8th Grade English Language Arts & Reading
Fourth Six Weeks: Weeks 1-2 Theme: Painting with Words
Time Frame: 10 Days Genre: Fiction, Non-Fiction, Poetry
Writing: Poetry / TEKS: Use comprehension skills to listen attentively to others in formal and informal settings. ELAR 8.26; Participate productively in discussions, plan agendas with clear goals and deadlines, set time limits for speakers, take notes, and vote on key issues. ELAR 8.28; Speak clearly and to the point, using the conventions of language ; ELAR 8.27; Work productively with others in teams. ELAR 8.28; Determine the meaning of grade-level academic English words derived from Latin, Greek, or other linguistic roots and affixes. ELAR 8.2A; Use a dictionary, glossary, or a thesaurus (printed or electronic) to determine the meanings, syllabication, pronunciations, alternate word choices, and parts of speech of words. ELAR 8.2E; Analyze, make inferences and draw conclusions about theme and genre in different cultural, historical, and contemporary contexts and provide evidence from the text to support their understanding. ELAR 8.3; Understand, make inferences and draw conclusions about the structure and elements of poetry and provide evidence from text to support their understanding; analyze the importance of graphical elements (e.g., capital letters, line length, word position) on the meaning of a poem. ELAR 8.4A; Understand, 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. Determine the figurative meaning of phrases and analyze how an author’s use of language creates imagery, appeals to the senses, and creates mood. ELAR 8.8A; Synthesize and make logical connections between ideas within a text and across two or three texts representing similar or different genres, and support those findings with textual evidence. ELAR 8.10D; Identify, use and understand the function of verbs (perfect and progressive tenses) and participles, adverbial and adjectival phrases and clauses. ELAR 8.19A; Use context to determine or clarify the meaning of unfamiliar or ambiguous words ; ELAR 8.2B; Make complex inferences about text and use textual evidence to support understanding. FIGURE 19: 8110.20D; Use elements of the writing process (planning ) to compose text: . . Revise drafts to improve style; ELAR 8.14 A, B, C, D, E); Write a poem using poetic techniques (e,g., rhyme scheme, meter); figurative language (e.g,, personification, idioms, hyperbole); and graphic elements (e,g,, word position). ELAR 8.15B (I, ii, iii); Write responses to literary or expository texts that demonstrate the writing skills for multi-paragraph essays and provide sustained evidence from the text using quotations when appropriate. ELAR 8.17C
Objective:
·  The students will define poetry; identify characteristics/techniques of genre.
·  The students will develop and use wall charts and work collaboratively with peers to support learning.
·  The students will read and/or listen to poetry daily.
·  The students will write short responses to questions about theme, genre, and techniques related to the study of poetry as genre.
·  The students will participate in a whole group inquire-base discussion.
·  The students will engage in study to deepen understanding of grammar concepts.
·  The students will identify and use characteristics and features of poetry to comprehend and write poems.
·  The students will use elements of the writing process to compose texts (literary analysis, poetry).
·  The students will select a book and begin reading and planning independent study task.
Overview:
·  Develop a deeper understanding of characteristics of poetry as genre
·  Develop a deeper understanding of devices and techniques authors use to convey ideas in poetry
·  Develop a deeper understanding of interpretation and literary analysis
Literary Terms:
Poetry / Syntax / Repetition
Genre / Dialect / Connotations
Interpretation / Diction
Analysis / Metaphor
Ballad / Idioms
Limerick / Syntax
Haiku / Alliteration
Ode / consonance
Six Weeks Project:
Write a collection of original poems that communicate a perspective of the world based on topics drawn from the novel, The Tree Grows in Brooklyn or Tears of a Tiger.
Essential Questions:
What is poetry?
What devices/techniques do poets use to impact readers and convey messages?
What points of view do poets convey about their subjects?
Suggested Lesson Ideas:
Introduce the unit with a brief review. Provide students a rubric on the six weeks project and discuss the assignment, including the dates on which the project is due. The topics for the poetry collection that students will write are to be drawn from their reading of the novel chosen by the teacher. Consider providing independent reading time during class as an option (one class set of 30 novels per teacher). They might create a reading log to answer guiding questions). Allow some time for discussions, which may include pair/trio and whole group sharing.
