th
8
grade language arts
Discovery MYP Unit
Narrative Writing
• Analyze howStandards
particular lines of
dialogue or incidents in a story or
drama propel the action, reveal
aspects of a character, or provoke a
decision.
• Write narratives to develop real or
imagined experiences or events
using effective technique, relevant
descriptive details, and wellstructured event sequences.
• How does
discovery
affect our
lives
and/or the
world?
• How do we
understand
what we
are
reading?
• What
makes a
good story?
Essential Question
Human
Ingenuity (AOI)
Area of
Interaction
• Human ingenuity focuses on the contributions of
humans in society.
• These contributions result in the ability to
appreciate and develop the human capacity to
influence, transform, enjoy and improve the
quality of life
• Understand the relationships among subjects
through examining, experiencing and reflecting on
the creative process
Making the Connection
• How does story-telling relate to Human
Ingenuity? (Think about stories that have
shaped/influenced a culture, community, or
even within your own family).
• By yourself: In your journal, spend three
minutes brainstorming stories that you feel
represent Human Ingenuity; be ready to share
with others as well as EXPLAIN your reasoning.
• For those who
celebrate
Christmas, the
story of St. Nick
only giving
presents to
‘good little boys
and girls’ is
meant to inspire
children to be
on their best
behavior,
especially in
December!
For Example
• In Europe, there is
another story, but this
one is a little darker.
Krampus is St. Nicholas’
counterpart, or opposite
partner; he is the one
who gets to punish
children who are
naughty, not nice.
Again, this story/legend
was created/is told to
help influence people to
lead more positive lives.
• _________________ is a
Human Ingenuity
Stories
story/legend/myth
thatand
shows
Human
Ingenuity because
_________________________________
_________________________________
_________________________________
____________.
• Remember, you want to focus on stories
that transform, inspire, influence and/or
somehow cause a change in humans.
Time to
Share
Share
• Time
Room isto
split
into quadrants: story that
affects only you or your family; story
that affects just your surrounding
community (as in Hillsboro); story that
affects an entire culture (La Llorona);
story that affects the entire country/
world (the Bible).
• Decide which category your story fits
into, and then walk over to the
appropriate corner of the room.
• Share your story with the rest of the
group.
• Each group will then share one story to
the entire class.
Learner Profiles
• In this unit we will focus on the following
learner profiles:
– Open minded
– Risk Takers
– Reflective
How do these qualities help people to discover?
Persistence
Persistence
• What does persistence mean?
• Working hard, not giving up even
when times are tough.
• How do you practice persistence in
your own life?
• Why is persistence important in
school and in life?
100
100Questions
Questions
• Write down 100 questions that you have
about the world, life, or anything you are
curious about.
• You will need to use persistence!
• Write your questions in your language arts
journal.
Elements of Narrative
Narrative Writing
• What is narrative writing?
• How do you know that you are reading or
writing a narrative story?
• Can you remember a time when you have
written a narrative story?
Narrative Stories
• What are some characteristics of narrative
stories?
Think-pair-share
• One minute to think of everything you know
about narrative stories or examples of narrative
stories you have read or heard about.
• ______________ is an example of a
narrative.
• A defining characteristic of narrative
stories is _______________.
• The key components of the narrative
genre are _______, _______, _______,
_______, ________, and ________.
• Use your Cornell notes
Get readyformat:
to take notes
–Two columns
–First column write the
topic
–Second column write
the details and
important information
Topic:
Name:
Period:
Date:
Questions/Main Ideas:
Notes:
Summary
Plot
Setting, mood, rising action, climax,
falling action, and resolution
Climax
Setting
& mood
Rising
action
Falling
action
Resolution
Narrative Elements
• Plot
• In a _____, there
are five key
elements:
_______ and
______, _______,
_________,
_______, and
______.
Setting
• Time
–
–
–
–
Historical period
Time of year
Season
Time of day
• Place
– Geographic region
– Environment
– Community
Point of View
• 1st person
– “I”, “Me”,
“My”
– The audience
sees the world
from the
perspective of
the main
character only.
