English Language Arts & Reading
Second Six Weeks: Weeks 1-2
Theme: Through Different Eyes
Time Frame: 10 Days
Genre: Literary Non-Fiction, Memoirs, Autobiographies
Writer: Jennifer Tippett
Objective:
 The students will read and write daily, using reading strategies (decoding clues,
vocabulary clues, inferencing, and metacognition strategies) to enhance and improve
comprehension.
 The students will engage in systematic word study to improve comprehension and writing
skills.
 The students will read and reread texts to answer questions from the unit and students’
own questions.
 The students will write to learn about ideas, style, language, and conventions and to
develop complex ideas and personal writing styles.
 The students will participate in pair/trio and whole group.
 The students will participate in whole group inquiry-based discussions.
 The students will make connections across the texts in the unit, using ideas in one text to
help understand the ideas of other texts.
 The students will learn about narrative features and how to write and revise
fictional/nonfictional narratives using setting, plot and characterization from models,
peers, teacher, and self-study.
 The students will write a fictional or non-fictional narrative as a culminating project.
Adjust when reading aloud grade-level text based on the reading purpose and nature of the text. [ELAR 8.1A]; Use context (within a sentence and in larger sections of text) to
determine or clarify the meaning of unfamiliar or ambiguous words or words with novel meanings. [ELAR 8.2B]; Explain how the values and beliefs of particular characters are
affected by the historical and cultural setting of the literary work. [ELAR 8.3C]; Analyze different forms of point of view, including first-person, third person omniscient, and third
person limited. [ELAR 8.6C]; Make Inferences and draw conclusions about the varied structural patterns and features of literary nonfiction and provide evidence from text to
support their understanding. [ELAR 8.7A]; Make inferences and draw conclusions about how an author’s sensory language creates imagery in literary text and provide evidence
from text to support their understanding. [ELAR 8.8A]; Summarize the main ideas, supporting details, and relationships among ideas in text succinctly in ways that maintain
meaning and logical order. [ELAR 8.10A]
Develop drafts by choosing an appropriate organizational strategy and building on ideas to create a focused, organized, and coherent piece of writing. [ELAR 8.14B]; Write a
personal narrative that has a clearly defined focus and includes reflections on decisions, actions, and/or consequences. [ELAR 8.16A]; Use and understand the function of parts
of speech in the context of reading, writing, and speaking. [ELAR 8.19A.i]; 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]; Ask literal, interpretive, evaluative, and universal questions of text. [Figure 19 110.20B]; Establish purposes for
reading selected texts based upon own or others’ desired outcome to enhance comprehension. [Figure 19 110.20A]; Make complex inferences about text and use textual
evidence to support understanding.[Figure 19 110.20D]
TEKS:
8th Grade
Overview:
 Develop a deeper understanding of the concept of relationships and how they develop and
change;
 Develop a deeper understanding of the characteristics of well-written narratives: nonfiction, memoirs, and autobiographies and features of expository writing as a genre;
 Develop a deeper understanding of strategies we can use to become better readers and
writers of literary texts;
 Develop a deeper understanding of first person, third person, and omniscient points of
view and how writers use point of view to influence reader reaction;
 Develop a deeper understanding of advance plot, establishing setting, and developing
characterization in narratives;
 Develop a deeper understanding of theme and recurring theme in narratives;
 Develop a deeper understanding of correct use of verbs (perfect and progressive tenses)
and participles.
Literary Terms:
memoir
chronological order
SAT Word of the Week (WOW):
cause/effect
conflict
analyze
concur, debacle
Essential Questions:
What are the writers saying in these narratives?
What do these narratives teach us about how relationships develop and change over time?
What do we learn about non-fiction, memoirs, and autobiographies?
Suggested Lesson Ideas:
Unit Introduction Teacher Notes: Throughout this unit students will read, talk, write about, and
write like the narratives they read while keeping a Reader/Writer Notebook to capture their work.
During the unit, students will use their new understanding about what makes an effective
narrative plus their writing in their Reader/Writer Notebook to develop their own personal
narrative.
Lesson 1: Routines of Thinking, Reading, Writing, and Talking About Narratives
 Connect and Engage: Remember a Narrative: Access Prior Knowledge
 Ask students to recall a narrative (short story, song that has a story, movie, or television story
that has had a strong impact or influence on them). Make sure they tell why during the
discussion.
 Use Reader/Writer Notebook
 Provide students the opportunity to transfer their verbal summaries into written summaries
via their Reader/Writer Notebooks. Before students begin writing, teacher models by reading
what s/he writes in her/his own Reader/Writer Notebook.
 Develop Content: What is a Narrative?
 Create a class chart titled “What Is a Narrative?”
Invite students to share with a partner their narrative summaries. Using these summaries,
help students formulate a definition of a narrative by asking: What is a narrative? What are the
features of a narrative? On a chart, record students’ responses. Then post the chart as a visual
reference to be utilized throughout the unit.
 Develop Characteristics: What Makes a Narrative Interesting to Readers?
 Create a class chart titled “What Makes a Narrative Interesting to Readers?” Solicit
responses by asking: “What makes you want to read a narrative? What qualities entice you to
read a narrative? What do you have to do as a reader to make a narrative become interesting to
you? Post the chart and tell students that they will revisit this at other times in the unit as they
deepen their understanding about narratives and what makes them interesting to readers.
 Preview the Unit Architecture and Content and Habits of Thinking
 Provide each student a copy of the Unit Architecture. Increase students’ interest and
ownership of the work and help them develop their own learning goals by reviewing the
components of the architecture. The discussion should include the texts, theme, overarching
questions, Disciplinary Literacy process, WriteAbouts WriteLikes, StepBacks, and the
culminating project.
 Review the Narrative Content and Habits of Thinking Chart, which is posted in the room.
Tell students that throughout the unit they will be learning new routines or “ways of working.”
Explain that learning to read and think about their reading in the way a writer reads and
thinks will help them to write their own narratives.
 Homework: Write Academic and Personal Goals
 Distribute the handout titled “My Goals for Becoming a Better Reader, Writer, Thinker,
and Speaker.” Teacher models how to create goals by completing the sentence stems. Then
students write two academic goals and one personal goal related to reading, writing, thinking,
and speaking. Students may finish the activity for HOMEWORK. (See examples of academic
and personal goals.)
Lesson 2: Read to Get the Gist of “My First Free Summer”
 Connect and Engage
 Quickwrite: Ask students to reflect on times when they have had to leave a special person or
place. They may choose one experience and write a journal entry that explores their feelings
about leaving. Were you looking forward to moving on? Who would you miss the most?
(continued on next page)
 Share Homework: Goals
 Invite students to share academic and personal goals with a partner for five minutes and place
the handout in their Reader/Writer Notebooks. Students will revisit their goals throughout the
unit.
 Read to Get the Gist of “My First Free Summer”
 Introduce students to their first narrative short story, “My First Free Summer” by Julia
Alvarez. Ask: What do you know about narratives that are autobiographical? How do you know
this? Tell students that this story is an example of a memoir. Direct students to read Literary
Analysis: Memoir on page 115. Discuss briefly how memoir is related to autobiography. Then
provide students with background information on Julia Alvarez by reading “Meet the Author” on
p. 115.
 Post the following comprehension questions: What is happening? Who are the characters?
What do you know about them? How do you know? Tell students that answering these questions
during their first reading will help them better comprehend what the narrative is about.
 Predetermine a check-point within the story to assess comprehension by asking the four
comprehension questions. Read the first section of the text aloud to students. Encourage
students to be active readers who think about what is happening and what the characters in the
narrative are thinking about themselves.
 Encourage students to annotate the text while reading to keep track of their thinking. Through
a Think Aloud, teacher models one of the codes in isolation and allows students to practice
before moving to the text. Students continue to read aloud/think aloud and annotate the text.
(See Code System for Notetaking.)
 As students read, remind them to underline any words or phrases that give information about




any of the characters or show what is happening in the story. Ask: What did you underline? What
does what you underlined tell you that is new about what is happening or about the characters in
the story? After each section of text, allow students to share their answers to those questions.
