English Language Arts — Grade 8

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Story character homepage

This lesson from ReadWriteThink presents a project for literature circles or class novels to develop understanding of a character. In groups students will look at examples of homepages on the Internet, note what elements most contain, and use them as models... (Learn more)

Format: lesson plan (grade 6–8 Computer/Technology Skills and English Language Arts)

Provided by: ReadWriteThink

Seeing integration from different viewpoints

This lesson from ReadWriteThink uses The Story of Ruby Bridges, by Robert Coles, as a basis for a Directed Reading-Thinking Activity. A prereading strategy captures students' interest using a question and a during-reading strategy focuses their... (Learn more)

Format: lesson plan (grade 8 English Language Arts)

Provided by: IRA/NCTE

Robert Frost prompts the poet in you

After introducing students to Robert Frost’s autobiographical information, the teacher challenges students to predict the topic and themes that Frost’s poetry might cover. Then students read “The Pasture,” “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy... (Learn more)

Format: lesson plan (grade 6–8 English Language Arts)

Provided by: ReadWriteThink

Reciprocal revision: Making peer feedback meaningful

This lesson from ReadWriteThink is designed to help middle school students develop more constructive peer feedback on writing through the use of reciprocal teaching strategies. Students observe online examples of artwork, and use the strategies of predicting,... (Learn more)

Format: lesson plan (grade 6–8 English Language Arts)

Provided by: ReadWriteThink

The reading performance: Understanding fluency through oral interpretation

In this lesson, students explore how expression can be created in the oral reading of poetry by using line breaks, punctuation, and empty space as cues for the reader. Working together with the teacher, students learn to appreciate how authors craft their... (Learn more)

Format: lesson plan (grade 6–8 English Language Arts)

Provided by: ReadWriteThink

Reading and analyzing multigenre texts

Teachers use Black and White by David Macaulay or another similar text to introduce multigenre literature. Afer reading the text, students work in small groups to consider all the connections Macaulay makes in the book and... (Learn more)

Format: lesson plan (grade 6–8 English Language Arts)

Provided by: ReadWriteThink

Proverbs: Contemporary proverbs

This ReadWriteThink lesson challenges students to craft more apparent meanings for traditional maxims by updating proverbs from around the world and writing proverbs of their own. This lesson incorporates student handouts and links to a variety of web resources. (Learn more)

Format: lesson plan (grade 6–8 English Language Arts)

Provided by: ReadWriteThink

Proverbs: At home and around the world

In this lesson from ReadWriteThink, students work with proverbs from home and from around the world, exploring how these maxims are tied to a culture's values and everyday experience. While doing so, students will learn about proverbs: how they work, how... (Learn more)

Format: lesson plan (grade 6–8 English Language Arts)

Provided by: ReadWriteThink

Proverbs: An introduction

In this lesson from ReadWriteThink, students will learn about proverbs. They will gain an understanding of how they work, how they differ from clichés, how to interpret them, and how they can be culturally and personally significant. This lesson... (Learn more)

Format: lesson plan (grade 6–8 English Language Arts)

Provided by: ReadWriteThink

Press Conference for "Bud, Not Buddy"

This ReadWriteThink lesson can be used after the reading of Bud, Not Buddy, by Christopher Paul Curtis. The lesson encourages students to use higher-level thinking skills, and asks them to examine different character perspectives. Students... (Learn more)

Format: lesson plan (grade 6–8 English Language Arts)

Provided by: ReadWriteThink

Postmodern picture books in the middle school

Students learn to analyze plot and critique the author's intent in this lesson that focuses on Black and White by David Macaulay, a picture book that presents four story lines. Students will also explore multi-literacies and... (Learn more)

Format: lesson plan (grade 6–8 English Language Arts)

Provided by: ReadWriteThink

The poet's voice: Langston Hughes and you

Some poets achieve popular acclaim only when they express clear and widely shared emotions with a forceful, distinctive, and memorable voice. But what is meant by voice in poetry, and what qualities have made the voice of Langston Hughes a favorite for... (Learn more)

Format: lesson plan (grade 6–8 English Language Arts)

Provided by: EDSITEment

Poems that tell a story: Narrative and persona in the poetry of Robert Frost

In this lesson from EDSITEment, students read, discuss, and analyze selected poems by Robert Frost. The activities that make up this lesson encourage students to draw inferences about a poem's speaker based on evidence contained within the poem and to gather... (Learn more)

Format: lesson plan (grade 6–8 English Language Arts)

Provided by: EDSITEment

Plot structure: A literary elements mini-lesson

In this lesson that introduces plot structure, the teacher activates prior knowledge about plot by discussing events in a story students have read recently. In small collaborative groups, students use Freytag's Pyramid, a graphic organizer for plot structure,... (Learn more)

Format: lesson plan (grade 6–8 English Language Arts)

Provided by: ReadWriteThink

Orphan trains

In this lesson students will develop their ideas about social trade-offs by examining the history of the Orphan Trains and the New York Children's Aid Society, created in 1853. (Learn more)

Format: lesson plan (grade 8 English Language Arts and Social Studies)

Provided by: American Association for the Advancement of Science

On a musical note: Exploring reading strategies by creating a soundtrack

Students create a soundtrack for a novel they have read in this lesson that emphasizes traditional reading strategies such as predicting, visualizing, and questioning. In addition to offering several project options for creating a novel soundtrack, this... (Learn more)

Format: lesson plan (grade 6–8 English Language Arts)

Provided by: ReadWriteThink

Music and me: Visual representations of lyrics to popular music

Students interpret the meaning of selected song lyrics by making personal connections, critically analyzing their interpretations and planning how to represent the lyrics with images in a photomontage. (Learn more)

Format: lesson plan (grade 7–8 English Language Arts)

Provided by: IRA/NCTE

Mind pictures: Strategies that enhance mental imagery while reading

In this ReadWriteThink lesson, students create mental images while reading using a three-pronged approach. The first approach develops schemata and visual awareness. The next approach, called Watch-Read-Watch-Read (W-R-W-R), uses video clips to build background... (Learn more)

Format: lesson plan (grade 6–8 English Language Arts)

Provided by: ReadWriteThink

Media literacy: Examining the world of Lizzie McGuire

In this lesson that focuses on the popular television series, Lizzie McGuire, students develop media literacy skills. After viewing an episode of this teenage comedy, students take part in Media Response Groups where they... (Learn more)

Format: lesson plan (grade 6–8 English Language Arts)

Provided by: ReadWriteThink

Lonely as a cloud: Using poetry to understand similes

As the teacher reads the poem, “Willow and Ginkgo,” students illustrate what is being described and compare their drawings in small groups. Students identify similes in the poem and learn to use similes as a poetic device for description in... (Learn more)

Format: lesson plan (grade 6–8 English Language Arts)

Provided by: ReadWriteThink