2015-2016 Curriculum Blueprint
Grade: 8
Course Descriptions: M/J LA 3 /M/J LA 3 ADV
Unit 3: Writing to Inform (Collection 5)
Text Complexity Measures: Lexile Band 1020L - 1410
Qualitative Rubrics: Literary, Informational
Approximate
Time:
6 Weeks
Unit Overview
In Unit 3, teachers will have a choice between two common performance tasks. Both of these are informative in nature. Within this unit, students will gather, analyze,
and evaluate information to support inferences and develop a topic using relevant details within a text. Students will analyze various texts with particular attention to
structure, characters, dialogue and events.
While studying texts of varying genres throughout the unit, teachers will emphasize the overarching LAFS.K12 focus standards R.2.5 (Analyze the structure of texts,
including how specific sentences, paragraphs, and larger portions of the text relate to each other and the whole), R.2.6 (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) and W.1.2 (Write informative/explanatory texts to
examine and convey complex ideas and information clearly and accurately through the effective selection, organization, and analysis of content).
The performance task in the fifth week will give students an opportunity to demonstrate that they have learned the standards at the appropriate cognitive complexity
and with complex text(s).
Common Performance Tasks
Within this unit, students will read about the experiences that Anne Frank and
others had during the time they spent hiding from the Nazis in a small attic.
What was it like to live in their secret annex? This performance task requires
students to write an expository essay about the living conditions in the Annex,
using details from The Diary of Anne Frank, other texts in the collection, and
additional research. (Rubric HMH Collections textbook page 392 )
Optional/Alternative Performance Task
Using texts of equal rigor, students will write a multi-paragraph essay in which they
explain the experiences faced by individuals in the story/drama, using details from
the main text, along with additional research.
FSA Informative/Explanatory Rubric
Learning Goals
Students Will:
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Analyze the structure, characters, dialogue and events within a
drama. Scale
Make and support inferences about the text. Scale
Organize ideas and concepts to make connections. Scale
Clearly convey ideas using relevant facts, definitions and examples
that support the main/central idea
Provide a conclusion that follows form and supports the
information presented.
Sample Essential Questions
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How does the text structure help me understand the text?
Why does the structure of the text matter?
How can text structures of different texts contribute to meaning and style?
How can I provide the best proof from the text to support meaning of the
text?
8th Grade Draft | September 2015
Cluster of Focus Standards
*The LAFS.K12 Standards are broken down into grade level specific standards.
*Utilize the Standards One Pagers for full standard, standards-based question stems, and examples of unpacking the standard into specific skills.
Link to Webb’s DOK Guide
Writing
8.W.1.2 (DOK 4) Write
informative/explanatory texts to
examine a topic and convey ideas,
concepts, and information through the
selection, organization, and analysis of
relevant content.
Reading
8.RI.2.5 (DOK 3) Compare and contrast
the structure of two or more texts and
analyze how the differing structure of
each text contributes to its meaning
and style.
8.RI.2.6 (DOK 3)
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 such effects as suspense or
humor.
Priority Texts
“from The Diary of a Young Girl” by Anne Frank (p. 355)
 Diary
 Lexile 1020
 Focus RI.1.1; RI.2.5
 Teach Language Standard L.3.4 (Connotation and Denotation) (p. 368)
 Critical Vocabulary: Insolent, Reproach, Mediate, Conjecture, Splendid
from “Anne Frank: The Book, The Life, The Afterlife” (p. 369A)
 Literary Criticism
 Lexile 1410
 Focus RI.2.4; 2.6
Speaking and Listening
8.SL.1.2 (DOK 3)
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.L.3.4 (DOK 2) Determine or clarify the
meaning of unknown and multiplemeaning words or phrases based on
grade 8 reading and content, choosing
flexibly from a range of strategies.
a. Use context (e.g., the overall
meaning of a sentence or
paragraph; a word’s position or
function in a sentence) as a clue to
the meaning of a word or phrase.
d. Verify the preliminary
determination of the meaning of a
word or phrase (e.g., by checking
the inferred meaning in context or
in a dictionary).
Sample Assignments
“from The Diary of a Young Girl”
8.RI.2.5 (DOK 2) and 8.SL.2.5 (DOK 3) In collaborative groups, analyze and discuss
Anne’s purpose for including the story of her pen answering the following
questions:
 What makes the pen so special to her?
 Why is the pen especially important during the time in her Annex?
 How does Anne’s style and use of details describe the pen?
 How do the events of the day lead her to destroy her beloved pen?
 Which details of the diary entry help bring the story to life?
8th Grade Draft | September 2015
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Critical Vocabulary: Intersperse; Ineradicable; Refuge; Incisive;
Precocious; Tangential; Emblematic; Impervious; Poignant; Banal
“Holy Sonnet 10” by John Donne (On-line Resources)
 Sonnet
 Focus RL.2.5
8.W.1.2 (DOK 4 ), 8.SL.2.5 (DOK 3), and 8.L.3.4 (DOK 2) Next, write and perform a
script that interprets the story of Anne’s pen and what it reveals about her as a
writer and a person. Be sure students implement Anne’s writing style as they
develop their dialogue.
Suggested Products: Thinking Map (Flow Map, Bubble Map), Script, Skit (Live or
Prerecorded), Comic Strip/Graphic Novel
“Holy Sonnet 10”
8.RL.2.5 (DOK 3) After reading and analyzing “From the Diary of a Young Girl” and
“Holy Sonnet 10,” compare and contrast the author’s perspective towards death.
Suggested Products: Constructed Response, Socratic Seminar, Thinking Map
(Double Bubble, Brace Map)
Optional Contributing Texts
“After Auschwitz”
RI.2.5 (p. 379)
“There But for the Grace”
RL.2.4 (p. 385)
Additional Resources Specific to Standards
8.W.1.2 (DOK 4) Performance assessment workbook unit 2 pg. 35-66
8.W.1.2 (DOK 4) HMH Online Teacher Resource: Interactive Writing Lessons:
Writing Informative Texts
8.W.1.2 (DOK 4) HMH Online Teacher Resource: Writing and Research in a Digital
Age: Lesson 3: Considering Audience, Purpose and Publication
8.RL.2.5 (DOK 3) HMH Online Teacher Resource: Interactive Writing Lessons:
Comparing Texts
8.RI.1.1 (DOK 2) HMH Online Teacher Resource: Writing and Research in a Digital
Age: Lesson 9: Taking Notes
8.RI.1.1 (DOK 2) HMH Online Teacher Resource: Interactive Writing Lesson: Using
Textual Evidence: Attribution
8.RI.2.5 (DOK 2) HMH Online Teacher Resource: Interactive Whiteboard Lesson:
Form in Poetry
8.SL.2.5 (DOK 3) HMH Online Teacher Resource: Writing and Research in a Digital
Age: Lesson 13: Adding Graphics to Research
8.L.3.4 (DOK 2) ) HMH Online Teacher Resource: WordSharp Interactive
Vocabulary Tutor: Denotative and Connotative meanings and Multiple Meaning
Words
8th Grade Draft | September 2015