– The audience
only knows the
thoughts of
one person.
Characterization
TOAD
• T= thoughts of the
character
• O= opinions of the
character and opinions
that others have of
the character.
• A= actions of the
character
• D= dialogue
Conflict
• 7 major types of
conflict
– Man vs. nature
– Man vs. self
– Man vs. technology
– Man vs. society
– Man vs. man
– Man vs. supernatural
– Man vs. unknown
Summarizing Your Notes
• The notes on_______________ explain
the key elements of the genre (type of
writing). The main components of this
category include the following:
________, __________, _______,
__________, and ___________. It is
___________ that these elements exist
in order to make a writing piece
considered ____________.
The Great Rat Hunt
By Laurence Yep
Take Notes on each Vocab Word
• Each group writes a sentence for each word.
• I will be the judge – best sentence wins!
1) Perpetual (adj):
lasting for an
indefinitely long
time; continuing
without
interruption
• Example Sentence:
Ms. Talbot’s
classroom is in
perpetual darkness.
2) Fumigate (verb): to use smoke or
fumes in order to kill off rodents or
insects; to disinfect
• Example Sentence:
A person must
leave a building
that is being
fumigated for
insects, because it
is impossible to
breathe when the
room is full of
smoke.
3) Rationalize (verb): to make selfsatisfying but incorrect explanations
about one’s behavior
• Example Sentence:
John rationalized
flunking in all of his
8th grade classes
because middle
school ‘didn’t
matter’; when he
got to high school
and flunked his
freshman year, he
wasn’t feeling so
satisfied as he
grumbled through
summer school.
4) Brusquely (adverb): in an abrupt,
sudden manner
• Example Sentence: Enrique brusquely
stopped picking his nose when he noticed the
gorgeous Natalie staring at him in disgust.
5) Reserve (noun): self-restraint in the
way one looks or acts
• Example Sentence: Politicians have to have a
lot of reserve while facing protesters and
hecklers.
6) Ineptitude
(noun):
incompetence,
clumsiness,
displaying a lack of
judgment
• Example Sentence:
The player showed
his ineptitude by
hitting the ball with
his face instead of
the bat.
7) Mug (noun): the face
• Example Sentence:
A mug shot is a
picture of one’s
face that is taken
when one is sent
to jail.
8) Barricade (noun): a structure set
up to block a passage
• Example Sentence: Every Saturday in
Hillsboro, there are barricades put on opposite
sides of Main Street for the Farmers’ Market
so that people can shop in the streets without
cars being in the way.
9) Improvise (verb): to put together
or act with little or no preparation or
planning
• Example
Sentence:
When the
student tried to
improvise his
speech, not
surprisingly, he
earned an ‘F’.
10) Ravage (noun): serious damage;
widespread destruction
• Example Sentence: Hurricane Katrina left New
Orleans in ravages.
The Great Rat Hunt
Narrative Analysis
1. What is the setting of the story, The Great Rat Hunt?
Be as specific as you can with time and place.
2. What point of view is the story told from? Give
specific examples from the story to prove your point.
3. What are two conflicts in the story? Which categories
are they in (man vs.)?
4. Describe the character Yep through TOAD. Give at
least one example of his thoughts, opinion, actions,
and dialogue.
5. What did Yep discover about his family throughout
this story?
6. How did what he discovered about his family affect
him?
Challenge Enhancement
• Yep describes his failures in dramatic and exaggerated
terms. Look for three examples in which Yep uses
overly strong language to describe his failures.
– Copy down the three quotes
– Give a reason why you think that Yep uses such dramatic
language to describe his failures.
• Yep believes that his father would rather have Eddy’s
help than his. Do you agree with Yep’s interpretation
of his father’s silence? Give specific examples (2) from
the text to explain your answer.
Ticket Out The Door
• “The Great Rat Hunt” is set in ____________.
The first major event is __________________.
Next, ________________________________.
Then, _________ occurred, which led to ____.
