8th Grade - Gateway 1

My Perspectives: English Language Arts Grade 8 includes anchor texts that are of publishable quality and worthy of reading for a variety of student interests. The publisher includes texts that are relevant for a variety of purposes. Authors of the anchor texts are noted in their various fields as accomplished writers. As illustrated below the selections are content rich and range in topic from the Holocaust to human intelligence and invention. The texts also cover multiple genres. Each anchor text relates directly to the theme of the unit and following works support students as they seek to answer the unit’s essential question. In several units, there are more than one anchor texts allowing students to make comparisons between varying genres.

Some representative texts include, but are not limited to, the following:

• Unit 2 focuses on the Holocaust and includes “The Diary of Anne Frank” Acts 1 and 2 (Drama) by Albert Hackett and Frances Goodrich.
• Unit 3 guides students to study and consider community advocacy and includes, “Barrington Irving, Pilot and Educator” (Magazine Article) by National Geographic, “Three Cheers for Nanny State” (Opinion Piece) by Sarah Conly, and “Soda Ban? What about Personal Choice?” (Opinion Piece) by Katrina Trinko
• Unit 4 includes “Flowers of Algernon” (Short Story) by Daniel Keyes
• Unit 5's focus on invention includes “Uncle Marcos” from The House of Spirits (Short Story) by Isabel Allende and "To Fly from Space Chronicles” (Expository Nonfiction) by Neil deGrasse Tyson.

My Perspectives: English Language Arts Grade 8 meet the expectations for reflecting the distribution of text types and genres required by the standards. Throughout the five units of study, there is a balanced mixture of informational and literary texts required per the standards. The text types span a range of informational and literary texts. The variety of genres and text types include memoirs, blog posts, essays, short stories, novel excerpts, news articles, poems, and drama. For each unit, there are also suggested trade books that can be used to enhance or extend the provided reading selections, adding additional genres to the already diverse selections within the textbook.

Students in Grade 8 are exposed to this text balance across the units, as noted by the representative examples here:

Unit 1:
“Red Roses” (nonfiction narrative)
“The Medicine Bag” (short story)
“Apache Girl’s Rite of Passage” (National Geographic video)

Unit 2:
“The Diary of Anne Frank” (drama)
from The Diary of a Young Girl (diary)
from Maus (graphic novel)

Unit 3:
“Three Cheers for Nanny State” (opinion piece)
“Soda Ban? What about Personal Choice?” (opinion piece)
from Follow the Rabbit-Proof Fence (memoir)

Unit 4:
“Flowers for Algernon” (short story)
“Unsuspecting” (poetry)

Unit 5:
“Uncle Marcos” from The House of the Spirits (short story)
“25 Years Later, Hubble Sees Beyond Troubled Start” (news story)

The core texts used across the school year for My Perspectives: English Language Arts Grade 8 has the appropriate level of complexity according to quantitative analysis and qualitative analysis. Additionally, the relationship between the level of complexity and the relationship to student tasks is appropriate for the grade level.

Texts students engage with over the course of the year range in quantitative measure from 680- 1420 on a Lexile scale; qualitative measures identify texts as appropriate for Grade 8 students. Students also engage with poetry and multimedia texts which have appropriate qualitative features (but cannot be identified with a quantitative measure).

Below are some examples of the text complexity within the Grade 8 materials:

Unit 5 begins with a close read of an excerpt from Isabel Allende’s novel The House of the Spirits, “Uncle Marcos,” an example of magical realism, a fiction genre that began with Latin American writers. With a Lexile level of 1280 and qualitative measures such as unfamiliar and fantastical situations, long, complex sentences with some challenging vocabulary and figurative language, the selection meets the requirements for students to read and comprehend literature at the high end of the 6-8 complexity band.

Other examples include:

• The Diary of Anne Frank, Acts I and II. The quantitative level is 1240 exile; qualitative features are appropriate for Grade 8 students.
• Flowers for Algernon, with a quantitative measure of 910 lexile, includes more complex qualitative features.

