N: ELA-Secondary/ Gr. 8_ELA Module-Sem. 2_Student Packet/1-2014/LB-CN Educational Services – CISS

Transition to Common Core Standards

Grade 8

English Language Arts Module 2

Student Packet

N: ELA-Secondary/ Gr. 8_ELA Module-Sem. 2_Student Packet/1-2014/LB-CN Educational Services – CISS

Name ____________________________ Period ____ Date __________________

Reading Guide for “Charles”

RL.8.6 Analyze how differences in the points of view of the characters and the audience or reader create such effects as suspense or humor.

What clues indicate that this story is told by a first-person narrator? Write 2-4 sentences supporting your answer by citing examples from the story.

RL.8.3 Analyze how particular lines of dialogue or incidents in a story or drama propel the action, reveal aspects of a character, or provoke a decision.

As you read the story, look for characteristics of Laurie and Charles. Make a 3-column organizer with the following labels.

Character’s Appearance How the Character Behaves What Others Think of the Character

Laurie

Charles

Your teacher may ask you to use this graphic organizer to write a compare and contrast essay. (TE p.338) RL.8.3 Analyze how particular lines of dialogue or incidents in a story or drama propel the action, reveal aspects of a character, or provoke a decision.

Identify the major events of the story using a plot map as shown below. How did the mother’s lack of information and her mistaken belief about her son set up the humor for the end of the story? Exposition Resolution

W.8.1 Write arguments to support claims with clear reasons and relevant evidence.

Imagine you are Laurie and your mother has just gotten home from the parent-teacher meeting. Develop a logical argument to support your behavior with clear reasons and relevant evidence. Use the back of this sheet or lined paper to write your 3-5 paragraph essay.

Climax

N: ELA-Secondary/ Gr. 8_ELA Module-Sem. 2_Student Packet/1-2014/LB-CN Educational Services – CISS

“Six Blind Men and an Elephant” A parable of different perceptions

A long time ago in the valley of the Brahmaputra River in India there lived six men who were much inclined to boast of their wit and lore. Though they were no longer young and had all been blind since birth, they would compete with each other to see who could tell the tallest story.

One day, however, they fell to arguing. The object of their dispute was the elephant. Now, since each was blind, none had ever seen that mighty beast of whom so many tales are told. So, to satisfy their minds and settle the dispute, they decided to go and seek out an elephant.

Having hired a young guide, Dookiram by name, they set out early one morning in single file along the forest track, each placing his hands on the back of the man in front. It was not long before they came to a forest clearing where a huge bull elephant, quite tame, was standing contemplating his menu for the day.

The six blind men became quite excited; at last they would satisfy their minds. Thus it was that the men took turns to investigate the elephant's shape and form.

As all six men were blind, neither of them could see the whole elephant and approached the elephant from different directions. After encountering the elephant, each man proclaimed in turn:

'O my brothers,' the first man at once cried out, 'it is as sure as I am wise that this elephant is like a great mud wall baked hard in the sun.'

'Now, my brothers,' the second man exclaimed with a cry of dawning recognition, 'I can tell you what shape this elephant is - he is exactly like a spear.'

The others smiled in disbelief.

'Why, dear brothers, do you not see,' said the third man -- 'this elephant is very much like a rope,' he shouted.

'Ha, I thought as much,' the fourth man declared excitedly, 'This elephant much resembles a serpent.'

The others snorted their contempt.

'Good gracious, brothers,' the fifth man called out, 'even a blind man can see what shape the elephant resembles most. Why he's mightily like a fan.'

At last, it was the turn of the sixth old fellow and he proclaimed,

'This sturdy pillar, brothers' mine, feels exactly like the trunk of a great areca palm tree.'

Of course, no one believed him.

Their curiosity satisfied, they all linked hands and followed the guide, Dookiram, back to the village. Once there, seated beneath a waving palm, the six blind men began disputing loud and long. Each now had his own opinion, firmly based on his own experience, of what an elephant is really like. For after all, each had felt the elephant for himself and knew that he was right!

And so indeed he was. For depending on how the elephant is seen, each blind man was partly right, though all were in the wrong.

Source: http://www.cob.sfasu.edu/pstetz/Six-Blind-Men.html 20030811

N: ELA-Secondary/ Gr. 8_ELA Module-Sem. 2_Student Packet/1-2014/LB-CN Educational Services – CISS

Blogging Activity for “Six Blind Men and an Elephant”

The author of a blog posted the story “Six Blind Men and an Elephant” on the Internet and asked readers to post their

insights, interpretations, or understanding of the fable.

A) After reading and discussing the fable with your class, choose the quote below that you feel best captures the

meaning behind the tale. Write your chosen quote in the top box. In the bottom box tell why you chose that quote.