StepBack on Reading: Ask students “What helped you figure out and understand what happened
in this memoir?”
Reread “My First Free Summer” for Significant Moments/Perspectives
 Invite students to reread the text and identify what they think are the three most significant
moments or sentences to what the author is trying to say. Moments may be related to
characters (values and beliefs), conflicts, lesson learned, key plot events, etc. There is no right
or wrong answer.
 Model creating a two-column note chart using the Reader/Writer Notebook. The
sentences/moments should be written in the left column and an explanation of the
sentence/moment in the right.
Share Important Sentences and Explain Support in Pairs
 In pairs, let students share their sentences/moments and what they reveal about what Alvarez
is trying to say. Partners listen for similarities/ differences in the sentences/moments that are
chosen.
 Students return to the larger community and share their moments and explanations. Press
students to be specific and to refer to the text.
StepBack: Invite students to reflect with a partner by asking, “What did we do today to
understand the narrative?” Students record their responses in their Reader/Writer Notebook.
Provide an opportunity to share.
Lesson 3: Inquiry-based Discussion of “My First Free Summer”
An inquiry-based discussion is student-centered. The teacher guides the discussion or prompts
participants. The goal is for students to talk to each other rather than through the teacher. (See
link on how to facilitate an inquiry-based discussion.)
 WriteAbout-Guiding Question: How does the author’s view on the American culture affect
her relationship with her mother?
 Write the guiding question on the board, chart paper, or a transparency and ask students to
think about it as they reread the text.
 After students have reread the text, give them about 3-5 minutes to write an answer to the
question and to identify supporting evidence from the text in their Reader/Writer Notebooks.
 Share Responses in Pairs
 Ask students to turn to a partner and take about five minutes to discuss their responses. Tell
them that this partner talk is preparation for a whole group discussion on the same question.
 Inquiry-based Discussion
 Engage students in a whole group inquiry-based discussion for about 20-25 minutes. Before
the discussion, guide students in setting up norms for the inquiry-based discussion. Post the
norms.
 StepBack: Based on the discussion, would you change your response in your WriteAbout? If so, how
and why would you change it? Press students to be specific in their responses. Engage in sharing
– whole class.
 Analyze First Person Point of View
 Begin analyzing first person point of view by asking: Who is the narrator in the story? How do
you know? Ask students to explain their answers using phrases and other examples from the
text.
 Write on the board/transparency two to five sentences from the text. Explain that first person
pronoun is typically used in a memoir to give a first-person account of an actual event. (See
example inside the yellow text box and consult primary resources for Point of View.)
 Whole Group Discussion: Why do you think the author chose the first person narration? What is
the effect on you as a reader? Then ask students to change the sentences from first person to
third person. Ask: How does the change from first person to third person narration affect you as
a reader?
 Encourage students to share one of their sentences with the class, saying it both in first person
and third person.
 WriteLike: Point of View Paragraph
 Refer to the Narrative Content and Habits of Thinking chart by pointing out to students that
they are learning about writing by reading and using what others write as a model.
 Model a WriteLike by writing from the first person point of view about an event that you
experienced. Share your writing by reading it aloud. To help students see different sentence
types that they can use for writing effectively, show them how your example uses different
types of sentence structures. (See WriteLike: Point of View for the example.)
 Encourage students to begin writing their paragraphs. Students may finish their writing
for homework.
Lesson 4: WriteLike Alvarez
 Share First Person Paragraphs Homework in Trios
 Invite students to share their narrative paragraphs with two other students. Each trio member
should listen for consistent use of first person point of view and assist each other, if needed, to
change the pronouns. Assist any students who are having difficulty using first person
narration.
 Learn about Culminating Assignment: Neighborhood Narrative
 Distribute the handout, Culminating Assignment: Neighborhood Narrative. Read through
the assignment with students, allowing them to ask questions. Then let students know that
they will do short pieces of writing, WriteLikes, over the next few weeks that will help give
them content and writing ideas for their Neighborhood Narrative.
 Analyze Author’s Use of Sensory Language
 Ask students what they liked about Alvarez’s narrative; have them refer to the text when
sharing. Then ask students: What did the writer do to make you want to keep reading?
 Revisit Characteristics Chart
 Guide students in comparing their responses with what is on the chart. Add only new ideas to
chart, “What Makes a Narrative Interesting to Readers?”
 To further assist students’ responses, say: Look at the words, phrases, and sentences Alvarez
uses in her narrative. What do you notice?
 If students have not mentioned the author’s use of sensory words vs. general words and
phrases, reread for them sections of narrative that focus on Alvarez’s use of sensory words in
describing places, things, and characters. Guide and challenge students to identify parts of text
where the author shows rather than merely tells. (See example and notes in the blue text box.)
• Analyze Author’s Use of Cause-Effect Structure. Guide students in recognizing how the
author’s use of a cause- effect pattern of organization helps readers see how the ideas and
events are related. To find the effect/s and cause/s of events and ideas in the text, ask students
to reread the story (particularly lines 18-23, 62-65, 66-80) and answer the questions: “What
happened?(effect) Why did it happen?(cause)” Students may also look for words or phrases that
help signal relationships between events and ideas. (See primary resources.)
• WriteLike: Active Voice. Distribute the WriteLike: Active Voice handout to students. Read
through the handout with them and answer questions. Provide additional information as
necessary. Have students complete the exercises before engaging in the next WriteLike activity.
• WriteLike Alvarez (Complete for homework):
 Invite students to write a two paragraph memory of something from their own childhood that
includes them and another person. Tell students to write it in the first person point of view
and show relationships of ideas/ events using cause and effect organizational pattern.
Encourage students to show rather than to tell what they did/what happened by using
sensory details.
 Teacher Model: Topic Choice – Before students begin to write, offer examples of topics.
Students brainstorm in their Reader/Writer Notebooks as many topics for this assignment as
possible. Encourage students to share topics. Records students’ responses on chart paper.
 Students Draft WriteLikes – Students write the draft of their WriteLike Alvarez narratives.
Students may finish their drafts for homework.
Lesson 5: “Crack Open” the Narrative
• Share WriteLike Alvarez Homework:
 Invite students to share their WriteLike Alvarez narratives in pairs. Each student should read
his/her narrative while the other student listens. Afterwards listeners should retell what they
heard.
• Study Teacher Model of WriteLike Narrative
 Teacher read his/her own WriteLike Alvarez narrative, which has one or two deliberately
general points of exposition that show rather than tell. Use an overhead transparency or
handout of a page of the draft and guide students to identify the lines or phrases. Teacher may
also use the Sample WriteLike Alvarez or “Park Day” as a model. (See Sample WriteLike
Alvarez and “Park Day.”)
 Teacher point to a section of his/her model draft that highlight, or could highlight,
relationships between characters.
 Invite students to look for possible details to “crack open” a line or a phrase. Teacher
numbers the spot on the transparency, writes in the new phrase that offers details on another
transparency, and codes it with the same number. If you, the writer, agree with the suggestion,
say the reasons as you make the change. After you have finished revising, ask: What did I do as
a writer to “crack open” my writing? Press students to describe the decisions you had to make
as a writer.
• “Crack open” Individual Narrative
 Using his/her own narrative, student independently “cracks open” a sentence or a phrase that
is too general and condenses, skims over, or rushes past a possible scene. Student may add
details to show or draw the picture rather than to explain or tell. Teacher may assist other
students who need extra support in finding areas to “crack open.”
• Share What They “Cracked Open” and Why
 Pair Work: Students share with a partner what they “cracked open” and look for other
sentences or phrases to improve.
 Whole Group: Ask students to share with the entire class the original line or phrase that they
“cracked open” and the changes they made.
• StepBack: What did you “crack open”? How did your narrative change when you “cracked it open”?
• StepBack: What have I accomplished so far in this unit? Encourage students to make a list of
their strengths as readers and writers in their Reader/Writer Notebooks and to reflect on what
they have accomplished so far on the goals they wrote for themselves in Lesson 1. (See “My
Goals for Becoming a Better Reader, Writer, Thinker, and Speaker.”)
