Revised: 7/24/2014
SYRACUSE CITY SCHOOL DISTRICT
Grade 08 Habits Unit Template
Reading Habits
Reading Standards: R.L.1, R.L.10, R.I.1, R.I.10
Unit Overview
This short Habits of Literacy unit is designed to support students’ development of those skills, strategies, and behaviors that promote
active learning, meta-cognition, and communication of ideas. Through the use of short stories and informational texts, teachers will
provide explicit instruction and guided practice opportunities for students to support learning outcomes that include: the development
of routines and habits that lead to the achievement of grade-level reading goals, the use of various techniques to analyze and make
meaning of text, the utilization of literary language in conversations about text, and the ability to evaluate ideas and construct
knowledge from text. Additionally, students should develop particular habits and behaviors that support their learning including, but
not limited to: techniques for annotation, maintenance of a reader’s notebook, discussion techniques, and procedures for out of
school reading. Finally, students should rehearse the writing process through the development of a narrative piece of writing. Emphasis
should be on the methods writers employ to develop and strengthen their writing over time. This occurs through ongoing revision of
written work that addresses the effective use of details, literary devices and appropriate attention to task, purpose, and audience.
Implementation Dates:
September 2 to September 19, 2014
ELA-Grade08-Habits Unit
Spiraled Reading Standards: R.L.1, R.L.10
Embedded Writing Standards: W.9
Speaking and Listening Standards: SL.1,SL.4, SL.6
Rubrics and Scoring Guide Links
Habits Rubric
Short Stories:
(These short stories can be found in the Glencoe text and
some are in the Interactive Reader. The Interactive
Reader could be used as an intervention)
6th Grade
“What Exactly is a Hero?” by T. A. Barron (Lexile 780)
“Pecos Bill” by Mary Pope Osborne (Lexile 950)
“The Fly” by Mai Vo-Dinh
7th Grade
“We Are All One” by Laurence Yep (Lexile 750)
“Amigo Brothers” by Piri Thomas (Lexile 890)
“Rikki-tikki-tavi” by Rudyard Kipling (Lexile 970)
8th grade
“The People Could Fly” by Virginia Hamilton (Lexile 480)
“Raymond’s Run” by Toni Cade Bambara (Lexile 1210)
“My Name” (Lexile780) and ”Bums in the Attic” (Lexile 890)
by Sandra Cisneros







Big Ideas
We read to comprehend and make inferences.
We dig beneath the surface to grow new ideas.
We read to analyze.
Vocabulary
Analyze
Comprehend
Imagine
Recur
ELA-Grade08-Habits Unit
Recommended Texts
Picture Books:
6th Grade
The Day Eddie Met the Author by Louise
Borden
The Red Book by Barbara Lehman
7th Grade
The Incredible Book Eating Boy by Oliver
Jeffers
The Book Woman by Heather Henson &
David Small
8th
Grade
Book by George Ella Lyon & Peter
Catalanotto
The Hard-Times Jar by Ethel Footman
Smothers
Poems:
6th Grade
“I Dream a World” by Langston Hughes
“Life Doesn’t Frighten Me” by Maya
Angelou
7th Grade
“The Rider” by Naomi Shihab Nye
“I’ll Walk the Tightrope” by Margaret
Danner
8th Grade
“Saying Yes” by Diana Chang
“Who Can Be Born Black” by Mari Evans
Essential Questions

Why do we read?




Fiction Roadmap
Fix Up Strategies
6th Grade Structure
7th Grade Structure
Anchor Charts



