8th Grade - Gateway 2

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 8 meet the criteria that texts are organized around a topics and/or themes (or, for grades 6-8, topics and/or themes) to build students’ ability to read and comprehend complex texts independently and proficiently. 

Every unit revolves around a specific topic or theme and uses many texts to support the guiding ideas. Throughout all units, students read a variety of genres and texts that relate to the unit goals and overall topic of the unit. Additionally, students display their knowledge in the completion of end of unit tasks that always include writing and/or a multimedia project.

• In Unit 8A, “Perspectives and Narrative,” students are working on reading like writers using passages from Roald Dahl’s Going Solo, Amy Tan’s “Fish Cheeks,” and Kaitlyn Greenidge’s “My Mother’s Garden” to focus on not just what the writers are saying, but also how they are saying it. Then the unit overview explains that:  “Students respond to writing prompts that alternate between analytic and narrative writing. By the end of the sub-unit, students will write a small personal narrative about a moment in their childhood.”
• In Unit 8B, “Liberty & Equality,” Topic & Theme: The meaning of "all men are created equal." Students read about the beginnings of our country and the documents that guided our nation only applied to some. The lessons allow students to dive into these important texts, with a clear focus on how each writer reflects on this question, and give them many opportunities to reflect on, discuss, write about, and debate ideas of equality, opportunity, justice, and freedom. 
• In Unit 8C, “Science and Science Fiction,” students will focus on two women: Mary Shelley and Ada Lovelace and how they both looked at the way technology could shape our world. Specifically, the unit goal states that after reading the graphic novel adaptation of Frankenstein by Gris Grimley, students will “write to determine whether or not Victor's creature should ultimately be considered human.” In addition, students will “read two poems, a speech, and excerpts from Chapter 1 of Walter Isaacson’s The Innovators to compare and contrast the ways in which William Wordsworth, Lord Byron, and Ada Lovelace viewed humanity’s relationship with technology.” All of this exploration will help students with the culminating task of the argumentative essay the humanity of Frankenstein’s monster.
• In Unit 8D, “Shakespeare's Romeo & Juliet,” Topic & Theme: Introduction to Shakespearean themes and language, students read five short excerpts from Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet. Students are introduced to the plot of the play as they explore and closely read several of its most famous scenes. 
• In Unit 8E, “Holocaust: Memory and Meaning,” students read a variety of texts to come to a critical understanding of the Holocaust and the responsibility of society to such a tragedy. Students will read from Holocaust: Memory & Meaning Anthology as well as excerpts from Shores Beyond Shores by Irene Butter to achieve the culminating task. This final task asks students to answer the following prompt: The Holocaust did not happen overnight. As the Nazis laid the groundwork for what would eventually become known as the Holocaust, they used a number of strategies to isolate, oppress, and control the Jewish population of Europe, and to convince others to go along with their plan. Choose two of the strategies that stood out to you as you explored this unit. Using examples from the texts and images you analyzed, describe each strategy and the impact it had.”
• In Unit 8F, “The Space Race Collection,” Topic & Theme: The successes and sacrifices associated with space exploration, students read about the dramatic story of the Space Race offering students a rich research topic to explore. Students examine primary source documents and conduct independent research to develop a deep understanding of this unique international competition.

The materials reviewed for Grade 8 meet the criteria that materials contain sets of coherently sequenced questions and tasks that require students to analyze the language, key ideas, details, craft, and structure of individual texts.

The Grade 8 units provide students with frequent opportunities to practice identifying and studying specific elements of texts, from analyzing words to looking at the structures of paragraphs and the larger text itself. Each unit focuses on how the writer has crafted his/her narrative and students are examining the text for examples. Each lesson includes a list of vocabulary words to use. Questions and tasks help students build comprehension and knowledge of topics and themes, and they build on each other in a coherent sequence so that by the end of the year, items are embedded in students’ work rather than taught directly.  There is an ample amount of written work throughout lessons that allows teachers to gage students’ understanding of each concept. Questions and tasks help students build comprehension and knowledge of topics and themes. 

