English Language Arts & Reading
Fifth Six Weeks: Weeks 1-2
Theme: State Your Case
Time Frame: 10 Days
Genre: Literary Non-Fiction
Writing: Persuasive
Objective:
 Engage in the Patterned Way of reading, thinking, writing, and talking as a way
to achieve deeper understanding of persuasive texts.
 Identify and research a topic for a persuasive speech about an environmental,
political, or social issue.
 Engage in Writer’s Workshop and use the writing process to plan, draft, edit,
publish, and present persuasive writing.
 Identify the components of a persuasive speech and use them in their own
writings.
 Use the research process to locate and record information to gather
appropriate evidence that supports an argument.
 Write to summarize, paraphrase, and synthesize texts to make connections and
to maintain within and across texts.
 Read and analyze thematically linked texts to answer overarching questions
and develop enduring understandings about persuasive essays.
 Write like the authors who generate, organize, develop, and focus ideas to
produce effective persuasive speech.
 Apply spelling, grammar, conventions, and punctuation strategies to daily
writing as a way to produce cohesive and coherent writing.
 Listen actively and purposefully in a variety of settings to understand, interpret,
and monitor comprehension of the spoken word.
TEKS: Participate productively in discussions, plan agendas with clear goals and deadlines, set time limits for speakers, take notes, and vote on
key issues. ELAR 8.28A; Summarize the main ideas, supporting details, and relationships among ideas in text succinctly in ways that maintain
meaning and logical order. ELAR 8.10A; Distinguish factual claims from commonplace assertions and opinions and evaluate inferences from their
logic in text. ELAR 8.10B; Establish purposes for reading selected texts based upon own or others’ desired outcome to enhance comprehension.
Figure 19 110.20A; Ask literal, interpretive, evaluative, and universal questions of text. Figure 19 110.20B; Reflect on understanding to monitor
comprehension (e.g. summarizing and synthesizing; making textual, personal and world connections; creating sensory images). Figure 19
110.20C; Compare and contrast persuasive texts that reached different conclusions about the same issue and explain how the authors reached
their conclusions through analyzing the evidence each presents. ELAR 8.11A; Write responses to literary or expository texts that demonstrate the
writing skills for multi-paragraph essays and provide sustained evidence from the text using quotations when appropriate. ELAR 8.17C; Use a
variety of complete sentences (e.g., simple, compound, complex) that include properly placed modifiers, correctly identified antecedents, parallel
structures, and consistent tenses. ELAR 8.19C; Use correct punctuation marks including semicolons, colons, hyphens, parentheses, brackets, and
ellipses. ELAR 8.20Bii
8th Grade
Overview:
 Features of persuasive text
 Techniques authors use to persuade audiences
 Presenting a position and supporting it with reasons and evidence
 Researching a topic
Literary Terms:
Emotional appeals
Ethical appeals
Rhetorical fallacy
Logical fallacy
Six Week Project: Identify and research an important issue for today’s society. Use
information from research to write and deliver a persuasive speech about an action that
needs to be taken to address the issue.
Essential Questions:
How can taking a stand bring change in our community?
Why did these authors write these texts and what might they have accomplished?
How do the methods these authors use relate to the arguments they make?
Suggested Lesson Ideas:
Lesson 1: Activating Prior Knowledge
• Introduce the unit. Tell students that they will focus on reading and writing persuasive
texts. During the unit they will use their new understanding about characteristics and
techniques of persuasion to write and deliver their own speech about an important
societal issue that they have researched.
• Explain the independent reading task for the six weeks.
• Connect and Engage: Ask students to think about people and printed material trying to
persuade them to do or to believe something. They should also think about a time when
they try to persuade others in some way. Ask them to take five minutes to write about
each episode/example that they think of: (1) what they or it wanted them to believe or
do, or what they wanted someone to believe or do and (2) the success or failure of the
attempt— Did anyone change anyone else’s mind or behavior? Share your own example
as a model for students.
• Ask students to share their quickwrites in pairs and then engage in whole group
discussion.
• Before beginning the whole group discussion, post the following questions.
What is persuasion? What does it mean to persuade? Where do you find
examples of persuasion or of people trying to persuade you in your daily
life? What sorts of things do people say, do, or write that you find most
persuasive?