Lesson 6: Develop Understanding of Perspectives on Relationships
• Develop Vocabulary on Relationships: Create a Semantic Map
 Write the phrase, “Relationship between Alvarez and her mother” in the middle of the board
or on a transparency.
 Encourage students to brainstorm and write in their notebooks any words they can think of or
find in the text, “My First Free Summer,” that are related to the phrase on the board. Tell
students to write everything in the order they can think of or in order from the text. Give
students 10 minutes to generate 15 words or phrases individually.
 Project the handout Relationship Between Alvarez and Her Mother on the overhead and
brainstorm possible categories. Ask students to share and explain their responses. Then write
some of the student-generated phrases on the overhead/transparency as a model of what
students will do next in trios.
 Assign students to trios that are heterogeneously-grouped. Using their individual responses,
ask each trio to decide on the words or phrases they want to use to fill in their group map.
When one of the words or phrases falls outside the category, ask students to create an
additional category on the semantic map. Students share and explain responses.
 Facilitate the task of creating a class word wall or word tree beginning with the unit’s theme,
“relationships.”
 Encourage students to keep their own vocabulary log in which they will record words such as
academic vocabulary from their readings throughout the unit. (See Vocabulary Log and
Vocabulary Activities.)
 Develop Conceptual Understanding of Perspectives on Relationships: Sociogram
 Refer to the second overarching question: What do these narratives teach us about how
relationships develop and change over time?
 Teacher Model: To access students’ existing knowledge about their own relationships and the
relationships in the texts they are reading, model creating a visual representation of your
world when you were twelve through a sociogram. Ask about what “close” and “distant”
relationships mean. (See Sample Student Sociogram for steps in creating a sociogram.)
 Invite students to create their own sociogram in their Reader/Writer Notebooks.
 Students share their sociograms, first with a partner, then with the entire class.
Differentiation:
During core program/core instructional time
• If this is the first time students are using the Reader/Writer Notebooks, give them a few
strategies to get started. Show them the notebook you created and also talk about the purposes of
the notebook. (See Reader/Writer Notebook description.)
• Teacher may have a one-on-one conference with students who are still struggling to identify
their academic and personal goals.
• Model for students an effective oral reading of the first two paragraphs of text by using
appropriate pacing and punctuation as a guide. Then have students work in mixed-ability groups
to practice reading text aloud.
• Students can bring to class self-selected independent reading (their favorite short story) with
which to practice text annotation and guided literary discussions.
• With a small group of students, model how to choose significant moments from text and how to
phrase the explanation in order to assist students’ performance of the task. This will give students
a good reason to reread carefully, and it teaches them key cognitive skills for critical reading.
• In small group, practice with students on how to ask or respond to interpretive questions during
inquiry discussion. Use question/ response stems as scaffolds.
• Have students work in groups to write a brief narrative of an incident that occurred in school.
Assign each group the point of view they should use. Then ask one student from each group to
read the narrative to the class. The class should tell which type of narrator was used and how they
knew. If students have difficulty, suggest that they review the examples on page 170.
• Students identify cause/effect relationships among ideas in short passages. Remind students that
sometimes a cause can have more than one effect and vice versa. Students may use cause/effect
graphic organizers as scaffolds.
• Invite students to scan the selection for cognates and share their findings with the class.
Example:
relationship/relation = relación
Remind students about ‘false cognates,” words that look or sound similar to words in English but
actually have totally different meanings. Encourage students to create a word wall of cognates.
Extensions:
• Encourage students to work in groups to research one of the following topics to find out more
about the Dominican Republic during Trujillo’s rule. Students present their findings in a poster.
Have students display their posters and then lead a discussion about what life was like in the
Dominican Republic during Trujillo’s rule.
 The 14th of June Movement
 “The Butterflies”
 Trujillo’s assassination
• Guide small groups in analyzing key words in text (tier 2-specialized words or academic
vocabulary). Using the chart below, have students give a friendly explanation of a word and use it
in a sentence in the same context it is used in the text. Then students may copy its dictionary
meaning. Remind them that the friendly explanation must be written in a complete sentence.
Students may also add another column to illustrate the word.
• Have students work in pairs to figure out the meanings of these idioms/sayings and other
phrases in the selection:
 scrape by (line 24)
 I straightened out (line 41)
 drum up (line 54)
 the hours ticked away (line 90)
 a light came on (line 91)
• Encourage students to read more of Julia Alvarez’s writing and compare elements and techniques
in what they read (e.g., character, plot, style) in what they read to those in this story.
Gifted/Talented:
Students can create illustrations on idioms using clip art on computers and create a PowerPoint
with the illustrations.
Interventions:
Tier 1
 Teachers model and review decoding and phonics lessons for reading groups.
 Provide specific prompts for previewing a text and have students respond orally or in writing.
Tier 2
 Arrange students in small groups based on their interest in the same story/topic. Guide the
discussion or prompt students to talk to each other about a group-selected text. This will give
students additional time to “try out” their answers and explanations anchored with specific
evidence from the text.
 Hand out the Note taking: Point of View copy master and ask students to read page 170 silently.
Then have them record their notes on the copy master as you discuss the information.
• Have a one-on-one conference with individual students to assist them in revising their writings.
Tier 3
• Content and attendance are determined by specific student needs and based on performance as
indicated by data gathered via profiling, teacher/student conferences, independent writing
activities and other assessment tools.
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
Tackling Test Tuesday Assessment (TTT)
Week 1: “The Black Blizzards” & “Dust Bowl Days”
Week 2: “Major Taylor”
Resources:
Holt McDougal Literature 8,
Teacher created material
Word Wall
Technology
Vocabulary Log
Graphic Organizer
Student AR Goal Sheets
Ancillary Material
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
“My Goals for Becoming a Better Reader, Writer, Thinker, and Speaker.”
Example of an academic goal related to
Example of a personal goal related to
reading, writing, thinking, and speaking:
reading, writing, thinking, and speaking:
 In this unit, I want to learn more about:
 In this unit, I want to: take a risk and talk
how to get the gist and understand each
about what I think about a text.
story.
 I will do this by: contributing to class
 I will do this by learning how to: use a
discussions.
question that I have to reread the text until  The steps I can take to reach my goal are:
I come up with an answer.
raise my hand when I have something to
 The steps I can take to reach my goal are:
say and be confident that what I say is
write down what I am learning in my
valuable.
Reader/Writer Notebook and reread what
 I will know if I reach my goal when: I
we study in school and at home.
contribute at least one thing every class
period.
 I will know if I reached my goal: when I use
on my own the strategies my teacher has
shown the class how to use together and
the strategies help me to get the gist.
Literature Selections:
pp.114-121
pp.122-134
p.135
pp.758-769
6 Weeks Novel: The Diary
F of Anne Frank
My First Free Summer
Great Rat Hunt
Grammar: Past Perfect Tense
Response to Literature
Memoir
Memoir
Oral & Written Conventions
Writing Workshop
English Language Arts & Reading
Second Six Weeks: Weeks 3-4
Theme: Through Different Eyes
Time Frame: 9 Days
Genre: Literary Non-Fiction, Memoirs, Autobiographies
Writer: Jennifer Tippett
Objective:
 The students will read and reread texts to answer questions from the unit and students’
own questions.
 The students will listen actively and purposefully in a variety settings (pair, trio, and
whole group to understand, interpret, and monitor their understanding of the spoken
message.
Overview:
 Develop a deeper understanding of the concept of relationships and how they develop and
change;
 Develop a deeper understanding of the characteristics of well-written narratives: nonfiction, memoirs, and autobiographies and features of expository writing as a genre;
 Develop a deeper understanding of strategies we can use to become better readers and
writers of literary texts;
 Develop a deeper understanding of first person, third person, and omniscient points of
view and how writers use point of view to influence reader reaction;
 Develop a deeper understanding of advance plot, establishing setting, and developing
characterization in narratives;
 Develop a deeper understanding of theme and recurring theme in narratives;
 Develop a deeper understanding of correct use of verbs (perfect and progressive tenses)
and participles.
Literary Terms:
Memoir
chronological order
draw conclusion
autobiography
characterization
SAT Word of the Week (WOW):
cause/effect
conflict
main ideas
biography
analyze
inference
details
anecdote
diligent,
Essential Questions:
What are the writers saying in these narratives?
