GRADE EIGHT
AT A GLANCE
ENGLISH LANGUAGE ARTS SKILL MAP
UNIT ONE: Students will examine how
authors develop characters as protagonists,
antagonists, and minor characters
encountering the challenges and situations
faced by teenagers.
UNIT TWO: As students examine text
structure and literary devices (flash forward,
flashback, and foreshadow), they will analyze
the authors’ reasons for employing them.
Students will read nonfiction selections and
view its’ media interpretation to evaluate
choices made by directors or actors to remain
true to or depart from the original text.
UNIT THREE: Students will explore
literary devices of mood, tone and irony
utilized in works of fiction and nonfiction to
create suspense. Students will make
inferences, draw logical conclusions, justify
formed opinions, and develop arguments as
they evaluate the effectiveness of the
devices used within the selections.
UNIT FOUR: In this unit, students will
write arguments to support claims with clear
reasons and relevant evidence. By
distinguishing fact from opinion, citing
textual evidence and drawing inferences
from texts they will produce clear and
coherent research-based arguments.
Genre/Reading Focus:
Fiction:
*Born Worker by Gary Soto, pp. 84-93
*Checkouts by Cynthia Rylant, pp. 23-28
*Raymond’s Run by Toni Cade Bambara,
pp. 33-40
*Stop the Sun by Gary Paulsen, p.48-54
Monkey Man by Walter Dean Myers 760L
145th Street Short Stories by Walter Dean
Myers
To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee 870L
Outsiders by S.E. Hinton 750L
Genre/Reading Focus:
Fiction:
*War Party by Louis L’Amour pp. 739-750
Summer of My German Soldier by Bette
Greene
In Darkness (dialect rich) by Nick Lake 800L
Face Relations (Short stories) by
Before We Were Free by Julia Alvarez 890L
The Boy in the Striped Pajamas by John Boyne
1080L
Genre/Reading Focus:
Genre/Reading Focus:
Fiction (Science Fiction):
*Rain, Rain, Go Away by Isaac Asimov pp.
555-561
War of the Worlds by H.G. Wells
Stranger in a Strange Land by Robert Heinlein
940L
Fiction:
The Giver by Lois Lowry
Nonfiction:
Warriors Don’t Cry by Melba Beals Patillo
1000L
The Little Rock Nine, 1957 – Reading
Advantage magazine (Revolution)
*From Dear America by George Robinson,
p. 55
*The Great Rat Hunt by Laurence Yep, pp.
107-114
Non-fiction:
Night by Elie Wiesel
A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier
By Ishmael Beah
Diary of Anne Frank
Hana’s Suitcase by Karen Levine
Zlata’s Diary by Zlata Flipovic
Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an
American Slave by Frederick Douglass
*What to the Slave is the Fourth of July by
Frederick Douglass
Horror/Suspense:
*The Tell-tale Heart by Edgar Allen Poe pp.
625-630
*The Dinner Party by Mona Gardner pp. 566-7
Nonfiction:
*Birthday Ritual A Grave Tradition by
Roger J. Hansen pp. 634-637
The Great Influenza by John Barry
The Return of the Black Death by Susanne
Scott
Plague by Edward Marriott
“The Conficker Worm: April Fool’s Joke or
Unthinkable Disaster” by John Markoff,
March 19.2009 – The New York Times
“Cell Phone Convenience or 21st Century
Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
Brave New World by A. Huxley
Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury 890L
Nonfiction:
New Birth of Freedom by Belinda Cooper,
The New York Times, Critical Review
Bringing Back the Black Plague by Andrea
Bennett, Nov. 1, 20111947=-Roswell UFO
Crash by Billy Booth, About.com
Exerpt from “Roswell UFO Incident” by
“Court asked to balance information age
advances with constitutional protections”
by Robert Barnes, April 24, 2011 - The
Washington Post
High-Tech Cheating On The Rise At
Schools by Kelly Wallace, June 17, 2009 –
www.cbsnews.com/2102-500803_1625094968.html
GRADE EIGHT
Concepts:
Central idea
Literary Elements
Characterization
Narrative Technique
Skills:
Deduce central idea/theme
Analyze setting/plot
Evaluate character motives
Dialogue
AT A GLANCE
ENGLISH LANGUAGE ARTS SKILL MAP
*O Captain, My Captain by Walt Whitman,
p. 779
Plague” by Dr. Nick Begich and James
Roderick, Earth Plus Press
Concepts:
Plot analysis-techniques*
Author’s Perspective
Text structure
Poetry:
*Who Knows If the Moons by E.E.
Cummings p. 589
*South Bound on the Freeway by May
Swenson p. 588
Skills:
Cause & effect
*Flash forward, flashback, foreshadow
Point of View
Concepts:
Problem/Solution
Mood/Tone Analysis
Irony (situational and dramatic)
Skills:
Problem/Solution
Determining/critiquing the problem/
solution
Interpret/scrutinize aspects of mood/tone
Identifying/analyzing situational and
dramatic irony
Concepts:
Elements of Argument
Techniques of Argument (appeals)
Author motives and purpose for plot and
character choices
Skills:
Distinguishing claims and counterclaims
Analyze elements that propel the storyline
Speculating author and director choices
GRADE EIGHT
Writing Focus:
Narrative
Informational/Explanatory
Concepts:
Literary Elements
Characterization
Text Organization
AT A GLANCE
Writing Focus:
Informational
Explanatory
Concepts:
Author’s Perspective
Text structure
Word Choice
Skills:
Develop characters
Craft narration
Use dialogue
Use of description and sensory language
Sequencing events
Use of transition words/phrases
Skills:
Point of View
Utilize Formal Style
Utilize relevant facts
Utilize precise language and domain-specific
vocabulary
Sequencing events
Grammar/Skill Focus:
 Quotations, commas, and other
punctuation
 Examine use of dialect
Grammar/Skill Focus:
 Common and complex sentences
(diagramming sentences)
 Active and passive voice
 Indicative and imperative verbs
ENGLISH LANGUAGE ARTS SKILL MAP
Writing Focus:
Explanatory
Argumentative
Writing Focus:
Argumentative
Explanatory
Concepts:
Problem/Solution
Analyzing mood
Irony (situational and dramatic)
Concepts:
Elements of Argument
Techniques of Argument (appeals)
Author motives and purpose for plot and
character choices
Skills:
Problem/Solution
Create mood and tone
Employ irony
Utilize precise language and domainspecific vocabulary
Use concrete details
Skills:
Utilize well-chosen relevant facts
Problem/Solution
Employ irony
Create mood and tone
Utilize precise language and domainspecific vocabulary
Use concrete details
MLA citation
Grammar/Skill Focus:
Grammar/Skill Focus:
 MLA citation
 Verbs (interrogative, conditional and
 Adverbial clauses and phrases
subjunctive mood)
 Formal style
 Verbals (infinitives, gerunds and
 Colon and semi-colon
participles)
 Rhetoric
 Precise language and domainspecific vocabulary
 Ellipses
GRADE EIGHT
AT A GLANCE
ENGLISH LANGUAGE ARTS SKILL MAP
Focus CCSS
RL.8.1, RL.8.3, RL.8.6, RL.8.7; RI.8.1,
RI.8.2, RI.8.3, RI.8.4, RI.8.5, RI.8.6;
W.8.1, W.8.2, W8.3, W.8.5; L.8.1, L8.2a,
L.8.6; SL.8.1a-d, SL.8.2, SL.8.5, SL.8.6
Focus CCSS
RL.8.2, RL.8.5, RL.8.10; RI.8.2, RI.8.4, RI.8.5,
RI.8.6, RI.8.7, RI.8.9; W.8.1b-c, W.2b,d,
W.8.4, W.8.5, W.8.6, W.8.7; L.8.2, L.8.3;
SL.8.2, SL.8.4, SL.8.5, SL.8.6
Focus CCSS
RL.8.2, RL.8.5; RI.8.5, RI.8.6, RI.8.7,
RI.8.9; W.8.1b-c, d, W.8.2b, d, W.8.4,
W.8.5, W.8.6, W.8.7; L.8.2, L.8.3, L.8.4;
SL.8.2, SL.8.3, SL.8.4
Focus: CCSS
RL.8.4, RL.8.9; RI.8.1, RI.8.10; W.8.1a-d,
W8.5, W.8.9, W.8.10, L.
Teachers’ Notes:
Teachers should review student selected
topics for Sign Post & Culminating Tasks to
ensure validity and relevance.
Teachers’ Notes:
Teachers’ Notes: Have students focus on
the measures of technology used to
create/maintain the structures of their
utopian/dystopian society.
If To Kill A Mockingbird is used, below are
suggested film viewing points:
Flash back is a device in the narrative of a motion
picture, novel, etc., by which an event or scene
taking place before the present time in the narrative
is inserted into the chronological structure of the
work.
Teachers’ Notes:
For additional resources, McDougal
Littell’s grade 8 unit 4 houses an excellent
collection of science fiction, horror, and
suspense and poetry pieces. This unit
introduces argument writing. In this unit,
students make distinctions between
persuasive and argumentative writing.
Irony is a rhetorical device, literary technique,
or event characterized by an incongruity, or
contrast, between reality (what is) and
appearance (what seems to be). There are three
types used: dramatic, situational and verbal.
Teachers may incorporate Big 6 Research
Skills into unit.




