The following lesson plan focuses on collaboration mostly but also engages students with an aspect of critical thinking.

This document outlines all Grade 8 Arts Ed outcomes/indicators. The specific outcomes/indicators with Treaty Connections are highlighted and support materials/treaty content are outlined.

Life offers us much opportunity for adventure and suspense. We can climb mountains, sail around the world, journey to faraway places, or travel through space. We can become explorers and adventurers. We can enjoy the challenge and overcome our fears and, with courage and determination, try something new. Sometimes we succeed and conquer. Other times we may fail to live up to the challenge but learn an unexpected lesson. The victories and the lessons remind us that all of life’s adventures must be kept in perspective.
The unit is organized around three focus questions with sample lessons and suggested resources included. Time allocations given are approximations only. Teachers can choose to spend more or less time on each lesson depending on the needs and interests of their students.

In this module, students will develop their ability to read and understand complex text as they consider the challenges of fictional and real refugees. In the first unit, students will begin Inside Out & Back Again, by Thanhha Lai, analyzing how critical incidents reveal the dynamic nature of the main character, Ha, a 10-year-old Vietnamese girl whose family is deciding whether to flee during the fall of Saigon. The novel, poignantly told in free verse, will challenge students to consider the impact of specific word choice on tone and meaning. Students will build their ability to infer and analyze text, both in discussion and through writing. They then will read informational text to learn more about the history of war in Vietnam, and the specific historical context of Ha’s family’s struggle during the fall of Saigon. In Unit 2, students will build knowledge about refugees’ search for a place to call home. They will read informational texts that convey universal themes of refugees’

Find the rest of the EngageNY ELA resources at https://archive.org/details/engageny-ela-archive .

In this second module, students will continue to develop their ability to closely read text while studying the theme of taking a stand. During the first half of Unit 1, students will read two speeches reflecting examples of real people taking a stand. By reading these speeches they will build background knowledge about the module’s overarching theme, engage in a study of the speaker’s perspective, and analyze the craft of forming an argument. In the second half of Unit 1, students will read Part 1 ofTo Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee and continue to study the theme of taking a stand as it is revealed in the novel. Students will engage in a character study of Atticus by analyzing his actions and words, and what others say about him, to better understand him as a character. This analysis will provide details and evidence for students to use in their end of Unit 2 argument essay. In addition to reading and studying the text, students will view excerpts of the To Kill a Mockingbird film that strongly convey the novel’s themes, and they will analyze how the film remains true to the original text as well as how it veers from the original.

Find the rest of the EngageNY ELA resources at https://archive.org/details/engageny-ela-archive .

In this second module, students read and analyze Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream. As with any of Shakespeare’s play, many rich themes are present; in this module, students will focus primarily on the theme of control. Characters in this play are controlled by emotions, other characters, and even magic. They often attempt to manipulate others in a variety of ways. Students will examine why the characters seek control, how they try to control others, and the results of attempting to control others. In Unit 1, students will build background knowledge as they explore the appeal and authorship of Shakespeare. Students will read much of the play aloud in a Drama Circle, and will frequently reread key passages to deepen their understanding. Students will analyze differences between a film version of the play and Shakespeare’s original script.

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In this module, students will study Japanese-American relations during World War II.

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In this module, students will study the U.S. civil rights movement, focusing particularly on The Little Rock Nine. They will consider the question “How can stories be powerful?” as they learn about segregation, the civil rights movement, The Little Rock Nine, and the role of the various mediums in shaping perceptions of events. As students read A Mighty Long Way by Carlotta Walls LaNier and a photo essay titled Little Rock Girl 1957 by Shelley Tougas, they will consider the different ways in which the story of The Little Rock Nine has been told.

