Eighth Grade - ELA
1: Semester 1
Unit 1: Abigail Adams
Lesson 1
Getting to Know Abigail Adams
Students are given a vocabulary list with definitions and example sentences (confidences, lucrative, wistfully, foreboding, affliction, fortitude, entail) and are asked to use those words correctly in composed letters. Question prompts ask students to interpret figurative or non-literal phrases from the reading (e.g., "wild colts make the best horses" and John Adams needing "ballast"), requiring students to determine meaning from context. Activities require students to choose words they know and incorporate them into connected writing, reinforcing contextual word use.
Lesson 3
Unrest and War
Students identify and label clauses as active or passive (Option 1 and 2 activities) and rewrite passive clauses in active voice. Students are asked in Part II (Option 2) to choose two passive-voice clauses from the reading and explain why the author used the passive voice, considering whether active voice would have been more effective. The example analysis of "Mistakes were made" asks students to test passive construction and to evaluate how the choice weakens clarity and tone.
Lesson 4
Continental Congress
The Parent Plan skills list explicitly states that students will "determine or clarify the meaning of unknown and multiple-meaning words or phrases" and "acquire and use accurately grade-appropriate ... words and phrases." The Vocabulary Review activity directs students to classify words as CONFIDENT/MAYBE/? and then either write sentences for known words, look up definitions and write sentences for words they're unsure of, or define unfamiliar words and use them in a sentence. The activity requires students to consult a dictionary or earlier lesson materials to establish word meanings and to produce original sentences using those words.
Lesson 5
Remember the Ladies
Students read and closely analyze primary-source letters (Activity 1), including instructions to read older texts aloud to clarify meaning. The document-analysis option directs students to identify "What is the content? (What does it say/show? What main ideas or details stand out?)" and to locate specific places in the letter that provide evidence. The Exploring Primary Sources activity asks students to note how much of the letter the author quoted and what point the author was attempting to convey using selections from the letter.
Lesson 6
Separation
Students are given a targeted vocabulary list with definitions (protocol, abolish, destitute, sedition, apprehension, abhorrence, disconsolate, impudence) and asked to complete a crossword using those words, which requires them to match words to meanings. The Parent Plan explicitly lists the skill "Acquire and use accurately grade-appropriate general, academic, and domain-specific words and phrases; gather vocabulary knowledge when considering a word or phrase important to comprehension or expression." Students are also prompted to look up unfamiliar words and to complete activities that reinforce word meaning (vocabulary puzzle and word-bank matching).
Lesson 9
The Vice Presidency
Students are asked to explain Benjamin Franklin's phrase "His Superfluous Excellency," identifying that it alludes to the vice presidency's lack of power and connects phrase to meaning. Students answer a question interpreting how George III "literally turned his back on" Jefferson, requiring interpretation of a descriptive phrase. In the correspondence activity, students are prompted to describe impressions of each writer (polite, funny, smart, etc.), which asks them to infer tone from word choice in primary-source letters.
Final Project
A One-Person Play
Students complete a vocabulary section on the unit test that asks them to fill in blanks with context-appropriate words (abolish, disconsolate, destitute, etc.), requiring them to determine word meaning from sentence context. In Part 2 (Paragraph Analysis) students answer questions about a passage on Abigail Adams, including evaluating the role of a quoted sentence from her letters. In the one-person play project students must quote at least one primary source in a scene and explain the quote's historical context and effect on the audience.
Unit 2: Animal Farm
Lesson 6
Comrade Napoleon
Students read Chapter 5 of Animal Farm and answer text-based comprehension questions that require recall of events and character actions. Students research historical figures and complete activity pages that ask for a "Connection to Animal Farm" and "Specific evidence" supporting analogies between characters (e.g., Napoleon–Stalin, Snowball–Trotsky). Students are given a definition of satire and prompted to make connections between the novel and the Russian Revolution, which requires them to identify analogies/allusions between the text and historical events.