Throughout the materials, students independently and as a whole group complete questions and tasks that require analysis of individual texts. Students complete multiple reads of text with scaffolds such as read aloud, partner reading, and independent reading. The instructions have students answer questions and/or complete tasks that move from a literal understanding of the text to deep analysis within the texts or multiple texts. This scaffolded progression can be seen across the units, the sections, the lessons, and the assessments.

Examples of materials that contain sets of coherently sequenced questions include, but are not limited to:

• In Unit 8A, “Perspectives and Narrative,” Sub-unit 3, Lesson 5, the following sequenced questions and tasks address language and/or word choice:
• Students identify moments in the story where Tan “zooms in” and slows down to give precise descriptions.
• Students reread paragraph 3, highlight sensory words and phrases, and analyze how Tan's word choices impact the reader and convey the narrator’s tone.
• Students respond to a poll and discuss their favorite piece of Tan’s sensory language. 
• In Unit 8B, “Liberty and Equality,” Sub-unit 4, Lesson 2, Activity 2, students independently read an excerpt from The Boys’ War. The instructions for this lesson ask the teacher to “Draw students’ attention to the first line of paragraph 3, ‘The biggest fear, however, was of being killed, and not having their bodies identified properly.’ Are those the words of a boy who was fighting or the author of the book?" Then it asks the teacher to, “Draw students’ attention to paragraph 4, ‘The horrors of a battlefield were brought vividly before me...the most woebegone twelve-year-old in America.’ Whose words are these? What does this boy seem to be feeling based on this textual evidence?"
• In Unit 8C, “Science & Science Fiction,” Sub-unit 1, Lesson 1, students read Volume I, Chapter 1, discuss how the text and images evoke each character, and use a family tree to keep track of how the characters are connected. "Card 1: Students look through the opening of the book and learn more about how the story is structured. Card 2: Students read pages 14–17 and work to identify specific characters and their relationships. Card 3: Students complete a partial Frankenstein family tree to solidify their understanding of key characters and their relationships."
• In Unit 8D, “Shakespeare’s Romeo & Juliet,” Sub-unit 1, Lesson 2, students analyze and interpret Shakespeare’s figurative language after completing a “Fill-in-the-Bard” activity where students identify synonyms for words in the first three lines of “The Prologue." Students are then asked to refer back to the text and “Choose one of the highlighted pairs of lines. Translate those lines precisely into your own words, then use details and words from the passage to explain what the lines mean and what they suggest will happen in the play.”  Students must write a minimum of 100 words for this formative assessment.
• In Unit 8E, “Holocaust: Memory and Meaning,” Sub-unit 1, Lesson 1, students analyze images from 1930 and 1943, explore Holocaust Timeline, Read and analyze “I Cannot Forget” by Alexander Kimmel. In Sub-unit 2,  Lesson 1, students read from memoir Shores Beyond Shores by Irene Hasenberg Butter and analyze a Nazi propoganda poster.  In Sub-unit 3, Lesson 1, Activity 3, questions include:
• Why does the author include so many numbers? What impression of the ceremonies do these numbers communicate?
• "Caesar" was a title given to ancient Roman emperors. Why does the author call Hitler "the new Caesar of this era" (3)?
• Based on your reading, what point of view (impressions, feelings, or ideas) do you think the author is trying to communicate about the opening ceremonies?
• In Unit 8F, “The Space Race Collection,” Sub-unit 5, students write a research essay on the following prompt, "Write an informative essay about Katherine Johnson and the other key women who worked at NASA during the Space Race era. Who were the other key women who worked with Katherine Johnson and what roles did they play? What barriers did they face? How was the Space Race impacted by their work?” For this assessment, students are asked to gather evidence, make a claim and write body paragraph, write a conclusion as well as create citations and a work cited list.