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In this module, students analyze arguments and the evidence used to support arguments to determine whether sufficient evidence has been used and whether the evidence is relevant in support of the claim an author or speaker is making. They then research to gather evidence to make their own spoken and written arguments. Students will read Michael Pollan’s The Omnivore’s Dilemma (930L), a literary non-fiction text about where food comes from and about making decisions about what food to buy and eat. They build background knowledge about what happens to food before it gets to the consumer, and the different choices the consumer can make when buying food while analyzing Michael Pollan’s arguments and the evidence he uses to support his claims. In Unit 2, students engage in a robust research project in which they further investigate the consequences of each of the food chains and the stakeholders affected in those food chains. To help students grapple with this issue, they use a decision-making process called “Stakeholder Consequences Decision-Making” (see the end of this document for details). This process will help students understand the implications of various choices, and will scaffold their ability to determine, based on evidence and their own values, to take a position on which food chain they would choose if they were trying to feed everyone in the US. Students finish the module by writing a position paper explaining which of Michael Pollan’s food chain they would choose to feed the US and why, and creating a poster stating their position. This task addresses NYSP12 ELA Standards RI.8.1,W.8.1, W.8.1a, W.8.1b, W.8.1c, W.8.1d, W.8.1e and W.8.9.

Find the rest of the EngageNY ELA resources at https://archive.org/details/engageny-ela-archive .

This document outlines all Grade 8 ELA outcomes/indicators. The specific outcomes/indicators with Treaty Connections are highlighted and support materials/treaty content are outlined.

Units
Provincial Rubrics
Exemplars
Writing Continuum
Templates
Curricular Resources
Assessment Resources

How can I, as a Grade 8 teacher, support my students’ reading achievement?

The Ministry of Education has developed a brief support document that outlines the link between Pan-Canadian Assessment Program (PCAP) and Saskatchewan English Language Arts curricula and offers some questions teachers could consider as they reflect on reading instruction and student achievement.

This assessment was developed and used for a larger assignment that we had planned for in this unit. I interned in GSSD, and they go by 4 point scale (Beginning, Developing, Meeting and Exceeding), so this is what the rubric my class and I created it to be centered around. I wanted the students input on the way they were being assessed, so they understood what I was looking for and they fully understood how they were being marked. Most of the time students either gloss over their assessment and forget about it or don't even look at it at all. I wanted to change that, and thought this would be a great way to do that. We created this rubric on the smart board before I typed it up, and had students put their input into it and talk about what was fair, too easy or too hard to accomplish. I included the outcomes in the rubric as well because the students are familiar that they will be marked in levels rather than percentages now. I rewrote the outcome into an I Can (Partners Can) statement so it was easier for them to understand. This took almost a whole class to complete but by the end of it the students were more confident with what they needed to do to receive a good grade. We talked about what a good video would look like it and they could hardly wait to get started!
I find this to fit right into 21st century teaching as it opens up the communication and collaboration between myself and the students. I had the opportunity to listen to their needs and wants and incorporate some of them into the rubric. I also found that the students felt responsible for this and wanted to 'live up' to the expectations they created. This assignment allowed students to get creative and collaborate with each other for ideas as well! This was a big success for me because students knew their expectations all the time, they had tons of fun, learnt a lot about the technology and programs behind making a video and truly enjoyed being part of the assessment process. I Hope you enjoy it and maybe even use it someday in the future!

This site teaches Expressions and Equations to 8th graders through a series of 4712 questions and interactive activities aligned to 32 Common Core mathematics skills.

This site teaches Functions to 8th graders through a series of 1920 questions and interactive activities aligned to 17 Common Core mathematics skills.

This site teaches Geometry to 8th graders through a series of 2398 questions and interactive activities aligned to 19 Common Core mathematics skills.

Summary of Plan for Communication and Computer and Digital Technologies:

I wanted the students to have a realistic scenario in which they would have to display and use data to persuade an audience of a particular point of view. I thought of a sales pitch by a travel agent. I created 13 different scenarios for my 13 students. Each scenario detailed the names of each individual travelling, the reason for the trip, the group’s budget, the duration of the trip, and preferred location of travel. Student blindly selected a scenario. The student would assume the role of the travel agent and their sales pitch to the class using a Power Point presentation. They would use the rubric to guide the development of their presentations.

With this document, students reflect on the I Can Statements for the outcomes by providing examples and through self-evaluation.