Jem and Scout visit Boo’s porch
Atticus kills Tim Johnson
Scout and Atticus prevents Tom’s lynching
Tom Robinson’s trial
Sequencing & titles are suggestions only.
Teachers may utilize additional titles that
support the unit focus.
Enduring Understanding:
As we begin to discover self, we realize we are
integral partners in a larger community.
Flash forward is a device in the narrative of a
motion picture, novel, etc., by which a future event
or scene is inserted into the chronological structure
of the work.
Foreshadow means to give clues or hints to suggest
events that will occur later in the story, either good
or bad. These clues can be either obvious or subtle
and can be weaved into dialogue, description or the
attitudes and reactions of the characters.
Suggested films –
Narrative of Frederick Douglass
The Boy in the Striped Pajamas
A Long Way Gone
Paper Clips (documentary)
See attached video websites
Hana’s Suitcase
Diary of Anne Frank
Hotel Rwanda
Students can engage in collaborative discussions to
share their reactions to both works prior to writing
their argument essays.
Enduring Understanding:
Teachers should review guidelines for
critiquing peers. Rubrics can be established
to help evaluate presentations.
Enduring Understanding:
As technology progresses it presents moral
Dramatic irony is when the words and actions of dilemmas.
the characters of a work of literature have a
different meaning for the reader than they do for
the characters. This is the result of the reader
having a greater knowledge than the characters
themselves.
Situational irony is the outcome that turns out to
be very different than what is expected.
Verbal irony is irony in which a person says or
writes one thing and means another, or uses
words to convey a meaning that is the opposite
GRADE EIGHT
ASSESSMENTS
Sign Post Task: (to be completed midway
through the unit)
RL.8.3; W.8.3, W.8.4, W.8.5, W.8.6; SL.8.1,
SL.8.4, SL.8.6; L.8.1, L.8.2, L.8.3, L.8.6
An interior monologue is an expression of a
character's thoughts: an extended passage in a
selection or novel that expresses what a
character is thinking and feeling.



