2, 8W3, 8W4, 8W5
Speaking/Listening: 8SL1, 8SL2, 8SL3, 8SL4, 8SL5, 8SL6
Language: 8L1, 8L2, 8L3, 8L4, 8L5, 8L6
Unit — Holocaust Lit
Essential Questions
How does a person survive the unimaginable?
What qualities might someone need to draw upon in challenging times?
How do our choices affect our lives?
Guiding Questions
How do choices affect history?
How does the choices an individual make affect their community?
Text/Materials
Choice Texts:
Daniel’s Story by Carol Matas
The Children of Willesden Lane by Mona Golabek and Lee Cohen
The Boy on the Wooden Box by Leon Leyson
A Train Near Magdeburg (YA) by Matthew Rozell
Rose Under Fire by Elizabeth Wein
Upon the Head of a Goat by Aranka Siegal
USC Shoah Foundation videos
YAD Vashem
USHMM
HHREC
Skills Taught
Students will:
summarize text.
identify central ideas.
interpret and explain the impact of the chosen quote in the context of the text.
make use of vivid word choice, imagery, figurative language, transitional statements, and varying sentence structures.
identify characters’ motivations.
identify the significance of particular allusions.
identify themes in text and analyze how the theme is shaped and refined by the character’s transformation.
identify various literary elements in the text and analyze the use of the element through the text and how it contributes to the development of the theme.
highlight words and phrases that reveal the author’s attitude toward the subject of the text.
Reading: 8R1, 8R2, 8R3, 8R4, 8R6, 8R7, 8R9
Writing: 8W1, 8W2, 8W3, 8W4, 8W5
Speaking/Listening: 8SL1, 8SL2, 8SL3, 8SL4, 8SL5, 8SL6
Language: 8L1, 8L2, 8L3, 8L4, 8L5, 8L6
Unit — Non-Fiction (Unbroken)
Essential Questions
How do our circumstances influence how we see the world and react to challenges we face?
Guiding Questions
How do the characters' reactions to conflict and opposition dictate the outcomes of a situation?
Text/Materials
Core Texts:
Unbroken (YA) by Laura Hillenbrand
Skills Taught
Students will:
summarize text.
identify central ideas.
interpret and explain the impact of the chosen quote in the context of the text.
make use of vivid word choice, imagery, figurative language, transitional statements, and varying sentence structures.
identify characters’ motivations.
identify the significance of particular allusions.
identify themes in text and analyze how the theme is shaped and refined by the character’s transformation.
identify various literary elements in the text and analyze the use of the element through the text and how it contributes to the development of the theme.
highlight words and phrases that reveal the author’s attitude toward the subject of the text.
Reading: 8R1, 8R2, 8R3, 8R4, 8R6, 8R7, 8R9
Writing: 8W1, 8W2, 8W3, 8W4, 8W5
Speaking/Listening: 8SL1, 8SL2, 8SL3, 8SL4, 8SL5, 8SL6
Language: 8L1, 8L2, 8L3, 8L4, 8L5, 8L6
Unit — Non-Fiction (Just Mercy)
Essential Questions
What is justice?
What is mercy?
Are people more than the worst things they’ve done, like Stevenson claims?
Guiding Questions
What, if anything, does power and wealth have to do with justice?
What are the consequences of prejudice and injustice, and how does an individual’s response to them reveal their true character and their morals, ethics, and values?
Text/Materials
Core Texts:
Just Mercy (YA) by Bryan Stevenson
Choice Texts:
“The Coming of John” by W.E.B. Dubois
Just Mercy film
Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry and
Let the Circle Be Unbroken by Mildred Taylor
Skills Taught
Students will:
summarize text.
identify central ideas.
interpret and explain the impact of the chosen quote in the context of the text.
make use of vivid word choice, imagery, figurative language, transitional statements, and varying sentence structures.
identify characters’ motivations.
identify the significance of particular allusions.
identify themes in text and analyze how the theme is shaped and refined by the character’s transformation.
identify various literary elements in the text and analyze the use of the element through the text and how it contributes to the development of the theme.
highlight words and phrases that reveal the author’s attitude toward the subject of the text.
Reading: 8R1, 8R2, 8R3, 8R4, 8R6, 8R7, 8R9
Writing: 8W1, 8W2, 8W3, 8W4, 8W5
Speaking/Listening: 8SL1, 8SL2, 8SL3, 8SL4, 8SL5, 8SL6
Language: 8L1, 8L2, 8L3, 8L4, 8L5, 8L6
Unit — Non-Fiction Research
Essential Questions
How does one engage in an inquiry-based process for research?
How can we explore topics by generating inquiry questions, research different areas of a topic, build on new knowledge, make connections, and finally develop an evidence-based perspective?
How does the inquiry process assist in the innocence to experience process?