I chose the following blog posting:

Justification:

-Freeman

We all have different ways of understanding things. It depends on how one perceives them.

-Camilia

It’s not necessary that we all believe in the same thing, the important thing is respecting each other’s ideas and beliefs.

-Frank Francis

We all have the facts...but the real picture lies in combining what others know and what you know…arguing is not a solution.

-Fatima

One should take a decision on what the situation is in and out and depending on the truth, not from the partial view or as it

is viewed by the individual.

-Sandeep

One can state what one can feel but truth can only be understood when objects are seen as a whole, and not as parts.

B) Now write your own one sentence blog as if you were going to post it online. Write it in the box below. Be prepared

to share your blog with your classmates.

My blog posting would be:

W.8.4 Produce clear and coherent writing in which the development, organizations and style are appropriate to task, purpose, and audience.

W.8.6 Use technology, including the Internet, to produce and publish writing and present the relationships between information and ideas efficiently as to interact and collaborate with others.

N: ELA-Secondary/ Gr. 8_ELA Module-Sem. 2_Student Packet/1-2014/LB-CN Educational Services – CISS

Your Perception IS Your Reality

OCTOBER 31, 2013 BY TONY D. CLARK

“Reality is merely an illusion, albeit a very persistent one.” – Albert

Einstein

“Everything you see or hear or experience in any way at all is specific to

you. You create a universe by perceiving it, so everything in the universe

you perceive is specific to you.” – Douglas Adams

Take a minute to scan your surroundings. Are you in a familiar place or somewhere new? Stop reading this, and

just look around you. Pick out an object, maybe something you hadn’t noticed before, and focus your attention

on it. If you really focus, it’ll get brighter and more “real” than it was when it was just an unnoticed piece of the

background noise of your life. Now, try to view your surroundings from the point of the object. Some people can

do this with no effort, and for others, it takes some concentration. Depending on how adept you are at focusing

your concentration, you may notice a slight shift in your perception – a weird jump in reality, where you are

suddenly viewing the world from a different perspective.

Did it work? Whether you noticed anything or not, your perception did change, albeit for an instant. It’s

important to be conscious of your perception, because if you’re not, someone else will create it for you.

Trick the Eye in French

Things aren’t always what they seem. Marketers and magicians rely on this fact to make you see things – the

way they want you to see them. Artists do too.

You may have seen Julian Beever’s amazing pavement drawings [see next page]. He utilizes the Trompe-l’oeil

technique, which means “trick the eye” in French. He uses his drawing skills to create a perception. Like an

optical illusion, our mind attempts to fill in the details of something it either thinks it already knows, or doesn’t

quite understand. This works out fine, when that’s the intention – momentarily letting our world be shaped for

fun. But wandering through life, letting others create your perceptions, can make for a very unfulfilling life.

Change Your Story, Change Your Perception, Change Your Life

We all get caught up in our stories. Most of us think we are our stories. It’s when those stories take on a life of

their own, and that life isn’t the one we want, that things start to suck.

Think about the story you’re living right now. Who wrote it? Did you consciously decide to create the reality

you’re living now, or was it mainly shaped by your parents, friends, spouse, school, or the media? If you don’t

like the story your living, then change the perception. Envision how you’d write the next chapter of your story.

Better yet, actually sit down and write it. Focus your perception on creating a new reality, one where you are in

charge of the story. Take back the job as screenwriter and director, and stop just being an actor (unless you’re

Rachel McAdams – I rather enjoy her acting).

Everything begins with a decision – decide now to be in charge of your own perception of reality. Because if you

don’t, there are plenty of folks whose sole purpose in life is to craft that perception for you. Do you trust them

to have your best interest in mind…?

Source: http://www.lifehack.org/articles/lifehack/your-perception-is-your-reality.html

N: ELA-Secondary/ Gr. 8_ELA Module-Sem. 2_Student Packet/1-2014/LB-CN Educational Services – CISS

The artist, Julian Beever (crouched on the ledge in the

sidewalk art piece above), hails from the United Kingdom

and has been creating sidewalk art since the 1990's.

N: ELA-Secondary/ Gr. 8_ELA Module-Sem. 2_Student Packet/1-2014/LB-CN Educational Services – CISS

How Does Perception Change Everything?

Posted on June 15, 2012 by Tara Dobbs

1 Perception influences all that we do. Logic and facts may tell us one thing, and yet we will still take what we 2 perceive – or others around us perceive – to be true.

3 Think of high school. The kids I wanted to like me the most were the kids that were the meanest to me. 4 Logic would say to avoid them. However, perception said that those were the kids I must choose to be 5 around. If only they liked me, then life would be perfect.

6 The same goes for family. For me, for many years, no decision could be made without including the thought 7 of what my family would think.