The climax of the story is when
_____________________________________.
In the end, Yep discovered _______________.
Life Map
• Think of a minimum of 10 significant events in
your life (ex: birth of brother or sister, broken
arm, moving to a new house or school, death,
learning how to ride a skateboard or a bike).
• Chart these events along with images, either
drawn or pasted from magazines, computers, or
photos. The final project should be a
representation of your life up to this point.
• You may be as creative as you want in this project
remember to have at least ten important events
and a picture to go along with each event.
Raymond’s Run
Take Notes on each Vocab Word
• Each group writes a sentence for each word.
• I will be the judge – best sentence wins!
Relay (noun): a race in which each side uses several
team members to complete the race; each member
has a turn to finish a set part of the race and is then
replaced by another team member to finish the next
part, and so forth
• There are
many relay
races in the
spring sport
of Track.
Clutch (verb): to grasp or hold tightly
• The rotting
zombie
mercilessly
clutched
my ankle
as it
crawled
out of its
dark, dank
grave.
Prodigy (noun): a person with an
exceptional talent
• Kobe
Bryant is
considered
a
basketball
prodigy;
Honey Boo
Boo is NOT
a child
prodigy.
Sidekick (noun): a close friend
• CP3O and R2D2
are the famous
sidekicks in the
Star Wars movie
series.
Periscope (noun): a tube-shaped optical device
that lets one see into an area beyond the area
he or she is in; a periscope is used by
submarines to see above the surface while
remaining underwater.
• When the
captain
looked
through the
periscope, he
realized that
his ship was
under attack.
Characterize
• Squeaky is _______________ because ________
_______________________________________.
• I know Squeaky can be ___________ because
______________________________________.
• I would describe Squeaky as ___________ since
she ____________________________________.
Ticket Out the Door
• The main conflict in “Raymond’s Run” is
_____________________________________
_____________________________________.
This conflict type is _________ vs._________.
Summarize or Characterize
*If you did not pass with a 4 on the previous
summary paragraph for “The Great Rat Hunt”,
use that paragraph to write a similar one for
“Raymond’s Run.”
*If you got a 4 or 5 on the previous paragraph
for “The Great Rat Hunt”, write a paragraph
characterizing one character from “Raymond’s
Run.”
3, 4, or 5 in writing?
“The Great Rat Hunt” is set in San Francisco, CA. The first
major event is when Eddy finds rat droppings in their store.
They tried setting traps and fumigating the store, but nothing
worked. Their father then got a rifle and he takes Yep with
him to go shoot the rat. The climax of the story is when
they’re trying to shoot the rat and they find out that it’s rabid.
In the end, Yep discovered that no one is good at everything.
His dad wasn’t either. The rat mysteriously disapears and they
start to make a wood block to put the rat on if they ever find it
dead. An example of a narrative element in this story was the
conflict: man vs. self. There were several conflicts, but this
one stood out the most to me. You can tell this is the conflict
because he’s constantly saying that he’s a failure. Later, he
realize he’s not.
3, 4, or 5 in writing?
• “The Great Rat Hunt” is set in Chinatown/San
fransisco. The first major event is Rat droppins in
dads store. Next, Laurence’s dad and brother
named eddy all set mouse traps, poisionus pellets
and none of them worked. Then, it occurred,
which led to laurance and his father are bonding.
The climax of the story is when the rat escapes.
In the end, Yep discovered that rat had escaped.
An example of a narrative element in this story
was laurance talking. It was evident by/in the
way that laurance feels sad because of what
happened to the rat.
Characterize
Authors describe ____________ so readers can
__________ with them. A main character in
“Raymond’s Run” was __________. I can characterize
her/him as ____________ because
___________________________________________.
Additionally, she/he is _____________ since
______________________________________. The
most stand out trait about __________ is
_______________ as shown by ______________.
I can assume all of these traits to be true of
______________ because I read her/his thoughts,
_______________, actions, and _______________ in
the story.
3, 4, or 5 in writing?
