Brittany+W's+Thematic+Unit+Work

= FINAL UNIT PLAN HERE and Revisions HERE! bnw =

At first, it took me a little while to get started on my unit work because my CT wasn't really sure where she would be during the time I would teach, and didn't really have much time to sit down with me.. but finally we sat down and had a long talk about what I would do and what I would teach. First she showed me the 8th grade English Language Arts common core standards sheet, and told me where they were at and the units she had left to cover next semester.

Ultimately we figured out that I will be teaching Unit 4, which is entitled **//Risking It// //All//**//.// I am going to teach this unit, and to make it my own.. It is going to be called: //**When the going gets tough.. take a risk! (Cuando las cosas se ponen difíciles .. Arriésgate!)**//

(10/25) Now that I have the Unit that I am going to be teaching, I had to narrow down my focus.. I decided that I would focus on a young adult novel, The Diary of Anne Frank. My rationale for teaching this novel is that it is the ultimate story of courage, and the epitome of risk taking. I want to focus on Anne Frank's novel as the backbone of my unit, because she is close to the age of my 8th grade students. I want them to know that you can take risks at any age, all it takes is courage.


 * Unit Guiding Questions:**


 * How can taking risks affect your life?
 * Who in our nations history are known for taking risks?
 * Are risks necessary for change?
 * Can you have risk without sacrifice?

Goals:
 * learn that they take risks everyday, whether big or small
 * gain an appreciation for risk takers in the past who risked it all, including their lives
 * learn how to argue a viewpoint
 * learn how risk takers affect the society around them

Materials:
 * composition books for journals
 * video projector
 * short articles
 * Anne Frank novel
 * flash cards
 * Night novel or excerpts

Possible Activities:
 * story annotations
 * class debates/discussions
 * compare and contrast Night with Diary of Anne Frank (text comparisons)
 * Risk Takers in History research project ( students will be given a risk taker.. research that person then present to class)
 * daily journaling


 * General Objectives: (SWBAT)**


 * effectively analyze two or more conflicting points of view
 * describe how different points of views are used to construct an argument
 * explore different word choices can affect the tone, meaning, and mood of a piece of writing.


 * Common Core State Standards:**
 * **RL8.1** Cite the textual evidence that most strongly supports an analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text
 * **RL8.5** compare and contrast the structure of two or more texts and analyze how the differing structure of each text contributes to its meaning and style
 * **RI8.6** determine tan author's point of view or purposes in a text and analyze how the author acknowledges and responds to conflicting evidence or viewpoints