Responsive Curriculum Design for Eighth Grade English

Standards for this Unit:
Literature
8.1: Cite textual evidence that most strongly supports analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text.
8.2: Determine a theme or central idea of a text and analyze its development over the course of the text, including its relationship to its characters, setting, and plot; provide an objective summary of the text.
8.3: Analyze how particular lines of dialogue or incidents in a story or drama propel the action, reveal aspects of a character, or provoke a decision.
8.4: Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in the text, including figurative and connotative meanings; analyze the impact of specific word choices on meaning and tone, including analogies or allusions to other texts.
8.6: Analyze how differences in the points of view of the characters and the audience or reader (e.g., created through the use of dramatic irony) create effects such as suspense or humor.
Writing
8.1: Write arguments to support claims with clear reasons and relevant evidence.
8.7: Conduct short research projects to answer a question (including a self-generated question), drawing on several sources and generating additional related, focused questions that allow for multiple avenues of exploration.
Speaking and Listening
8.1: Engage effectively in a range of collaborative discussions (1:1, in groups, and teacher-led) with diverse partners on 8th grade topics and texts, building on others’ ideas and expressing their own clarity.
8.2: Analyze the purpose of information presented in diverse media and formats (e.g., visually, quantitatively, orally) and evaluate the motives (e.g., social, commercial, political) behind its presentation.
Language
8.4 a-d: Determine or clarify the meaning of unknown and multiple-meaning words and phrases based on 8th grade reading and content, choosing flexibly from a range of strategies (e.g., context through overall meaning in the sentence or paragraph, word’s position or function in the sentence; common grade-appropriate Greek and Latin affixes and roots; consult reference materials; verify preliminary determination of a word or phrase.)
Central Issue for Investigation in This Unit
How do short story writers illuminate a character’s interior life?
Formative Assessments
Weekly conferences for goal-setting self-assessments
Text evidence checklist
Exit slips and quickwrites / Summative Assessments
Presentation rubric on entrepreneurs
End-of-unit essay
Informal reading inventory
Richly Detailed Source Materials
Selected readings from Woman Hollering Creek (Cisneros, 1991): “Eleven” and “Salvador, Late or Early”
“Thank you, M’am” by Langston Hughes
“Historia de un letero/The Story of a Sign” (Short video)
Interrelated Daily Lesson Sequence and Instructional Purposes
Day 1: Introduction to the art of the short story, using short video “Historia de un letero/The Story of a Sign” to examine how the filmmaker tells about the character’s life with little dialogue (establishing purpose)
Day 2: “Salvador, Late or Early” close reading and discussion (modeling and thinking aloud)
Day 3: “Eleven” close reading and discussion (modeling and thinking aloud)
Day 4: Small groups meet to read and discuss “Thank You, M’am”, with journal writing (guided instruction and collaborative learning)
Day 5: Class discussion of “Thank You, M’am” with journal writing (collaborative and independent learning)
Day 6: Small groups meet to compare the three short stories; others confer with teacher and set writing goals (guided instruction and collaborative learning)
Days 7: Class discussion of key ideas and introduction of presentation rubric (collaborative and independent learning)
Day 8: Research and development of group presentations (collaborative learning)
Days 9-10: Student presentations; notes developed on presentations by other groups (collaborative and independent learning)
Days 11-12: Literary analysis essay development (guided instruction and independent learning)
Culminating Projects
Group presentation on analysis of literary devices used in assigned reading.
Literacy analysis essay critiquing the three readings and comparing authors’ craft across the three.
Grouping Considerations:
Homogeneous groups for guided instruction (List student groups) / Grouping Considerations:
Heterogeneous groups for collaborative learning (List student groups)
Focus on Diverse Learners
English Learners
Additional guided instruction on general academic and domain specific vocabulary
Pair with language brokers during collaborative learning
Push-in support with bilingual specialist / Students with Disabilities
Use parallel texts during independent reading
Discuss written production with assistive technology specialist
Use Bookshare resources for audio support of three readings / Advanced Learners
Use parallel texts to supplement independent reading
Discuss alternative presentation modes with TAG specialist
Expand research to include a critique of “Thank You, M’am” in written form and in a short film (9th grade standard)

Doug Fisher and Nancy Frey, 2011