Lesson 8
The End of the Rebellion
Students read Chapter 7 of Animal Farm and answer comprehension questions focused on plot and leadership. In Activity 2 students compare two sample letters, identify which is a friendly versus a business letter, and are asked to talk about specific portions that helped them decide the type. Students are instructed to use an appropriately informal or formal voice when composing friendly and business letters and to be forceful and persuasive in Activity 1, which requires choosing language that appeals to emotion, logic, or duty.
Lesson 9
The Battle of the Windmill
The lesson defines personification and asks students to re-imagine a human scene with animal characters (Activity 1), requiring them to describe how personification changes the scene or shifts its meaning. Activity 1's written option asks students to explain which animals match character qualities and how the personification alters meaning, which engages students in interpreting figurative language. The Things to Know and Activities emphasize attention to tone, and Activity 2 asks students to produce a formal business letter with an appropriate professional tone.
Final Project
Animal Farm Letter
Students are asked to compare and evaluate tone when asked, in the Unit Test and activities, to explain how the tone of a business letter differs from a friendly letter and to identify examples of each. Students practice evaluating and revising the style and tone of their own writing during the Editing & Revising activity (questions ask whether the style works, whether it is choppy or wordy, and whether tone fits the chosen letter type). The Skills list and project rubric require students to determine themes, cite textual evidence, and analyze characters and themes, which asks students to perform some textual analysis.
Unit 3: Einstein Adds a New Dimension
Lesson 1
Expository Writing
Students practice using an index to choose effective search terms (Part II Index activity) and reflect on which terms worked best when searching for "weak nuclear forces." The lesson points out that sidebars and a glossary can contain definitions and that sidebars may include definitions of unfamiliar terms. In the Narrative vs. Expository activity, students underline and circle words and phrases on the book cover and jacket to identify language that signals narrative versus expository writing.
Lesson 2
Descriptive Writing
Students read a descriptive paragraph (italicized on p. 36) and are asked to underline words or phrases they find most effective and explain what makes them effective. Students complete guided activities adding adjectives and sensory phrases for nouns and write a descriptive paragraph of a picture, using tips that call out strong verbs, adjective use, and similes. Students are directed to consult the Handy Guide for more on figurative language and are encouraged to read margin definitions and text-box content when using the reading strategies.
Lesson 3
The Curies' Discoveries
Students are asked to determine word meanings through the vocabulary activities that prompt them to write a definition, supply a synonym or simile, and use the word in an example sentence (e.g., incongruity, cogitate, cathode ray, radioactivity). The Parent Plan explicitly lists the skill to "determine the meaning of symbols, key terms, and other domain-specific words and phrases" in a scientific/technical context. Highlighting and annotation strategies ask students to circle unknown words, mark definitions, and label examples, and sidebars in the text provide technical definitions for students to check their answers.
Lesson 4
Process Writing
Students are asked to define a technical term directly (QUESTION #1 asks "What is quantum mechanics?" and provides a concise definition). The parent plan lists "Use precise language and domain-specific vocabulary" as a targeted skill and points students to pages that explain terms like "quantum" and basic atomic theory. A discussion prompt asks students to explain what Schrödinger's cat story is an analogy for, requiring students to interpret an analogy in the text.
Lesson 5
Envisioning Fission
Students are asked to "take notes on the important concepts... including what E=mc² means" which requires determining a technical meaning from the text (Reading and Questions). Activity 2 and its Student Activity Page ask students to skim web pages and decide if they are "understandable," prompting students to interpret wording and technical clarity of sources. The Skills section asks students to "distinguish among facts, reasoned judgment... and speculation," which requires students to read phrasing and infer meaning or intent from text.
Lesson 7
Relativity
Students are asked to look up and write definitions, examples, or pictures for domain-specific vocabulary (fissile material, uniform motion, frame of reference, relativity, invariant), which requires them to determine technical meanings from the text. Students compare two versions of a procedural passage (Version 1 vs. Version 2) and identify problems with word choice, concision, and naming of tools. Students must design a poster that defines unfamiliar terms for a younger audience and use at least three domain-specific terms, prompting them to choose precise vocabulary and explain terms in context.
