8th Grade Historical Literacy consists of two 43 minute class periods. Writing is one 43 minute block and reading is another. The teacher has picked themes based on social studies standards, and a read-aloud novel based on social studies serves as the mentor text for writing and reading skills. More social studies content is addressed in reading through teaching nonfiction reading skills and discussion. Standards reflect CCSS ELA, Reading, and Social Studies Standards for History.

This resource offers ELA teachers over 100 exercises to teach a variety of Common Core lessons.  The following are included:  reading comprehesion, figurative language, genre, grammar, punctuation, sentence structure, point of view, text structure, and writing.  The exercises have standards attached, and often there is a power point to present the lesson.  It is also organized by grade level, making use for teachers extremely efficient.

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 video gives a synopsis of how to write a strong thesis statement in 4 steps.

This may be used as a way of having students present in a persuasive, true-to-life format.  It can be used as a business education/marketing format, as well as a way of having students persuade an audience through both speaking and using visual aids.

This is a project that can be used individually or with groups.  It includes detailed instructions and rubric.

The video helps students turn an essay prompt into an introduction for an essay through the use of manipulatives.

Zoom In provides 18 guided lessons on historical events where students focus on reading primary and secondary documents closely, gathering evidence, and writing an argumentative or explanatory essay. Throughout the process students are asked to do the following:
Read documents closely and criticallyIdentify author's point of view and purposeEngage in higher-order, text-based discussionsWrite explanatory and argumentative essays grounded in evidence