Stamina
Summarize
Transition

Standard/
Outcome
Teaching Points
(Lesson Objectives)
8th Grade Structure
Checks for
Understanding
Chunking text strategy
and a model lesson on
stopping and reflecting
with sections of text.
Individual Reading:
1.1 Readers gather materials and
transition efficiently to reading.
In School Reading
Readers have a
variety of strategies to
reflect on their
reading and draw
inferences from the
text.
Readers have
routines and systems
to help them reach
their reading goals.
1.2 Readers code specific parts of the text
and do so consistently throughout the
text.
 Connections
 Questions
 Predictions
 Misconceptions, etc.
1.3 Readers always read with a pencil in
order to jot down ideas and wonderings
during reading by coding differently for
different texts.
Note to teacher: Roadmapping
1.4 Readers refer back to their notes to
help refresh their memories and spark new
ideas when preparing for an oral or
written response.
Scaffolds & Supports
Think Aloud by teacher
ELA-Grade08-Habits Unit
Building Reading
Comprehension Habits in
Grades 6-12: A Toolkit of
Classroom Activities by
Jeff Zwiers – Zwiers
Strategies
Comprehension
Shouldn’t Be Silent: From
Strategy Instruction to
Student Independence
by Michelle J. Kelley and
Nicki Clausen-Grace
Refer to Habits Unit
Rubric
Reading Reminders:
Tools, Tips, and
Techniques by Jim Burke
How to Code Text
Glencoe TE - Reading
Handbook Section pgs.
T38-T41
Comprehension
Bookmark (Zwiers)
For Partner Reading:
Think-Aloud Checklist
(Zwiers)
1.5 Readers build stamina by increasing
the amount of time spent reading as well
as overcoming frustrations and
distractions.
Partner Reading:
1.6 When readers are listening to other
readers’ ideas, they make sure to use
active listening skills.
Instructional Resources
& Tools
I Read It, But I Don’t Get
It by Cris Tovani pgs. 4961
Chart: Fix Up Strategies)
Mini lesson on Partner
Reading
Building Literacy Through
Classroom Discussion by
Mary Adler and Eija
Rougle
Standard/
Outcome
Teaching Points
(Lesson Objectives)
Checks for
Understanding
Scaffolds & Supports
Sample Mini Lessons on
Active Listening
1.7 Reading partners get to know each
other as readers by paying attention to
one another’s reading histories, interests,
and goals.
Instructional Resources
& Tools
Partner Reading
Goal Setting for Reading
Out of School
Reading
Readers have
routines and systems
to help them reach
their reading goals.
Reading Interview
1.8 Readers reflect on their growth goals
and make a plan for getting there.
1.9 Readers respond to independent
reading books by keeping a reading log.
Refer to Habits Unit
Rubric
Boomerang Bookmarks
(Beninghof)
Daily Reading Log
(accuracy part of rubric)
Reading Journal
Sample Reading Book
List
Engage All Students
Through Differentiation
by Anne Beninghof
Guided Comprehension
for Grades 3-8 by
Maureen McLaughlin
I Read It, But I Don’t Get
It by Cris Tovani (Part
Three – Double Entry
Diaries)
Reading Interests
Discussing Texts
Readers share original
thinking in
partnerships.
Readers grow new
ideas about the text
in partnership
conversations.
1.10 Readers talk to partners about books
by summarizing what has happened in
the text and analyzing story elements.
 6th Grade Structure
 7th Grade Structure
 8th Grade Structure
1.11 Readers retell a story by thinking
about a story’s elements. Readers can
name and describe the setting of a story,
narrator, and important characters, and
write them on a story map.
1.12 Readers know that when they have a
thought, they hold on to it and don’t let it
float away. They stop and recognize it,
keep reading, pushing ourselves to grow it
even more, and then jot it on a Post-it.
1.13 Readers practice listening and
growing ideas after retelling in partner
ELA-Grade08-Habits Unit
Kagan Structures
Refer to Habits Unit
Rubric
Give students the
language for responding
to each other.
 At first I thought
that…
 I agree with…
 I want to add to the
comment about…
 I have more
evidence for…
 I want to connect
that comment to our
earlier discussion of…
 I have an additional
point to make…
Kagan Cooperative
Learning by Spencer
Kagan (pp. 6.38, 6.31,
6.30)
Story Map Think Sheet
(Kelley & ClausenGrace)
I Read It, But I Don’t Get
It by Cris Tovani (Literary
Histories)
Mini lesson on structured
academic discussions
Building Literacy Through
Classroom Discussion by
Mary Adler & Eija Rougle
Building Reading
Comprehension Habits In
Grades 6-12: A Toolkit of
Classroom Activities by
Jeff Zwiers (Academic
Standard/
Outcome
Response to Text
Readers cite
evidence to support
an analysis.
Teaching Points
(Lesson Objectives)
conversations.
Checks for
Understanding
Chart: It Says, I Say, and
So
1.14 Readers are no longer simply reading
to comprehend; they are reading to
analyze. At the start of the story, they work
really hard to read between the lines by
reading a detail about characters or
place and then imagining what these
details suggest or imply. They read a line
and then ask, “What does this suggest?”
Refer to Habits Unit
Rubric
1.15 Readers express their ideas about a
text by answering, “What do I know? How
do I know it? Why does it matter?”
1.16 Readers pay close attention to
recurring ideas/imagery in their stories.
1.17 Readers know that when writing
about text, they can never give too much
evidence from the text.
ELA-Grade08-Habits Unit
Scaffolds & Supports
Instructional Resources
& Tools
Conversations – pg. 117)
Text Coding Bookmark
Color Marking
Close Reading Strategy
Tool Kit
Text-Dependent
Questions
Building Reading
Comprehension Habits In
Grades 6-12: A Toolkit of
Classroom Activities by
Jeff Zwiers