What do these narratives teach us about how relationships develop and change over time?
What do we learn about non-fiction, memoirs, and autobiographies?
determine or clarify the meaning of unfamiliar or ambiguous words or words with novel meanings. [ELAR 8.2B]; Analyze literary works that share similar themes across cultures. [ELAR
8.3A]; Analyze linear plot developments (e.g., conflict, rising action, falling action, resolution, subplots) to determine whether and how conflicts are resolved. [ELAR 8.6A]; Analyze how the
central characters’ qualities influence the theme of a fictional work and resolution of the central conflict. [ELAR 8.6B]; Analyze different forms of point of view, including first-person, third
person omniscient, and third person limited. [ELAR 8.6C]; Make inferences and draw conclusions about how an author’s sensory language creates imagery in literary text and provide
evidence from text to support their understanding. [ELAR 8.8A]; Explain the effect of similes and extended metaphors in literary text. [ELAR 8.8A]; Revise drafts to ensure precise word
choice and vivid images; consistent point of view; use of simple, compound, and complex sentences; internal and external coherence; and the use of effective transitions after rethinking how
well questions of purpose, audience and genre have been addressed. [ELAR 8.14C]; Write a personal narrative that has a clearly defined focus and includes reflections on decisions,
actions, and/or consequences. [ELAR 8.16A]; 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]; Make complex inferences about text and use textual evidence to support understanding. [Figure 19
110.20D]; Listen to and interpret a speaker’s purpose by explaining the content, evaluating the delivery of the presentation, and asking questions or making comments about the evidenced
that supports a speaker’s claims. [ELAR 8.26A]; Participate productively in discussions, plan agendas with clear goals and deadlines, set time limits for speakers, take notes, and vote on
key issues perspective. [ELAR 8.28]
TEKS: Adjust when reading aloud grade-level text based on the reading purpose and nature of the text. [ELAR 8.1A]; Use context (within a sentence and in larger sections of text) to
8th Grade
Lesson 7: Read to Get the Gist of” Rules of the Game”
 Introduce fictional narrative
 Ask students: What is fiction? What is an autobiography? Discuss with students the
differences and similarities between an autobiography and fiction. Create a Venn diagram
to record student responses. Remind students there is a difference in purpose. The writer
of an autobiography is trying to write an account or personal interpretation of something
that actually happened. A writer of fiction may be inspired by his or her own life
experiences, observations of real people, places and/or events.
 Before beginning the shared reading of the selection, discuss information about the
author, Amy Tan (p. 231).
 Refer to the comprehension questions in the wall chart (Lesson 2), which remain posted
in the room. Remind students to think about these questions while they read along with
the teacher, using active reading strategies such as annotating text, marking any
problematic words or phrases, and writing down any lines they find confusing or any that
seem particularly important to the story, etc. For additional support view Reading
Strategies Workshop on page 12. Remind students to use Code System for Note-Taking.
 Shared Reading for First Part of “Rules of the Game”
 Read to Get the Gist: Tell students that you will read the first part of “Rules of the Game”
while they follow along to begin to get the gist of the selection. Use the comprehension
questions as a springboard for facilitating a brief class discussion about what has
happened so far in the story, who the characters are, and how we know.
 Individual or Paired Reading of the Rest of the Text
 Students will individually read the rest of the story. Those who have difficulty reading on
their own might be paired with more fluent readers. When students have finished reading,
return to the comprehension questions to check that all students comprehend the text.
 Develop Vocabulary about Relationship in Text: Create a Semantic Map
 Students will create a semantic map focused on building vocabulary about the concept of
relationships. Have students compare the semantic map from the first selection, “My First
Free Summer” (Lesson 6) with “Rules of the Game.” Ask: How are the relationships
different in “Rules of the Game” and “My First Free Summer”? (See Semantic Map for “Rules
of the Game”.)
 It is important that teachers create their own version of a semantic map for the selection
in preparation for offering additional assistance to individual students.
 At this point, invite students to revisit the class word wall or word tree on the unit theme,
“relationships.”
 Encourage students to record new Tier Two/specialized or academic vocabulary related
to the theme in their Vocabulary Log.
StepBack: Ask students, What have you learned from completing the semantic map? What helped
you to learn that? Respond in Reader’s/Writers Notebook, then share.
Lesson 8: Recurring Themes: Perspectives on Relationships and Inquiry-based Discussion
of “Rules of the Game”
 Ask students to set aside five pages in their Reader/Writer Notebooks for work that will
be done with recurring theme in the unit and their Neighborhood Narrative.
 Briefly explain the definition for recurring theme. The definition will take on more
meaning as students begin to apply it in discussions that are focused on understanding
ideas across the texts in this unit.
 Significant Moments/Sentences Related to Recurring Theme of Perspectives on
Relationships
 Students individually reread “Rules of the Game” to identify the three most significant
moments or sentences in the narrative that support what the author, Amy Tan, is trying to
say about how relationships develop and change.
 Ask students to record responses in a two-column note chart in their Reader/Writer
Notebooks.
 Model a moment of your own and explain why you think that moment is significant to
what you think the author is trying to say about how relationships develop and change.
Develop your model by using information from “Rules of the Game” semantic mapping.
 Share in Pairs: Ask students to work with a partner and share their significant moments
and explanations. Partners should be listening for similarities and differences in the
moments that were chosen.
 Find Relationship Moments in “My First Free Summer”
 Students refer back to the first text, “My First Free Summer,” to identify significant
moments/sentences that focus on how relationships develop and change.
 Have students create another two column note chart with the same headings as “Rules of
the Game” to record their moments/ sentences and explanations. Students may be able to
copy moments/sentences from their Reader/Writer Notebooks that they chose in Lesson
2.
 Students will compare semantic maps for “My First Free Summer” and “Rules of the Game”.
Ask students: How are the relationships different in these two selections?
 Inquiry-based Discussion—WriteAbout Guiding Question: Why does Waverly compare
her relationship with her mother to a chess game?
 Tell students that now that they have read and understood the gist of Rules of the Game,”
they are ready to reread the text to talk about it and develop some interpretations about
the narrative’s main characters. Ask students to think about the guiding question as they
reread the selection. For more information on how to facilitate an Inquiry-Based
Discussion, see handout.
 WriteAbout & Share in Pairs
 Give students time to write a response. Students will not need much time to write since
the writing is meant to be short and exploratory.
 Students will share responses with a partner. Then with the whole class.
 Overarching Question: Recurring Theme
 Review the significant moments and explanations from “My First Free Summer” and
“Rules of the Game.” Then ask: What do these two narratives tell us about how relationship
develop and change over time? Encourage students to use text evidence to support their
interpretations. Students share responses with class.
Lesson 9: Learning About Point of View
 Ask students: How do writers create characters that trigger different kinds of reactions?
How does who tells the story affect your feelings?
 Establish understanding that point of view refers to the method of narration used in a
short story, novel, narrative poem, or work of nonfiction. The narrator is the voice that
tells a story. Sometimes the narrator is a character in the story or an outside voice created
by the writer.
 See sample sentence and refer to p.170 in textbook for additional support.
 Ask students to think about the characteristics of first-person, third-person points of view.
Chart responses. (See Points of View samples.)
 If Waverly’s mother were telling the story, what might she say? In 2-3 paragraphs, retell
from Waverly’s mother’s point of view the scenes in which Waverly runs away from the
market and returns home.
 Ask students: In “Rules of the Game”, what is the narrator able to tell readers about events
and characters? What kind of narrator is this—first-person, third-person limited or thirdperson omniscient? Respond in Notebook.
 Recurring Themes: Perspectives on Relationships
 Students will identify 3-5 examples of important observations of the internal world of the
characters and explain how and why these observations are important to the story.
Students record responses on a graphic organizer.
 Plot a Story: The Storyboard
 Students will see how the elements of plot actually develop in a story by creating a
storyboard for “Rules of the Game.” Model one or two of the boxes on a storyboard to
make sure that students understand how to segment (chunk) the story.