8 In fact, looking back on my life (I am an ancient 38 after all), I see a series of decisions designed either to 9 rebel against my family or build myself up to my family. On the rebelling side, I moved out at a young age, 10 and married someone who I knew would cause my parents some grief. On the build myself up side, I took 11 over the family business when it was in crisis and ensured that when I bought my own house it was close to 12 my parents.

13 The realization I am having lately is that this is a very slender view of reality, and as it turns out, a very 14 limiting one.

15 Of course my upbringing and my desire to please my parents would affect my perception. So does how I 16 interact socially.

17 I have never fit in. And I’ve tried. I still do.

18 I remember being in elementary school and being the singled out girl. The girl who was hated for the 19 day…and then the next day it was another girl, and I was only too happy — no — relieved — to take part 20 in being mean to that other girl. Thankful it wasn’t me.

21 And while I can laugh at these interactions now — these immature attempts at fitting in — they’re no 22 different to what we do as adults. Just less sophisticated.

23 I am continuously wondering if I’m going to be ostracized, or if I am going to belong. And I see I have spent 24 my life gravitating from one to the other. Either basking in the acceptance of my friends and community, 25 or reveling in my rebellion. Either way, I’m dabbling in both sides of this coin.

26 Rather than getting away from this as I grow up and mature, it just changes form. And I do the same 27 oscillation– at one moment fitting in with the best of them, and the next, so different it’s farcical.

28 So what is fitting in? What if I don’t? What if, normal, actually isn’t? A slight shift in perception is a game 29 changer.

30 And this is where I am at.

31 And you? Where are you at?

Source: http://www.taradobbs.com/how-does-perception-change-everything/#.Us3hIxjTmpo

N: ELA-Secondary/ Gr. 8_ELA Module-Sem. 2_Student Packet/1-2014/LB-CN Educational Services – CISS

Collaborative Conversation: “How Does Perception Change Everything?”

Name:______________________________________________________ Date: ________________

Dialectical Journal Partner Work:

On your second read of the article, work with a partner to identify two or three sentences or phrases that most clearly support the claim that increasing your knowledge and experience changes your perception of the world. Record the line number(s) of the sentences of your choice in the left column. In the right column, justify your choices by telling how they relate to the claim above. Lastly, working on your own, write a paragraph that summarizes the central theme of this article.

RL.8.1: Cite textual evidence that most strongly supports an analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text.

SL.8.1: Engage effectively in a range of collaborative discussions with diverse partners…building on others’ ideas and expressing their own clearly.

W.8.4: Produce clear and coherent writing in which the development, organization, and style are appropriate to task, purpose, and audience.

Line

number(s) Our justification: How the quote supports the claim

Summary paragraph:

From Our Classroom Strategy Library

Exit Slips

All About Adolescent Literacy www.adlit.org Resources for Parents and Educators of Kids Grades 4—12

Write one thing you learned today.

Name

Rate your understanding of today’s topic on a scale of 1-10. What can you do to improve

your understanding?

Name

From Our Classroom Strategy Library

Exit Slips

All About Adolescent Literacy www.adlit.org Resources for Parents and Educators of Kids Grades 4—12

Discuss one way today’s lesson could be used in the real world.

Name

Describe one topic that we covered today that you would like to learn more about.

Name

From Our Classroom Strategy Library

Exit Slips

All About Adolescent Literacy www.adlit.org Resources for Parents and Educators of Kids Grades 4—12

One thing I didn’t understand:

Name

Of the two strategies we learned today, which one did you find most useful? Why?

Name

From Our Classroom Strategy Library

Exit Slips

All About Adolescent Literacy www.adlit.org Resources for Parents and Educators of Kids Grades 4—12

Name

Name

N: ELA-Secondary/ Gr. 8_ELA Module-Sem. 2_Student Packet/1-2014/LB-CN Educational Services – CISS

Name

# Per. Date

Title of Reading:

Thesis/Central Idea:

Specific Phrase or Statement How it Supports the Central Idea 1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

Central Idea/Evidence

R.8.2 Determine a central idea of a text and analyze its development over the course of the text, including how it emerges and is shaped and refined by specific details; provide an objective summary of the text.

Figurative Language Chart Student Name: _________________________________________________

WORD OR

PHRASE

PAGE IN BOOK

LITERAL MEANING

FIGURATIVE MEANING

(Meaning in the story)

Example: In the doldrums

22

An area near the equator where either strong winds or no winds come and go without warning.

The place where you go to when you aren’t thinking. You are not moving or doing anything here.

Expectations

Watchdog

(As easy as) Falling off a log

Spelling Bee

Rhyme and Reason

Make mountains out of molehills

Leaves no stone unturned

A light meal

Jump to Conclusions