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Last updated: 3/22/2014
ELA Grade 8 Module 2
Subject
Grade
Module
Suggested Timeline
English Language Arts
8
2
6-8 weeks
Grade Level Summary
In eighth grade, students grapple with high-quality, complex, nonfiction texts and great works of literature. The focus of informational texts shifts from narrative to
expository. Students know how to cite textual evidence supporting an analysis or critique. Students know how to question an author’s assumptions and assess
the accuracy of the claims. Eighth grade students read closely and find evidence to use in their own writing; they analyze two or more texts that provide conflicting
information on the same topic and identify whether the disagreement is over facts or interpretation. They analyze how point of view can be manipulated to create
specific effects such as dramatic irony and investigate how particular passages within a text connect to one another to advance the plot, reveal a character, or
highlight an idea. Students have developed a strong vocabulary of academic words which they use to speak and write with more precision. Their writing
continues to grow focusing on organizing ideas, concepts, and information into broader categories; choosing relevant facts well; and using varied transitions to
clarify or show the relationships among elements.
Grade Level Modules
Module 1: Determining the Path to Getting Ahead as Conformist or Individualist
Module 2: Critical Moments and the Way They Shape Who They Are
Module 3: The Way the Message is Delivered Can Impact the Way It is Received
Module 4: The Motives of People Today in Comparison to Those of the Past
Module 5: Experiences May Be Shaped by Events
Module Title
Module 2: "Critical Moments and the Way They Shape Who They Are"
Module Overview
In this module, reading, writing, and speaking and listening are constructed around the big idea of an expanded vocabulary enhancing one’s ability to express
ideas and information while confronting how critical moments shape who we are. Students apply skills and strategies to effectively comprehend and evaluate a
variety of texts, analyzing the author’s choice of words, making inferences, developing generalizations, and drawing conclusions. Specifically, students analyze
how the dialogue and/or incidents within the text propel the action, reveal aspects of the character, or provoke decisions. Utilizing critical thinking processes,
students create meaning and tone in their own writings, demonstrating a complete understanding of the importance of decision making on character development.
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Module Objectives
At the end of this module, students will be able to independently use their learning to:
Comprehend and evaluate complex texts across a range of types and disciplines
Be a critical consumer of text and other media to recognize, understand, and appreciate multiple perspectives and cultures
Produce writing to address task, purpose, perspective, and intended audience; research and gather evidence to create a clear and coherent message.
Communicate effectively for varied purposes and audiences
Listen actively to engage in a range of conversations, to analyze and synthesize idea and positions, and to evaluate accuracy in order to learn, reflect, and
respond
Focus Standards Addressed in this Module
CC.1.2.8.B -
Cite the textual evidence that most strongly supports an analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences, conclusions, and/or
generalizations drawn from the text.
CC.1.2.8.F -
Analyze the influence of the words and phrases in a text including figurative and connotative, and technical meanings; and how they shape
meaning and tone.
CC.1.3.8.C -
Analyze how particular lines of dialogue or incidents in a story or drama propel the action, reveal aspects of a character, or provoke a decision.
CC.1.3.8.F -
Analyze the influence of the words and phrases in a text including figurative and connotative meanings; and how they shape meaning and
tone.
CC.1.4.8.Q -
Write with an awareness of the stylistic aspects of writing.
Use verbs in the active and passive voice and in the conditional and subjunctive mood to achieve particular eff ect.
Use sentences of varying lengths and complexities
Create tone and voice. though precise language.
Important Standards Addressed in this Module
CC.1.2.8.C -
Analyze how a text makes connections among and distinctions between individuals, ideas, or events.
CC.1.3.8.B -
Cite the textual evidence that most strongly supports an analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences, conclusions, and/or
generalizations drawn from the text.
CC.1.4.8.E -
Write with an awareness of the stylistic aspects of composition. • Use precise language and domain-specific vocabulary to inform about or
explain the topic. • Use sentences of varying lengths and complexities • Create tone and voice. though precise language. • Establish and
maintain a formal style.
CC.1.4.8.K -
Write with an awareness of the stylistic aspects of composition.