• Begin discussion by allowing a few students to share their persuasive
examples. Then move into a discussion of the questions above. Begin by
having students offer their definitions of persuasion or what it means to
persuade. Write students’ definitions on the board, and then use those to
come up with a class definition of persuasion. Write the class definition on a
chart titled What We Know About Persuasion. Then move on to
examples of persuasion and things students find most persuasive. Press
students to be specific and to give examples to support what they say. Add
students’ responses to the What We Know About Persuasion chart.
• Help students make connections to their own lives. Ask them to take about
five minutes to reflect and respond to the following questions in their
Reader’s/Writer’s Notebooks: Why might it be useful to learn about
persuasion? When might it be important for an individual to influence a
community? How can being skilled at the art of persuasion help you in your
daily life? Invite sharing among the whole group. Add new and relevant
responses to the What We Know about Persuasion chart.
Lesson 2: Gist and Significance in “Position on Dodgeball in Physical
Education”
• Connect and Engage. To invite interest and create motivation to read, ask
students to engage in the Before Reading “List It” task in the primary
resource. After discussion, introduce the text as a position
statement/opinion piece.
• Engage in study around words from the reading that are critical to comprehending the
text; some
words that fit this category are not defined in the text (e.g., merits).
• Introduce the persuasion word wall; review the terminology, and add
additional terms that are appropriate. Tell students that they may continue
to add terms as they work to deepen their understanding of persuasion.
• Use the Unit 9 Reader’s Workshop as needed to support students to
deepen their understanding of terms related to persuasion.
 Read to get the gist. Post the following questions: What is the essay about? What is the
issue? What is the author’s argument on the issue? What are the points that develop the
argument? Tell students that answering these questions during their first reading of
Position on Dodgeball in Physical Education will help them better understand what the
essay is about.
• Have students annotate the text for answers to the questions as a strategy for
comprehension and study. After students have written the answers (quick write) have
them talk to a partner (2-3 minutes), sharing their responses. Students should cite
evidence from the text to support their answers.
• Whole Group Share: Begin by having students state in one or two sentences what the
essay is about before asking them to state the issue. Project the online version of the text.
Discuss the author’s argument on the issue. Have students read the specific line or phrase
in the essay that tells them what the author’s argument is, use the Mobi to highlight it by
underlining or circling and have them state how they know this is the author’s argument.
• Reread “Position on Dodgeball in Physical Education” for Significance. Students
reread the essay to select the sentence/idea that they consider to be most significant to
the author’s argument. Provide a model, using a T-chart. Identify significant
sentences/ideas on the left and explain their significance on the right side of the chart.
Students share their moments with a partner; then whole group.
• StepBack: Ask: What did you do to select sentences/ideas you considered most significant
to the author’s argument? After writing responses, have students share their process
with the whole group. Chart and post responses.
Lesson 3: Read and Write to Interpret and Analyze Text:
• Guide students to analyze “Position on Dodgeball in Physical Education“ to determine the
tone. Language to Describe Tone may be used as a reference tool.
• Reread to analyze persuasive methods in the text. Introduce the methods to persuade
chart (Have each student create their own or provide copies.). Model one or two
examples to clarify expectations and then have pairs work to analyze the text, recording
responses on their charts.
• Share responses by having students highlight the method they identify in the text
(overhead, Mobi, or Infocus) so all may see. They should name the method and tell how it
how the author uses it to accomplish the purpose and impact the reader (how it works).
Discuss each example, asking assessing and advancing questions to assess and extend
understanding.
• Record students’ responses on a poster “Methods We Have Found” chart, that will serve as
support that all students may reference.
Lesson 4: Read and Write to Get the Gist of “The Weak Shall Inherit the Gym,” page
1008, by Rick Reilly
• Pose the questions: What is the essay about? What is the issue? What is the author’s
argument on the issue? What are the points that develop the argument? In a quickwrite,
students respond to the questions in Notebook. Give students the opportunity to share
responses with a partner. Observe, question, and assess to ensure that students have a
basic understanding of the essay.
• Students read to determine Reilly’s argument and engage in a quick write, stating the
argument and explaining their thinking, using the reasons and claims from the text that
support the argument. Students share their thinking in pairs/trios then share in whole
group.