 Students work together to complete a storyboard of their own. Allow students flexibility
in determining the number of boxes needed to chunk the plot. Encourage students to
present their storyboard in a PowerPoint Presentation or other similar presentation
program.
Lesson 10: Discuss “Rules of the Game” Plot and Character Development
 Display storyboards and allow students the opportunity to participate in a gallery walk to
see what other groups have developed. Ask two or three of the groups to not only share
their storyboards and written explanations but also to explain why they chunked the story
the way they did. The choices show what learners thought was most important in text.
 StepBack: Reflect on Creating a Storyboard
 Ask: What did you learn by creating and explaining your storyboard? Refer to the
Narrative Content and Habits of Thinking Chart, ask students: Is what you said listed
there? If not, add it to your chart.
 WriteLike: Use Dialogue for a Purpose
 Explain to students that this lesson will be focused on dialogue. Ask learners: What effect
does dialogue have on you as a reader? What does dialogue add to a story? Chart student
responses.
 Dialogue or conversation quoting the exact words of characters is an effective narrative
technique. It can rivet the reader’s attention. Dialogue can bring characters to life and
dramatically show them reacting to one another. Ask students to examine Tan’s use of
dialogue. For additional support refer to Grammar in Context: Punctuating Dialogue on p.
589.
 Students work with a partner to select a part of the story that shows dialogue. One student
reads the part of Waverly and one reads the part of her mother. As they are reading, ask
them to think about what this dialogue adds to the narrative, and how this narrative might
be different if the writer had just summarized the conversation rather than used dialogue.
 QuickWrite: What does this piece of dialogue tell us about the relationship between
Waverly and her mother? Students respond in Notebook. Facilitate a class discussion.
Then ask students: What effect does dialogue have on you as a reader? What does dialogue
add to a story? Ask students to add any new thoughts or ideas to chart. Students will share
with a partner then with whole group.
Lesson 11: Creating the Setting
 Ask students to refer back to My Goals for Becoming a Better Reader, Writer, Thinker,
and Speaker, on which they wrote their academic and personal goals for the unit in
Lesson 1. Ask them to assess the progress they are making toward reaching their goals.
Students record their progress in Notebooks. They should consider which goals they are
finding easier to meet and why and which goals they are having difficulty with and why.
 Create a Neighborhood Map
 Students will begin creating a map of their earliest neighborhood that they can remember.
Tell them that making a map of their own neighborhood will help them to remember that
place and the things that they and their friends and/or family did there.
 Model the development of a Neighborhood Map by drawing one of your own on either a
large piece of chart paper or on an overhead transparency to show them before they begin
one of their own. Teacher may also use the Teacher Model of Neighborhood Map through
PowerPoint Presentation.
 After modeling your own map, give students time to draw their own maps. Students share
their completed maps.
 StepBack: Reflect on Mapping Memories: How did the map activity help you to
remember the past?
Lesson 12: From Map to Narrative
 Revisit What Makes A Narrative Interesting
 Draw students’ attention to the chart, What Makes A Narrative Interesting to Readers?
After working with “My First Free Summer” and “Rules of the Game,” what more can be
added to the chart. Chart responses.
 Tell students to keep the characteristics of an interesting narrative in mind as they draft
their Neighborhood Narrative.
 Draft Neighborhood Narrative
 Students begin to write a first draft of a story from their map. Explain to them that they
have a choice about how they want to write their stories.
 Students may choose to write an autobiographical neighborhood narrative that depicts
some event from their lives that the map helped them to remember or they can choose to
write a fictional narrative. Remind students that they may also write their narratives from
first- or third- person point of view.
 Teacher Model
 Briefly tell a couple of stories based on your own map. The stories you tell students from
your map should include examples of relationships between people such as the
intimidation of one student by another. Allow students time to review their Notebook to
look at the work they have done thus far in the unit to see if any of it will help them with
plans for their own narratives.
 Read the narrative that you actually wrote based on your own map or use the sample map
and first person autobiographical narrative, “Susquehanna Street,” or third person
fictional narrative, “Park Day.”
 Tell students that as they are drafting, they shouldn’t worry about formal written
conventions. This is a first, exploratory draft. Allow about 25-30 minutes for students to
draft their Neighborhood Narratives.
 As students draft their Neighborhood Narratives, circulate around the room to make sure
that they understand what they are to do and to help those who may be experiencing
difficulties.
 StepBack: Ask students to reflect on the following: How did the map help you to write your
stories? Allow several students to share their responses.
Lesson 13: “Crack Open”—Focused Revision
 Finish Your Story
 Give students time to look over their stories and/or to complete their work from the
previous day. Ask students to look carefully at the narrator of their stories to decide if
they would like to shift their point of view.

Pair students to share their drafts. Have each student take turns reading his/her draft. As
one partner reads, the other listens for what happened in the narrative, and then share
one incident or action that most interests him or her.
 Ask students: What did you learn about your narrative from your partner?
 Cracking Open The Narrative
 In “My First Free Summer” and “Rules of the Game” students saw that one of the
characteristics of good writing is the use of specific details rather than general words or
phrases. Remind them about the importance of dialogue and how it brought characters
alive.
 Before having students “crack open” their Neighborhood Narratives to look for sentences
or phrases that are general as well as places where dialogue could be used to enhance
character and/ or relationships between characters, model doing this with your own
Neighborhood Narrative or model narratives. Take a part of your story and “crack open” a
general line or sentence or show where and why you used or plan to use a few lines of
dialogue
 “Crack It” Open: Students review narratives for sentences or phrases that are general—
places that skim over or rush past possible scenes. Ask them to find one or two places
where dialogue could be used to enhance character and/or reveal the relationship
between characters. After identifying these places they should rewrite them to include
detail and dialogue. Encourage students to use words or phrases or any figurative
language they record in their Sensory Language Chart and Writer’s image Palette to
enhance their narratives.
 Students share their “cracking open” by either: (a) reading the original sentence or phrase
they chose to “crack open” and then reading the revision that followed (b) reading a line
or two of dialogue they have written and explaining why they chose to write this piece of
dialogue where they did.
 StepBack: Reflect on Neighborhood Narrative
 Ask students to reflect on the process they went through to write their autobiographical
or fictional neighborhood narratives. Ask: How did your Neighborhood Narrative change or
develop when you “cracked it open”?
 Suggested Homework: Trace Your Writing Process: Ask students to make a list of what
they did from the very beginning of the Neighborhood Narrative assignment. What did you
do as a writer?
Lesson 14: Develop a Rubric, Self Assess, and Revise
 Ask students: What part of the writing process are you working on now? Students respond
in Reader/Writer Notebooks.
 Co-construct a rubric with students. See Components and Descriptions of a Good
Neighborhood Narrative. Ask students to copy the components and descriptions in the
Reader/Writer Notebooks. Guide students to examine the individual characteristics listed
on class chart, What Makes a Narrative Interesting to Readers? and ask them to assign
characteristics to components of a well written narrative. (See Develop a Rubric, Lesson
14.)
 Distribute the handout, Rubric: Components of a Good Neighborhood Narrative.
Discuss the rubric with them. Explain to students that the rubric will be used for selfassessment and peer-editing their drafts. It is important that students revise their drafts
before handing them in to you for review. Respond to students in writing at the end or at
the beginning of the next lesson. Providing students immediate feedbacks reinforce their
learning.



Explain to students that they should read their drafts and assess how they are doing with
each of the components by checking the appropriate category under the “writer” heading.
Students will hand in their drafts with their rubric and self-assessment.
As students reread, assess, and revise their drafts, it will be helpful if you conference with
them as a way to assess and scaffold their revisions.
Differentiation:
During core program/core instructional time
• As a way to assist readers in understanding the plot of the story, ask students to develop a story
plot diagram or timeline of the major events (chronological order). Stopping periodically to record
events will aid students’ comprehension.
• Think of a time when you played well in a game because you followed some important life
principles. Maybe you won a Scrabble game because you took the time to plan ahead or helped
your basketball team win because you placed the good of the team over your own desires.
Summarize this event in your Notebook and keep it in mind while you read the story.
• Divide students into small groups to write a brief narrative of an incident that occurred in school.