The materials reviewed for Grade 8 meet the criteria that materials contain a coherently sequenced set of high-quality text-dependent questions and tasks that require students to analyze the integration of knowledge and ideas within individual texts as well as across multiple texts.

High-quality text-dependent questions and tasks are embedded throughout the sub-units to provide opportunities for students to understand and analyze the texts in order to respond to tasks requiring students to develop, evaluate, and support their claims. The text-dependent questions and tasks are coherently sequenced and structured within each unit and across units to support students’ literacy skills. By the end of the year, the summative essays and tasks integrate knowledge and ideas from throughout the unit.

Examples of this include, but are not limited to:

• In Unit 8A, “Perspectives and Nature,” Sub-unit 3, Lesson 4, students read two passages and then compare the two styles of writing. First, students read an excerpt from The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon by Stephen King. After reading, they answer the prompt, "Copy a moment from the first passage where it feels like time is slowing down. Describe what the author does to slow down the passage of time." Then, students read a second passage from Life of Pi by Yann Martel and complete the same task. Next, they “compare and contrast how the authors use words, sentence structures, or punctuation to slow down the moment.”
• In Unit 8B, “Liberty and Equality,” students read a collection of works by Americans engaged in the debate over equality and liberty during the Civil War time period. A major text in the unit is Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass. The text is accompanied by text-dependent questions and tasks that require analysis. One example of a student task is “Frederick Douglass describes the attack on Aunt Hester as 'the blood-stained gate, the entrance to the hell of slavery' (9). How does his telling of the event support this description? Examine Douglass’s description to find details to use in your explanation.” Other examples are “What is one thing that Douglass wants his readers to understand about 'justice' within a slaveholding society?” and “Compare Douglass's statement, 'There were horses and men, cattle and women, pigs and children, all holding the same rank in the scale of being' (2) with the words of the Declaration of Independence. How does the scene that Douglass describes compare with the idea that 'all men are created equal?'” Questions about the readings throughout the unit build students’ analysis of the idea of what equality meant in that time period.
• In Unit 8C, “Science and Science Fiction,” Sub-unit 1, Lesson 3, students read Volume 1, Chapter 4 of Gris Grimsley’s Frankenstein. While reading this particular section, students highlight all the words Victor uses to talk about his creation instead of using a name and then answer the question, "look at the words that you highlighted. How do you think Victor feels about his creation?"
• In Unit 8D “Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet,” students study five key excerpts from the play. Questions and tasks guide students to put the play into their own words, to notice metaphors, and to trace them through different scenes. An example of one such task is, “Choose one of the highlighted pairs of lines. Translate those lines precisely into your own words, then use details and words from the passage to explain what the lines mean and what they suggest will happen in the play.” Other examples are “How does Romeo and Juliet’s language show that they make a good couple? Develop your reasons with evidence from the text” and “If Romeo gave up his name, would all of his and Juliet’s problems be solved?”
• In Unit 8E, “Holocaust: Memory and Meaning,” Sub-unit 4, Lesson 4, students read an excerpt of the memoir Night by Elie Wiesel after they previously read a selection from the graphic novel Maus by Art Speigelman. After reading the excerpt, students answer the question, "In Maus, you saw how Vladek Spiegelman was affected by the events of the Holocaust. How do you think they affected Elie as an adult?"
• In Unit 8F, “Scavenger Hunt and Internet Research,” Sub-unit 2, Lesson 3, students respond to the question citing text evidence, “Write one or two paragraphs. State your research question as a claim at the beginning of the first paragraph. Include evidence from your sources.”
• In Sub-unit 3, Lesson 2, students respond to the question citing text evidence, “In character, write at least three blog entries describing your experiences and feelings during your mission. Use the information on your Space Card and your Research Chart to help craft your writing.”
• In Sub-unit 4, Lesson 3, students respond to the question citing text evidence, “Write one or two paragraphs. State your research question as a claim at the beginning of the first paragraph. Include relevant evidence that you selected and analyzed from your sources that conveys an answer to your research question.”