• Reread “The Weak Shall Inherit the Gym” for Significant Sentences/Ideas
Ask students to individually reread the article to select three sentences/ideas that appear to
be most significant to the author’s argument. Ask students to share their moments with a
partner; then facilitate whole group discussion.
• StepBack: What did you do to select your significant sentences/ideas from the article?
What helped you write the explanation for each moment that you selected? After writing
responses, have students share their process with the whole group. Chart and post
responses.
Lesson 5: Read and Write to Analyze Authors’ Methods:
• Engage in a discussion around the concept of evidence. Ask: Who is the audience for this
essay? How do you know? What was the purpose of the essay? Why must we first take the
audience into consideration before talking about whether the evidence is appropriate,
accurate, and adequate? Press student to develop the understanding that writers think
about what they are going to say (arguments, points, evidence); they think about their
argument, audience, and try to figure out how to present their information so that their
audience in order to persuade them. The strategies writers use to persuade are their
methods.
• Ask students to work with a partner to compare and contrast the arguments and
persuasive techniques that the NASPE and Reilly use to convince readers to adopt their
positions. Explain how each text reaches its conclusions. Which author is most convincing?
Ask students to write their responses on their personal Methods to Persuade Chart. As
students share, record their responses on “Methods We Have Found” Chart. Tell students
that this chart will be revisited later.
Lesson 6: Grammar in Context: Use Punctuation Correctly
• Guide students in reviewing three types of punctuation marks that are useful for
conveying additional information: parentheses, brackets and ellipsis. Refer to p.1013 in
textbook for additional support. Guide students to analyze the texts for how the authors
use these marks. They should add “punctuation” to methods charts. Be sure that students
explain how these marks work in the texts.
Lesson 7: WriteLike
• Ask students to identify a concern/problem that affects their school or community. Ask
them to write a short opinion piece to address the actions that need to be taken. Have
pairs share then share in whole group.
Differentiation:
During core program/core instructional time
 Chart the words Persuade (v.) and Persuasion (n.). Ask students to provide synonyms
and other words associated with persuasion. As students make suggestions, ask them to
identify the word as belonging in the verb or noun column, and to provide the word for
the other part of speech if applicable. Discuss how some words can be both nouns and
verbs.
 Ask students to explain how the words they identify relate to persuasion.
 In a small group setting display ads from a magazine or newspaper; be sure they use
several persuasive words (biggest, best, etc.). Discuss how these ads are designed to
persuade the reader to buy a certain product. Have students discuss with a partner the
types of advertising that appeal to today’s teenagers. Include TV commercials and printed
advertising. Ask students to think about the positive and negative impact of the ads. Chart
their responses.
 Organize students into small groups based on whether they are writing to the NASPE or
to Rick Reilly. Instruct students to use a two-column chart to identify information in their
chosen selection that was presented in an incorrect, misleading, or unfair way. Then have
them identify some quotations that they can use in their letters as examples of both types
of information. Remind students to be careful when punctuating quoted material. Have
students write their letters individually and then trade with a partner for a peer review
of their writing.
Gifted and Talented Extensions:
 Ask students to bring examples (e.g., pictures, artifacts, texts) of persuasive messages
they encounter every day. Discuss how persuasion works in their examples and the
advantages of developing persuasive skills.
 Loaded language consists of words with strongly positive or negative connotations,
intended to influence a reader’s or listener’s attitude. Ask students to work together to
brainstorm examples of words with positive and negative connotations. Have them
create charts to display words associated with persuasion and their positive and negative
connotations.
 Ask students to find newspaper/magazine articles that relate to specific tone words.
Students share their article with peers. Classmates identify the tone of the article and
give support for their responses. Use tone words and articles to develop a bullentin
board.
 Form two teams, one representing the NASPE’s viewpoint and one representing Rick
Reilly’s. Then, with your team, answer the question from the perspective of your author,
“Should opportunities for intense physical competition be provided in middle schools?
Debate the questions with the other team, using support from the selections.
Interventions:
Tier 2
 Have students choose a verb related to the word “persuasion” and create a drawing that
illustrates/demonstrates the big ideas behind the verb. Students surround their verb
with nouns that they associate with it.