Lesson 8
Comparison and Contrast Writing
Students are asked to determine the meaning of "symbols, key terms, and other domain-specific words and phrases" in a scientific/technical context (Parent Plan Skills). Students are directed to re-read the analogies (e.g., the stretched rubber sheet, man in a dropping elevator) and bolded text to help understand relativity, which requires interpreting those analogies and technical descriptions. Students answer comprehension questions about technical concepts (e.g., the twins paradox, how Einstein tested ideas), which involves working with technical vocabulary in context.
Lesson 10
Problem and Solution Writing
Students read selected chapters that introduce technical astronomy terms (supernova, pulsar, quasar, black hole) and are prompted to explain their meanings (see Questions #1–#4 asking for causes, definitions, and functions). Students answer comprehension questions that require stating technical definitions (e.g., causes of a supernova, why light cannot escape an event horizon, what makes a black hole supermassive, and why Type 1a supernovas are valuable). Students also encounter and explain quoted scientific phrasing (Einstein's phrase "atoms of energy" and its explanation as photons) which involves interpreting a term used in context.
Lesson 11
Citing Sources
Students answer explicit questions asking for technical definitions (e.g., "What is a bit?" and "What is a qubit?"), and they explain how Boolean operators (AND/OR) affect search results, which requires interpreting technical terms as used in the text. Part I of the student activity asks students to paraphrase material from an online article and to identify correct parenthetical citations, which requires them to interpret and restate meaning from source texts.
Final Project
Research Paper
Students are prompted to learn and use domain-specific vocabulary (rubric: "Word Choice - Use of domain-specific vocabulary") and to "determine the meaning of symbols, key terms, and other domain-specific words and phrases" as listed in the Skills section. The Unit Test Review directs students to look up unfamiliar science terms in the index and the unit test includes a question asking students to explain the importance of domain-specific vocabulary in technical writing. Activities require students to record page numbers and note terminology from The Story of Science and other sources during research.
Unit 4: Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
Lesson 1
Introduction to Mark Twain and the Novel
Students complete a vocabulary activity (Chapters 1–21 Vocabulary) in which they read words in context and select definitions based on sentence clues. Students answer journal questions about dialect and view a video or PBS article to analyze how speech patterns create stereotypes and affect perceptions. The Parent Plan Skills list explicitly tells students to "determine the meaning of words and phrases... including figurative and connotative meanings" and to "analyze the impact of specific word choices on meaning and tone."
Lesson 3
What is Narrative Writing I
Students are asked to consider word choice and how it reveals character mood (e.g., the discussion that Pap's word choices express an angry mood). The text explicitly has students compare connotations of words such as "clever" versus "smart" and analyze Twain's use of the "n word," noting its negative connotation and impact on the reader. Activities require students to analyze quotes and record what those quotes show about characters, and to practice showing emotions with descriptive word choices and dialogue.
Lesson 5
Expository Writing
Students read Chapters 16–18 and are asked to analyze the quote "...you feel mighty free and easy and comfortable on a raft," comparing life on the raft to life with Miss Watson, the Widow Douglas, and Pap. Students are instructed to use quotes and dialogue from the novel as evidence and to think about the dialect, asking whether it reveals differences and similarities between Huck and Jim. Students complete a compare-and-contrast activity that requires supporting character claims with textual evidence, which prompts attention to specific words and phrases in dialogue.
Lesson 6
The Power of Persuasion
Students read and answer questions about a model persuasive essay, identifying the thesis, reasons, and types of evidence used. The lesson explicitly teaches similes, metaphors, and analogies as persuasive techniques and asks students to write their own similes/metaphors/analogies on the "Dogs Are Better Pets Than Cats" and "Powers of Persuasion" activity pages. Students practice composing sentences that appeal to logic, emotion, and beliefs, which involves choosing specific words and phrasings to persuade a reader.
Lesson 7
Persuasive Writing
Students are given a vocabulary activity with nine words "defined based on how they are used in the story" and instructed to write a sentence using each word, often relating the sentence to the novel. The lesson text tells students they can use context clues in surrounding sentences or a dictionary to figure out unfamiliar words. In the Word Choice Debate students read an article about replacing the n-word with "slave," gather evidence, and write a persuasive paragraph arguing whether the novel should be changed — requiring them to consider how that specific word choice affects meaning and reader reaction.