Be sure to tell each group which point of view they should use (first-person, third-person limited
or third-person omniscient). Then, ask one member of each group to read the narrative to the
class. The class should decide which type of narrator was used and how they knew.
• Extending the Story: Write an extension of “Rules of the Game” telling what happens the
following day in the Jong household. Be mindful of sentence structure and punctuation.
• Students can practice “cracking-open” sentences that the teacher has prepared for them to work
on in pairs. After practicing several sentences they can begin looking for their own sentences in
their own narratives.
Extensions:
 Encourage students to learn more about the game of chess. Ask them to see what they can
uncover about the history of the game. How, for example, does today’s game differ from the one
played hundreds of years ago? What cultures are known to have played chess? You might suggest
that they search for information about the rules of play and various strategies for the opening, the
middle game, and the endgame. Provide a time for students to share information with the class
• Have students keep a log of all the proverbs, or words of Chinese philosophy or advice they find
throughout the story, “Rules of the Game.” Each entry should show the specific proverb and the
effect it has on the main character, Meimei. Students choose a proverb from the story that relates
to their life in some way. Have them copy the proverb on a piece of construction paper and explain
its meaning as it relates to their own life. Invite them to decorate and display their work around
the room.
• Describe an event that taught you something important about adults. Explain the “rules of the
game” you learned in this relationship with an adult.
• As a reporter for a Chinatown newspaper, write a feature article about Meimei and her chess
triumphs. In your article, be sure to include quotations from people who know her best and who
have encouraged her success. To get ideas about what other might say, work with a partner to
role-play interviews with Meimei’s family members.
 Describe to a group a favorite memory or special place. Make notes on what you will say and
include several precise details. As you speak, change the loudness and tone of your voice to fit
what you are saying. Use your voice to help bring your description to life for your listeners.
• To further improve students’ writing skills, set aside time for a timed writing. (See Preparing for
Timed Writing on p. 157.)
Interventions:
Tier 1
 Teachers model and review decoding and phonics lessons for reading groups.
 Provide specific prompts for previewing a text and have students respond orally or in writing.
Tier 2
 Students can work in pairs to read and review the selection. They can read the story aloud, if
necessary, and discuss the events as they complete each page or chunk.
 Have volunteers read aloud selected passages as other students pantomime the events from the
selection using facial expressions and movement.
 Visualizing the world of San Francisco’s Chinatown may be difficult for less-proficient readers,
but it is important to their understanding of the story.
 Have pairs of students choose one of the Chinatown locations mentioned in the story. The
partners should reread the details about their location and then draw a picture, make a collage, or
create a three-dimensional model of the location. Combine the various pieces to create Meimei’s
neighborhood.
 Pairs may create a dialogue between Waverly and her mother that takes place years after the
events in this story, when Waverly is grown up.
 Ask students to use their neighborhood maps to create a setting to use in a narrative. Try to
make it a special place by using sensory details. Write a paragraph or two describing your special
place and explaining its significance in your life.
 Teacher facilitates small groups as students collaborate in pairs to find the sentences in their
narratives that need to be “cracked-open.” They then discuss what needs to be changed and work
on their own narratives. The teacher may want to review dialogue and sensory details with
students.
Tier 3
 Work an individual or small group, provide five note cards, each labeled with a word/phrase
associated with the term “relationship”. Have students discuss the words on the note cards and
decide how to divide them into 2 stacks. Ask students what these words/phrases have in
“common” as they decide how to categorize them. Once note cards are divided into two stacks, give
students two blank note cards and ask them to write the name of a category for each stack.
 Remind students that in a dialogue two or more characters trade thoughts, opinions, and ideas.
The tone of a dialogue is conversational. Lead students to consider these questions:

How would each character’s feelings have changed in the years since the conflict?

Would the characters be likely to be able to express their real feelings years later?
Pair students to write their dialogues, each student taking one part. Remind them to keep their
dialogues consistent with the personalities.
 To assist students in creating their Neighborhood maps, use the following “Mapping Your
Memories” questions:

Who lived there?

What were the secret places?

What were the favorite places to play?

Who were your friends?

Where were the off-limits places?
For more ideas, see Idea Starters on p. 148.
Work individually with students to guide them as they draw their own maps. Remind them to
include details such as street names, the people who lived in the houses, names of stores, the
shopping center, etc. Pictures or descriptions of buildings, special hideouts, etc. should also be
part of map.
 Students might benefit from tape-recording their work and listening to the recordings as they
read along, marking places that might be improved by varying either sentence structure or
length.
Suggested Assessment:
Reader’s/Writer’s Notebooks
Individual fluency probes
Fluency Rubric Checklist
One Minute Fluency Checks
AR Testing
Neighborhood Map
Timed Writing
Teacher observations
Evidence of accountable talk
Completed T-Chart
STAR Diagnostic Report
Venn diagram
Neighborhood Narrative Draft
QuickWrites
Tackling Test Tuesday Assessment (TTT)
Week 3: “Race the Sun”
Week 4: “Firefighters for the Sky”
Resources:
Holt McDougal Literature 8,
Teacher created material
Word Wall
Technology
Vocabulary Log
Graphic Organizer
Student AR Goal Sheets
Ancillary Material
Code System for Note-Taking
Semantic Map for “Rules of the Game”
Semantic Map for “My First Free Summer” (Lesson 6)
Word Wall
Vocabulary Log
Reader’s Workshop: Character and Point of View, pp. 170-171
Personal Narrative, pp. 148-156
My Goals for Becoming a Better, Reader, Writer, Thinker, and Speaker
“What Makes a Narrative Interesting to Readers?” Chart
Creating Neighborhood Map
Preparing for Timed Writing, p. 157
Rubric: Components of a Good Neighborhood Narrative
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:
pp.114-121
pp.122-134
p.135
pp.232-245
pp.266-280
p.278
pp.282-288
p.289
pp.758-769
6 Weeks Novel: The Diary of Anne Frank
My First Free Summer
Great Rat Hunt
Grammar: Past Perfect Tense
Rules of the Game
Harrier Tubman: Conductor of
the Underground Railroad
Letter to Harriet Tubman
The Mysterious Mr. Lincoln
Multiple-Meaning Words
Response to Literature
Memoir
Memoir
Oral & Written Conventions
Biography
Letter
Biography
Vocabulary Strategy
Writing Workshop
Second Six Weeks: Weeks 5-6
Time Frame: 9 Days
Writer: Anya Miller
Theme: Through Different Eyes
Genre: Literary Non-Fiction, Memoirs, Autobiographies
Objective:
 The students will engage in systematic word study to improve comprehension and
writing skills.
 The students will read and reread texts to answer questions from the unit and students’
own questions.
 The students will write to learn about ideas, style, language, and conventions and to
develop complex ideas and personal writing styles.
 The students will participate in pair/trio and whole group.
 The students will make language choices and use conventions that help us write more
effective narratives.
 The students will write a fictional or non-fictional narrative.
Overview:
 Develop a deeper understanding of the concept of relationships and how they develop
and change;
 Develop a deeper understanding of the characteristics of well-written narratives: nonfiction, memoirs, and autobiographies and features of expository writing as a genre;
 Develop a deeper understanding of strategies we can use to become better readers and
writers of literary texts;
 Develop a deeper understanding of first person, third person, and omniscient points of
view and how writers use point of view to influence reader reaction;
 Develop a deeper understanding of advance plot, establishing setting, and developing
characterization in narratives;
 Develop a deeper understanding of theme and recurring theme in narratives;
 Develop a deeper understanding of correct use of verbs (perfect and progressive tenses)
and participles.