The materials reviewed for Grade 8 meet the criteria that the questions and tasks support students’ ability to complete culminating tasks in which they demonstrate their knowledge of a topic (or, for grades 6-8, a theme) through integrated skills (e.g. combination of reading, writing, speaking, listening).

The materials include culminating tasks that are multifaceted, requiring students to demonstrate mastery of different grade level standards, including writing and presentation of knowledge and ideas. Each unit has questions and activities that increase in rigor and depth and support students in developing an ability to complete a culminating task. Culminating tasks vary for each text and include activities comprised of multiple types of reading, writing, speaking, and listening skills.

Examples of high quality questions and assignments that lead to multifaceted culminating tasks include, but are not limited to:

• In Unit 8B, “Liberty and Equality,” the culminating task is for students to write an essay to “explain how Lincoln or Douglass tries to change what his readers/listeners believe about what it means to be dedicated to the American idea that ‘All men are created equal.’” Earlier in the unit, in Sub-unit 2, Lesson 8, Activity 4, students read a passage from the Declaration of Independence and consider how Frederick Douglass would respond to the ideals expressed in it. The three questions asked of students regarding this passage are:
• 1. What does this passage from the Declaration of Independence say about human beings?
• 2. What do you think is the most important phrase in the passage?
• 3. Would Frederick Douglass say that the society of his day had these values? Why or why not?

These questions directly connect with the culminating task topic at the end of the unit. 

• In Unit 8C, “Science and Science Fiction,” the culminating task is an essay exploring whether or not Frankenstein possesses humanity. Sub-unit 1 supports students as they read a graphic novel version of Frankenstein and answer text-dependent questions to aid their comprehension. These lessons consist of a combination of independent, partner, and whole-class work and involve reading, writing, speaking, listening, and viewing. One example is Lesson 7 in which students close read two chapters of the graphic novel and discuss how the creature evolves. Sub-unit 2 supports students in the writing of their essays with lessons on drafting claims, including evidence, transitioning between ideas, revising, and editing.
• In Unit 8D, “Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet,” the culminating task requires students to write an essay on the question, “Did the power of love contribute more to Romeo’s death or were the forces of hatred more of an influence on Romeo’s death, or both?”. Earlier in the unit, Sub-unit 1, Lesson 12, Activity 5, students had to read Romeo’s lines from Act 3, Scene 1. After reading they compare Romeo’s first lines before the fight to the lines they have just translated considering the dramatic shift in tone and what it reveals about Romeo. 
• In Unit 8E, “Holocaust: Memory and Meaning”, the culminating task is an informative essay about the strategies used by the Nazis to isolate, oppress, and control the Jewish population of Europe, and to convince others to go along with their plan. In the first four sub-units of this unit, students read collections of texts of various genres and from multiple points of view. An example is Sub-unit 2, Lesson 2 in which students read two excerpts, one written by a Holocaust survivor and one written by a Aryan boy who was caught up in the Nazi movement. Students compare and contrast the two depictions of the Hitler Youth. The writing of the essay is supported in Sub-Unit 6 which consists of five lessons in which students are taught to develop a claim, integrate evidence, write body paragraphs, revise, and edit.
• In Unit 8F, “The Space Race Collection,” the culminating task is an argumentative or informative essay and the construction of an interactive timeline on what they have researched on this topic. Earlier in the unit, Sub-unit 4, Lesson 3, students are asked to think back to "the questions you first had about the Space Race. Did the texts answer all of them? What else do you want to know? Use the 5 Ws (Who, What, When, Where, Why) to help you think of a question you’d like to research. You may also look at some of your favorite Space Race texts, images, or seminar notes to find a topic that excites you the most, and brainstorm a list of questions you still have about it." This activity prepares students for the culminating task they complete at the end of the unit.

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 8 meet the criteria that materials include a cohesive, year-long plan for students to interact with and build key academic vocabulary words in and across texts. 