Nonfiction pieces such as "You Are the Electric Boogaloo/Just Be Yourself," and "Soda Ban? What About Personal Choice?" also fall within the appropriate range for Grade 8 students.

The materials for My Perspectives: English Language Arts for Grade 8 support students’ increasing literacy skills over the course of the school year. The distribution of texts meets both the quantitative and qualitative measures for text complexity for the eighth grade level. Teacher’s editions divide texts for each unit into color-coded levels of Whole Class Learning (green), Small Group Learning (turquoise), and Independent Learning (purple). Not only do the texts build with the challenges of what students are being asked to do to read complex texts, especially with language and meaning, but also the writing builds throughout each unit and throughout the year.

The series of texts in each unit vary in text complexity but build in complexity throughout the year. The publisher adds a rubric for each reading that assesses the quantitative and qualitative value for each reading. The qualitative demands increase throughout the year and are mostly in the moderate and complex range by unit 5 at the end of the year. Each unit contains selected tasks that can be used to assess students’ grasp of concepts such as a performance tasks that includes both a writing and a speaking/listening component. The materials also contain formative assessments with suggestions for reteaching and selection of test items for tracking student mastery of literacy standards across the year.

Readings vary in text complexity over the entire school year to build students' literacy skills.The materials support a spectrum of qualitative and knowledge demands to provide students opportunity to engage with texts that are rigorous in a variety of ways. The following text example is but one to illustrate how the placement of texts supports students' increasing challenges over the year:

“The Medicine Bag” (short story) p 12C
Lexile: 880L Text Length: 3,427 words
Knowledge Demands - 4
Structure - 2
Language Conventionality and Clarity - 2
Levels of Meaning/Purpose - 4

Unit 4: Human Intelligence
“Flowers from Algernon” p 350C
Lexile: 840L Text Length: 11,847 words
Knowledge Demands - 4
Structure - 3
Language Conventionality and Clarity - 4
Levels of Meaning/Purpose - 4

In this example, the quantitative and qualitative measure of both texts is close, but the length of the second text is considerably longer, providing students an opportunity to practice reading stamina as well as adding a level of difficulty to the task of close reading a complex text.

The Teacher’s Editions for My Perspectives: English Language Arts Grade 8 includes a text complexity analysis and rationale for purpose and placement of anchor texts and series of texts in Grade 8. The publisher includes a “Planning” section before the anchor texts and series of texts that lists the Lesson Resources with a “Text Complexity Rubric.” The Planning section gives a summary and insight for the anchor texts, as well as an explanation for connections between the Essential Question, Performance Tasks, and the reading selections. A rationale is included for the scores given on the rubric. The text complexity rubric includes Lexile level, text length, and qualitative measures such as Knowledge Demands, Structure, Language Conventionality and Clarity, and Levels of Meaning/Purpose.

The Planning section for each unit include the following sections to support teachers as they work with students to build literacy:

• Summary of the text
• Insight into the rationale for the text selection
• Connection to the essential question
• Connection to performance tasks

The materials for My Perspectives: English Language Arts Grade 8 fully meet the requirements for this indicator. The anchor text(s), including support materials, provide opportunities for students to engage in a range and volume of reading to achieve grade level reading.

For each of the units, there are multiple selections lined to a central theme and essential question. In each unit students are given the opportunity to engage in a large volume of reading following a similar format beginning with whole group learning, then small group learning, and finally independent learning ending in a culminating Performance Based Assessment. There is a variety of genres found in each unit and all units are organized by the gradual release of responsibility model to provide students with supports throughout the unit which includes close reading and multiple-reads. Students also have a choices in independent reading materials at the end of the unit.

