Common Core Writing Standards For 8th Grade English Language Arts

The learning objectives, aligned with the central focus, are consistent with Common Core Reading Literature and Common Core Writing Standards for 8th grade English Language Arts. Students interpret and construct meaning from complex texts by analyzing text structure and figurative language and produce their own alternative narrative poems. In lesson 3.2.1, the learning objectives ask students to identify how poems are structured and explain how the structure of a poem contributes to its meaning. These learning objectives align with CCSS.RL.8.5 (see 1a) because students respond to discussion questions, describing how two different poems are structured and explaining how the structure of each poem contributes to its overall meaning (Instructional Material L3.2.1 #1 and #2).

The learning objectives correspond to CCSS.RL.8.1, CCSS.RL.8.4, and CCSS.L.8.5 (see 1a). In lesson 3.2.2, 3.2.3, and 3.2.4, students recognize each example of figurative language, analyze its meaning, and author’s purpose of using each example by filling out an H-chart (Instructional Material L3.2.2 #2). Furthermore, they mark any sound devices they see and make annotations for what they think the impact of each sound device is. (Instructional Material L.3.2.3 #1 and #2, L3.2.4 #1). In lesson 3.2.5, the learning objectives expect students to describe the ways in which lines and stanzas are broken up in poems in order to make the poem more meaningful. This learning objective also aligns with CCSS.RL.8.5 because students examine two different texts and evaluate two different ways in which the poets construct their poems. Furthermore, they analyze the form and structure of two complex texts and write a comparing and contrasting paragraph on