The materials provide a year-long approach to building students' academic vocabulary, providing them opportunities to master many new words and apply new vocabulary across multiple contexts. The lesson plans include daily support for this goal at the start of each sub unit. Time is allotted at the beginning of each lesson for vocabulary development delivered through the Amplify Vocab App. “Words to Use” are also listed in the daily lesson guide. Teachers are encouraged to use these words throughout instruction along with the activities that utilize that vocabulary. Students complete assessment activities which show their mastery of using the word in context. The app also provides games for students to study morphology, figurative language, dictionary skills, words in context, and synonyms/antonyms.

Examples of how students are supported to accelerate vocabulary learning with vocabulary in their reading, speaking, and writing tasks include, but are not limited to:

• In Unit 8A, “Perspectives and Narrative,” Sub-unit 3, Lesson 3, the lesson brief for teachers provides vocabulary information for teachers. There are two sections for teachers to look at. One is the words to use which gives a list of the core vocabulary words that will be used in the sub-unit. The second section is titled “Differentiation” which gives instruction to teachers about the vocabulary in the sub-unit explaining that for Activity 2 teachers should, “Ensure ELL students understand the meaning of “tense” before responding to the poll. For Activity 3,  “Before completing the activities on Card 2, determine if your ELL students understand that the scene takes place in Dahl’s plane. If not, have students identify words in the passage they think reference the plane’s equipment and capabilities." For Activity 3, “review the vocabulary as needed with students individually or in small groups before completing the activity….” Then, for Activity 4, “To assist students in locating vivid verbs in the paragraph, you may want to point out that the verbs are mainly in past tense form or end in “-ing” (past progressive)."
• In Unit 8B, “Liberty & Equality, Lesson 2, students are introduced to using context clues. They first are introduced to defining words from context, “Information about a word’s meaning contained in the sentence or sentences surrounding the word.” Students then learn why they need to use context clues, “Learning to identify context clues to guesstimate a definition can improve your reading AND your vocabulary!” Students are then tasked with steps of Defining words from context: “Step 1. Identify the part of speech; Step 2. Identify the context clues; Step 3. Make an inference; Step 4. Determine a likely definition; Step 5. Check your likely definition.” Students practice using each step with an example paragraph that guides them through each step. 
• In Unit 8C, “Science and Science Fiction,” Sub-unit 1, Lesson 12, students learn the core words: affected, exuberant, malleable, speculation. One way students can work on the core words is in the Vocab App. For example, for the word “exuberant," students can do an activity called “Hashtag." For this activity, the directions explain, “read the status update (which contains the word exuberant) of this oversharer and pick which hashtag best fits this status.”
• In Unit 8D, “Shakespeare's Romeo & Juliet,” Vocabulary Module: Figurative Language, students are tasked with learning figurative language versus literal language. Students are introduced to metaphors, similes, and personification. To practice the figurative language students are asked, “Does the example below use literal language or figurative language?” They are also asked to determine what type of figurative language it is - metaphor, simile or personification. “ Students are then given a new word task, “Come up with your own figurative language (metaphor, simile, or personification) that communicates what it feels like to be envious (jealous). Write a paragraph that incorporates at least one type of figurative language.”
• In Unit 8E, “Holocaust: Memory and Meaning,” teachers are given a specific vocabulary strategy to focus on. In the “Materials” section, which can be found on the Unit Overview, teachers can see a vocabulary guide for a particular area of focus. For this particular unit, the focus is on “Connotations and Denotations”. For example on page 6 of the guide, “words with very similar denotations can have very distinct connotations." Then a few examples are listed.

The materials reviewed for Grade 8 meet the criteria that materials include a cohesive, year-long plan to support students’ increasing writing skills over the course of the school year, building students’ writing ability to demonstrate proficiency at grade level at the end of the school year.