Lesson 9
Irony
Students watch videos that define and exemplify verbal, situational, and dramatic irony and take notes in an "Irony Chart" recording examples from the videos. Students identify and categorize examples of irony from Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (cutting and sorting provided examples or finding their own) and create their own original examples of each type. The parent/skills notes explicitly state students will "interpret figures of speech (e.g., verbal irony, puns) in context."
Lesson 10
Figures of Speech
Students read chapters of Huckleberry Finn and complete a table that identifies expressions from the novel and labels their figurative language (e.g., simile, idiom, hyperbole). Students practice with definitions and examples of puns, hyperbole, oxymoron, simile, and idiom on activity pages and produce their own examples. Students color-code and underline different types of figurative language in "Fred's Letter," showing they determine meanings of nonliteral phrases in context and explain how those choices affect understanding.
Lesson 11
Mark Twain's Influence
Students are asked to consider how "Twain's use of plain language and dialect affect the reader" and to interpret Hemingway's quote about Twain, which asks them to analyze author's word choices and their effects. In Activity 2 students take notes on dialect and "make note of any figurative language" in slave narratives and compare that language to the dialects in the novel. The Story Map and Activity 3 require students to identify and use figurative language (irony, puns, oxymoron, idiom, hyperbole), directing attention to how specific figures of speech function in texts.
Lesson 12
The Movie Adaptation
Students are asked to take notes while watching the film, explicitly observing changes the director or actors have made regarding the character, plot, language, setting, or dialect. The prompt tells students to consider why they think these changes were made and to compare how the movie and the novel are similar or different. The lesson highlights that directors may alter scenes, dialogue, or plot and asks students to question those choices.
Final Project
Cultural Biography
Students are asked to identify and create figurative language (Block 2 requires hyperbole, idiom, pun, and simile; the unit test asks students to write a hyperbole, simile, and an idiom). Students must use vocabulary words in sentences on both the cultural biography poster (use 3 vocabulary words in sentences) and the story blocks (write sentences using six vocabulary words). Students select and include quotes from the text on the poster and blocks, which requires attention to specific worded passages.
Unit 5: Elijah of Buxton
Lesson 1
Introduction to the Novel
Students study a vocabulary list with definitions (commence, daft, truck patch, vile, smarting, brogans, flimflam, plaits) and are instructed to illustrate each word on index cards, then have others guess the words. Students answer a comprehension question asking what Elijah's mother means by the term "fra-gile," requiring them to interpret that word as used in the text. The lesson also asks students to explain and identify a flashback in a passage, which engages them with textual phrasing in context.
Lesson 2
The Preacher
Students are asked to reread a Frederick Douglass passage and circle vivid adjectives that make the passage powerful, and to underline and count the verb ("whip/whipped") used most often and consider why it is repeated. The activity asks students to judge whether Douglass's account is persuasive and to identify features (strong, vivid verbs and adjectives, repetition) that make it so. In the "Showing Emotion" task, students must choose effective descriptive adjectives and repeat powerful verbs to show emotion without naming it.
Lesson 3
Creating a Character
The lesson defines an idiom or proverb ("An idiom or a proverb is a saying that expresses something that many people have found to be true over time") and includes a discussion prompt asking students to explain the true meaning of the proverb "familiarity breeds contempt" and give examples. The Parent Plan discussion asks students to interpret Mr. Leroy's spoken lines and explain what he is trying to communicate, requiring students to determine meaning from dialect and phrase choices. The comprehension question about Elijah and Cooter misreading words on the board asks students to identify how a misunderstanding of words changed their interpretation of the teacher's intent.
Lesson 4
Tone and Mood
Students identify the tone Elijah uses in specific events and provide examples of sentences or words that set that tone (chart with events and quoted lines from the text). Students complete activities that ask them to identify words or images that contributed to their mood while reading and to experiment by writing the same scenario using two different tones to show how word choice changes perception. Students are provided lists of tone and mood words and directed to watch a video explaining how word choice communicates attitude and feeling.
