Old Rochester Regional School District
Massachusetts
Superintendency Union # 55
ELA Grade 8
Curriculum Document
Overarching Theme for the year: How can we understand things (stories, novels, situations, people) better by looking at them
from another person’s perspective?
English Grade 8 Class Description: Clear, precise writing and speaking are reflections of a mind that thinks logically and clearly.
In this course you will develop an analytical mind by using various strategies, texts, and projects that push you to examine friends,
families, lives and communities in comparison to the texts being studied. You will analyze everything from the rhetorical
techniques in advertising, to The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, Kira-Kira, and To Kill a Mockingbird. We will also
use poetry, literary nonfiction, blogs, drama, metaphor, and the hero’s journey pattern through mythology, popular culture, and
your own life. We will also examine the evolution of mythology over time, and across cultures with an emphasis on the rhetorical
aspects that are meant to influence their societies. You will practice perspective taking to better understand the world from as
many points of view as possible, and begin to find your place in it. Essential questions focus on how communities shape who we
become, as well as how internal and external expectations shape how we view ourselves. Writing as an evolutionary process is
central to the class and you will be learning revision, vocabulary, and grammar within the context of your own writing. You will
also have an audience as class presentations become central. To move your audience you will make arguments using various
rhetorical techniques, you will perform and entertain, give and accept critiques, and rewrite with ambition towards reaching your
potential.
The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian / Kira-Kira Unit
Essential Question: How do communities and their expectations shape our lives?
Introduction: During this unit students will choose which novel best suits their interests, either Sherman Alexie’s Absolutely True
Diary of a Part-Time Indian, and Cynthia Kadohata’s Kira-Kira. Students will develop fundamental skills for independent
learning including how to read a text (novel, poem, article, documentary, news story, etc.) and communicate clearly about their
ideas on the pieces read. They will also develop collaborative skills based upon listening to other students’ ideas, evaluating those
ideas, and building new understandings and questions based on the results of the process. The essential question students will
consider throughout is: “How do communities and their expectations shape our lives?” While considering this, students will
compare and contrast their own experiences to each novel’s protagonist in an attempt to understand themselves and their own
communities, as well as the characters’ lives in the novel. We will also explore the themes of race and identity, prejudice, growingup in the face of adversity, and how hope and hard work is essential to any success.
Pacing: 22 Lessons
Priority Massachusetts State Standards and/or Priority Grade Level Expectations
With Supporting Standards
GRADE 8 COMMON CORE POWER STANDARDS
1) Reading 8.1: Cite textual evidence that most strongly supports an analysis of what the text says explicitly as well
as inferences drawn from the text.
2) Reading 8.2: Determine a central idea of a text and analyze its development over the course of the text, including
its relationship to supporting ideas; provide an objective summary of the text.
3) Reading 8.6: Determine an author’s point of view or purpose in a text and analyze how the author acknowledges
and responds to conflicting evidence or viewpoints.
4) Writing 8.1: Write arguments to support claims with clear reasons and relevant evidence. Distinguish claims from
opposing claims clarifying relationships among claims, counterclaims, reasons, and evidence. Recognize when
irrelevant information is introduced.
5) Writing 8.4: Produce clear and coherent writing in which the development, organization, and style are appropriate
to task, purpose, and audience.
6) Writing 8.9: Draw evidence from literary or informational texts to support analysis, reflection, and research.
- Analyze how a modern work of fiction draws on themes, patterns of events (the hero’s journey), or character
archetypes from myths or traditional stories including describing how the material is rendered new.
7) Speaking 8.1: Engage effectively in a range of collaborative discussions with diverse partners on grade 8 topics,
texts, and issues, pose questions, and build on others’ ideas, connecting to the ideas of several speakers. Students
will respond with relevant evidence, qualify evidence, and justify views in light of new evidence.
8) Language 8.1: Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English grammar and usage when writing or
speaking. Students will know the function of verbals (gerunds, participles, infinitives), and use verbs in the
indicative, imperative, interrogative, conditional, and subjunctive mood. They will also recognize and correct
inappropriate shifts in verb voice and mood.
9) Language 8.4: Determine or clarify the meaning of unknown and multiple-meaning words or phrases based
on grade 8 reading and content, choosing flexibly from a range of strategies.
10) Language 8.5: Demonstrate understanding of figurative language, word relationships, and nuances in word
meanings. Students will also demonstrate an understanding of verbal and dramatic irony.