Choose a character from one of the
selections in this unit.
Pick a scene that depicts your character
struggling with a problem or a difficult
situation.
Write an interior monologue from your
characters’ Point of View showing how
he/she will handle this dilemma.
Include within your monologue:
* dialogue that reveal aspects of your
character & motives for your actions.
Cite evidence from the text to support
your writing. Be prepared to read your
monologue aloud.
AT A GLANCE
ENGLISH LANGUAGE ARTS SKILL MAP
Regardless of societal, cultural and
environmental challenges, mankind triumphs
and endures.
of the literal meaning.
ASSESSMENTS
Sign Post Task: (to be completed midway
through the unit)
RL.8.1, RL.8.3, RL.8.5; RI.8.1, RI.8.5, RI.8.6;
W.8.2, W.8.4, W.8.5, W.8.6; SL.8.1; L.8.1, L.8.2,
L.8.3, L.8.6
ASSESSMENTS
Sign Post Task: (to be completed midway
through the unit)
RL.8.1, RL.8.2, RL.8.4, RL.8.6; RI.8.1, RI.8.3,
RI.8.4, RI.8.6; W.8.2, W.8.4, W.8.5, W.8.6;
SL.8.1; L.8.1, L.8.2, L.8.3, L.8.5, L.8.6




Select a title from this unit that employs one
or more of these literary devices: flash
forward, flashback, foreshadow.
Write an explanatory essay identifying
which device(s) is/are used.
Explain how the author uses this/these
device(s) to move the plot.
In your essay, address how the use of
this/these device(s) impact(s) you as a
reader.
Culminating Task:
RI.8.1, RI.8.7; W.8.1, W.8.4, W.8.5, W.8.6; W.8.8,
W.8.10; SL.8.1, SL.8.2; L.8.1, L.8.2, L.8.3, L.8.6
Argument Writing



Select a nonfiction text from this unit.
View a film/documentary/movie or video
clip presentation of the text.
Use a graphic organizer to record your notes
Enduring Understanding:
Varied genres allow readers to explore
different perspectives, controversial issues
and points of view.
Irony is a rhetorical device, literary technique,
or event characterized by an incongruity, or
contrast, between reality (what is) and
appearance (what seems to be). There are three
types used: dramatic, situational and verbal.




