You Are the

Electric
Boogaloo
•
Just Be
Reading &
Literature
3
STANDARDS
Reading Informational Text
✗ 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.
✗ Determine the meaning of
words and phrases as they
are used in a text, including
figurative, connotative, and
technical meanings;
analyze the impact of
specific word choices on
meaning and tone,
including analogies or
allusions to other texts.
6
P.
Comprehension
49 Check
Complete the following items after you finish your first
read. Review and clarify details with your group.
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The author focuses on the activity of break dancing. They were
breakdancers.

He screams, "Dancing is not a crime!"

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10
The author was trying to find her talents and skills.

The author believes that in trying so hard to figure out who she
is, her teenage self is actually losing herself.

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P.
50 Analyze the Text
 1. Review and Clarify With your group, reread paragraph 13 of “You Are
the Electric Boogaloo.” What do you think the author means by asking
these questions? What is he trying to say about the importance of failure?

The author means that if he had won the breakdancing contest, he still
probably would not be a successful breakdancer, and without the funny
experience, he might be a more boring person.

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2. Present and Discuss Now, work with your group to share the passages
from the text that you found especially important. Take turns presenting
your passages. Discuss what you noticed in the text, what questions you
asked, and what conclusions you reached.

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3. Essential Question: What are some milestones on the path to growing
up? What kinds of milestones do the letters include? Why are they
important? Discuss with your group.

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P.
Analyze Craft and
51 Structure
Tone

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Denotation and Connotation

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Practice
Work with your group to analyze the authors’ word choices and how these choices work together to
convey the tone of each letter. Use the charts to take notes as you review each letter. Consult a
dictionary to determine the precise denotation of each word.

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Practice
Work with your group to analyze the authors’ word choices and how these choices work together to
convey the tone of each letter. Use the charts to take notes as you review each letter. Consult a
dictionary to determine the precise denotation of each word.

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Vocabulary
P. 50
STANDARDS
Language

✗ Determine or clarify the ✗ a. Use context as a clue to

meaning of unknown and the meaning of a word or
multiple-meaning words or phrase.
phrases based on grade 8
reading and content,
choosing flexibly from a
range of strategies.

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The concept words all have to do with a sense of the
extreme. Another word that fits the category is epic
from “You Are the Electric Boogaloo.”
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The concept words all have to do with a sense of the
extreme. Another word that fits the category is epic
from “You Are the Electric Boogaloo.”

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numerous: many, full of a number of items.
continuous: without interruption, continuing.
desirous: wanting, full of desire.
prosperous: wealthy, having full prosperity. 33
Conventio
ns
Verb Moods – P. 52

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STANDARDS
Language

✗ Demonstrate command of ✗ c. Form and use verbs in

the conventions of standard the indicative, imperative,
English grammar and interrogative, conditional,
usage while writing or and subjunctive mood.
speaking.
✗ d. Recognize and correct
inappropriate shifts in verb
voice and mood.

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Indicative: paragraph 2, “Humiliation and hilarity are
closely linked, my little friend.”
Interrogative: paragraph 13, “Would success have gone
to your head?”
Imperative: paragraph 15, “Just relax.”
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Dancers should try to perform in public. They should wear
colorful costumes.

Authors may write about themselves, and they

should use what they know.
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