Writing is used across lesson plans and assessments as an opportunity for learning and as a way for students to express their understanding. Lesson plans are carefully put together and scaffolded so students read and analyze a text in careful, specific detail before having to write thoughtfully about them. Within lessons, students complete smaller writing tasks such as taking notes, responding to short-answer questions, and writing quick reflection responses before they complete a more demanding writing task which is present in every unit. As the year progresses, students produce a number of essays that include a variety of styles and text types, gradually increasing in rigor and complexity. In addition, the final essay requires students to incorporate multimedia components or research. Materials include writing instruction aligned to the standards for the grade level, and writing instruction spans the whole school year.

Instructional materials include well-designed lesson plans, models, and protocols for teachers to implement and monitor students’ writing development. Examples include, but are not limited to:

• In Unit 8B, “Liberty and Equality," Sub-unit 6, students write a brief essay and explain how Lincoln or Douglass tries to change what his readers/listeners believe about what it means to be dedicated to the American idea that "All men are created equal." Over the course of five lessons, students decide a claim and gather evidence. Then students decide on the strongest evidence before generating two body paragraphs. Next, students draft an introduction and conclusion before revising and sharing their work.
• In Unit 8D, “Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet," Sub-unit 1, Lesson 5, students are engrossed in Act 1, Scene 5. Then, in Activity 5 students “develop a claim about key ways Shakespeare uses language in this sonnet to show Romeo and Juliet’s attraction.” The instructions further explain that students need to write for at least 10 minutes producing at least 100 words. Next, the instructions ask teachers to “push [students] to move beyond writing about what the characters are saying to also consider how the words sound and why those sounds might matter.”
• In Unit 8E, “Holocaust: Memory & Meaning,” Sub-unit 2, Lesson 2, students are prompted to respond, "Compare and contrast how Irene Butter and Alfons Heck present the Hitler Youth. What do you understand about the Hitler Youth as a result of reading both interpretations?" Then, in Sub-unit 5, Lesson 1 in the solo reading students are asked to "Create a “witness” poem that will help you share the ideas you chose with others." This builds upon the ideas they explored earlier in the unit.
• In Unit 8F, “The Space Race Collection”, Sub-unit 5, students write an informative essay about Katherine Johnson and the other key women who worked at NASA during the Space Race era. Over the course of eight lessons, students make a claim and gather evidence, write body paragraphs and an introduction, revise and write a conclusion, edit and revise their work, create citations and a works cited list, put together an interactive timeline and present their work to their peers. 

The materials reviewed for Grade 8 meet the criteria that materials include a progression of focused research projects to encourage students to develop knowledge in a given area by confronting and analyzing different aspects of a topic using multiple texts and source materials.

Research projects start on a smaller scale in the beginning of the year and then gradually progress to a comprehensive research project at the end. 

Examples of the type of opportunities students have to engage in both short and long projects using language skills to synthesize and analyze their grade level reading include, but are not limited to: 

• In Unit 8B, “Liberty and Equality,” Sub-unit 4, Lesson 1, students examine a variety of sources to build historical context of the Civil War before they begin reading The Boys’ War by Jim Murphy. Students study two different maps, then they read an excerpt from Chapter 1 of The Boys’ War. Then students discuss causes of the Civil War and the importance of the war. 
• In Unit 8E, “Holocaust: Memory and Meaning,” includes one of the two major research units in the Grade 8 materials. Students read materials in different genres that present events from several different perspectives, including those of perpetrators, survivors, victims, bystanders, and witnesses. The unit contains both shorter and longer projects that provide students with an opportunity to build their research skills. For example, in Sub-unit 2, lesson 2, after reading from a memoir by a Holocaust survivor and another by a former member of Hitler Youth, students compare the two writers’ accounts and descriptions of the propoganda.
• In Unit 8E, another example of a shorter project is the writing prompt from Sub-unit 4, Lesson 3. As they read Maus I: My Father Bleeds History by Art Spiegelman, they write to this prompt: “In Maus, Art Spiegelman tells his father’s story as a survivor of the Holocaust. How did he portray his father: mainly as a victim, mainly as a resister, or something else?” The culminating task for the unit is an informative essay which requires them to synthesize their learning and analyze across texts. Students write an informative essay about the strategies the Nazis used to isolate, oppress, and control the Jewish population of Europe, and to convince others to go along with their plan. They choose two strategies from the texts, then describe each strategy and the impact it had.
• In Unit 8F, “The Space Race Collection,” the culminating assignment is an essay and project. The overview explains that in the unit, “students learn how to tell the difference between primary, secondary, and tertiary sources; determine if a source is reliable; and understand ethical uses of information. Then, students construct their own research questions and explore the internet for answers." After that point, each student is assigned a cosmonaut or astronaut from the Space Race era. They research their cosmonaut or astronaut and write entries into their space blog from their person’s point of view. The next sub-unit is a Socratic seminar in which students rely on their research to examine the complicated issues inherent in the history of the Space Race. As students reach the end of the unit, they synthesize all of the skills they’ve developed to tackle a "culminating research assignment—part essay, part media project." Then students write either an argumentative or informative essay and then create an interactive timeline of events in the space race. 