 Within a small group setting read the article aloud to students. Have them listen carefully
for important ideas and details. Divide students into pairs or trios and give them these
questions to answer.

What is the purpose of physical education according to the NASPE?

What are the statistics regarding inactivity and weight problems?

What are the arguments in favor of playing dodgeball?

What are the arguments against playing dodgeball?
 In a small group setting, use Think Aloud strategy for modeling how to identify significant
sentences/ideas for text. Collaboratively work with students to develop a chart with
significant sentences/ideas from text.
Tier 3
 Assist students in understanding the concept of loaded language by engaging in the
activity on page 985 “Concept Support: Loaded Language.”
Suggested Assessment:
Reader’s/Writer’s Notebooks
Individual fluency probes
Fluency Rubric Checklist
One Minute Fluency Checks
AR Testing
Teacher observations
Evidence of accountable talk
Completed T-Chart
STAR Diagnostic Report
Resources:
Holt McDougal Literature 8
Teacher created material
Glencoe Writer’s Choice 8
Word Wall
Technology
Ancillary Material
Vocabulary Log
Graphic Organizer
Student AR Goal Sheets
Video:
Websites: Renaissance Place (AR),
http://www.tea.state.tx.us/readingproducts/products.html,
http://www.tea.state.tx.us/reading/products/redbk4.pdf,
http://www.tea.state.tx.us/reading/products/redbk2a.pdf, www.lexile.com,
www.allamericareads.org/pdf/single/during/thinkaloud1.pdf
Literature Selections:
p.1004
p.1008
p.98
p.1013
6 Weeks Novel: To Kill a Mockingbird
Position of Dodegball in Physical Education
The Weak Shall Inherit the Gym
Reader’s Workshop: Elements of Persuasive
Text
Conventions in Writing
English Language Arts & Reading
Fifth Six Weeks: Weeks 3-4
Theme: State Your Case
Time Frame: 9 Days
Genre: Literary Non-Fiction
Writing: Persuasive
Objective:
 Engage in reading, thinking, writing, and talking as a way to achieve deeper
understanding of persuasive texts.
 Engage in Writer’s Workshop and use the writing process to plan, draft, edit,
publish, and present persuasive writing.
 Identify the components of a persuasive speech and use them in their own writings.
 Use the research process to locate and record information to gather appropriate
evidence that supports an argument.
 Write to summarize, paraphrase, and synthesize texts to make connections and to
maintain within and across texts.
TEKS: Determine the meaning of grade-level academic English words derived from Latin, Greek, or other linguistic roots and affixes. ELAR 8.2A; Establish purposes
for reading selected texts based upon own or others’ desired outcome to enhance comprehension. Figure 19 110.20A; Summarize, paraphrase, synthesize texts in
ways that maintain meaning and logical order within a text and across texts. Figure 10.11020E; Write a persuasive essay to the appropriate audience that
establishes a clear thesis or position. ELAR 8.18A; Participate productively in discussions, plan agendas with clear goals and deadlines, set time limits for speakers,
take notes, and vote on key issues. ELAR 8.28; Analyze passages in well-known speeches for the author’s use of literary devices and word and phrase choice to
appeal to the audience. ELAR 8.7A; Synthesize and make logical connections between ideas within a text and across two or three texts representing similar or
different genres, and support those findings with textual evidence. ELAR 8.10D; Compare and contrast persuasive texts that reached different conclusions about the
same issue and explain how the authors reached their conclusions through analyzing the evidence each presents. ELAR 8.11A; Analyze the use of such rhetorical and
logical fallacies as loaded terms, caricatures, leading questions, false assumptions, and incorrect premises in persuasive texts. ELAR 8.11B; Write a persuasive essay
to the appropriate audience that establishes a clear thesis or position. ELAR 8.18A; Narrow or broaden the major research question, if necessary, based on further
research and investigation. ELAR 8.24A
8th Grade
Overview:
 Features of persuasive text
 Techniques authors use to persuade audiences
 Presenting a position and supporting it with reasons and evidence
 Researching a topic
Literary Terms:
Repetition
Parallelism
Irony
Compelling evidence
Six Week Project: Identify and research an important issue for today’s society. Use information
from research to write and deliver a persuasive speech about an action that needs to be taken to
address the issue.