What do I find interesting?
What do I want to learn more about?
How…?
What impact…?
What effect/affect…?
Why…?
If...then…?
Where did it originate?
What is its history?
What are its major aspects?
What are its causes and implications?
What other things is it connected to or associated with?
What are its important places, things, people, and experts?
What is the purpose for this piece?
Guiding Questions
Does the question have an appropriate scope or purpose? (Does it focus on an important aspect of the research question/problem?)
Is the question useful? Will it lead to meaningful inquiry?
Is the question understandable or clear?
Is the question answerable through research?
Does the question require multiple answers and possibly more questions?
Is your question’s answer unknown to you?
Is the research question one that is of interest to the researcher and potentially to others? Is it a new issue or problem that needs to be solved or is it attempting to shed light on previously researched topic?
Consider the available time frame and the required resources. Is the methodology to conduct the research feasible?
Is the research question measureable and will the process produce data that can be supported or contradicted?
Is the research question too broad or too narrow?
Text/Materials
Choice Texts:
Students choose texts for research based on their individual research question/problem.
Evaluation Checklist
Specific Inquiry Questions
Checklist
Skills Taught
Students will:
read closely for textual details.
annotate texts to support comprehension and analysis.
engage in productive evidence-based discussions about text.
collect and organize evidence from texts to support analysis in writing.
analyze text and multimedia.
make claims about the development and refinement of central ideas in a text.
use vocabulary strategies to define unknown words.
identify potential topics for research within a text.
generate, select, and refine inquiry questions to explore topics.
develop 2–3 areas of investigation from the topic exploration.
develop inquiry questions about areas of investigation.
plan for searches by determining keywords/phrases and finding credible and relevant sources.
assess sources for credibility, relevance, and accessibility.
annotate sources and record notes that will help answer the inquiry questions.
conduct searches with modeling and support as well as independently.
review and synthesize the research to develop a written evidence-based perspective.
Reading: 8R1, 8R2, 8R3, 8R5, 8R7, 8R8, 8R9
Writing: 8W1, 8W2, 8W3, 8W4, 8W5, 8W6, 8W7
Speaking/Listening: 8SL1, 8SL2, 8SL3, 8SL4, 8SL5, 8SL6
Language: 8L1, 8L2, 8L3, 8L4, 8L5, 8L6
Unit — Poetry
Essential Questions
What makes poetry unique?
What is the intended purpose of the speaker in a poem?
Why is diction important to understanding poetry?
How are literary devices used to enhance poetry and its meaning?
How does a reader analyze a poem for understanding and meaning?
How are themes illustrated through poetry? (especially themes of innocence and experience)
What can we learn about ourselves through the reading and writing of poetry?
How does reading poetry shape our writing/ writing poetry shape our reading?
Guiding Questions
How does the poem sound?
Does the poem move fast or slow?
Does it sound awkward in sections or does it have an even flow?
Do certain words stick out more than others?
“Who’s talking?” and “Who are they talking to?”
What would it be like to meet this person?
What would they look like?
What is the subject of the poem?
What words or images stand out?
Is there any figurative language in the poem? (metaphor, simile, imagery)
Is there any alliteration in the poem?
Is there an example of onomatopoeia in the poem?
Does the title give any clue to the meaning of the poem?
Who is the speaker in the poem?-Is anything being personified in the poem?
Is there any hyperbole in the poem?
Do you notice any assonance or consonance in the poem?
Is there any sensory imagery in the poem?
What is the conflict in the poem?
Do you notice any symbolism?
What is the tone of the poem? How does the poet feel about the subject?
What is the mood of the poem? How does the poem make you feel?
What is the theme of the poem? What is it saying about mankind or life in general?
Text/Materials
Core Texts:
“The Highwayman”
Choice Texts:
“Nikki-Rosa” by Nikki Giovanni
“I Am Offering This Poem” by Jimmy Santiago Baca
Additional genres of poetry:
sonnets
Slam poetry
Button poetry
Additional poems by the following authors:
Shakespeare
Poe
Dahl
Collins
Kay
Additional resources for poems:
Poetry Speaks
Academy of American Poets
Skills Taught
Students will:
explicate poems.
identify figurative language and imagery.
perform quick writes analyzing poems and locating particular poetic elements
discuss how poetic elements add to the effectiveness of a poem.
write analysis of sonnets.
perform translation from figurative to literal language.
write original poems of various kinds.
Reading: 8R1, 8R2, 8R3, 8R4, 8R5, 8R6, 8R7, 8R8, 8R9
Writing: 8W1, 8W2, 8W3, 8W4, 8W5
Speaking/Listening: 8SL1, 8SL2, 8SL3, 8SL4, 8SL5, 8SL6
Language: 8L1, 8L2, 8L3, 8L4, 8L5, 8L6