Semester 1 (approx. 4-5 weeks)
Central Text
Selections
Grade 8 – Advanced Language Arts - Collection 1 – Culture and Belonging – click for thematic connection
EQ:
Close Reader
Selections
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Anchor Text:
Close Reader:
Short Story: “My Favorite
Chaperone” by Jean Davies
Okimoto 830L, p. 3
LG: Recognize and analyze the
elements of a story’s plot and the
author’s methods of
characterization.
Short Story: “Golden Glass” by
Alma Luz Villanueva p. 30C
Personal Essay: “Bonne Annee” by
Jean-Pierre Benoit 700L, p.31
LG: Analyze elements of a personal
essay, including its purpose,
structure, central idea, and
supporting details.
Character
Plot
Central/Main Idea
Details
Author’s Purpose
Bar Graph
Memoir
Allusion
Imagery
Inferences
Heading/Subheading Lyric Poems
Bulleted List
Close Reader:
Essay: “What to Bring” by
Naisha Jackson p.52c
Anchor Text:
Memoir: from The Latehomecomer
by Kao Kalia Yang 1030L, p. 53
LG: Analyze imagery and figurative
language to better understand a
memoir.
Close Reader:
Memoir: “Museum Indians” by
Susan Powers p. 70c
Documentary: New Immigrants
Share Their Stories, directed by Lisa
Gossels, p. 71
LG: Recognize elements used in a
documentary and understand and
evaluate the purpose of each one.
Language Focus
(grammar, vocabulary, syntax)
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Strategies for Gifted Learners - FL Gifted
Task B: Personal
Narrative p. 86
OPT: Tic-tac-toe
board
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
contribute (contribution, contributor, contributing, contributable)
immigrate (immigrant, immigration, immigrating, migrate, migratory)
reaction (react, reactionary, reactional, counterreaction)
relocate (relocated, relocation, relocating )
shifting (shift, shifted, shiftingly)
Extensions - Secondary Gifted Resources
Write a Summary: Interactive Graphic Organizer:
Sequence Chart
Determine Author’s Purpose and Perspective:
Interactive Whiteboard Lesson
Integrating Information from Text and Graphic Aids:
Level Up Tutorial: Graphic Aids
Performance
Task B: Write a
Personal
Narrative p. 83
Figurative Language
Simile
Active/Passive voice
Context Clues
Imperative Mood
Repetition
Using a Glossary
Participles
Latin Prefixes
Vocab List Per Selection
Poem: “Powwow at the End of the
World” by Sherman Alexie, p. 75
LG: Use imagery and allusion to
make inferences about the deeper
meaning of a poem.
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Summative
Assessments:
Teengagement
Performance
Task A: Write an
Expository Essay
Golden NOVEL:
p. 79
Golden Novel The
Task A:
Giver will be
addressed on QBA2 Expository Essay
Rubric p.82
exam
Kylene Beers Discussion Terms
Interviews
Documentary
Creating a Video
Formative and
Summative
Assessments
Online Selection
Tests
Cite Evidence
Personal Essay
Expository Essay
Listening & Speaking
Focus
Research Study: “A Place to Call
Home” by Scott Bittle and Jonathan
Rochkind 1220L,
p. 41
LG: Use text features and graphic
aids to analyze and understand a
nonfiction text.
Additional
Suggested
Resources
How does culture impact a sense of belonging?
How can newcomers adjust to a new culture?
Reading Focus
Writing Focus
Print Version
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Evaluating Sources: Interactive Lessons
Creating a Video: Interactive Lessons: Using Media in a
Presentation
Analyze Modern Fiction: Interactive White Board:
Commparing Texts
Analyze Lyric Poems: Level Up Tutorial: Narrator and
Speaker
Interventions ESE Accommodations - ELL Strategies - ELL Accommodations
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Analyze Stories: Plot: Level Up Tutorials
Determine Central Idea and Details: Level Up Tutorial
Text Features: Interactive White Board: Reading
Informational Texts
Figurative Language: Level Up Tutorial: Figurative
Language and Imagery
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Evaluate a Documentary
Determine Meaning of Words and Phrases: Allusion
Thematic Connections – Collection1
Connection: In both texts I believe
there is a lack of sense of belonging.
In text 5, Alexie feels cut off from
the rest of the country, perhaps
even to the point of being
disrespected, whereas Maya, in text
1, feels held back from experiencing
all that American culture has to offer
as a young adult.
My Favorite Chaperone:
Maya struggles with her
parent’s cultural beliefs and
traditions opposed to the
American culture in which
she is immersed. This
conflict creates a lack of
sense of belonging for Maya
The Powwow at the End of
the World
In this text, the author
discusses the negative effects
of industrial growth on the
purity of Native American life
in the northwest.
Connection: In both texts there is a
sense of pride in the diversity of culture.
Yang and Alexie realize the importance
of their traditions.
Bonne Annee
Collection 1: Culture
and Belonging
EQ: How does culture
impact a sense of
belonging?
Memoir: from The
Latehomecomer
Yang, the narrator, shares her
insights by making comparisons
between the people or things she
knows best and new ideas or
feelings. She relies on her Hmong
family culture to find strength and
comfort.
Connection: In both texts, the main
characters struggle with traditions and
expectations from the culture in which
they were born. Although both characters
are living in America, their parents are
consumed with the rich culture and
tradition of their homeland, even to the
point of interfering with their children’s
American integration.
Born in Haiti, but raised in New
York, the narrator feels most
connected to Haiti while watching
a World Cup soccer match at
Madison Square Garden with other
Haitian immigrants. His homeland
is not necessarily where he was
born, but where he was raised.
Connection: In both of these texts it
is clear that many immigrants tend
to, and find comfort in, interacting
with people with the same cultural
identity.
A Place to Call Home
Connection: In both texts it is
further reinforced that culture
creates a community
regardless of geographic
location. In text 4 Yang learns
a valuable lesson that is
universal between American
and Hmong culture –
persistence.
Research shows that many
immigrants spend the majority
of their time with people also
from their country of origin. A
large percent also continue to
speak their native language at
home.
Thematic Connections