Essential Questions:
How can taking a stand bring change in our community?
Why did these authors write these texts and what might they have accomplished?
How do the methods these authors use relate to the arguments they make?
Suggested Lesson Ideas:
Lesson 9: Introduce Intellectual Project-Persuasive Speech
• Give the students the handout entitled Intellectual Project: Persuasive Speech. Read the
handout with students and answer any questions they may have. Talk with them about how
this project is their opportunity to influence their community in some way.
• Ask students to brainstorm some criteria for good issues. List the criteria on the board, and
have the students copy it on the back of their handout. (See examples of criteria in the
resources.)
Lesson 10: Read to Get the Gist “Educating Sons and The First Americans”
• Connect and Engage. Survey. As a class, make a list of the most important and useful things
students learned in school. Ask students to vote on the top four and post them in the four
corners of the room. Then ask students to go stand under the one that they consider most
important. Ask: Why did you choose what you did? Encourage students to give their reasons
to the class.
• Before reading, guide students to preview the text by looking at the title and the text
illustration. As a scaffold, students may complete the pre-reading graphic organizer.
• Ask students to read Meet the Author on p. 1023 to know more about the author and the
background to the speech and the letter.
• Vocabulary. Have students complete Vocabulary in Context. Use the copy master to pre-teach
the vocabulary. Discuss other possible meaning of multiple-meaning words such as decline.
It is important to teach the meaning of words in the same context used in the text.
Encourage students to record new Tier Two/specialized or academic vocabulary related to
the theme in their Vocabulary Log.
• At this point, students may revisit word wall or word tree.
• Write the following comprehension questions on the board, an overhead, or chart paper:
What is the essay about? What is the issue? What is the author’s argument on the issue? What
are the points that develop this argument? How do you know?
• Have students read the two selections silently to see how different people can have different
perspectives on society and historical events. When students are finished reading, have
them answer the comprehension questions in their Reader/Writer Notebooks.
Lesson 11: Compelling Evidence
• Brainstorm Issues for Intellectual Project. Ask students to list in their Reader/Writer
Notebooks possible issues and arguments. Then encourage students to share their lists.
Record students’ responses on the board so that students who may be having difficulty
have some ideas from which to choose from. As students share, occasionally ask the class to
evaluate whether the issues and arguments fit the criteria the class came up with. Evaluate
issues and arguments that both meet and fail to meet the criteria.
• Give students time to decide on an issue and their argument on the issue to write about for
their Intellectual Project.
Share Responses to Comprehension Questions. Ask students to share with a partner what
the issue is and what they think the author’s argument is in both selections. Then invite
students to share with the whole group. Press students to justify their response to the
questions.
• Reread to Interpret Ideas: Invite students reread the selections and respond in their
Reader’s/Writer’s Notebook to the text interpretive questions: What is the author’s attitude
toward what should be taught and what should not be taught in regards to Native Americans?
Invite students to share how they account for what they believe.
• Have students share the points that the authors use to develop their argument. Again, press
students to justify their responses by stating where in the text they found support for their
answer.
• Then ask students to identify where in the essay the authors address the counterargument.
Have them state how they knew that was the counterargument; ask students what signal
words the authors use.
• Guide students to compare and contrast the purpose and the intended audience of the two
selections. Students may use Venn diagram.
• Identify Compelling Evidence. Ask students to read the selections again. Then ask them to
make a three-column notes chart like the one below. Have students choose the most
compelling pieces of evidence and write those in the left column. Then, in the middle
column, students should write the point that each piece of evidence supports And
justification of how each piece of evidence is appropriate and accurate. In the right column
students should write why the evidence is compelling. What is its significance to the
author’s argument?
Compelling
Evidence
Point the evidence supports
and a justification of how the
evidence is appropriate and
accurate
Why it is compelling?
What is its significant
to the author’s
argument?
Compelling Evidence is evidence that is interesting and thought-provoking; it grabs
your attention and challenges you to think about events, objects, people or cultural
phenomena in new and more complex ways. For evidence to be compelling it must be
appropriate, accurate, adequate, interesting, and thought-provoking.