Authors describe characters so readers can connect,
relate, or even sympathize or empathize with them. A
main character in “Raymond’s Run” was Squeaky. I can
characterize her as protective. Mainly because in the
story she think… “If anyone has anything to say about to
Raymond, they have to come by me”. Additionally, she is
sassy because shes always back talking. The most stood
out trait Squeaky is that shes careing. This is shown by,
she almost stopped to watch him run for the first time. I
can assume all of these traits to be true of Squeaky
because I read her thought, feelings, actions, and desires
in the story.
3, 4, or 5 in writing?
Authors describe character so readers can relate
with them. A main character in “Raymond’s Run”
was Squeaky. I can characterize her as tough and
cocky because she protects her brother.
Additionally she is nice since she takes care of her
brother. The most stand out trait about Squeaky is
she loves her brother as shown by how she treats
him. In can assume all of these traits to be true of
Squeaky because I read her thoughts, opinion,
actions, and how she is the most caring little sister
she is in the story.
“When I was
Puerto Rican”
Vocabulary
Façade (n.) – the front of a building; face or wall
Vocabulary
Contradict (v.) – disagree with; go against
Vocabulary
Spanglish (n.) – a combination of English and
Spanish in which speakers switch from one
language to the other depending on which word
comes first.
“Si, pero, I
didn’t know.”
Vocabulary
Mesmerized (v.) – in a state of awe or
amazement; hypnotized.
Vocabulary
Monologue (n.) - is a speech presented by a
single character, most often to express their
thoughts aloud.
Vocabulary
Abruptly (adv.) – sudden or unexpectedly.
“When I Was Puerto Rican”
1. What is the setting of the story, When I Was Puerto
Rican? Be as specific as you can with time and place.
2. What point of view is the story told from? Give
specific examples from the story to prove your point.
3. What are three conflicts in the story? Which
categories are they in (man vs.)?
4. Describe Esmeralda through TOAD. Give at least one
example of her thoughts, opinion, actions, and
dialogue.
5. Create a plot diagram of the story – be sure to include
exposition, rising action, climax, falling action, and
resolution.
Dialogue Notes
• A character’s
direct speech is
always enclosed in
quotation marks.
– “Language Arts is
the best class in
the world!”
• A character’s direct speech is always separated from
any indirect speech by a comma or an end mark of
some sort, with these punctuation marks always
inside the quotation marks.
• “Ms. Talbot, you rock!” shouted the entire class.
• “Ms. Talbot, why are you so awesome?” asked the
adoring student.
• “Ms. Talbot, you deserve a million dollars for all you
do,” stated the super smart student.
Your Turn
• On your white
board, write a
sentence that has
both direct speech
and indirect speech.
• If a character
delivers direct
speech in multiple,
uninterrupted
sentences, only a
single set of
quotation marks is
required.
• “What’s that you
say? The Zombie
Apocalypse is
actually happening?
I better find a great
hiding place for me
and my 12 cats!”
quipped the old
lady.
Your Turn
• On your white
board, write a
sentence that has
direct speech in
multiple,
uninterrupted
sentences, followed
by indirect speech.
• Begin a new paragraph every time there is a
change of speaker.
“Ms. Talbot, why do you have a poster with a scary
clown on it?” asked the student, obviously disturbed by
the creepy picture.
“Because I’m a scary person,” replied Ms. Talbot
calmly.
Your Turn
• On your white
board, write two
sentences that has
two different
speakers with both
direct and indirect
speech.
Formative Assessment
(You Choose)
A. Summarize “When I Was Puerto Rican”. Include an
example of each of the parts of plot: exposition, rising
action (conflict), climax, resolution, and conclusion.
B. Characterize Esmeralda. Include 3 adjectives and
elements of TOAD that support your thinking.
C. Construct an imaginary conversation between you
and one of the characters from any of the previous
stories we have read. Punctuate dialogue correctly.
Remember to enclose direct speech in quotation
marks, but don’t enclose indirect speech. Also, begin
a new paragraph when there is a new speaker in an
extended conversation between characters.