• Consider inviting students to view videos of poetry readings.
• Invite students to enter poetry competitions.
• Remind students of their independent reading task for the six weeks. They might choose a book of poems or a book about a poet (biography or autobiography).
• Immerse students in the genre. Select poems to read to the class daily for enjoyment and ask each student to identify his/her favorite poem and be prepared to read it to the class when called upon. They should be able to explain why it is their favorite.
Lesson 1: Deepening Understanding—What is Poetry?
Connect and Engage:
• Ask students to engage in a quick write (3 minutes): What is poetry? List characteristics of the genre. When they have finished, ask them to share their Reader’s/Writer’s Notebook entries in a turn-and-talk and be ready to share with the whole group.
• Create a “Characteristics of Poetry” chart. Include the definition that the class agrees upon and list the characteristics that are shared. Ask students to explain and give examples of the characteristics they share to support and clarify ideas. Include the supporting information in the chart.
• Project poetry definitions. Ask students to read them with a partner and discuss what, if any, revisions they would make to the class definition based on new information they might have gleaned.
• Remind students that they will read and listen to poetry daily. Introduce a video of poetry reading (can be found on You Tube). Prior to viewing, give students the title and ask them what they think the poem will be about. Have them share their ideas with a peer. After viewing and listening to the reading, ask students to discuss: What is the poem about? What connections do you make with ideas in the poem? Were your predictions accurate? Ask them to first share with a partner, and then invite whole group sharing. (Video viewing and sharing task –7-10 minutes).
Lesson 2: Reading “Mother to Son,” page 636, to Get the Gist
• Engage students in a discussion of poetic forms. Refer to the characteristics chart first, discussing the forms that have been identified, and then introduce any of the following that were not included: ballad, limerick, concrete poem, free verse, dramatic dialogue, lyric, ode, and haiku. Guide students to add definitions, characteristics, and examples of these forms to their notes and personal dictionaries. Let them know that you will focus on just a few of these forms (Refer to the Literary Genres Workshop--Holt Literature, Grade 8, pp. 4, 6. See extension task.).
Connect and Engage:
• Focus attention on lyric poetry as a sub-genre. Review the characteristics, p. 633 and play a song (e.g., Home by Chris Daughtry or teacher’s choice.) Discuss the fact that lyric comes from the Greek lyre—that the related word, ”lyric,” refers to the words of a song.
• Introduce the poem, “Mother to Son.” Post the following gist (comprehension) questions: What is the subject (What is the poem about?)? Who is the speaker? What do you know about her? What is the occasion (setting)?--How do you Know?
• Tell students that they will read the poem first to establish the literal meaning. After students have written a brief summary, answering the comprehension questions in their Reader’s/Writer’s Notebooks, ask them to share their ideas with a partner in a turn and talk and be ready to share with the group.
Lesson 3: Read to Interpret “Mother to Son”
• Remind students that interpretation and literary analysis are major concepts and foci for our work in this unit. To assist learning, model the TP-CASTT strategy for analyzing and interpreting poetry.
• Provide students a quick overview of the TP-CASTT strategy (see Resources). Then, teacher model and engage students in guided and group practice in interpreting and analyzing a teacher-selected poem using “TP-CASTT.”
• StepBack to Reflect On Learning. Ask students to reflect and write: What have they learned about reading and analyzing poetry? What helped them learn? What questions do they have? Chart and post responses.
• When students are ready, ask them to reread to interpret the text. Pair students for support.
• Pose the text-specific interpretive question: The speaker repeats the sentence, “And life for me ain’t been no crystal stair.” What do you think she means? As a reminder, all responses are to be written in the Reader’s/Writer’s Notebook. Students should support their ideas with text evidence. Allow pairs to share, then share and discuss responses among the whole group. Facilitate the sharing to ensure that conversations/ discussions reflect Accountable Talk features.