A persuasive speech with compelling evidence has more chance of getting the reader to
believe that particular position than the ne that does not have compelling evidence.
• Model choosing a compelling piece of evidence before asking students to choose their own
compelling evidence. Give students about ten minutes for this activity.
• Share Compelling Evidence. Invite students to share their responses.
• StepBack: Reflect on Compelling Evidence. Ask students: What did you do as a reader to
choose compelling pieces of evidence?
• Invite students to share the process they went through. Then encourage them to write on the
following in their Reader/Writer Notebooks: What did you learn about compelling evidence
by engaging in this activity? How did you learn it? Invite students to share their writing with
the group.
Lesson 12: Methods to Persuade
• Discovery Writing on Issue for Intellectual Project. Give students three minutes to write
without stopping on what they have decided they will try to persuade their audience to
stop or to start for their Intellectual Project (i.e., their issue and argument). Students use
Reader/Writer Notebooks.
• Once students have finished their three minutes of discovery writing, give them a 3X5 card.
On this card, have them write the following for their persuasive speech: The Purpose, The
Audience, The Issue, and The Argument on the Issue. Invite them also to write why they
chose that issue and/or what points they might use to develop their argument on the issue.
Before collecting students’ cards, invite students to share to the whole class their issues,
arguments, and what points they might use to support their argument. Give students time
to share.
• Examine the Author’s Methods to Persuade. Direct students’ attention to the chart titled:
Method We Have Found. Review the chart, reminding students how the class analyzed
methods in “Position on Dodgeball in Physical Education and The Weak Shall Inherit the
Gym“ in Lesson 8.
• With a partner, students analyze the methods used by authors in these selections. Ask: What
impact might the use of rhetorical devices have upon the audiences of these selections?
• Then invite the pairs of students to share the methods they identified and articulate how
those methods worked. Students may write their responses on Methods to Persuade Chart.
Record any new methods the pair found on the “Methods We Have Found” Chart.
• QuickWrite: Do you find these essays persuasive? Why? Encourage students to share their
responses. Students should talk about the total essay – beginning, middle, end, the points,
the evidence, and the methods. Then ask students which of the essays they have read so far
is more persuasive and why.
Lesson 13: Craft an Engaging Beginning
• WriteLike Reilly or The Grand Council Fire of American Indians: Crafting a Strong and
Engaging Beginning
Ask students to reread the selections and examine what methods the authors use at the
beginning of the essays and the effects those methods had on the reader. Write students
responses on the board. Prompt students to see that both of these beginnings set the stage
for the author’s persuasive essay by (1) engaging/hooking the audience, (2)
communicating to the audience the importance of the author’s argument and (3) giving
purpose to the author’s argument.
• Distribute the WriteLike Reilly or The Grand Council handout. Read through the directions
with students before giving them about fifteen minutes to write their WriteLike. Give
students time to evaluate their composition to see if it meets the goals.
• Share WriteLikes in Pairs. Invite students to share their WriteLikes with a partner. Partners
should be listening for the part the essay that: hooked/ engaged them, communicated the
arguments, and the purpose to a writer’s argument. If a WriteLike fails to meet the goals,
partners should problem solve what the author can do to revise the Writelike to meet the
goals.
Lesson 14: Audience
• Students interview their audience (i.e., their classmates) by asking them to answer three quick
questions (preferably answerable by yes or no). Everyone will write their questions on a
sheet of paper that they leave on their desk, and the class will circulate around the room to
answer each other’s questions. The answers they get from their peers will inform the
writing of their essay.
• Model questions you would ask about your argument. Talk through the data question by
question, discussing what that data tells you about what you need to do to convince your
audience. (Provide example of interview sheet.)
• Ask students to talk through their data with a partner. Invite students to share their data with
the whole class what they learned from their data that will help them shape their essays.
• Stepback: Reflect on Audience Interview. What did you learn from your audience interview
that will help you develop your argument? How did this activity help you think about your
argument in relation to your audience?
Differentiation:
During core program/core instructional time
• Vocabulary Practice. Encourage students to identify the vocabulary word in each set. Ask if
they can recall how the word was used in the selections. If necessary, allow them to refer
back to the usage in the selections and use the knowledge of the vocabulary word to narrow
down the choices in e ach set.
