Eden C. Stein
Common Core Standards Implemented in this Unit
23
Reading Informational Text Grade 8 Standards
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.8.1
Cite the textual evidence that most strongly supports an analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text. Students will be responding to nonfiction periodicals and a core text.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.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. Students summarize the text they have read and cite evidence to support the central idea.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.8.3
Analyze how a text makes connections among and distinctions between individuals, ideas, or events (e.g., through comparisons, analogies, or categories). Students will analyze connections while conducting independent research for their argumentative essays.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.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 texts. All these skills will be necessary while reading the core text.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.8.5
Analyze in detail the structure of a specific paragraph in a text, including the role of particular sentences in developing and refining a key concept. This type of analysis will be done while reading handouts on economic systems.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.8.6
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.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.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. Students are required to delineate and evaluate arguments while conducting research for their culminating essay.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.8.10
By the end of the year, read and comprehend literary nonfiction at the high end of the grades 6-8 text complexity band independently and proficiently. The texts used in this unit include those at a high school level and beyond.
Writing - Grade 6-8 Standards
Text Types and Purposes:
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.WHST.6-8.1
Write arguments focused on
discipline-specific content
. Students write an argumentative essay as a part of this unit.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.WHST.6-8.1.A
Introduce claim(s) about a topic or issue, acknowledge and distinguish the claim(s) from alternate or opposing claims, and organize the reasons and evidence logically. Students need to do this when writing their argumentative essay.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.WHST.6-8.1.B
Support claim(s) with logical reasoning and relevant, accurate data and evidence that demonstrate an understanding of the topic or text, using credible sources. Students will need to do this during classroom debates.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.WHST.6-8.1.C
Use words, phrases, and clauses to create cohesion and clarify the relationships among claim(s), counterclaims, reasons, and evidence. This is necessary for the culminating project.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.WHST.6-8.1.D
Establish and maintain a formal style. Again, this will be required during the writing of the argumentative essay.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.WHST.6-8.1.E
Provide a concluding statement or section that follows from and supports the argument presented. Required during the writing of the argumentative essay.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.WHST.6-8.4
Produce clear and coherent writing in which the development, organization, and style are appropriate to task, purpose, and audience. Required during the writing of the argumentative essay.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.WHST.6-8.5
With some guidance and support from peers and adults, develop and strengthen writing as needed by planning, revising, editing, rewriting, or trying a new approach, focusing on how well purpose and audience have been addressed. Required during the writing of the argumentative essay.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.WHST.6-8.6
Use technology, including the Internet, to produce and publish writing and present the relationships between information and ideas clearly and efficiently. Required during the writing of the argumentative essay.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.WHST.6-8.7
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. Required during the writing of the argumentative essay.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.WHST.6-8.8
Gather relevant information from multiple print and digital sources, using search terms effectively; assess the credibility and accuracy of each source; and quote or paraphrase the data and conclusions of others while avoiding plagiarism and following a standard format for citation. Required during the writing of the argumentative essay.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.WHST.6-8.9
Draw evidence from informational texts to support analysis, reflection, and research. This is also required during the argumentative essay.