Use precise language and domain-specific vocabulary to inform about or explain the topic.
Use sentences of varying lengths and complexities
Create tone and voice. though precise language.
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Establish and maintain a formal style.
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CC.1.4.8.M -
Write narratives to develop real or imagined experiences or events.
CC.1.4.8.N -
Engage and orient the reader by establishing a context and point of view and introducing a narrator and/or characters.
CC.1.4.8.O -
Use narrative techniques such as dialogue, description, reflection, and pacing, to develop experiences, events, and/or characters; use precise
words and phrases, relevant descriptive details, and sensory language to capture the action and convey experiences and events.
CC.1.4.8.S -
Draw evidence from literary or informational texts to support analysis, reflection, and research, applying grade level reading standards for
literature and literary non-fiction.
CC.1.5.8.B -
Delineate a speaker’s argument and specific claims, evaluating the soundness of the reasoning and the relevance and suffi ciency of the
evidence.
Misconceptions
Proper Conceptions
The term "cite" implies that a specific citation format (i.e. APA, MLA, etc.)
The term "cite" implies that a specific citation format (i.e. APA, MLA, etc.)
should be utilized.
should be utilized.
“Voice” cannot be taught to writers; they either write with it or they don’t.
“Voice” cannot be taught to writers; they either write with it or they don’t.
Transition words/phrases always appear at the beginning of a sentence.
Transition words/phrases always appear at the beginning of a sentence.
Concepts
Competencies
Main Idea
Determine a central idea of a text and analyze its development over the course of
the text, including its relationship to supporting ideas; provide an objective
Text Analysis
Text Structure
Vocabulary
summary of the text.
Cite the textual evidence that most strongly supports an analysis of what the text
says explicitly as well as inferences, conclusions, and/or generalizations drawn from
Vocabulary
supports
self-generated
avenues
the text.
analyze
Analyze the structure of the text through evaluation of the author’s use of specific
influence
sentences and paragraphs to develop and refine a concept.
propel
Analyze the influence of the words and phrases in a text including figurative,
connotative, and technical meanings, and how they shape meaning and tone.
reveal
provoke
influence
evaluate
motives
diverse
distinguish
alternate or opposing claim
compare and contrast
differing
modern
themes
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patterns
traditional
rendered
relationships
particular
Assessments
Essential Question (thematic): How do critical moments shape who we are?
The Story of My Life by Helen Keller
1) The morning after my teacher came she led me into her room and gave me a doll. 2) The little blind children at the Perkins Institution had sent it and Laura
Bridgman had dressed it; but I did not know this until afterward. 3) When I had played with it a little while, Miss Sullivan slowly spelled into my hand the word “d-o-ll.” 4) I was at once interested in this finger play and tried to imitate it. 5) When I finally succeeded in making the letters correctly, I was flushed with childish
pleasure and pride. 6) Running downstairs to my mother I held up my hand and made the letters for doll. 7) I did not know that I was spelling a word or even that
words existed; I was simply making my fingers go in monkey-like imitation. 8) In the days that followed, I learned to spell in this uncomprehending way a great
many words, among them pin, hat, cup and a few verbs like sit, stand and walk. 9) But, my teacher had been with me several weeks before I understood that
everything has a name.
10) One day, while I was playing with my new doll, Miss Sullivan put my big rag doll into my lap also, spelled “d-o-l-l” and tried to make me understand that “d-o-l-l”
applied to both. 11) Earlier in the day, we had had a tussleover the words “m-u-g” and “w-a-t-e-r.” Miss Sullivan had tried to impress it upon me that “m-u-g” is mug
and that “w-a-t-e-r” is water, but I persisted in confounding the two. 12) In despair, she had dropped the subject for the time, only to renew it at the first opportunity.
13) I became impatient at her repeated attempts and, seizing the new doll, I dashed it upon the floor. 14) I was keenly delighted when I felt the fragments of the
broken doll at my feet. 15) Neither sorrow nor regret followed my passionate outburst. 16) I had not loved the doll. 17) In the still, dark world in which I lived there
was no strong sentiment of tenderness. 18) I felt my teacher sweep the fragments to one side of the hearth, and I had a sense of satisfaction that the cause of my
discomfort was removed. 19) She brought me my hat, and I knew I was going out into the warm sunshine. 20) This thought, if a wordless sensation may be called
a thought, made me hop and skip with pleasure.