Literary Terms:
Memoir
chronological order
draw conclusion
autobiography
characterization
SAT Word of the Week (WOW):
cause/effect
conflict
main ideas
biography
docile, elicit
analyze
inference
details
anecdote
8.3A]; Analyze how the central characters’ qualities influence the theme of a fictional work and resolution of the central conflict. [ELAR 8.6B]; Analyze different forms of point of view, including firstperson, third person omniscient, and third person limited. [ELAR 8.6C]; Make Inferences and draw conclusions about the varied structural patterns and features of literary nonfiction and provide
evidence from text to support their understanding. [ELAR 8.7A]; Summarize the main ideas, supporting details, and relationships among ideas in text succinctly in ways that maintain meaning and
logical order. [ELAR 8.10A]; Make subtle inferences and draw complex conclusions about the ideas in text and their organizational patterns. [ELAR 8.10C]; Revise drafts to ensure precise word
choice and vivid images; consistent point of view; use of simple, compound, and complex sentences, internal and external coherence; and the sue of effective transitions after rethinking how well
questions of purpose, audience, and genre have been addressed. [ELAR 8.14C]; Edit drafts for grammar, mechanics, and spelling. [ELAR 8.14D]; Revise final draft in response to feedback from
peers and teacher and publish written work for appropriate audiences. [ELAR 8.14E]; Use and understand the function of parts of speech in the context of reading, writing, and speaking. [ELAR
8.19A.iii]; 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]; • Make complex inferences about text and use textual evidence to support understanding. [Figure 19 110.20D]; Participate productively in
discussions, plan agendas with clear goals and deadlines, set time limits for speakers, take notes, and vote on key issues perspective. [ELAR 8.28A]
TEKS: Adjust when reading aloud grade-level text based on the reading purpose and nature of the text. [ELAR 8.1A]; Analyze literary works that share similar themes across cultures. [ELAR
8th Grade English Language Arts & Reading
Essential Questions:
What are the writers saying in this text?
What do these narratives teach us about how relationships develop and change over time?
What do we learn about non-fiction, memoirs, autobiographies?
Lesson 15: Read to Get the Gist: “The Great Rat Hunt”
 Connect and Engage
 Conduct an informal survey by asking students to jot down three of their fears. Then in
small groups, have students combine their lists and tally the results. Ask students to
share their lists with the whole class. Ask: Which fears are most common? Which surprised
you?
 QuickWrite: Ask students to write about one moment when they did something scary or
unusual that involved another person. Students share their responses. What did the event
teach you about yourself and the person? How did the experience affect your relationship?
 Shared Reading to Get the Gist of “The Great Rat Hunt”
 Before reading the memoir “The Great Rat Hunt” by Laurence Yep, guide students to
explore the information about the author on page 123 and the background information
on Chinatown and the Chinese immigrants in the mid-1800s on page 125.
 Discuss briefly the meaning of memoir based on what they can recall from discussions
around “My First Free Summer.”
 As they read the text to get the gist, remind students to answer the posted
comprehension questions. Tell them to pay particular attention to the character’s
thoughts, words, and actions and the narrator’s descriptions.
 Encourage students to use Active Reading Strategies such as annotating the text using the
Code System for Note-taking to keep track of their thinking as they read the text.
 Begin reading the text aloud while students read along through line 33 on page 126. At
this point, ask students to turn and talk in pairs using the comprehension questions to
discuss what has happened so far. Ask students to share the gist of the narrative. If it
hasn’t come up as part of the gist, ask students who the narrator is.
 Individual or Paired Reading of Text
 Invite students to read the rest of the text on their own or in pairs.
 Whole Class Discussion of Comprehension Questions
 After students have finished reading the text, return to the comprehension questions to
make sure that all students have a general understanding of what happened in the text.
 Analyze Characterization of Narrator
 Distribute the handout entitled, “Analyze Characterization: “The Great Rat Hunt.” As
students reread the text, ask them to copy information about: (1) what Yep says, (2) what
Yep does, (3) what Yep thinks and feels, and (4) what other characters say to and about
Yep, and how the other characters act towards him.
 Model what students should do by projecting an overhead copy of the handout and
completing one line from one of the four categories of information on the handout.
 Characterization Work: Homework
 If students do not finish the handout in class, they may finish it for homework. Tell
students to be ready to share their responses at the start of the next lesson.
Lesson 16: Inquiry-based Discussion of “The Great Rat Hunt”
 Review Homework: Character Analysis
 Ask students to share with a partner the evidence they gathered from the text about Yep
and what picture they get of Yep based on the evidence they consolidated. Then students
share their Pay Off Question responses with the whole class.
 WriteAbout-Guiding Question: How does the ‘rat hunt’ event affect the relationship
between Yep and his father?
 Invite students to reread the text “The Great Rat Hunt” one more time in order to answer
the guiding question in their notebooks.

Encourage students to share their responses with a partner. Students should be listening
to hear that partners support their interpretations with evidence from the text. If they do
not hear any evidence, listeners should be encouraged to ask their partner for evidence.
 Whole Group Inquiry-based Discussion
 Engage students in an inquiry-based discussion beginning with the guiding question. Act
as a facilitator, prompting, summarizing, redirecting, and asking for evidence, rather than
actively participating and/or evaluating students’ comments. Encourage students to
agree, disagree, question, or in some way respond to one another’s interpretations by
asking them how their responses relate to what was said previously. (See Inquiry-based
Discussion for guidelines.)
 If students have not referred to the conflict (external and internal) that the main
character faces, redirect the students on lines from the text where main conflict can be
inferred. If needed, have a reader’s workshop on conflict (See Conflict on pp. 28-29 and
Conflict Map.)
 Before the discussion, remind students of the norms for an inquiry-based discussion
which they set up in Lesson 3. Students may revise the norms and post the revisions.
 Develop Recurring Theme: Perspectives on Relationships
 Ask students to create a two-column note chart in their notebooks. In the left-hand
column of the chart, ask students to identify three significant sentences or moments that
focus on how relationships between Yep and his father develop and change over time.
Students write their explanation in the second column. (See example.)
 Invite students to share their response with the whole class.
Lesson 17: Point of View and Focused Revision of Neighborhood Narrative
 Study Teacher Model of First- to Third-Person Point of View
 Teacher Model: Tell students that they are going to look at how the choice of narrator
changes the effect the story has on a reader by changing sentences from first person to
third person point of view. Show example of what you would like students to do before
having them do this on their own. (See example inside yellow text box.)
 Students’ Turn: Ask students to choose two sentences from “The Great Rat Hunt” that
show the first person point of view clearly and to change each to third person. After
several students have shared their sentences, ask the class: How does the change make
you feel different about what is being said or how you see the scene or action? Allow several
students to share before asking them: What difference does point of view make?
 StepBack: What ideas from the writing in Yep’s narrative did you get for writing your own
Neighborhood Narrative?
 Study Author’s Use of Chronological Order Structure
 Guide students in recognizing that a memoir, just like fiction, is often organized in
chronological order. Explain to students that in order to know when each event occurs
they have to identify individual events taking place and to look for words or phrases that
signal order such as before, after, first, next, then, while, the next day, etc.
 Invite students to identify important events in the story and arrange them in the order in
which they happened. Share responses. Ask: Did the events lead to the resolution of the
story conflict? How?
 “Crack Open” Neighborhood Narrative-Characterization
 Get Feedback on Narrative: Return students’ Neighborhood Narrative drafts. Tell
students what you saw that was especially good and where their drafts need attention.
Invite students to complete the two sentence stems at the bottom of the rubric.
 Prepare to “Crack Open.” Review methods writers use to develop character: (1) what
characters say, (2) what characters do, (3) what characters think and feel, (4) what other
characters say to and about each other, how they act toward each other, and information
directly stated about the character).
 Teacher Model: Take one character from the model narrative or from your own narrative
and look for places where you can develop that character by including the character’s
thoughts (if appropriate to the point of view you have chosen), words, speech patterns,
and actions; narrator’s description; and thoughts (if appropriate to the point of view),
words and actions of other characters. Write in front of students to revise (“crack open”)
your narrative for character development.

“Crack It” Open: Ask students to find a character in their Neighborhood Narrative drafts
to “crack open.” Ask students to revise and rewrite their draft. Invite students to share
their revision with the whole group. (Students may finish the task as homework.)
Lesson 18: Revise Neighborhood Narrative
 Revise Neighborhood Narrative
 Allow students twenty minutes to revise their drafts based on the feedback you gave
their writings. As the rest of the class revise their drafts, confer with as many students as
possible using the conferring format in Lesson 14. Then tell students that their drafts
must be completed and ready for peer editing.
