Developing Core Literacy Proficiencies, Grade 8 , Teacher Edition

The Developing Core Literacy Proficiencies program is an integrated set of English Language Arts/Literacy units spanning grades 6-12 that provide student-centered instruction on a set of literacy proficiencies at the heart of the Common Core State Standards (CCSS).

• Reading Closely for Textual Details
• Making Evidence-Based Claims
• Making Evidence-Based Claims about Literary Technique (Grades 9-12)
• Researching to Deepen Understanding
• Building Evidence-Based Arguments

The program approaches literacy through the development of knowledge, literacy skills, and academic habits. Throughout the activities, students develop their literacy along these three paths in an integrated, engaging, and empowering way.

Knowledge: The texts and topics students encounter in the program have been carefully selected to expose them to rich and varied ideas and perspectives of cultural significance. These texts not only equip students with key ideas for participating knowledgeably in the important discussions of our time, but also contain the complexity of expression necessary for developing college- and career-ready literacy skills.

Literacy Skills: The program articulates and targets instruction and assessment on twenty CCSS-aligned literacy skills ranging from “making inferences” to “reflecting critically.” Students focus on this set of twenty skills throughout the year and program, continually applying them in new and more sophisticated ways.

Academic Habits: The program articulates twelve academic habits for students to develop, apply, and extend as they progress through the sequence of instruction. Instructional notes allow teachers to introduce and discuss academic habits such as “preparing” and “completing tasks” that are essential to students’ success in the classroom.

The program materials include a comprehensive set of instructional sequences, teacher notes, handouts, assessments, rubrics, and graphic organizers designed to support students with a diversity of educational experiences and needs. The integrated assessment system, centered around the literacy skills and academic habits, allows for the coherent evaluation of student literacy development over the course of the year and vertically across all grade levels.

About Odell Education v

Acknowledgments vi

Developing Core Literacy Proficiencies: User Guide xii

Unit 1: Reading Closely for Textual Details: “And, above all, we had to learn English” 1