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 8 meet the criteria that materials provide a design, including accountability, for how students will regularly engage in a volume of independent reading either in or outside of class.

Lessons include some independent reading followed by text-specific questions and tasks that reflect student accountability. Procedures are organized for independent reading included in the lessons for each unit under the headings of “Extra” or “Solo”. There is sufficient teacher guidance to foster independence for readers at all levels. Students have access to additional texts within the Amplify Library. This library allows teachers to track students’ progress and monitor their choices for reading. Also, each time students read a text independently, there is a tracker for them to monitor their own progress. Assessments are available for the independent reading selections and teachers can assess students formatively during flex days. Student reading materials span a wide volume of texts at grade level (and at various lexile levels within the grade). 

Examples of readings inside and outside of class include, but are not limited to:

• In Unit 8A, “Perspectives and Nature,” Sub-unit 2, Lesson 2 in the Grade 8 Solo Workbook on page 9, students are given the option of independent reading. Specifically, the directions for this activity state, “Go to the Amplify Library and choose a book to read. As you read, highlight and annotate a passage that includes 5–7 sentences focused on the same moment or idea. Write your highlighted sentences below."
• In Unit 8B, “Liberty & Equality,” students read excerpts of four books, Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave by Frederick Douglass, Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl by Harriet Ann Jacobs (900L), The Boys’ War by Jim Murphy (1060L), and A Confederate Girl’s Diary by Sarah Morgan Dawson (1030L). Other texts include The Gettysburg Address (1060L); speeches by John C. Calhoun, Francis Watkins Harper, and Sojourner Truth; and the poem “Song of Myself” by Walt Whitman. Each day, students read and answer questions. Their written work serves as a tracking system. Interspersed are four days in which students read materials of their own choosing and fill out a tracking form.
• In Unit 8C, “Science and Science Fiction”, Sub-unit 3, Lesson 5 in the Grade 8 Solo Workbook on page 123, students can be given the option of reading the passage from “Core of an Idea” in Steve Jobs: Technology Innovator and Apple Genius by Matt Doeden. After reading the passage, the directions explain that students should “Note TWO words or phrases that caught your attention and explain what you noticed and think about this place in the text. Then, they are asked five multiple choice questions and one short answer questions about this passage." 
• In Unit 8D, “Romeo and Juliet,” students closely read five key scenes from Shakespeare’s play, with a focus on interpreting Shakespeare’s language. Each day, students read and answer questions. Their written work serves as a tracking system. Interspersed are four days in which students read materials of their own choosing and fill out a tracking form.
• In Unit 8E, “Holocaust: Memory and Meaning,” Sub-unit 4, Lesson 2 in the Grade 8 Solo Workbook, students are given the option of reading Maus I: My Father Bleeds History, Chapter 4: “The Noose Tightens”by Art Spiegelman. After reading this excerpt, students are asked six different questions. One question asks students to put events from the text in the proper order, and the other are close reading questions that require students to look carefully at the passage.