Developing Core Literacy Proficiencies, Grade 8

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.

Table of Contents:
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.

About the Author :
ODELL EDUCATION (OE) is dedicated to fostering creativity and critical thinking in students and the education community. OE has developed nationally validated and acclaimed literacy curricula and collaborates with schools, states and organizations on assessment design, curriculum development, and teacher training.