Text examples used within Grade 8 are as follows:

Unit 2: The Holocaust
Anchor Text: “The Diary of Anne Frank” Acts 1 and 2 (Drama) by Albert Hackett and Frances Goodrich
Range and Volume: Lexile NP, Text Length: NP
Growth toward Grade Level: Qualitative Measures - 3 on Meaning/Purpose

Unit 5: Invention
Anchor Texts: “Uncle Marcos” from The House of Spirits (Short Story) by Isabel Allende p 448
“To Fly from Space Chronicles” (Expository Nonfiction) by Neil deGrasse Tyson
p 464
Range and Volume: “Uncle” - 1420L, 3,624 words: “To Fly” 1220L, 2,094 words
Growth toward Grade Level: Qualitative Measures - 4 on Language and Purpose

The instructional materials reviewed for My Perspectives: English Language Arts Grade 8 meet the expectations that most of the questions, tasks, and assignments are text dependent and require students to engage with the text directly. Students are required to provide evidence from the text to support their responses in almost all questions and the Teacher’s Edition provides formative assessment suggestions that remind students to cite evidence from the text.

The materials provide a consistent format for students to engage with text-dependent questions and/or tasks. Each anchor and small group text asks students to answer analyze craft and structure questions (How do the point of view and the Biblical allusions help the author develop the theme?). Also, each text selection is followed by a section to analyze the text in which students are asked to interpret, draw conclusions, and speculate using text evidence to support their answers (Do you think Charlie should have had the operation? Why, or why not? Use details from the story to support your position).

The final question directs students to the unit’s essential question using text evidence to support their thinking. During small group instruction, students work through a comprehension check which begins with literal text-dependent questions and then moves to more analytical “why” questions and a written summary. After reading in their small groups, students discuss answers to these questions and clarify details from the text (What are three ways the operation changes Charlie’s life?).

Examples of questions and tasks that require text-based evidence (which accompany each text) include, but are not limited to, the following:

After reading Virginia Driving Hawk Sneve’s The Medicine Bag in Unit 1, students are asked questions such as: Do you think Grandpa made the right decision to travel and visit his family? Use details from the story to support your answer. Summarize the story Grandpa tells about his father. Why do you think Grandpa tells Martin this story at this time? What details in the story suggest that the medicine bag is a symbol and is important to Grandpa? How do Martin’s changing feelings about the medicine bag help show what it represents?

After reading from Sarah Conly’s “Three Cheers for the Nanny State” in Unit 3, students are asked: What ideas and beliefs do you think helped form the author’s opinion? Support your answer with details from the text. What opposing viewpoints does the author address in the article? How does this affect the strength of her argument? What facts does the author present to support her claim that people don’t always know how to achieve their goals?

After reading Isabel Allende’s “Uncle Marcos” from The House of Spirits in Unit 5, students work with questions such as: In what way is the barrel organ incident similar to the incident with the homemade plane? Support your answer with details from the text. What do you think is the climax of the story? What events or ideas in the story support your claim that this is the climax?

Also included in the materials are longer text-focused activities that require reflection on the reading. An example: in Unit 3, after reading “Soda Ban? What About Personal Choice?” students are engaged in a longer text-focused activity:

"Choose at least one unfamiliar detail from the text. Briefly research that detail. In what way does the information you learned shed light on an aspect of the passage; choose something that interested you from the text and formulate a research question." This also calls for students to cite textual from research sources.
Evidence Log for Exploration: (used for each selection in Unit 3)
After summarizing a text and quick writing about what they have read, students formulate their point of view in one succinct sentence and then record textual evidence to support their point of view.

The instructional materials reviewed for My Perspectives: English Language Arts Grade 8 meet expectations that the text-dependent questions and tasks build to culminating tasks that integrates skills (writing, speaking or a combination) which provide teachers information about what students know and are able to do.

Each unit has the same format of teacher led, small group, and independent student learning which culminates in a performance-based writing assessment. Not only do the texts build with the challenges of what students are being asked to do to read the complex texts, but also the writing builds throughout each unit and throughout the year.

