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Seed 2: Gr. 8 Unit: Does Speech Matter

Essential Question:

How can taking a stand help to develop a person's belief system?

Lesson Calendar

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Unit Overview Unit

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Lesson seeds are ideas that can be used to build a lesson aligned to the CCSS. Lesson seeds are not meant to be all-inclusive, nor are they substitutes for instruction. When developing lessons from these seeds, teachers must consider the needs of all learners. It is also important to build checkpoints into the lessons where appropriate formative assessment will inform a teachers instructional pacing and delivery.

Lesson Seed 2 - Day 3

Poetry

TEXT MODEL*

Poem - Booker T. Washington by R.V. Randolph

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEED

Pre-assessment — figurative language
Have students read the poem Booker T. Washington by R.V. Randolph.
Students might need to read the poem more than once.
Have students determine and explain the words, phrases, and lines in the poem that help them understand what the poem is about.
Use textual evidence from the poem to respond to the following questions.
1. How does the author's choice of specific words add to the poem?
2. Identify and explain how specific words contribute to the overall meaning of the poem.
3. What is the phrase "Up from Slavery he comes" alluding to in the poem?
4. What is the significance of using the word obstacle in the first stanza?
5. What is the poet referring to in the line "Thus he met life's greatest tasks" in the poem?
6. What impact does using the word "sage" have on the poem?
7. Have students translate one or two stanzas in their own words to show that they understand the poem
Choose words in the poem that have a connotative meaning. Have students discuss the meaning of the words in groups. Have them discuss if the meanings of the words have changed throughout history. As a group, decide if the words have negative or positive connotations today.
The students should explain how specific words and phrases allude to Booker T. Washington's autobiography Up from Slavery.
The teacher should have students come up with a list of words for the tone. Have students find words and phrases that indicate tone. Explain how the words or phrases contribute to the meaning of the poem.
After evaluating the identified words and phrases in the poem, have students analyze how those words create a specific tone in the poem.
Routine Writing: How did Booker T. Washington rise above slavery?
Homework: Have students read and analyze Booker T. Washington's poem by Paul Laurence Dunbar. Have them create text dependant questions about the poem.

*IMPORTANT NOTE: Consider the need for Accessible Instructional Materials (AIM) and/or for captioned/described video when selecting texts, novels, video and/or other media for this unit. See "Sources for Accessible Media" for suggestions. See Maryland Learning Links: http://marylandlearninglinks.org.

CCSS STANDARDS ALIGNMENT

Reading: Literature

RL.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.

RL.8.4 Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, including figurative and connotative meanings; analyze the impact of specific word choices on meaning and tone, including analogies or allusions to other texts.

RL.8.10 By the end of the year, read and comprehend literature, including stories, dramas, and poems, at the high end of grades 6–8 text complexity band independently and proficiently.

Speaking & Listening

SL.8.1 Engage effectively in a range of collaborative discussions (one-on-one, in groups, and teacher-led) with diverse partners on grade 8 topics, texts, and issues, building on others’ ideas and expressing their own clearly.

Language

L.8.1 Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English grammar and usage when writing or speaking.

Writing

W.7.4 Produce clear and coherent writing in which the development, organization, and style are appropriate to task, purpose, and audience. (Grade-specific expectations for writing types are defined in standards 1–3 above.)

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Last Updated 3/17/2020 1:12 PM