ELA – Grade 8
Required Core Connections Text and Lessons in green and Core Connections performance text and tasks in purple
Quarter / Extended Text / Literary Text / Informational Text / Writing Tasks / Research Projects / Other1 – Thrill of Horror
Writing to Inform and Explain
Literary Reading Focus
RL.3 W.2
RL.6 W.7
RL.7
RL.9 / Short Story: “The Monkey’s Paw” (W. W. Jacobs)
Play: “The Monkey’s Paw” (W. W. Jacobs dramatized by Mara Rockliff) (Holt, Second Course, pp. 186-195)
Film Clip: “The Monkey’s Paw” (Ricky Lewis Jr.) / Short Story: “Tell-Tale Heart” (Edgar Allan Poe)
Short Story: “The Outsider” (H. P. Lovecraft) (Close Reader)
Short Story: “Afflicted” (Matthew Johnson) (Gale)
Short Story: “The Black Cat” (Edgar Allan Poe) (Gale)
*Short Story: “Poison” (Roald Dahl) / Essay: “Scary Tales” (Jackie Torrence)
Literary Criticism: “What Is the Horror Genre?” (Sharon A. Russell)
Info Text: “Salem Witch Trials” (Smithsonian.org) / Daily routine writing tasks to develop and convey understanding of texts
4-6 short response analyses that inform and explain / 1 research project to integrate knowledge from sources/culminating writing analysis essay (using multiple texts from unit) / Sources from Collection 2
Blog: “Famous Horror First Lines” (C.T. Westing)
2 – The Move Toward Freedom
Writing to Inform and Explain
Informational and Literary Reading Focus
RI/RL.3 W.2
RI/RL.4 W.6
RI/RL.5 W.8 / Excerpt: “Bloody Times: The Funeral of Abraham Lincoln and the Manhunt for Jefferson Davis” (James L. Swanson) / Poem: “O Captain! My Captain!” (Walt Whitman)
Poem: “Identity” (Julio NoboaPolanco)
Poem: “Hard on the Gas” (Janet Wong
Short Story
Short Story: “A Mystery of Heroism” (Stephen Crane) (Close Reader)
*Poem: Refugee in America (Langston Hughes) (Reading classes)
(Historical Fiction): “The Drummer Boy of Shiloh” (Ray Bradbury) / Speech Excerpts: “AbrahamLincoln” (Eulogy) (Ralph Waldo Emerson)
Autobiography Excerpts: Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave (Frederick Douglass)
Biography: “My Friend Douglass” (Russell Freedman) (Close Reader)
Biography Excerpt: “Harriet Tubman: Conductor on the Underground Railroad” (Ann Petry)
Media: “Battle of Shiloh” (History Channel) (Student eBook/Teacher edition, p. 172)
Journal Entries: “Civil War Journal” (Louisa May Alcott) (Close Reader)
*Speech: The Gettysburg Address (Abraham Lincoln)
*Speech: “I Have a Dream” (Martin Luther King, Jr.)
*Speech: “Choice: A Tribute to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.” (Alice Walker)
*Auto excerpt: “No One Ever Told Me Not to Dream” (Charlayne Hunter-Gault) / Daily routine writing tasks to develop and convey understanding of texts
4-6 short response analyses that inform and explain / 1 research project to integrate knowledge from sources/culminating writing analysis essay (using multiple texts from unit) / Sources from Collection 3
Teachers may want to pull in additional resources (pictures, poems, letters, etc.)
Additional excerpts from Frederick Douglass
Battle of Shiloh info text
Civil War from N and S viewpoints
Slavery from differing viewpoints
( (/wnet/slavery/
Resources/wpa.
Html)
Pair Historical Fiction and Media clip on Battle of Shiloh
3 – Culture and Belonging
Writing to Argue
Informational Reading Focus
RI.3 W.1
RI.5 W.7
RI.8
SL.3 / Short Story: “My Favorite Chaperone” (Jean Davies Okimoto)
“Dear America” series / Short Story: “Golden Glass” (Alma Luz Villanueva) (Close Reader) / Essays: Napping-Good or Bad
Should individuals be prosecuted for statements made on social media?
(pp. 23-29 in HMH Assessment Workbook)
Text 1: “The Dangers of Cyberbullying
Text 2: “Sacrificing the First Amendment to Catch ‘Cyberbullies’”
Text 3: “What is Cyberbullying?”
Essay: “What to Bring” (Naisha Jackson) (Close Reader)
Memoir excerpt: “The Latehomecomer” (Kao Kalia Yang)
Memoir: “Museum Indians” (Susan Power) (Close Reader) / Daily routine writing tasks to develop and convey understanding of texts
4-6 short response analyses to argue / 1 research project to integrate knowledge from sources/culminating writing analysis essay (using multiple texts from unit) / Sources from Collection 1
(Teachers may want to use additional texts in this collection)
Poem: “The New Colossus” (Emma Lazarus) (Assessment Booklet)
*Poem: “Legal Alien” (Pat Mora)
Poem: “Chisholm” (Ruth Evelyn Reid) (Gale)
Poem: “Americanization” (Clara Edwards) (Gale) / Media & Analysis: “New Immigrants Share Their Stories” (Lisa Gossels)
Info Text: “Why Learn Another Language?” (Samantha Roberts) (Assessment Booklet)
Info Text: “Why Waste Time on a Foreign Language?” (Jay Matthews) (Assessment Booklet)
Article: “How a Sonnet Turned a Statue into the Mother of Exiles” (Sam Roberts) (Assessment Booklet)
4 - Approaching Adulthood
Writing to Argue
Narrative Writing
Informational Reading Focus
RI.6 W.1
RI.7 W.3
RI.9 W.6
W.8 / Short Story: “Marigolds” (Eugenia Collier)
Novel Excerpt: “The Adventures of Tom Sawyer” (Mark Twain) / Short Story: “The Whistle” (Anne Estevis) (Close Reader)
Poem: “Hanging Fire” (AudreLorde)
Poem: “Teenagers” (Pat Mora)
Poem: “Identity” (Julio NoboaPolanco) (Close Reader)
Poem: “Hard on the Gas” (Janet S. Wong) (Close Reader) / Articles: “When Do Kids Become Adults?” (arguments from New York Times weekly feature)
History Article: “Much Too Young to Work So Hard” (Naoki Tanaka) (Close Reader)
Article: “Nike Pledges to End Child Labor And Apply U.S. Rules Abroad” (John H. Cushman, Jr.) (Assessment Booklet)
Article: “Nike’s Dilemma: Is Doing the Right Thing Wrong?” (David Montero) (Assessment Booklet)
Essay: “This Company Is Employing Children?” (NadiraFaulmuller) (Assessment Booklet) / Daily routine writing tasks to develop and convey understanding of texts
4-6 short response analyses to argue
1-2 extended narratives to convey experiences, events, and/or procedures / 1 research project to integrate knowledge from sources/culminating writing analysis essay (using multiple texts from unit) / Sources from Collections 4 and 6
Letter: “Dear Grandma Ella” (Assessment Booklet)
Article: “President Pushes States to Raise Dropout Age” (Mia Lewis) (Assessment Booklet)
Data Analysis: “Average Income By Education, 2009” (U.S. Department of Education) (Assessment Booklet)
Radio Interview: “Paul Moran Talks with Missy Remiss on WSCH” (Assessment Booklet)
*Auto: “When I Lay My Burden Down” (Maya Angelou)