Standardized Assessment Correlations
( MCAS and Galileo assessment dates)TBD
“Unwrapped” Priority Standards
Concepts
(What students need to know)
-
How to read a text (novel,
poem, article, documentary,
news story, etc.)
independently, and
communicate clearly about
their ideas of what they’ve
read
Bloom’s
Level
Skills
(What students need to be able to do)
-
Think critically about a reading
(R8.1 / R8.2 / R8.6 / W8.4 / W8.9 /
L8.5)
- Understand / Analyze /
Evaluate
-
Use re-reading strategies (R8.1 /
R8.2 / R8.6 / W8.4 / W8.9 / L8.5)
- Understand / Analyze /
Evaluate
-
Draw inferences based on evidence
from a text (R8.1 / R8.2 / W8.1 /
W8.4 / W8.9 / L8.5)
- Understand / Analyze /
Evaluate
-
Use non-verbal discussion skills,
and “read” non-verbal cues from
those you’re working with (S8.1)
- Remember / Understand /
Apply
-
Develop probing questions for
deeper understanding of a text
(R8.1 / R8.2 / R8.6 / W8.9)
- Understand / Apply /
Analyze
-
Actively listen during group
discussions (S8.1)
- Understand / Apply /
Analyze
-
Be able to ask follow-up questions
based on elements of answers given
during discussions (S8.1 / R8.1 /
R8.2 / R8.6 / W8.4 / W8.9)
- Understand / Apply /
Analyze / Evaluate / Create
-
From topics in a text determine the
themes the author wants the reader
to consider (R8.1 / R8.2 / R8.6 /
W8.9 / L8.5)
-
Understand / Apply
/ Analyze
-
Art as Rhetoric
-
Compare / Contrast readings and
organize their findings in an
argument essay (R8.1 / R8.2 / W8.1
/ W8.4 / W8.9 / L8.5)
Understand / Apply /
Analyze / Evaluate / Create
-
Determine important information
from a text and organize notes
using various methods (R8.1 / R8.2
/ W8.1 / W8.4 / L8.5)
Understand / Apply /
Analyze / Evaluate
-
Make predictions based on
evidence from the text (R8.1)
Understand / Apply /
Analyze / Evaluate / Create
-
Compare / Contrast their own
experiences to characters in the text
(R8.1 / R8.2 / R8.6 / W8.4 / W8.9 /
L8.5)
Understand / Apply /
Analyze / Evaluate / Create
-
Analyze a piece of art (novel, poem,
painting, etc.) and determine the
creator’s perspective, theme,
audience, purpose, and use of
rhetorical devices. Then use that
knowledge to help construct their
own rhetorical pieces (W.8.9 /
W.8.4 / L.8.1)
Understand / Apply /
Analyze / Evaluate / Create
Essential Questions
(Student-Friendly Language)
Overarching Theme for the year
-
How can we understand things (stories, novels, situations, people) better by looking at things from another
person’s perspective – or as Atticus says “by stepping into someone else’s skin” to see life from their point
of view?
Essential Question
-
How do communities and their expectations shape our lives?
Big Ideas
(Teacher Friendly Language)
Overarching Theme for the year
-
How can we understand things (stories, novels, situations, people) better by looking at things from another
person’s perspective?
Essential Question
-
How do communities and their expectations shape our lives?
Unit Assessment Plan
Informal Progress-Monitoring Tools
-
Small group conversations, and writing prompts to discuss with small group.
-
Full class discussions.
-
Short essays
Common Formative or Summative Post-Assessment
-
Proof for the Future (paper): Describe the person you believe Arnold / Katie will become as an adult. Be as
specific as possible and be sure to use evidence from the novel to support your predictions, and explain
how that evidence supports your predictions.
Fiction
-
The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie (anchor text)
-
Kira-Kira by Cynthia Kadohata (anchor text)
Non-Fiction
-
Superman and Me by Sherman Alexie
-
A Hidden America – Children of the Plains (ABC News documentary) – Modern life on tribal
reservations
-
Reel Injun – Indians in American Cinema (Documentary) by Cree filmmaker Neil Diamond
-
How You Should Write About Jeremy Lin (opinion piece) by The Asian American Journalists’
Association
-
Struggle for Smarts? How Eastern and Western Cultures Tackle Learning (article) by Alix Spiegel
-
The Outliers – 10,000 Hour Rule (excerpted) by Malcolm Gladwell
Songs / Poetry
-
The Search Engine (poem excerpt) by Sherman Alexie
Paintings and Art
-
“Which is the Mascot?” (political cartoon) by Thom Little Moon
-
“But I’m honoring you, dude!” (political cartoon) by Lalo Alcatraz
-
“Really? You don’t look like an Indian . . .” (political cartoon) by E. Ranch
-
“Listening to the Earth Turn” from Scalped (graphic novel excerpt) by Jason Aaron (writer) and Danijel
Zezelj (artist)
-
Buried Blueprints – The Odyssey (map of Odysseus’s journey home as an example of how to create a
map for Arnold Spirit) by Albert Lorenz
Video Clips
-
Freaks and Geeks Pilot Episode (television show, 40 minutes) on social justice and bullying
-
Asian Eye Surgery (CNN news report, 6 minutes) – Asian adults having eye surgery to look more
Caucasian
-
Young Korean Girl’s Eye Surgery (CNN news report, 2 minutes) – a pre-teen girl having eye surgery to
look more Caucasian
-
A Girl Like Me (documentary, 10 minutes) – A student recreates the classic experiment from the 1950’s
asking children of color
-
Politically Lin-Correct (news clip, 6 minutes) – On the issues surrounding how Jeremy Lin’s race is
covered in the media