Lesson 5
Colorful Language
Students are given explicit definitions of idiom, simile, metaphor, personification, pun, and hyperbole and complete a Figures of Speech activity that asks them to identify those devices in examples from Elijah of Buxton. In Activity 1, students examine precise verbs and sensory language in passages and are asked to explain why the author chose those words. Students also produce their own 6–8 sentence narrative using precise words, descriptive details, and sensory language to practice meaning and effect.
Lesson 6
Symbolism
Students are asked to practice precise language by choosing more specific words (Option 1) and by replacing general words in a children's song with more precise choices (Option 2). Students are prompted to write descriptions that include similes or metaphors and to identify symbolic meanings for items from the text (Liberty Bell, Emma's doll, Mr. Taylor's dagger). The Parent Plan notes that students should consult reference materials (dictionaries, thesauruses) to determine or clarify precise meanings or parts of speech.
Lesson 7
The Importance of Education
Students are asked to read Chapters 13 and 14 and to examine vocabulary words in context on a student activity sheet, writing their own definitions based on sentence-level context. The Parent Plan explicitly lists the skill: "Use context (e.g., the overall meaning of a sentence or paragraph; a word's position or function in a sentence) as a clue to the meaning of a word or phrase." The activity requires students to compare their context-derived definitions to the provided dictionary-style definitions and to categorize vocabulary words.
Lesson 9
Transitions and Humor
The lesson presents a clear list of humor techniques (understatement, hyperbole, comic irony, dialect, satire) and provides labeled examples from Elijah of Buxton for each technique. Students are asked to discuss with a parent why humor is used in a sad story and whether it is appropriate, which prompts consideration of how word choice affects tone. Students must produce a humorous paragraph or mock newscast using at least three of the identified techniques, applying those word-choice strategies in their own writing.
Lesson 10
Allusions and Authors
Students read a clear definition of allusion and multiple literary and biblical examples (Pinocchio, Scrooge, Trojan horse, Romeo, Achilles; Good Samaritan, Garden of Eden, Jonah, Noah). Students are asked to use the Allusions pages and Student Activity Page to examine allusions in Elijah of Buxton and write 2–3 sentences explaining an allusion's origin and connection to the book. Students are given specific source passages (Mark 6:33–44, Joshua 6, Luke 3) and directed questions tying those passages to scenes in the novel (e.g., Liberty Bell, Jericho, feeding of the five thousand).
Final Project
Personal Narrative
Students are asked to define seven vocabulary terms in their own words on the unit test and to use two vocabulary words correctly in their personal narrative, which practices determining word meanings. Students complete a Figures of Speech activity that asks them to label examples (simile, metaphor, personification, etc.) and a question that asks them to identify the allusion in "Garden of Eden" and explain why an author might make an allusion. The rubric and composition instructions require students to use a figure of speech and to create and communicate an effective tone and mood in their writing.
2: Semester 2
Unit 1: The House of the Scorpion
Lesson 2
Revising and Editing
Students study a list of vocabulary words with definitions (disconsolately, caches, furtively, harangued, servile, rite, malevolence) and are asked to learn their meanings. Students choose active practice options: they may pose a toy to represent each word (Option 1) or write analogies comparing each vocabulary word to synonyms/antonyms and create analogy pairs (Option 2, with example: gladly is to happily AS disconsolately is to sadly). Students are also directed to use strategies to determine or clarify unknown and multiple-meaning words and to acquire grade-appropriate academic and domain-specific words.
Lesson 4
Rhetorical and Logical Fallacies
Students read a persuasive essay ("Human Cloning") and are directed to locate and underline specific types of language identified as fallacies, including loaded terms (connotative words), caricatures, leading questions, false assumptions, and incorrect premises. The teacher key highlights specific loaded phrases and labels them (e.g., "the most serious threat known to mankind," "Stop this horrifying use of technology today!") so students practice identifying connotative word choice and its persuasive effect. Students also create advertisements that require them to purposefully employ at least three rhetorical or logical fallacies, thereby practicing how particular word choices influence meaning and tone in persuasive texts.