 WriteLike: Placement Modifiers
 Distribute to the students the WriteLike: Placement of Modifiers handout. Review the
handout with students, answering questions as necessary. Then have students review
their drafts to see if they have any misplaced or dangling modifiers.
Lesson 19: Assess and Edit Neighborhood Narrative
 Overview of Final Unit Lessons
 In these final lessons, students will begin to pull together what they know about
narratives and assess their own Neighborhood Narrative.
 Put the What Makes a Narrative Interesting to Readers? Chart up where all students
can see it. Students should also have the same chart in their Reader/Writer Notebooks.
Ask students if there is anything they would like to add to the chart. Record responses.
 Self-assess Their Neighborhood Narrative
 Quickwrite: In their Reader/Writer Notebooks, students write about: (1) how particular
sections of their narratives illustrate or provide examples of three or four of the
characteristics of the class chart (2) which characteristic is not illustrated in their
Neighborhood Narratives and why they intentionally did not include it.
 Whole Group: Encourage students to share their responses.
 StepBack: Given this latest discussion and your own Quickwrite, what are you now thinking
about your Neighborhood Narrative? Is there anything that you might now add given your
self-assessment?
 Peer-edit Neighborhood Narrative
 Ask students to review the WriteLikes for active voice, pronoun agreement, and
placement of modifiers. Then, have students work with a partner to edit their narratives
for those three aspects of writing, in addition to common errors of spelling and
punctuation. If needed, have a review of the common errors of spelling and punctuation.
(See link for Peer-Editing Procedure.)
 As students write their final drafts, conduct a small group mini-lessons based on the
unique writing needs of students.
Lesson 20: Think Across All Texts – Recurring Themes
 Identify Recurring Theme: Perspectives on Relationships in Neighborhood Narrative
 Ask students to reread their own Neighborhood Narrative. Then ask them to identify
and explain three sentences/moments from their narratives that express how
relationships develop and change over time. Students must write their responses in a
two-column note chart.
 Think Across All Texts – Recurring Themes
 Ask students to select a sentence or moment from one of the texts that expresses how a
relationship develops and changes overtime. Invite students to look for similar idea in
another narrative. Let them compare the two ideas and write what these two texts say
that is similar about the recurring theme. If needed, model a think aloud of what you do
to connect themes across texts.
 StepBack: Reflect on Learning Over Whole Unit
 Distribute the handout, Reflect on Learning in the Unit, and have students write a final
reflection in their Reader/Writer Notebooks.
 Collect students’ final draft. Copy all drafts; keep one copy for yourself to grade and give
students the other copy back.
Lesson 21: Publish Final Drafts
 Author’s Chair
 Have a chair at the front of the class with a sign on it that says “Author Chair.” Invite
student volunteers to sit in the chair to read the final draft of their Neighborhood
Narratives to the rest of the class.
 Before the sharing, guide the students to set the norms for listening. Tell students that
they should listen to their peers’ narratives for what they learn about relationships.
 After each student reads, ask the class: What did you learn about relationships from this
narrative? Press for response to each draft.
 Invite students to post their final drafts around the room or in the hallway.
Retrospective StepBack: What did you learn about the characters in the unit related to the unit’s
over arching question, What do these narratives teach us about how relationships develop and
change?
Extensions:
• Establish small groups and invite them to rehearse a dramatic reading of the rat-hunt scene.
Members of the groups may play any of the following roles: father, Yep, and the narrator. Ask each
group to perform their reading for the class. Challenge students to use facial expressions,
movement, and tone of voice to help convey the drama of the scene.
• Use the conversation between Yep and his parents to give students practice reading dialogue.
Press students to analyze the impact of expression and pacing on meaning in reading dialogue.
Guide them to analyze the effect of punctuation marks on expression, pacing and overall meaning.
Model reading a portion of the dialogue. Then group students by three to practice and perform a
dialogue.
Gifted/Talented:
• Invite students to work in groups to do extended research on the Chinese immigrants’
contributions to American industrialization and the growth of cities in America during the mid1800s. Encourage students to share what they learn in their history class and in their own
research about the challenges those early Chinese immigrants faced.
Differentiation:
During core program/core instructional time
• Students work together in small groups to analyze a character based on physical, personal, and
emotional traits. Encourage students to analyze other characters from the text. (See Character
Sketch and Character Web handout.)
• In combination with the Audio Anthology CD, use one or more Targeted Passages (pp. 124, 127,
131) to ensure that struggling readers focus on key selection events, concepts, and skills. As you
read the targeted passages and ask the conflict questions in the margins, differentiate expected
responses along this continuum: beginning, early intermediate, intermediate, and early advanced.
(See continuum chart on TE page 125.)
• Continue conferencing with individual students to suggest areas for improvement in their
writing.
• Based on observations and student conferences, work with small groups to provide minilessons on specific concepts that need reinforcement.
• In a small group, do a think aloud of how you connect the theme of your own Neighborhood
Narrative or the sample narrative and one of the other texts. Jot down the themes and
connections you identified. Ask students what they heard or noticed that you did. Write down
each step they observed. If students missed steps, do a second think aloud; again, ask students to
notice the steps so that the group has a complete picture of how you thought and wrote to make
connections to themes. Then allow students to work with a partner to make connections across
texts.
Intervention:
Tier 2
 One topic that might come out during the Inquiry-based discussion is the “symbolism” used by
the author to deliver his message. Remind students that a symbol is a person, place, or object
that stands for something beyond itself. Discuss what Father’s trophies symbolize. Ask students
what Yep means when he says, “Each prize was a sign that my father belonged to America-and
at the same time, to Chinatown” (lines 150-151). Then have students share objects they are
proud of and what these objects symbolize to them.
 Invite students to read sample scored “2” TAKS compositions. With a partner, ask students to
identify a character in the sample composition that they want to develop. Give students time to
rewrite the paper. Students share the revised compositions.
 During editing activity, encourage students to work in pairs. Ask students to read each other’s
narrative and retell it. Students may also use the proofreading checklist to focus on one area at
a time while editing and proofreading. (See sample Proofreading Checklist.)
Suggested Assessment:
Reader’s/Writer’s Notebooks
Individual fluency probes
Fluency Rubric Checklist
One Minute Fluency Checks
AR Testing
Neighborhood Map
Timed Writing
Teacher observations
Evidence of accountable talk
Completed T-Chart
STAR Diagnostic Report
Venn diagram
Neighborhood Narrative Draft
QuickWrites
Tackling Test Tuesday Assessment (TTT)
Week 5: “A Walk on the Long Stone Serpent”
Week 6: Texas Assessment Practice (pp.312-317)
Resources:
Holt McDougal Literature 8,
Teacher created material
Word Wall
Technology
Vocabulary Log
Graphic Organizer
Student AR Goal Sheets
Ancillary Material
Code System for Note-Taking
ReadAloud/ThinkAloud
Analyze Characterization: “The Great Rat Hunt”
Character Sketch and Character Web
Peer-Editing Procedure
Proofreading Checklist
Semantic Map for “Rules of the Game”
Semantic Map for “My First Free Summer” (Lesson 6)
Word Wall
Vocabulary Log
Reader’s Workshop: Character and Point of View, pp. 170-171
Personal Narrative, pp. 148-156
My Goals for Becoming a Better, Reader, Writer, Thinker, and Speaker
“What Makes a Narrative Interesting to Readers?” Chart
Creating Neighborhood Map
Preparing for Timed Writing, p. 157
Rubric: Components of a Good Neighborhood Narrative
Video:
Websites: STAAR Writing Rubric and Scoring Guide
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:
pp.266-280
p.278
pp.282-288
p.289
p.544
pp.758-769
pp.312-317
6 Weeks Novel: The Diary
F of Anne Frank
Harrier Tubman: Conductor of
the Underground Railroad
Letter to Harriet Tubman
The Mysterious Mr. Lincoln
Multiple-Meaning Words
The Diary of Anne Frank
Response to Literature
Texas Assessment Practice
Biography
Letter
Biography
Vocabulary Strategy
Diary entry
Writing Workshop
6 Weeks Benchmark (memoir,
nonfiction, cartoon)