Select a text you have read from this
unit.
Analyze the use of irony in the text.
Write an Explanatory essay explaining
how irony is used and the underlying
truth the author is trying to reveal.
Cite evidence from the text to support
your writing.
Culminating Task:
RL.8.1, RL.8.2, RL.8.3, RL.8.5, RL.8.10;
RI.8.1, RI.8.2, RI.8.3, RI.8.10; W.8.1, W.8.4,
W.8.5, W.8.6; L.8.1, L.8.2, L.8.3, L.8.6
Argument Writing
ASSESSMENTS
Sign Post Task: (to be completed midway
through the unit)
RL.8.1, RL.8.10; RI.8.1, RI.8.8, RI.8.10; W.8.1,
W.8.4, W.8.6; SL.8. 1, SL.8.3, SL.8.5, SL.8.6;
L.8.1, L.8.2, L.8.3, L.8.6






Choose one of the readings to research
an aspect of advancement in
technology.
Using persuasive techniques create an
advertisement (commercial, magazine
article), PowerPoint, brochure or
pamphlet convincing your audience for
or against the idea of a utopian society.
Evaluate the specific claims that are
presented in the selected text.
Assess whether the reasoning is sound
and evidence is relevant.
Be prepared to defend your claim after
your presentation.
Peers critique classmates’ claims
evaluating the soundness of the
reasoning and relevance/sufficiency of
the evidence presented and/or identify
when irrelevant evidence is introduced.
GRADE EIGHT
AT A GLANCE
Culminating Task:
RL.8.1, RL.8.2; RI.8.2; W.8.2, W.8.4, W.8.5,
W.8.6; L.8.1, L.8.2, L.8.3, L.8.6
Analytical Writing




Choose two selections you have read
from this unit.
Identify the protagonist and the
antagonist from each selection.
Analyze the motivations and actions of
each of these characters.
Create one quote/proverb that captures
the central idea of both selections.
Proverb – a short popular
saying that expresses effectively
some commonplace truth or
useful thought; adage.

Write an analytical essay examining
how the relationships between
protagonists and antagonists propel the
plot and supports the quote/proverb you
have created.



as you critically look at the literary text and
its media interpretation.
Discuss reactions to both works.
Plan and write an argument essay analyzing
the fidelity of the films’ interpretation of the
text.
Evaluate the choices made by the director or
actors.
ENGLISH LANGUAGE ARTS SKILL MAP




Select two or more texts that you have
read from the unit.
Analyze how mood and tone are used
by the authors to contribute to the
development of theme/central idea of
the selections.
Write an argument supporting or
opposing the authors’ use of these
techniques.
Cite examples from the text to support
your argument.
Culminating Task:
RL.8.1, RL.8.10; RI.8.1; RI.8.8, RI.8.9,
RI.8.10; RLST.6-8.8, RLST.6-8.9; W.8.2,
W.8.4, W.8.5, W.8.6; SL.8.1, SL.8.3, SL.8.5,
SL.8.6; L.8.1, L.8.2, L.8.3, L.8.5, L.8.6
Explanatory Research Writing
 Read the following quote:
Quote: Humanity is acquiring all the right
technology for all the wrong reasons.
–R. Buckminster Fuller
US architect & engineer (1895-1983)





Select two or more texts that provide
conflicting information on the same
topic.
Analyze and identify where the texts
disagree on matters of fact or
interpretation.
Research the conflicting information.
Write an Explanatory Research Paper
examining the relationship of the
conflicting information to the quote
above.
Cite evidence from multiple texts using
primary and secondary sources to
support your position.
GRADE EIGHT
AT A GLANCE
Footnote:
1Sequencing and titles are suggestions only. Teachers may utilize additional titles that support the unit focus.
2RL.8.8 does not appear in the unit because it is not applicable at this grade level according to the Common Core State Standards.
3Standard L.8.4 is not directly addressed with the units. Teachers are encouraged to creatively incorporate these standards via additional tasks.
ENGLISH LANGUAGE ARTS SKILL MAP