All units end with a writing task and a speaking and listening performance task focused on the unit essential question and backward mapped from all unit activities. The culminating writing tasks are of different genres of writing such as argument, explanatory and informative essays, and narratives.
Both text-dependent questions and writing tasks build throughout each unit to support students in the culminating writing task. A few examples that are representative of this include:

Unit 1: Rites of Passage. Students complete a performance task: they write a nonfiction narrative after reading “The Medicine Bag” and “Apache Girl’s Rite of Passage.” Students incorporate the elements of the nonfiction narrative writing mode: major and minor characterization, description of a change in the life, ideas or feelings of the subject of the narrative or another character, sequence of events, dialogue, pacing, transitional words/phrases, precise words and vivid details, as well as an effective conclusion that reflects on the experiences described in the narrative. This culminating task primarily involves writing rather than an integration of the former with speaking. Students work through the writing process: prewriting and planning (where they focus the topic, develop the characters, gather evidence, and make connections across the texts they have read); drafting (organize a sequence of events and write a first draft); revising (for purpose and organization, evidence, and elaboration); editing/proofreading (for Standard English conventions and accuracy) and publishing/presenting (the final draft of the nonfiction narrative).

The Unit 5 culminating writing task is an argument answering the question, “What situations might encourage people to invent?” Students begin the unit by answering this same question in a quick write after reading the launch text, viewing the unit introductory video, and participating in class discussion. While analyzing the anchor text, “Uncle Marcos,” students respond to the question, “What has this story taught you about how inventions are created?” The culminating activity for the anchor texts requires students to write an argument making a claim in response to the question, “What requirements must be met in order to say human flight is successful?” Throughout the unit, students keep an evidence log to record textual evidence in preparation of the unit culminating tasks.

The instructional materials reviewed for My Perspectives: English Language Arts Grade 8 meet the expectations for Indicator 1i. For each series the units are divided into Whole-Learning, Small-Group Learning, and Independent Learning. Students are given multiple opportunities to work with partners and groups to learn and model academic vocabulary and syntax. Throughout the series there are sections like “Making Meaning” and “Language Development” that are solely devoted to academic vocabulary and syntax. Throughout the texts in both the teacher’s edition and student’s edition, academic terms are highlighted in each unit. Graphic organizers are used repeatedly throughout the series to give students words that will be useful as they analyze, discuss, and write about the texts.

Examples of how the program meets the expectations of the indicator include, but are not limited to, the following:

Unit 1: Rites of Passage

Based on the poems “Hanging Fire” and “Translating Grandfather’s House p 65,”students choose one of the following group discussion activities: explore aspects of growing up or explore the impact of the writer’s tone. They use a chart to identify examples from the text to support their ideas about each poem and compare notes. They take turns posing questions and connecting ideas.

Unit 4: Human Intelligence

The teacher is given instructions on how to teach media vocabulary, including having students to discuss where (in other texts) they have seen the terms before and whether or not they have used them in speaking and writing p 384. Students work together in groups to find commonalities between the terms. Instructions are also for reinforcing media vocabulary study. The teacher reviews to the words pop, sci-fi, and adapted and has students create a set of sentences to show that they know the word. For example: The director used many props in the scene. Some of those props included a pen, journal, desk, and chair used by the character.

Prior to the Small-Group Learning, the teacher edition provides support for instructing students in being effective members of a small group. Students are provided the 5 steps for working as a team:
1. Take a Position
2. List Your Rules
3. Apply the Rules
4. Name Your Group
5. Create a Communication Plan

Teachers also instruct in Accountable Talk , with specific supports to grow students' speaking and listening skills. Some examples:• Remember to ask clarifying questions.

• Which sounds like….
• Can you please repeat what you said?
• Would you give me an example?
• I think you said ________. Did I understand you correctly?

Remember to explain your thinking.
Which sounds like…
I believe __________ is true because ________.
I feel that ____________ because ___________.

Remember to build on the ideas of others.
Which sounds like….
When_____________ said _____________, it made me think of ____________.

