English/Language Arts Year-at-a-Glance Grade 8__

Unit 1 Time Frame: 6 weeks___ / Unit Name/Theme
Community/Negotiating Relationships—“Vision for a Better World” / Anchor Text
“I Have a Dream” Speech (King)
Related Texts
Literary Texts
Animal Farm (Orwell)
American Dream Text Set
Informational Texts
Maintaining Cultural Continuity
Stomp Out Bullying!
Surf Safely in Cyberspace
Nonprint Texts (Media, Websites, Video, Film, Music, Art, Graphics) / Possible Common Core State Standards
Reading Literature
Reading Information
8.4 Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, including figurative, connotative, and technical meanings; analyze the impact of specific word choices on meaning and tone, including analogies or allusions to other
Major Concepts/Tier 3 Literary Terms / Writing Focus
Argumentative / Writing
Speaking and Listening
Language
Unit 2 Time Frame: 6 weeks___ / Unit Name/Theme
Genre Study—“Mystery and Suspense” / Anchor Text
“The Tell-Tale Heart” (Poe)
Related Texts
Literary Texts
“The Landlady” (Dahl)
“The Most Dangerous Game” (Connell)
“Lamb to the Slaughter” (Dahl)
“The Monkey’s Paw” (Jacob)
“A Rose for Emily” (Faulkner)
“The Snows of Kilimanjaro” (Hemingway)
The Legend of Sleepy Hollow (Irving)
Informational Texts
Nonprint Texts (Media, Websites, Video, Film, Music, Art, Graphics)
Truth Behind Big Foot (Nat Geo) / Possible Common Core State Standards
Reading Literature
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.
Major Concepts / Writing Focus
Narrative / Writing
8.3 Write narratives to develop real or imagined experiences or events using effective technique, relevant descriptive details, and well-structured event sequences.
8.3.d. Use precise words and phrases, relevant descriptive details, and sensory language to capture the action and convey experiences and events.
Speaking and Listening
8.3 Use knowledge of language and its conventions when writing, speaking, reading, or listening.
8.3.a. Use verbs in the active and passive voice and in the conditional and subjunctive mood to achieve particular effects.
Language
8.5 Demonstrate understanding of figurative language, word relationships, and nuances in word meanings.
Unit 3 Time Frame: 6 weeks___ / Unit Name/Theme
Folklore & Literary Tradition—“A World of Heroes” / Anchor Text
“Where I Find My Heroes” (Stone)
Related Texts
Literary Texts
Beowulf Reader’s Theater
Metamorphoses (Ovid)
Myths and Legends from Ancient Greece and Around the World (Questions)
“David and Goliath”
“O Captain! My Captain! (Whitman)
Informational Texts
“The Hero’s Journey Defined”
The All-Purpose Guide to Epic Movies
Chart of Gods
Nonprint Texts (Media, Websites, Video, Film, Music, Art, Graphics)
The Archetype of the Hero’s Journey (mixture of resources from WebEnglishTeacher.com)
“An Anti-Hero of One’s Own” (TEDEd)
Ovid’s Metamorphoses Through Paintings
“Superman” song lyrics (Five for Fighting)
“Kryptonite” song lyrics (3 Doors Down)
“My Hero” song lyrics (Foo Fighters)
Malcolm Gladwell: The Unheard Story of David and Goliath (TED talks)
The Avengers (movie clips) / Possible Common Core State Standards
Reading
Major Concepts / Writing Focus
Informative Presentation
Narrative (optional) / Writing
Speaking and Listening
Language
Unit 4 Time Frame: ______/ Unit Name/Theme
Inspired by True Stories—“Out for Adventure” / Anchor Text
“The Road Not Taken” (Frost)
Related Texts
Literary Texts
“Jabberwocky” (Carroll)
The Call of the Wild (London)
“The Voyage to Lilliput” from Gulliver’s Travels (Swift)
Informational Texts
“Profile: African-American North Pole Explorer Matthew Henson”
Nonprint Texts (Media, Websites, Video, Film, Music, Art, Graphics) / Possible Common Core State Standards
Reading Literature
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 the characters, setting, and plot; provide an objective summary of the text.
Reading Information
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.
Major Concepts / Writing Focus / Writing
Speaking and Listening
Language
Unit 5 Time Frame: ______/ Unit Name/Theme
Living Things—“The Power of Water” / Anchor Text
“Water” (Emerson)
Related Texts
Literary Texts
“Story of the Flood” from Gilgamesh
Flood Myths from Around the World
Native American Water Legends and Myths
Informational Texts
New York Times Toxic Water Series
·  “Cleansing the Air at the Expense of Waterways”
·  “Clean Water Laws Are Neglected, at a Cost in Suffering”
National Geographic Fresh Water
·  Colorado Floods (2013)
·  Change the Course (Water Usage Infographic)
US EPA Articles and Activities
Nonprint Texts (Media, Websites, Video, Film, Music, Art, Graphics)
“Evaporations” filmpoem
Nat Geo “Conflicts Over Water” / Possible Common Core State Standards
Reading Literature
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 the characters, setting, and plot; provide an objective summary of the text.
Reading Information
8.8 Delineate and evaluate the argument and specific claims in a text, assessing whether the reasoning is sound and the evidence is relevant and sufficient; recognize when irrelevant evidence is introduced.
Major Concepts / Writing Focus
Argumentative / Writing
8.1 Write arguments to support claims with clear reasons and relevant evidence.
8.1.c. Use words, phrases, and clauses to create cohesion and clarify the relationships among claim(s), counterclaims, reasons, and evidence.
8.2 Write informative/explanatory texts to examine a topic and convey ideas, concepts, and information through the selection, organization, and analysis of relevant content.
8.2.b. Develop the topic with relevant, well-chosen facts, definitions, concrete details, quotations, or other information and examples.
8.2.e. Establish and maintain a formal style.
Speaking and Listening
Language
Unit 6 Time Frame: ______/ Unit Name/Theme
A Sense of Self—“Becoming Resilient” / Anchor Text
A Lesson Before Dying excerpt (Gaines)
Related Texts
Literary Texts
Night excerpt (Wiesel)
Bronx Masquerade excerpt (Grimes)
Informational Texts
12 Years a Slave excerpt (Northup) from PBS’s Slavery and the Making of America Series
Malala Yousafzai Scholastic Article
“In Rust Belt, a Teenager’s Climb from Poverty”
The Pact Excerpt (Davis, Jenkins, Hunt)
“I Won’t Hire People with Poor Grammar, Here’s Why”
Nonprint Texts (Media, Websites, Video, Film, Music, Art, Graphics) / Possible Common Core State Standards
Reading
Major Concepts / Writing Focus
Narrative / Writing
Speaking and Listening
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.
8.4.b. Use common, grade-appropriate Greek or Latin affixes and roots as clues to the meaning of a word (e.g., precede, recede, secede).