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Home > INSTRUCTION > State Standards and Frameworks > English Language Arts > Seed03

 Seed 3: Gr. 8 Unit: Does Speech Matter


Essential Question:

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


Lesson Calendar

DAY 1–2 - SEED 1

DAY 3 - SEED 2

DAY 4–6 - PLAN 1

DAY 7 - SEED 3

DAY 8 - SEED 4

DAY 9–11 - PLAN 2

DAY 12–13 - SEED 5

DAY 14–18 - PLAN 3

DAY 19–20 - PLAN 4

Download Seeds, Plans, and Resources (zip)

Unit Overview Unit

Send Feedback to MSDE’s Reading Team

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 3 - Day 7

Compare a poem and a text

TEXT MODEL*

Ballad of Booker T. by Langston Hughes
http://btwsociety.org/library/honors/12.php

A Boys' Life of Booker T. Washington by W.C. Jackson
http://openlibrary.org/books/OL7033297M/A_boys'_life_of_Booker_T._Washington


BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEED

  1. The teacher should review the definition of theme for students.
  2. Students will read the poem, Ballad of Booker T. by Langston Hughes.
  3. Students will translate the poem into their own words.
  4. Students will identify the central idea(s) in the poem.
  5. Students will look at words, symbols, and phrases that help identify the central ideas.
  6. The teacher should ask students the following questions:
    1. What words does the poet use to describe Booker T. Washington?
    2. How do the words, symbols, or phrases identify the central idea(s) in the text?
    3. What does the poet mean in the lines, "Train your head, Your heart, and your hand?"
    4. Why does the poet refer to Booker T. Washington as a practical man two times in the poem?
    5. Why does the poet repeat several words and phrases in the poem?
    6. Metaphorically, what does the "workman's tool" represent?
  7. Students will read the chapter Strenuous Days in A Boys' Life of Booker T. Washington by W. C. Jackson.
  8. Students will read the text to find quotes, words, phrases, and evidence in the chapter that helps develop the central idea(s).
  9. The teacher should ask students the following questions:
    1. Why did Booker T. Washington believe that he was not exempt from using his hands to fulfill any job at Tuskegee Institute?
    2. How did the buildings at Tuskegee Institute mark a pivotal moment in history?
    3. How did Booker T. Washington's views on education improve Tuskegee?
    4. What details help support the central idea in the text?
  10. Students will participate in a collaborative discussion after they have read the poem and the text.
  11. Students will come up with a central idea for the text and the poem.
  12. Students will compare the poem and the text for similar ideas.
  13. Students will write an objective summary of the text.

*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.8.2 Determine a theme or central idea of a text and analyze its development over the course of the text, including its relationship to the characters, setting, and plot; provide an objective summary of 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.

Reading: Informational Text

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.
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.
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.

Writing

W.8.4 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.)

Language

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

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  Last Updated 3/17/2020 1:12 PM