• Comparisons and Contrasts. Have students work in pairs to create a chart for “The First
Americans” like the one shown on page 1023. Under “What is taught,” they should list
information Native Americans consider untrue; under “What Should Be Taught,” they should
list what the Grand Council Fire considers to be true about Native Americans and should be
taught about their culture.
• Connect to the Text. Invite students to consider how their perspective on society may be
different from other people’s. Suggest that students express their thoughts in a journal entry,
song, speech, or editorial. Call on volunteers to share their ideas with the class.
Gifted and Talented Extensions:
• Ask students to research the Battle of Little Bighorn or the Battle of Wounded Knee. Ask:
What does this information add to your understanding of the Grand Council’s argument?
• The Meet the Author note on page 1023 says that Benjamin Franklin used Chief Canasatego’s
ideas in his early plans for colonial union. Encourage students to find out more about this in
their history class or in library or online resources.
• Reader’s Circle. With a group, students decide what each author would say is the most
important thing for young people to learn. Ask students to support their view with lines from
texts. Then they discuss whether these things are still important today.
Interventions:
Tier 2
• Have students read along as they listen to the Audio Anthology CD. Use the reading skill copy
master as a guide as you work together to identify important point in the selection.
Differentiate expected responses along this continuum: beginning, early intermediate,
intermediate, and early advanced. (See continuum description on TE page 1025.)
• In combination with the Audio Anthology CD, use one or more of the Targeted Passages (pp.
1024-1026) to ensure that students focus on key concepts and skills in the selections.
• Develop Reading Fluency. Have students practice reading portions of the Grand Council
Fire’s letter to develop fluency with the rhetorical devices. Remind students that repetition
and pacing are used to create emphasis. Point out the frequent use of dashes that indicate
important pauses. Model reading the paragraph aloud and then have students practice
reading portions of the selection in small groups.
• Guide students in writing another strong and engaging beginning for their argument. This
time, they should write like the other author. Again, remind students that they do not need to
use either of these in their essay, but they should try them anyway.
Suggested Assessment:
Reader’s/Writer’s Notebooks
Individual fluency probes
Fluency Rubric Checklist
One Minute Fluency Checks
AR Testing
Teacher observations
Evidence of accountable talk
Completed T-Chart
STAR Diagnostic Report
Resources:
Holt McDougal Literature 8,
Teacher created material
Glencoe Writers Choice 8
Word Wall
Vocabulary Log
Graphic Organizer
Student AR Goal Sheets
Ancillary Material
Technology
Audio Anthology CD
Video:
Websites: Renaissance Place (AR), http://www.tea.state.tx.us/readingproducts/products.html,
http://www.tea.state.tx.us/reading/products/redbk4.pdf,
http://www.tea.state.tx.us/reading/products/redbk2a.pdf, www.lexile.com, www.my.hrw.com
Some criteria ideas are:
 An issue in your community
 An issue you can learn and know enough about to develop an argument that is not
oversimplified
 An issued you have the power to do something about , or can appeal to people who do
have the power that are willing to help
 An issue that will appeal or relate to your audience
Note: Explain to students that the best issues usually arise out of personal experience.
(“Educating Sons” and “The First American”)
Literature Selections:
p.1024
p.1026
p.1023
Educating Sons
The First Americans
Meet the Author
6 Weeks Novel: To Kill a Mockingbird
English Language Arts & Reading
Fifth Six Weeks: Weeks 5-6
Theme: State Your Case
Time Frame: 9 Days
Genre: Literary Non-Fiction
Writing: Persuasive
Objective:
 Engage in reading, thinking, writing, and talking as a way to achieve deeper understanding of
persuasive texts.
 Engage in Writer’s Workshop and use the writing process to plan, draft, edit, publish, and
present persuasive writing.
 Identify the components of a persuasive speech and use them in their own writings.
 Use the research process to locate and record information to gather appropriate evidence that
supports an argument.
 Write to summarize, paraphrase, and synthesize texts to make connections and to maintain
within and across texts.
