English Language Arts — Grade 8

Resources on the web

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

Literature circle roles reframed: Reading as a film crew

Students read and analyze books in this lesson where film production roles are substituted for the traditional literature circle roles. After students brainstorm roles found in film crews, they consider what the possible responsibilities of these jobs would... (Learn more)

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

Provided by: ReadWriteThink

Lewis and Clark: "The Object of This Mission"

In this lesson, students will compete against each other for the best “land” and “resources” in the classroom as a way to introduce issues involved in vying for land. They will learn about the mission of the Lewis and Clark expedition... (Learn more)

Format: lesson plan (grade 5 and 8 English Language Arts, Information Skills, and Social Studies)

Provided by: National Geographic

Lewis and Clark: Overcoming Obstacles

In this lesson, students will discuss the challenges and obstacles the Lewis and Clark expedition faced, focusing on how geographic information can influence a decision. Students will work cooperatively to make a decision, and experience the difficulty... (Learn more)

Format: lesson plan (grade 5 and 8 English Language Arts, Information Skills, and Social Studies)

Provided by: National Geographic

Lewis and Clark: Native American Contributions

In this lesson from Xpeditions, students will learn about specific instances in which Native Americans helped the Lewis and Clark expedition overcome obstacles. The expedition faced many difficult challenges, due primarily to the group's lack of knowledge... (Learn more)

Format: lesson plan (grade 5 and 8 English Language Arts, Information Skills, and Social Studies)

Provided by: National Geographic

Lewis and Clark: A Legacy to Remember

Students design a memorial that illustrates the legacy of the Lewis and Clark expedition from a geographic perspective. (Learn more)

Format: lesson plan (grade 5 and 8 English Language Arts, Information Skills, and Social Studies)

Provided by: National Geographic

Investigating the Holocaust: A collaborative inquiry project

Students explore a variety of resources—texts, images, movies, artwork“to learn more about the Holocaust. Beginning with journal writings and a picture book to introduce the issues, the lesson plan focuses on student-centered inquiry. (Learn more)

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

Provided by: IRA/NCTE

In the poet's shoes: Performing poetry and building meaning

In this lesson, students participate in a webquest that challenges them to analyze a variety of poets and their poetry by reading and listening to their work. (Learn more)

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

Provided by: IRA/NCTE

I've got the literacy blues

Students read “The Gift of the Magi” by O. Henry and explore the story's themes using blues music, creative writing, and media study. (Learn more)

Format: lesson plan (grade 8 English Language Arts)

Provided by: IRA/NCTE

Freedom of speech and automatic language: Examining the Pledge of Allegiance

Students explore rote learning and their own right to freedom of speech by examining the Pledge of Allegiance from a historical and personal perspective (Learn more)

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

Provided by: IRA/NCTE

Finding the science behind science fiction through paired readings

In this lesson, students explore the genre of science fiction, while learning more about the science integrated into the plot of the story using nonfiction texts and resources. (Learn more)

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

Provided by: IRA/NCTE

Finding figurative language in “The Phantom Tollbooth”

This lesson provides hands-on differentiated instruction by guiding students to search for the literal definitions of figurative language using the Internet. (Learn more)

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

Provided by: IRA/NCTE

Expository escapade-Detective's handbook

In this lesson, students combine reading the detective fiction genre with expository writing. (Learn more)

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

Provided by: IRA/NCTE

Exploring Free Speech and Persuasion with '"Nothing but the Truth"

After reading the novel Nothing But The Truth, students discuss the protagonist Phillip and his right to free speech as well as their own rights. (Learn more)

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

Provided by: IRA/NCTE

Every punctuation mark matters: A mini-lesson on semicolons

Students first explore Dr. Martin Luther King's use of semicolons and their rhetorical significance, then apply the lesson to their own writing by searching for ways to follow Dr. King's model and use the punctuation mark in their own writing. (Learn more)

Format: lesson plan (grade 8 English Language Arts)

Provided by: IRA/NCTE

Critical media literacy: Commercial advertising

Conducting an evaluation of television and magazine advertisements, students critique the effect mass media has on American culture. (Learn more)

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

Provided by: IRA/NCTE

Child labor: Giving voice to the industrial revolution through monologues

Students gather information using selected websites and explore issues related to child labor, particularly as it occurred in England and the United States during the Industrial Revolution. (Learn more)

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

Provided by: IRA/NCTE

Book report alternative: Creating careers for characters

Students become characters in a novel or short story they have read and find a job for those characters. (Learn more)

Format: lesson plan (grade 8 English Language Arts)

Provided by: IRA/NCTE

Book report alternative: Creating a childhood for a character

In this lesson, students examine the character traits of an adult character in a book they have read, create a childhood for the character, and describe that childhood in the form of a short story, journal entry, or time capsule letter. (Learn more)

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

Provided by: IRA/NCTE

Battling for liberty: Tecumseh's and Patrick Henry's language of resistance

This lesson extends the study of Patrick Henry's “Give Me Liberty or Give Me Death” speech to demonstrate the ways Native Americans also resisted oppression through rhetoric and action. (Learn more)

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

Provided by: IRA/NCTE