The instructional materials, My Perspectives Grade 8, support students’ listening and speaking about what they are reading and researching with relevant follow-up questions and supports. There are several opportunities within this series for students to discuss topics with classmates and teachers, all supporting Grade 8 students' abilities to ready them for high school speaking and listening work. In all five units of study, there is a section dedicated to “Speaking and Listening.” Some examples of how the materials support this indicator include (but are not limited to):

In Unit 2, students read several texts related to the Holocaust and then work in groups to organize their ideas about what information each text provides. They then conduct independent research to find relevant multimedia to include in a group presentation about the texts. Students organize their ideas, practice with the group, and improve the presentation where necessary.

Audience members are supported with the following guiding questions as they consider each presentation: What information does the group present that tells how people fought back against Nazi rule? What are some of the group’s use to illustrate its points? Which multimedia is most effective at illustrating a certain point? What presentation skills does the group excel at?

In Unit 4, after reading the core text, students complete an Independent Learning activity. Students share their ideas with the class about how independently read text connects to the unit and essential question. They are to jot down ideas they learn from their classmates.

In Unit 5, for the Whole-Class Learning section, students participate in a class discussion on how two characters change and develop over the course of the story. Questions are provided to help students ensure ideas are based on text evidence. Tips on participating in group discussion and a rubric for evaluating discussion participation are included.

Whole-Class Learning: Students share and discuss new information about invention and aviation learned from the text. Questions are provided to help students ensure ideas are based on text evidence. Tips on participating in group discussion and a rubric for evaluating discussion participation are included.

The instructional materials reviewed for My Perspectives Grade 8 meet the expectations of indicator 1k. The materials include a mix of on-demand and process writing and short, focused projects, incorporating digital resources where appropriate.

Each of the five units begins with a launch text modeling the type of writing students will be completing in their performance assessment at the end of the unit. Immediately following the launch text, students write a summary of the launch text and a quick write responding to a prompt focused on the essential question and preparing them for the culminating unit performance task. Additionally, each unit contains a writing activity at the end of the whole-class learning and at least one of the small-group text includes a writing activity. Each unit ends with a culminating writing performance assessment.

In Unit 1, in the Writing to Compare section, after completing group work where they debate the similarities and differences in media for the short story “The Medicine Bag” and the video “Apache Girl’s Rite of Passage,” students write a video review analyzing the ways that the video and the short story describe the sequence of events in Native American rites of passage. Students compose a draft that includes claims and evidence. They also review and revise their writing.

In Unit 2, students write an Explanatory Essay: Write an Explanatory essay that answer the following question: How did increasingly strict laws targeting Jewish people eventually lead to the horrors that we know now has the Holocaust? Prewriting, Drafting, Peer Review, Editing and Proofreading, Publishing and Presenting, Reflecting

In Unit 5 following whole-class learning, students complete a performance task in which they write an argument in which they make a claim that answers the question: “What requirements must be met in order to say human flight is successful?”

Following the small-group learning: After reading “Nikola Tesla: The Greatest Inventor of All?” and The Invention of Everything, students write an argumentative essay in which they take a position on the following statement: “Nikola Tesla deserves more recognition than he has received for his inventive contributions.”

My Perspectives Grade 8 meet the expectations of indicator 1l. The materials provide opportunities for students to address different text types of writing that reflect the distribution required by the standards. Within each unit, all writing tasks are directly related to the text and/or essential questions for the units. Students engage in writing narrative, informational, and argumentative pieces across all units as demonstrated in the evidence below.

Unit 1

• Nonfiction Narrative: Performance Task-Writing Focus - Write a nonfiction narrative on this question: What events change people’s experiences as they grow?

Unit 2

• Informative: Performance Based Assessment- Students write an Explanatory essay in response to “How can literature help us remember and honor the victims of the Holocaust?”