21) We walked down the path to the well-house, attracted by the fragrance of the honeysuckle with which it was covered. 22) Someone was drawing water and my
teacher placed my hand under the spout. 23) As the cool stream gushed over one hand, she spelled into the other the word water, first slowly, then rapidly. 24) I
stood still, my whole attention fixed upon the motions of her fingers. 25) Suddenly, I felt a misty consciousness as of something forgotten—a thrill of returning
thought; and somehow the mystery of language was revealed to me. 26) I knew then that “w-a-t-e-r” meant the wonderful cool something that was flowing over my
hand. 27) That living word awakened my soul, gave it light, hope, joy, set it free! 28) There were barriers still, it is true, but barriers that could in time be swept
away.
29) I left the well-house eager to learn. 30) Everything had a name, and each name gave birth to a new thought. 31) As we returned to the house, every object
which I touched seemed to quiver with life. 32) That was because I saw everything with the strange, new sight that had come to me. 33) On entering the door, I
remembered the doll I had broken. 34) I felt my way to the hearth and picked up the pieces. 35) I tried vainly to put them together. 36) Then my eyes filled with
tears; for I realized what I had done, and for the first time I felt repentance and sorrow.
www.gutenberg.org
Helen Keller by Langston Hughes
She,
In the dark,
Found light
Brighter than many ever see.
She,
Within herself,
Found loveliness,
Through the soul's own mastery.
And now the world receives
From her dower:
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The message of the strength
Of inner power.
www.allpoetry.com
1. CC.1.2.8.C and 1.3.8.C. Based upon the passage The Story of My Life, what might be considered a critical moment or turning point in Helen’s life?
a) When Helen received the doll
b) The first time Miss Sullivan spelled a word into Helen’s hand.
c) When Miss Sullivan took Helen to the well-house and spelled w-a-t-e-r*
d) When Helen broke the doll
2. CC.1.2.8.C and 1.3.8.C. In The Story of My Life, why did Helen feel delighted when she broke the doll?
a) It was the first word she had ever spelled.
b) She knew it would anger Miss Sullivan.
c) She had never loved the doll.
d) It allowed her to release her built up frustration.*
3. CC.1.2.8.F What is the meaning of the word confounding as it is used in sentence 11 of The Story of My Life?
a) confusing*
b) locating
c) reconciling
d) relating
4. CC.1.2.8.F In sentence 11 of The Story of My Life, which word can best be described as having a negative connotation?
a) tussle*
b) impress
c) persistent
d) confounding
5. C.C.1.2.8.B In the passage, sentences 31 and 32 stated, “As we returned to the house, every object which I touched seemed to quiver with life. That was
because I saw everything with the strange, new sight that had come to me.”
What gave Helen her newfound ability to “see”?
a) The floor swept clean of the doll fragments.
b) The understanding that words represented objects.*
c) Having the water run over her hands at the well-house.
d) Miss Sullivan spelling d-o-l-l in Helen’s hands.
6. C.C.1.2.8.B One could make the following claims based on The Story of My Life by Helen Keller. Which claim is supported by the most relevant and sufficient
evidence within the passage?
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a) Helen preferred her own rag doll to the new doll from the Perkins Institution.
b) Helen enjoyed running in the warm sunshine outdoors.
c) Miss Sullivan had difficulty teaching the difference between “m-u-g” and “w-a-t-e-r.”
d) It took several weeks for Helen to realize that words were names of objects.*
7. CC1.3.8.F Along with sentences 26 and 27 in the passage, which line(s) from the poem together best represent Helen’s awakening to the power of language?
a) Lines 1-3
b) Line 4
c) Lines 5-8*
d) Lines 9-12
8. CC.1.2.8.F and CC1.3.8.F Which of the following words in the context of the passage and the poem contribute to the hopeful tone that is developed in both
texts?
a) persisted (passage sentence 11) and loveliness (poem line 7)
b) flushed (passage sentence 5) and mastery (poem line 8)
c) delighted (passage sentence 14) and dower (poem line 10)
d) eager (passage sentence 29) and strength (poem line 11)*
9. C.C.1.3.8.A and CC.1.3.8.C From lines 8 thru 12 in Langston Hughes’ poem, one can infer
a) Helen Keller took a message from the world.
b) there is little strength in inner power.
c) we learn something about ourselves from Helen Keller*
d) few people can benefit from inner power.