Lesson 4: Read “Mother to Son” to Identify and Analyze the Author’s Techniques
• Assign pairs to read the poem again to identify and analyze the author’s techniques. Observe as pairs work; facilitate as coach, provide support, and identify next steps for instruction. Include analysis of form and structure.
• Remind students that their analysis must include how the technique or device conveys meaning and/or impacts the reader. Model processes to scaffold success.
• Have students share the results of the pair/trio work with the whole group when the work is done. Establish a timeline for the task. Students will continue to develop their understanding throughout the unit and consider invitations to complete tasks as homework. Begin a “techniques” chart and record techniques/devices students identify in the poetry they study in the unit. Include their descriptions of how the techniques worked in the poetry. This tool will support success with the culminating project.
Technique/Device / Example / How It Worked
Punctuation (dashes) / And places with no carpet on the floor—Bare. / Adds emphasis; creates imagery of the absence of comforts Mom had to endure; emphasizes the difficulty of Mother’s life.
Syntax (imperative sentences)
Guide students to analyze how the poet uses form, punctuation, syntax, dialect, and diction (e.g., How is the poem structured/organized? What do you notice about how the author uses verbs in the poem? . . .What is the poetic form? Why is the form effective?).
Lesson 5: Read “Speech to the Young Speech to the Progress-Toward” for Gist and Significance
• Determine groupings based on formative assessment. Establish pairs purposefully to provide the support that each peer needs. Establish a workshop setting. Teach mini-lessons as ongoing formative assessment indicates, confer continually (roving conferences), and apprentice students as poets and critics.
• Introduce the poem. Tell students that they will read and analyze this poem as they did the first (Use TP-CASTT as appropriate). Remind them of the posted gist (comprehension) questions. Before moving to significance task, check for understanding and ensure that students get the gist of the poem. Engage in the significance tasks. Follow established routines.
• Students may experience difficulty paraphrasing. Press students to paraphrase the poem before they begin to make inferences, if assessment indicates the need. They should be able to state the theme of the poem—What is the poet saying?” Do allow students to work through the difficulty, facilitating as coach, assessing and advancing ideas.
• Ask learners to reread the poem for significance. Tell them to identify the word, phrase, sentence, or stanza they consider most significant to the speaker’s message. Remind them to explain the idea they have selected using evidence from the poem. They should use a wall chart that is posted from previous lessons or their notes to remind themselves of the criteria for a significant moment or idea (e.g., single moment/idea from the text; explanation is based on the text—not personal experience)
• Engage in the established routine of writing, pair-sharing, followed by sharing with the whole group.
Lesson 6: Read to Analyze
• Pose the question: What techniques does the author use to convey her attitude/point of view/message (metaphors, idioms, syntax, structure, alliteration, consonance, repetition, connotations)? Use a different colored marker to add techniques to the “Techniques Chart” (ref. Lesson 4). Guide students to compare and contrast the poets’ (Hughes and Brooks) techniques and perspectives about their subjects.
Lesson 7: WriteLike
• Ask students to choose a technique from the chart and imitate it in an original stanza. Ask students to indicate the technique they have imitated, and engage in a gallery walk to share the work. Allow them to write “wonderings” and “noticings” about the technique. Model examples of effective “wonderings” and “noticings” that invite reflection (e.g., I wonder whether there could be a “shift” within a stanza?—prompting the writer to reflect on his/her thinking about shifts and structure). Students do not need to respond to peers’ notes on their work.
Lesson 8: WriteAbout (Literary Analysis)
• Connect and Engage. Briefly remind students that they have engaged in literary analysis since beginning school. Ask them to give examples of how they have engaged in literary analysis this year—in this unit. Ask them to make some connections to analytical tasks they can recall as far back as 1st grade (e.g., A student might say, “We talked about why each of the “Three Little Pigs” suffered the fate that he did.). Move the conversation to writing about literature and (literary analysis essays).
• Tell students that their task is to choose a line or phrase that contains a literary device from either of the two poems and write a short paragraph that explains how the device conveys meaning or impacts the reader.
• Model the process and thinking to scaffold success. Use selected Holt resources (e.g., reading and writing workshop resources, selected student models).