OCTOBER 13, 2014

8TH GRADE ELA

When Do

UNIT 4

Approaching
Adulthood

Marigolds

Kids Become
Adults?

NEWSLETTER

Introduction
In this collection, you will explore the passage from
childhood to adulthood.

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OCTOBER 13, 2014

8TH GRADE ELA

Reading
Though Marigolds takes place in the 1930s, the
thoughts and emotions of the characters will strike
a chord with todays youth. The narrators
acknowledgement of these emotions is one of the
important contributions of Marigolds.

Marigolds

Key Learning Objective: The student will be able

to identify the motivations of characters in a story
and determine the factors that help him or her
understand the theme of the story.

Students regularly encounter arguments that

present a variety of viewpoints on a single topic.
This lesson outlines tracing and evaluating an
argument of particular interest to young people:
When are they considered adults:
Key Learning Objective: The student will be able
to trace and evaluate arguments and evaluate
supporting evidence to determine whether the
evidence is relevant or irrelevant.

Articles about similar or related topics allow

students to compare and contrast information and
ideas. These texts explore a topic of great interest
to young people driving while providing an
opportunity to analyze and interpret the facts they
encounter in their reading.

Is 16 Too Young to Drive a

Car?
Fatal Car Crashes Drop for
16-Year-Olds, Rise for Older
Teens

Key Learning Objective: The student will be able

to determine central ideas and details while
analyzing relationships between ideas.
The text on this page was copied from Collections by the Houghton Mifflin
Harcourt Publishing Company.

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OCTOBER 13, 2014

8TH GRADE ELA

Performance Task
Write a Informational Research Paper
An informative or expository essay is meant to communicate factual
information about a topic. An informative essay is classified as nonfiction.
Newspapers and magazines are two places that often feature nonfiction work.
With todays technology, you have access to nonfiction writing at the click of a
mouse, to read information on the Internet.
The nonfiction topics that you will read about in this unit describe real events
that occur in nature. These events help shape the way the earth looks.
IN THIS UNIT, you will analyze information from nonfiction articles, blogs, a
news report, and an insurance claim. You will study a variety of text structures
that are frequently used in the writing of informative texts. You will use these
text structures to plan and write your essays.

The 3 Step Process

1.

Analyze The Model

Analyze two informative essays about the impact of humans on the planet.
2. Practice The Task
Write an informative essay about the effects of earthquakes (50 Points)
3. Perform The Task
Write an informative essay on the effects of volcanoes. (100 Points)

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OCTOBER 13, 2014

8TH GRADE ELA

Grammar
Lesson 31 - The Period - Abbreviations
Lesson 32 - Proofreading Symbols, Part 1
Lesson 33 - Coordinating Conjunctions
Lesson 34 - Compound Subjects and Predicates
Lesson 35 - Correlative Conjunctions
Lesson 31-35 Summative
Lesson 41 - The Comma, Part 1: Dates, Addresses, Series
Lesson 42 - Appositives
Lesson 43 - The Comma, Part 2: Direct Address, Appositives, Academic
Degrees
Lesson 45 - Verbals as Adjectives: Infinitives and Participles
Lesson 41-45 Summative

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OCTOBER 13, 2014

8TH GRADE ELA

Unit 4 Vocabulary
claim: (n) what the writer is trying
to prove.
confederation: (n) a group of
people in a league or alliance.
constellation: (n) a group of stars.
counterargument: noun, when
an author presents the opposing
argument and argues against it.
relevant: adjective, related to a
topic
irrelevant: adjective, unrelated to a topic
suffix: noun, in grammar, a group of letters added to the end of a word.
notion: (n) A notion is a belief or opinion.
novice: (n) A novice is a beginner.
bane: (n) A bane is a cause of death, destruction, or ruin.
paradox: (n) A paradox is a true statement that seems like it would not be
true.
impetuous: (adj) If someone is impetuous, he or she acts without thinking
things through.
anecdote: (n) An anecdote is a short account of an incident.

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