8th Grade Historical Literacy consists of two 43 minute class periods. Writing is one 43 minute block and reading is another. The teacher has picked themes based on social studies standards, and a read-aloud novel based on social studies serves as the mentor text for writing and reading skills. More social studies content is addressed in reading through teaching nonfiction reading skills and discussion.
Standards reflect CCSS ELA, Reading, and Social Studies Standards.

Students will be creating a variety of poetry as well as analyzing poetry. They will work with Language standards and take a performance assessment at the end of the unit.

The purpose of this interactive lesson is for students to analyze the evidence in support of a claim in an argument, and to evaluate whether the argument is supported. Adult students preparing for the GED extended response and who place at least at a Grade 8 reading / writing level will find this tool useful. This lesson can also be a stand alone primer for those wanting to evaluate / present better arguments at work and in life. This lesson is designed for a face-to-face, instructor-led classroom setting.

Students explore multiple forms of digital etiquette and citizenship. They research current events based around digital concerns and innovations. Eventually, they apply that knowledge to their own lives and use of technology to develop 5 top guidelines for digital device usage for their peers. Students share their presentations and projects in an exhibit-style venue. Using a survey, students vote for their top choices, eventually selecting one choice to implement.Standards:CCSS English Language Arts (Grade 8)Ohio Standards for Technology 

This lesson spans multiple days and explores the value of debate teams in schools. During the first week of the unit, students learned to identify claims and warrants in texts. This week, students will build upon that knowledge by writing a basic argument and learning about the types of support that are used to build an argument. This will culminate with an assessment in which the students choose a position to take after reading a text and develop their claims and warrants with appropriate support and analysis.Cover image: "[Booker T. Washington, half-length portrait, seated]" by Frances Benjamin Johnston from the Prints & Photographs Onlince Catalog at loc.gov  

This lesson is intended to be taught over multiple days, focusing on Chapter XIII: Two Thousand Miles for A Five-Minute Speech from Up From Slavery by Booker T. Washington.  The students will also complete a close read of The Atlanta Exposition Address by Booker T. Washington.  Through the two texts, students will read about the events that led Booker T. Washington to deliver a speech at the Atlanta Exposition.  Students will write and deliver their own speech, supporting their arguments with claims and evidence. Image source: "Booker T. Washington" by skeeze on Pixabay.com

Playground Physics is an iPad and Progressive Web application (app) developed by the New York Hall of Science. The app is accompanied by a supplemental Teacher Guide for middle school teachers. The Playground Physics curriculum is a six-week supplemental physics curriculum, designed to be used alongside any existing science curricula in the middle grades. It includes a teacher guide and student work, and maps to the NGSS and NYSSLS. The curriculum is focused around three different units which each explore a major concept in physics (motion, force and energy) through a specific type of physical play (catching a ball, jumping, swinging).

Playground Physics is particularly well suited to supporting diverse learners because it leverages students’ abilities to playfully ask and answer their own questions to connect academic content to what they notice, describe and analyze about their own individual actions. Additionally, the multimodal nature of the program, which uses videos and images as well as kinesthetic exploration to build understanding, is less text-dependent than more traditional physics instructional materials.

In this lesson, students will view Wendy Troxel's TEd Talk, "Why School Should Start Later for Teens." While viewing the TED Talk, students will identify and trace the main parts of her argument.

Learn about the treaty that estbalished the Wind River Reservation and the two tribes that inhabit it, the Northern Arapaho and Eastern Shoshone.

In the accompanying lesson plans (found in the Support Materials), students will watch a video about the Wind River Reservation and learn how the reservation came to exist, How the two tribes, the Eastern Shoshone and Northern Arapaho, come to share the reservation, and what are the people on the reservation like?

LEARNING OBJECTIVES:

Students will demonstrate an understanding about the 1868 Fort Bridger Treaty.
Students will create a map of the sacred sites fo the Shoshone and Araphaho Tribes.
Students will analyze the different pre and post reservation events for the Eastern Shoshone and Northern Arapaho tribes and evaluate why it is important for Wyoming state citizens to learn the history of the people of the Wind River Reservation
Students will gain an understanding of three spiritual sites in Wyoming.