• Informative: Students are asked to write an Explanatory Essay responding to the prompt, “How did the characters cope with the obstacles they faced?” Students are asked to analyze the causes of the hardships the different groups faced and the effects of those hardships.

Unit 3

• Personal Narrative: Students write about something in their own life (or the life of a close friend or family member) that shows determination or passion, or that requires hard work in order to pursue a dream.

Unit 5

• Informational: Students are asked to present an explanatory essay in the form of a multimedia informative report answering the question “How do people face challenges in order to overcome adversity. They must plan with the group and organize their ideas, then rehearse with their group before presenting their information to the class.

My Perspectives Grade 8 meet the expectations for indicator 1m because they include frequent opportunities for evidence-based writing to support careful analyses, well-defended claims, and clear information. Frequent opportunities exist across the school year for students to acquire and practice skills that they can use in various assignments and performance-based assessments. Students also write multiple argumentative compositions in which they must clarify and defend claims using evidence from texts and/or sources.

In Unit 3, students write a summary of “Freedom of the Press?” Their launch Activity is to Draft a Thesis Statement. Next, in the QuickWrite section, students consider class discussions, presentations, the video and the Launch Text as they think about the prompt "how do people determine what matters to them and make their own choices in life?"

Evidence Log For What Matters - Students review their Quick Write and summarize their point of view in one sentence in their Evidence Log. Then students record evidence from “Freedom of the Press?” that supports that point of view.

Writing to Compare - Assignment: Based on the notes you wrote with your group, write an argument essay.

Whole-Class Performance Task, pp. 296–301 Students write an argument in the form of a problem-solution essay on the question: “How can a city, school, or other local organization help people learn to avoid unhealthy eating and drinking habits? They are given reminders on the elements of a problem-solution argument:

• A clearly stated claim about the problem and proposed solution
• Reasons, evidence, and examples that support your claim, are relevant and logical, and are organized logically
• Counterclaims that address reasons why people might oppose your argument
• Language and sentence structures that clarify how claims, counterclaims and supporting details are related
  

In Unit 5, students write an essay comparing the text excerpt from The Grapes of Wrath with the video “Surviving the Dust Bowl” comparing the fictional account with the historical account.

Performance Task: Write an Argument (SE p 478)

The textbook provides supports for the students throughout the writing process. It lists the elements of an argument and gives bullet points of the different elements an argument contains. It also provides a model argument for students to review. Students may use their student books or the online student book to work through the unit.

My Perspectives Grade 8 meets the expectations for indicator 1n. Materials include explicit instruction of the grammar and conventions standards for grade level as applied in increasingly sophisticated contexts, with opportunities for application both in and out of context. Included in each unit are frequent opportunities for students to demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English grammar and usage through writing or speaking. Some grammar, mechanics and conventions are taught explicitly while others are integrated with the reading and writing instruction. Each unit has a Planning section for the teacher. Under the heading “Lesson Resources,” the activities for a text are laid out clearly for the teacher. It is divided into 3 sections: Making Meaning, Language Development, and Effective Expression.

Examples of how the program meets the expectation of indicator 1n, include (but are not limited to) the following:

In Unit 1, The teacher provides direct instruction on verb moods, interrogative, imperative, and indicative. A chart is provided in the SE with sample sentences. Students work individually to find an example of each verb mood in a sentence in the text. They then correct two sentences with improper shifts in mood.

In Unit 3, the teacher reviews with students various noun forms, including proper, possessive, personal pronouns and possessive pronouns. Students identify them in sentences, reread paragraph 10 of the text and mark and label at least one example of each, and revise a paragraph in their notebook ensuring correct capitalization and spelling.

In Unit 4, direct and indirect objects are explained and a chart provides labeled examples of direct and indirect objects. Students complete an exercise where they are asked to identify the subject, verb, direct, object, and indirect object. They reread paragraph 201 of “Flowers for Algernon,” identifying at least one subject, verb, direct object, and indirect object. They rewrite sentences to include a different direct object from the one given.