Dialogue Frame
“______________________________,” said
_________________. He/she ______________.
“_____________________________,” replied
_________________. He/she ______________.
“_______________. _____________________.”
“__________________________.___________.”
“_________.__________________._______.”
“_________.__________________._______.”
“________________________,” He/she yelled
back.
State of Being Verb vs. Action Verbs
• State of Being verbs are verbs that establish a
fact or condition.
– I am tall.
– She is pretty.
– The soup was cold.
• Action verbs are verbs that show action (duh!)
– The dog drank the water.
– The girl threw the ball.
– The boy grew 6 inches.
Let’s try it together!
Grammar is a school subject.
is – state of being verb
Let’s try it together!
Students write essays in class.
write – action verb
Let’s try it together!
Verbs are often action verbs.
are – state-of-being verb
Let’s try it together!
A state-of-being verb establishes a
fact or condition.
establishes – action verb
…now you try!
Teachers teach students.
teach – action verb
…now you try!
The students are nice.
are – state-of-being verb
…now you try!
She was the best teacher.
was – state-of-being verb
…now you try!
The class worked hard.
worked – action verb
Adjectives
Adjectives are words that describe
and "modify" nouns and pronouns.
One-word adjectives usually come
right before the word they modify and
answer the questions: Which one? or
How many? What is it like?
Adjectives
• The brown mouse turned into a
horse.
• The ugly step-sister forced me to
work.
• The three pumpkins became a
carriage.
Transitions
Transitions connect two words, phrases or clauses
together to make the text is easier to read and to
improve understanding.
Examples:
Also
And
First/second/third
Finally
However
But
As
Whereas
The Barn
• As you read the story, each person will search
for one of the following:
– State of being verbs (blue)
– Action Verbs (green)
– Adjectives (red)
– Transitions (orange)
Example
First, the ugly step-sister forced me
to work. She was so mean to me. But
one day, my lovely fairy godmother
arrived at the house. She was
beautiful. She said a magical spell
and then, POOF! The brown mouse
turned into a horse. And the three
pumpkins became a carriage.
Adjective Activity
• Each group will have two minutes to list as
many adjectives (descriptive words) for the
picture at the table.
• After two minutes, each group will rotate to
the next picture.
• Continue to list adjectives, but you may NOT
use any of the previous groups’ words!
• Go back to your original table group.
• Ticket out the door: write a descriptive
paragraph about the picture, using any of the
adjectives on the list.
Emotions
• Make a list of as many emotions that you can
think of.
Emotions
• Think of a time in your life when you felt that
emotion.
The Barn
• As you read the story, each person will search
for one of the following:
– State of being verbs (blue)
– Action Verbs (green)
– Adjectives (red)
– Transitions (black)
Adjective Activity
• Each group will have two minutes to list as
many adjectives (descriptive words) for the
picture at the table.
• After two minutes, each group will rotate to
the next picture.
• Continue to list adjectives, but you may NOT
use any of the previous groups’ words!
• Go back to your original table group.
• Ticket out the door: write a descriptive
paragraph about the picture, using any of the
adjectives on the list.
Emotions
• In your journal write down as many emotions as
you can think of.
• Be ready to share
• Take five of the emotions and think about a time
when you intensely felt one of these emotions.
• Write down some details about each of those
experiences. One of these might be a good story
to write about.
Writing Rubric
• See pg. 4 in L.A. Resource Guide
Pre-writing
• Decide on an experience that you will write
about.
– The experience should be something that actually
happened to you and that was somehow
important to you.
• Create a plot map BEFORE you begin writing.
Decide what your climax is and work from
there.
– Make sure that you have an exposition, rising
action, climax, falling action, and a resolution.
– Once you have that, you should begin a rough
draft.
Dialogue
“I think I’ve hooked a big one,” screamed
Jeff as he grabbed the pole and tugged hard.
“This thing must weigh a ton.”
“Make sure the drag is set properly,” directed
his father. “If there is too much tension on the
line a heavy fish like that will snap in no time.”