TEKS: Participate productively in discussions, plan agendas with clear goals and deadlines, set time limits for speakers, take notes, and vote on key issues. ELAR
8.28A; Analyze passages in well-known speeches for the author’s use of literary devices and word and phrase choice to appeal to the audience. ELAR 8.7A; Reflect on
understanding to monitor comprehension (e.g. summarizing and synthesizing; making textual, personal and world connections; creating sensory images). Figure 19
110.20C; Narrow or broaden the major research question, if necessary, based on further research and investigation. ELAR 8.24A; Write a persuasive essay to the
appropriate audience that considers and responds to the views of others and anticipates and answers reader concerns and counter-arguments. ELAR 8.18B
8th Grade
Overview:
 Features of persuasive text
 Techniques authors use to persuade audiences
 Presenting a position and supporting it with reasons and evidence
 Researching a topic
Literary Terms:
Speech
Rhetorical question
Factual claims
Opinions
Commonplace assertions
Six Week Project: Identify and research an important issue for today’s society. Use information from
research to write and deliver a persuasive speech about an action that needs to be taken to address the issue.
Essential Questions:
How can taking a stand bring change in our community?
Why did these authors write these texts and what might they have accomplished?
How do the methods these authors use relate to the arguments they make?
Suggested Lesson Ideas:
Lesson 15: Gist and Significance in “What to the Slave Is the Fourth of July?”
• Connect and Engage. Project the title and ask students what they notice. Guide them to notice the inverted
word order. Press them to draw some conclusions about the level of language in the speech. Guide them
to respond to the question, reasoning and drawing conclusions based on their background knowledge.
• Engage with students to:
1. Read to get the gist (What is the speech about? What is the issue? What is the speaker’s argument? What
are the points that develop the argument?).
2. Read to identify three sentences/ideas that appear to be most significant to the speaker’s argument.
3. Read to interpret: How does Douglass define independence?
4. Read to analyze techniques: What persuasive techniques does Douglass use and what effect do they have
on the message?
5. Writelike the author’s in the unit: Students think of a practice they believe is wrong or unjust and write
a paragraph to help their classmates recognize that the practice is wrong/unjust. They should include
use of rhetorical questions, like Douglass.
6. Review the selections in the unit and identify strategies the authors used to conclude their arguments.
They should use the effective closing they identify as a model for their culminating project.
• Engage students in the habits of thinking and use the Disciplinary Literacy tools and routines (e.g.,
pair/trio share, writing to learn, reflection) as they engage in the tasks in Lesson 15.
Lesson 16: Six Week Project
• Engage students in writer’s workshop lessons to complete the six week project.
• Provide time and conduct mini-lessons as needed so that students may research their topics and
audiences.
• Model the writing process.
• Create a criteria chart for the task.
• Model and teach a lesson on effective speaking. Use Holt textbook as a resource.
• Model, clarify expectations, and practice behaviors for a “good audience.”
• Engage in reflection at the conclusion of the unit: Ask students to write about and share what they have
learned about reading and writing persuasive texts and how what they learned helped them to develop
their persuasive speech.
Differentiation:
During core program/core instructional time
 Engage with small groups or individuals to support each students’ needs.
Interventions:
Tier 2
 Engage with students to practice delivery of their speeches.
Tier 3
 Read speeches with students and engage as a learner to analyze techniques and explain how they impact
the message.
Suggested Assessment:
Reader’s/Writer’s Notebooks
Individual fluency probes
Fluency Rubric Checklist
One Minute Fluency Checks
AR Testing
Culminating Project
Resources:
Holt McDougal Literature
Glencoe Writer’s Choice 8
Word Wall
Vocabulary Log
Student AR Goal Sheets
Teacher observations
Evidence of accountable talk
Completed T-Chart
STAR Diagnostic Report
Teacher created material
Ancillary Material
Technology
Graphic Organizer
Audio Anthology CD
Video:
Websites: Renaissance Place (AR), http://www.tea.state.tx.us/readingproducts/products.html,
http://www.tea.state.tx.us/reading/products/redbk4.pdf,
http://www.tea.state.tx.us/reading/products/redbk2a.pdf, www.lexile.com, www.my.hrw.com
Literature Selection:
p.1030
6 Weeks Novel: To Kill a Mockingbird
What to the Slave is the Fourth of July