Grade 8 Unit Overview Recommended Anchor Text Unit Focus Text Complexity* Content and Standards Time of Year Compare and contrast character Call of the Wild, Human interaction perspective, read and apply nonfiction Moderately Jack London research to fictional stories, present with animals and Beginning of year complex nature claims based on research Determine text credibility, comprehend Sugar Changed the texts for research, compare and World, Sugar production’s contrast texts to build historical Moderately Marc Aronson and influence on society Middle of year complex knowledge, use nonfiction and fiction Marina Budhos texts to consider the social impact of historical events Analyze plot and character for “Flowers development, write argumentative Algernon,” The nature of Readily accessible to essays using claims from text, compare Middle of year Daniel Keyes knowledge very complex facts and opinions from multiple sources Tell-Tale “The Comprehend, analyze, and use Heart,” narrative voice, read and evaluate the Perception versus Very complex End of year Edgar Allan Poe reality reliability and impact of media sources Read and evaluate multiple nonfiction as a “Conservation texts, use multiple sources to build an National Duty,” argument, and evaluate ho texts and Conservation Very complex End of year Theodore language influence individuals Roosevelt * The language (words, sentence structure) might be at or below grade level but the content is complex and Readily accessible text: suitable for the grade level, or the language is at grade level and the content is less complex. The language is at grade level, and the content is suitable for the grade level. Moderately complex text: The language is at or slightly above grade level, and the content is significantly complex. Very complex text:
Grade 8 Unit Overview Anchor Text Unit Focus Text Complexity* Content and Standards Recommended Time of Year Call of the Wild, Jack London Human interaction with animals and nature Moderately complex Compare and contrast character perspective, read and apply nonfiction research to fictional stories, present claims based on research Beginning of year Sugar Changed the World, Marc Aronson and Marina Budhos Sugar production’s influence on society Moderately complex Determine text credibility, comprehend texts for research, compare and contrast texts to build historical knowledge, use nonfiction and fiction texts to consider the social impact of historical events Middle of year “Flowers for Algernon,” Daniel Keyes The nature of knowledge Readily accessible to very complex Analyze plot and character development, write argumentative essays using claims from text, compare facts and opinions from multiple sources Middle of year “The Tell-Tale Heart,” Edgar Allan Poe Perception versus reality Very complex Comprehend, analyze, and use narrative voice, read and evaluate the reliability and impact of media sources End of year “Conservation as a National Duty,” Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Very complex Read and evaluate multiple nonfiction texts, use multiple sources to build an argument, and evaluate ho texts and language influence individuals End of year * Readily accessible text: The language (words, sentence structure) might be at or below grade level but the content is complex and suitable for the grade level, or the language is at grade level and the content is less complex. Moderately complex text: The language is at grade level, and the content is suitable for the grade level. Very complex text: The language is at or slightly above grade level, and the content is significantly complex.