Topic and Texts 2

Learning Progression 3

Sequencing Learning Over Time and Across Grade Levels 3

Outline 4

Introduction to the Reading Closely Literacy Toolbox 4

Literacy Skills and Academic Habits 5

Common Core State Standards Alignment 7

Part 1: Understanding Close Reading 8

Activity 1: Introduction to the Unit 10

Activity 2: Attending to Details 13

Activity 3: Reading Closely for Details 18

Activity 4: Attending to Details in Multimedia 22

Activity 5: Independent Reading and Research 26

Part 1: Formative Assessment Opportunities 28

Part 2: Questioning Texts 29

Activity 1: How Skillful Readers Approach Texts 31

Activity 2: Approaching a new Text 35

Activity 3: Analyzing Text with Text-Specific Questions 38

Activity 4: Posing Text-Specific Questions 40

Activity 5: Independent Writing 42

Part 2: Formative Assessment Opportunities 42

Part 3: Analyzing Details 44

Activity 1: Analyzing Textual Detail 46

Activity 2: Analyzing and Discussing Details Across Texts 51

Activity 3: Explaining and Comparing Texts 54

Activity 4: Independent Reading 56

Part 3: Formative Assessment Opportunities 58

Part 4: Explaining Understanding 59

Activity 1: Introduction to Culminating Activities 62

Activity 2: Reading and Discussing Related Texts 62

Activity 3: Questioning and Analyzing Texts Independently 64

Activity 4: Writing a Text-Based Explanation 69

Part 4: Summative Assessment Opportunities 72

Part 5: Discussing Ideas 74

Activity 1: Understanding Text-Centered Discussions 77

Activity 2: Preparing for a Text-Centered Discussion 78

Activity 3: Leading a Text-Centered Discussion 79

Part 5: Summative Assessment Opportunities 80

Reading Closely for Textual Details Unit Texts 82

Reading Closely Literacy Toolbox 101

Reading Closely Media Supports 118

Unit 2: Making Evidence-Based Claims: “The Footprints of Legends” 119

Topic and Texts 120

Learning Progression 120

Sequencing Learning Over Time and Across Grade Levels 121

Outline 122

Introduction to the Making Evidence-Based Claims Literacy Toolbox 122

Literacy Skills and Academic Habits 123

Common Core State Standards Alignment 125

Part 1: Understanding Evidence-Based Claims 127

Activity 1: Introduction to Unit 129

Activity 2: Independent Reading 131

Activity 3: Read Aloud and Class Discussion 134

Activity 4: Model the Forming of EBCs 137

Part 1: Formative Assessment Opportunities 138

Part 2: Making Evidence-Based Claims 140

Activity 1: Independent Reading to Find Supporting Evidence 143

Activity 2: Read Aloud and Class Discussion 144

Activity 3: Find Supporting Evidence in Pairs 147

Activity 4: Class Discussion of EBCs 148

Activity 5: Forming EBCs in Pairs 149

Part 2: Formative Assessment Opportunities 150

Part 3: Organizing Evidence-Based Claims 151

Activity 1: Independent Reading and Forming EBCs 154

Activity 2: Comparing EBCs 156

Activity 3: Model the Organizing of EBCs 156

Activity 4: Deepening Understanding 158

Activity 5: Organizing EBCs in Pairs 159

Activity 6: Class Discussion of Student EBCs 160

Part 3: Formative Assessment Opportunities 160

Part 4: Writing Evidence-Based Claims 162

Activity 1: Model the Communication of an EBC through Writing 165

Activity 2: Model and Practice the use of Questions and Criteria to Improve a Written EBC 166

Activity 3: Writing EBCs in Pairs 168

Activity 4: Reviewing and Improving Written EBCs 169

Activity 5: Independent Reading, Developing Questioning Paths, and Making EBCs 170

Activity 6: Read Aloud and Class Discussion 171

Activity 7: Independent Writing of EBCs 171

Activity 8: Using Peer Feedback to Revise a Written EBC 172

Part 4: Formative Assessment Opportunities 173

Part 5: Developing Evidence-Based Writing 175

Activity 1: Independent Reading and Class Discussion of Global EBCs 179

Activity 2: Forming Global or Comparative EBCs 180

Activity 3: Reviewing and Organizing EBCs 181

Activity 4: Independent Drafting of a Final EBC Essay 181

Activity 5: Using the Collaborative, Criteria-Based Process to Improve Essays 182

Activity 6: Class Discussion of Final EBC Essays 184

Part 5: Summative Assessment 185

Making Evidence-Based Claims Unit Texts 187

Making Evidence-Based Claims Literacy Toolbox 197

Making Evidence-Based Claims Media Supports 218

Unit 3: Researching to Deepen Understanding: Animals and Humans: How Are We Connected? 219

Learning Progression 220

Sequencing Learning Over Time and Across Grade Levels 221

Outline 222

Introduction to the Researching to Deepen Understanding Literacy Toolbox 223

Literacy Skills and Academic Habits 224

How This Unit Aligns with CCSS for ELA and Literacy 226

Terms and Definitions Used in This Unit 227

Research Topics 228

Common Source Set 228

Source Search Locations 229

Part 1: Initiating Inquiry 230

Activity 1: Introducing the Unit 233

Activity 2: Exploring a Topic 235

Activity 3: Conducting Pre-Searches 245

Activity 4: Vetting Areas of Investigation 250

Activity 5: Generating Inquiry Questions 251

Part 1: Formative Assessment Opportunities 254

Part 2: Gathering Information 256

Activity 1: Planning Searches for Information 259

Activity 2: Building an Initial Research Frame 263

Activity 3: Conducting Searches for Background Sources Using Inquiry Questions and Paths 265