Open-ended Response
C.C. 1.4.8.R and C.C.1.4.8.Q and C.C.1.4.8.S After reading Helen Keller’s “The Story of My Life” and Langston Hughes’ “Helen Keller,” write an essay that
describes a turning point in Helen Keller’s life and addresses the question, How do critical moments shape who we are? Support your discussion with evidence
from the texts.
Suggested Strategies to Support Design of Coherent Instruction
Charlotte Danielson's Framework for Teaching: Domain 3 Instruction
Argument (40%), Informational (40%), and Narrative Writing (20%)
Reflecting on their experiences reading novels and informational text in this unit, as well as literature read all year, have students write an argumentative, narrative,
or informational piece in order to answer the essential question. Students should edit their writing for style, grammar, and conventions studied over the course of
the year with an understanding of their intended audience and purpose.
Diff erentiation
Teachers in differentiated classrooms begin with a clear and solid sense of what constitutes powerful curriculum and engaging instruction. Then they ask what it
will take to modify that instruction so that each learner comes away with understandings and skills that offer guidance to the next phase of learning. (The
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Differentiated Classroom: Responding to the Needs of All Learners by Carol Ann Tomlinson. 1999)
The following list represents various methods for differentiation that could be employed by teachers. They are organized by content, process and product.
Content
* Full text
* Excerpts of speeches
* Audio File/Books
* Graphic organizers/Study Guides
Process
* Flexible Grouping
* Practical Examples
* Video
* Graphic Organizers
* Tiered Assignments
* Real World Application
* Web quests
* Curriculum compacting
* Reading and writing conferences with the teacher
* Reciprocal teaching opportunities within groups and the class as a whole
* Re-teaching and / or pre-teaching
* Leveled, guided reading
* Modeling
* Chunking the reading material or reading process
* Chunking for the writing process with explicit graphic organizers
Product
* LDC tasks are crafted from the most fundamental levels of difficulty (Level 1) to additional demands to a “next step-up” skill or cognitive demand (Level 2) to a
task in which writers are asked to make connections and use background knowledge (Level 3)
* Independent student projects
* Menu of tiered assignments pertaining to specific material
* Multi-modal activities
* Supplemental opportunities for student choice in both reading and writing
Interdisciplinary Connections
History and Social Studies - Teachers could promote content learning while building skill in the following literacy standards by exploring how point of influences
perceptions.
http://pdesas.org/main/fileview/PA_Common_Core_Standards_for_Reading_in_History_and_Social_Studies_8-7-12.pdf
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http://pdesas.org/main/fileview/PA_Common_Core_Standards_for_Writing_in_History_and_Social_Studies_8-7-12.pdf
CC.8.5.6-8.A
CC.8.5.6-8.B
CC.8.5.6-8.C
CC.8.5.6-8.E
CC.8.5.6-8.F
CC.8.6.6-8.B
CC.8.6.6-8.G
CC.8.6.6-8.I
Science and Technology - Teachers could promote content learning while building skill in the following literacy standards by exploring how point of influences
perceptions.
http://pdesas.org/main/fileview/PA_Common_Core_Standards_for_Reading_in_Science_And_Technical_Subjects_8-7-12.pdf
http://pdesas.org/main/fileview/PA_Common_Core_Standards_for_Writing_in_Science_and_Technical_Subjects_8-7-12_rev_2.pdf
CC.3.5.6-8.A
CC.3.5.6-8.B
CC.3.5.6-8.C
CC.3.5.6-8.E
CC.3.5.6-8.F
CC.3.6.6-8.B
CC.3.6.6-8.G
CC.3.6.6-8.I
Additional Resources
Created By
Developed by teams of Pennsylvania educators from across the Commonwealth.
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