2014-2015 Curriculum Blueprint
Grade:
8
Course: ELA
Unit 3: Narrative/Point of View
Lexile Band 925L-1185L

Approximate
Time:
20 days
Unit Overview
In this unit, students will be able to explore narrative techniques used to develop experiences, events or character development. Students will be able transition from different
settings, characters or events by using transitional words and/or phrases to convey proper sequence. Students will identify key stated ideas from the text. Students will make
inferences about what text says and evaluate evidence about what most strongly supports key ideas. Students will cite evidence used to make inference from the text.
Learning Goal
Essential Question
Students will be able to identify explicitly key ideas and identify evidence that
1. What is the difference between an inference and an explicit statement?
supports key details. Students will also recognize the difference between inferences 2. What is the value of an author providing evidence to substantiate his Point of
and what is explicitly stated. Additionally, students will compare and contrast the
view?
author’s evidence and/or viewpoints to conflicting evidence and/or viewpoints and
3. How does using an effective writing technique lend to an author’s authenticity?
analyze the techniques the author uses to respond to conflicting evidence. Link to
Learning Scale
Writing Standards
UNIT 3 Published Product
8. W.1.3 (DOK 3) Write narratives to develop real or imagined experiences or events After reading the An hour with Abuelo, students will create a Thinking Map/Organizer to identity
conflict within the story and differentiate between internal and external conflict as well as how
using effective technique, relevant descriptive details, and well-structured event
the narrator has changed by the events in the story. Write a constructive response that identifies
sequences.
how both the external and internal conflicts affected the life of Abuelo in the story.
a. Engage and orient the reader by establishing a context and point of view and
Thinking Map/Organizer Rubric
introducing a narrator and/or characters; organize an event sequence that unfolds
Constructed Response Rubric (pg. 118)
naturally and logically.
AND
b. Use narrative techniques, such as dialogue, description, and pacing, to develop
experiences and events or show the responses of characters to situations.
After reading Up the Slide and A Glow in the Dark, write an essay to compare and contrast the
c. Use a variety of transitional words, phrases, and clauses to manage the sequence
use of details in the two narratives. Discuss whether the use of these details affects the way you
view the challenges faced by the characters. Develop your essay using a clear thesis, organized
of events.
details, and provide evidence from the text to support your answer. (See Graphic Organizer
d. Use concrete words and phrases and sensory details to convey experiences and
Transparencies, Comparing Narratives Graphic Organizer A, pg. 52)
events precisely.
Narrative Writing Rubric (pg. 132)
e. Provide a conclusion that follows from the narrated experiences or events.
Reading Standards
Vertical Progression
LAFS.8.RL.1.1 (DOK 2) Cite the textual evidence that most strongly supports an analysis of
7.RL.1.1 Cite several pieces of textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says
what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text.
explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text
Identify explicitly stated key ideas
9-10.RL.1.1 Cite strong and thorough textual evidence to support analysis of what the

Recognize the difference between inference and what is explicitly stated
text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text.

Make inferences about what a text says but is not directly stated

Cite evidence used to make inferences from a text
LAFS.8.RL.2.6 (DOK3) 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.

Determine the author’s point of view or purpose

Identify evidence the author uses to support his/her character’s viewpoint/purpose

Analyze the techniques the authors uses to respond to conflicting evidence
 Support your analysis with examples
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7.RL.2.6 Analyze how an author develops and contrasts the points of view of different
characters or narrators in a text
9-10.RL.2.6 Analyze a particular point of view or cultural experience reflected in a word
or literature from outside the United States, drawing on a wide reading of world
literature.
Speaking and Listening Standards
8.SL.1.1 (DOK 3) Engage effectively in a range of collaborative discussions (one-onone, in groups, and teacher-led) with diverse partners on grade 8 topics, texts, and
issues, building on others’ ideas and expressing their own clearly.
a. Come to discussions prepared, having read or researched material under study;
explicitly draw on that preparation by referring to evidence on the topic, text, or
issue to probe and reflect on ideas under discussion.
b. Follow rules for collegial discussions and decision-making, track progress toward
specific goals and deadlines, and define individual roles as needed.
c. Pose questions that connect the ideas of several speakers and respond to others’
questions and comments with relevant evidence, observations, and ideas.
d. Acknowledge new information expressed by others, and, when warranted, qualify
or justify their own views in light of the evidence presented.
Language Standards
8. L.2.3 (DOK 3) Use knowledge of language and its conventions when writing, speaking,
reading, or listening. a. Use verbs in the active and passive voice and in the conditional
and subjunctive mood to achieve particular effects (e.g., emphasizing the actor or the
action; expressing uncertainty or describing a state contrary to fact).
8. L.3.6 (DOK 1) Acquire and use accurately grade-appropriate general academic and
domain-specific words and phrases; gather vocabulary knowledge when considering a
word or phrase important to comprehension or expression.
Informational Texts

Informational Tasks

Prentice Hall LITERATURE: Unit 2, An Hour with Abuelo pages
237-243.
Prentice Hall LITERATURE: Unit 2, Up the Slide and A Glow in the
Dark pages 314-324. Lexile 980L- 1170L
Write Source: Narrative Writing: Narrative Paragraph pages 9396.
Write Source: Narrative Writing: Writing a Phase Autobiography
pages 97-134.
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
LAFS.8.RL.2.6 (DOK 3) After reading An Hour with Abuelo, pg. 237, examine how the story of
Abuelo’s life is a story within a story, thus creating a second narrator. Students will engage in a
literature circle to collaboratively analyze how elements of point of view, mood, and inferential
dialogue contribute to conflict between the story’s characters. Literature Circle Guidelines
LAFS.8.RL.1.1 (DOK 2) Read Up the Slide and annotate the text for various allusions and
descriptions of the setting. Write a constructive response in which you analyze how detailed
descriptions (via first-person point of view) lend a sense of reality to a story by making the reader
feel as if he or she is really in that place. Provide 4-6 examples of descriptive writing from the
text to support your answer.
Constructed Response Rubric (pg.118)
LAFS.8.RL.1.1 (DOK 2) After reading A Glow in the Dark, write an objective summary in which
you analyze the cause and effect relationship that explains why leaves change color. Analyze the
organizational pattern of the key details to construct a timeline of events the author uses to
convey the changes in the leaves. Provide 4-6 supporting details from the text to support your
answer. Objective Summary Guideline
Acceptable Response & Task Demand 8.RL.2.6 (pg. 19-21)
Acceptable Response & Task Demand 8.RL.1.1 (pg. 4-6)
*Teachers should use these pages to ensure daily tasks meet the standard; teachers can also use test
item stems as a mini assessment of student achievement.
Higher Order Questions Link to Webb’s DOK Guide
LAFS.8.RL.1.1 (DOK 2)
*What inference can you draw from the statement? What from the text supports your
inference?
*What evidence strongly supports the key idea __?
*What is the author’s strongest evidence provided that supports the idea __? What makes
that evidence stronger than other evidence provided?
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LAFS.8.RL.2.6 (DOK 3)
*What evidence does the author provide to support different character’s viewpoints on __?
*What viewpoints conflict with __’s (character’s) take on __? How does the author represent
these viewpoints?
*Does the author present a particular viewpoint more effectively? How does he/she do this?
*Why do you think the story is told from __’s point of view? What advantages and disadvantages
does this present?