Page 129 - SpringBoard_ELA_Grade8_Flipbook

aCTIvITy 2.1
The Challenge of Utopia
learNING STraTeGIeS:
Think-Pair-Share, QHT, Close Reading, Marking the Text, Paraphrasing, Graphic Organizer
my Notes
Learning Targets
• Preview the big ideas and vocabulary for the unit.
• Identify and analyze the skills and knowledge necessary to be successful in completing Embedded Assessment 1.
Making Connections
In the last unit you studied what it is to be a hero and how heroes test themselves to find their own heroic qualities. In this unit you will read a novel that features a hero who must struggle to combat forces greater than he knows in his quest for an individual sense of freedom and identity.
Essential Questions
The following Essential Questions will be the focus of the unit study. Respond to both questions.
1. To what extent can a perfect or ideal society exist?
2. What makes an argument effective?
Vocabulary Development
Create a QHT chart in your Reader/Writer Notebook and sort the Academic Vocabulary and Literary Terms on the Contents page into the columns Q, H, and T. One academic goal would be to move all words to the “T” column by the end of the unit.
Unpacking Embedded Assessment 1
Read the assignment for Embedded Assessment 1: Writing an Expository Essay.
Think about how writers organize and develop ideas in expository writing. Use an expository structure to communicate your understanding of the concept of dystopia and/or the concept of the Hero’s Journey. Select one of the prompts below:
• Write an essay that compares and contrasts life in a dystopian society with modern day society.
• Write an essay that explains how the protagonist (hero) changes as a result of conflict with his dystopian society (Road of Trials), and explain how this change connects to the novel’s theme (the Crossing, or Return Threshold).
Work with your class to paraphrase the expectations and create a graphic organizer to use as a visual reminder of the required concepts and skills. Once you have analyzed the assignment, go to the Scoring Guide for a deeper look into the requirements of the assignment. Add additional information to your graphic organizer.
INdepeNdeNT
readING lINk
Read and Research
During this half of the unit, you will read a science fiction novel together as a class.
The protagonist in this novel
is a hero fighting against a challenge in society. Think about challenges in your
own society that interest
you. Research news articles, narrative nonfiction pieces,
or contemporary short stories that discuss the challenge, and what people are trying to do
to fix it. List the pieces you will read in your My Independent Reading List.
102 SpringBoard® English Language Arts Grade 8
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