Activity 4: Assessing Sources 266

Activity 5: Making and Recording Notes 270

Activity 6: Conducting Searches Independently 274

Activity 7: Reviewing and Revising the Research Frame 274

Part 2: Formative Assessment Opportunities 275

Part 3: Deepening Understanding 277

Activity 1: Selecting Key Sources 280

Activity 2: Analyzing a Source’s Perspective 280

Activity 3: Reading Key Sources Closely—Forming Claims 284

Activity 4: Writing EBCs about Sources 285

Part 3: Formative Assessment Opportunities 287

Part 4: Finalizing Inquiry 288

Activity 1: Addressing Inquiry Paths 291

Activity 2: Organizing Evidence 292

Activity 3: Evaluating Research 293

Activity 4: Refining and Extending Inquiry 294

Part 4: Formative Assessment Opportunities 295

Part 5: Developing and Communicating an Evidence-Based Perspective 297

Activity 1: Reviewing Research Portfolios 300

Activity 2: Communicating an Evidence-Based Perspective 300

Activity 3: Writing a Bibliography 307

Activity 4: Communicating a Final Evidence-Based Product (Optional) 308

Part 5: Summative Assessment Opportunities 310

Researching to Deepen Understanding Common Source Set 312

Researching to Deepen Understanding Literacy Toolbox 317

Unit 4: Building Evidence-Based Arguments: “E Pluribus Unum” 351

Topic and Texts—Immigration 352

Learning Progression 353

Sequencing Learning Over Time and Across Grade Levels 353

Outline 354

Introduction to Building Evidence-Based Arguments Literacy Toolbox 355

How This Unit Teaches Vocabulary 356

Literacy Skills and Academic Habits 356

Common Core State Standards Alignment 358

Part 1: Understanding the Nature of an Issue 360

Activity 1: Introducing the Unit 362

Activity 2: Exploring the Issue 364

Activity 3: Deepening Understanding of the Issue 373

Activity 4: Questioning to Refine Understanding 381

Activity 5: Writing an EBC about the Nature of the Issue 382

Part 1: Formative Assessment Opportunities 383

Part 2: Analyzing Arguments 385

Activity 1: Understanding Argumentative Position 388

Activity 2: Identifying Elements of Argumentation 390

Activity 3: Delineating Arguments 393

Activity 4: Understanding Perspective 396

Activity 5: Delineating and Comparing Arguments 397

Activity 6: Delineating Additional Arguments 404

Activity 7: Writing to Analyze Arguments 404

Part 2: Formative Assessment Opportunities 405

Part 3: Evaluating Arguments and Developing a Position 407

Activity 1: Evaluating Arguments 410

Activity 2: Developing a Perspective and Position 413

Activity 3: Deepening Understanding 415

Activity 4: Using Others’ Arguments to Support a Position 416

Activity 5: Responding to Opposing Arguments 416

Part 3: Formative Assessment Opportunities 417

Part 4: Organizing an Evidence-Based Argument 419

Activity 1: Identifying Supporting Evidence 421

Activity 2: Developing and Sequencing Claims as Premises of the Argument 422

Activity 3: Organizing Evidence to Support Claims 423

Activity 4: Reviewing a Plan for Writing an Argument 424

Part 4: Formative Assessment Opportunities 425

Part 5: Developing Writing through a Collaborative Process 427

Activity 1: Strengthening Writing Collaboratively: Principles and Processes 430

Activity 2: Focus on Content: Ideas and Information 434

Activity 3: Focus on Organization: Unity, Coherence, and Logical Sequence 437

Activity 4: Focus on Support: Integrating and Citing Evidence 439

Activity 5: Additional Rounds of Focused Review and Revision 442

Part 5: Summative Assessment Opportunities 444

Building Evidence-Based Arguments Unit Texts 447

Building Evidence-Based Arguments Literacy Toolbox 449

All materials from the Literacy Toolbox are available as editable and printable PDFs at www.wiley.com/go/coreliteracy. Use the following password: odell2016.

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