Lesson 5
Arguing the Issue
Students read two persuasive essays about cloning and use the "Arguing the Issue" activity page to record each author's main arguments and to "record any logical or rhetorical fallacies" they find. The materials explicitly list fallacy types including "Loaded Terms" and the teacher/answer guide highlights specific loaded phrases from the articles (e.g., "eliminate a false killer," "live forever," "cloning is a form of slavery"). Activity 2 has students practice producing and recognizing fallacies (including loaded terms) by pairing argument cards with fallacy cards.
Lesson 6
Societal Comparisons
The Parent Plan asks students to explain why the author described the pact as "a pact made in hell," which prompts interpretation of a figurative phrase. The Parent Plan also asks students to decide whether Matt "has a soul" and to justify their thinking, which asks students to interpret a loaded/connotative term in context. Activities ask students to identify the warning the book offers and to connect the book's history of Opium to current-day issues, which brings attention to authorial word choices that convey tone and implication.
Lesson 7
One-Act Play
Students are asked to analyze the name Esperanza (noted as meaning 'hope') and explain why the author chose it, which requires them to consider connotative meaning and thematic implications. Students are instructed to consider mood and to use dialogue and specific words to invoke emotions when adapting scenes into a one-act play, prompting them to think about how word choices influence tone. Students practice selecting dialogue and stage directions that communicate character, conflict, and emotional effect to an audience.
Lesson 8
Family Crest
The lesson requires students to find each vocabulary word in a dictionary, record the part of speech, and use the sentences from the book to determine which definition applies. The Parent Plan and Skills sections direct students to consult reference materials and to verify preliminary determinations of meaning by checking context or a dictionary. Students are asked to create index cards with definitions and then practice each word by writing an original sentence or drawing an illustration that captures the word's meaning.
Lesson 11
Wisdom and Love
Students examine specific excerpts (Celia's rituals, lullaby, and imagery of the Virgin of Guadalupe) and are asked to identify the religious symbols and messages Celia communicates to Matt. Students are prompted to reflect in a journal on how Tam Lin's quoted sayings shaped Matt, which requires interpreting figurative or moral language. The Parent Plan skills statement explicitly asks students to analyze how a modern work of fiction draws on themes or character types from religious works, which relates to recognizing allusions.
Lesson 13
Unit Test and Essay Reflections
Students are asked to define four words from a provided list (disconsolately, furtively, harangued, rite, welter, creosote, aristocrat, purgatory, brine) in their own words on a Student Activity Page, requiring them to determine word meanings. Students also answer vocabulary questions embedded in short-answer items (e.g., effects of eating rancid food) that require selecting appropriate word meanings from context. Additionally, students evaluate their own persuasive essays for rhetorical techniques and logical fallacies (ethos, kairos, pathos; loaded terms, caricature, etc.), which involves attending to word choice in argumentative writing.
Unit 2: Watership Down
Lesson 1
Preparing to Read
Students use sentences drawn from Watership Down to select the definition and part of speech that best fits each vocabulary word (e.g., culvert, warren, buoyant, rank, down). Students record a word's definition, an alternate definition, part of speech, a synonym, and the word in a sentence on a vocabulary cube. Students practice recall and contextual matching by rolling cubes and identifying words from definitions, synonyms, parts of speech, or usages in sentences.
Lesson 2
Foreshadowing
Students read passages labeled for Foreshadowing and Symbolism that include strong figurative imagery (e.g., a field covered with blood, a black river) and are asked to describe what is being foreshadowed and what symbols stand for. Students collect and record character quotes on character cards and in the provided character-analysis sheets, which requires attention to specific phrases spoken by characters. The activities ask students to identify clues (e.g., objects, music, lines of dialogue) that foreshadow events in film or children's literature, prompting attention to particular words and images used to signal meaning.
Lesson 3
An Epic Journey
Students are directed to use the Lapine Glossary at the back of Watership Down and a provided list of English words borrowed from other languages to write several sentences or a short poem using at least 10 borrowed or Lapine words. The lesson calls out the example of "Hruddud" as onomatopoeic, explicitly linking sound to meaning. The Parent Plan skills list includes "Identify common words or word parts from other languages that are used in written English," and students are asked to underline the borrowed or Lapine words they use.
Lesson 4
Comparing Rabbits
The lesson includes a dedicated "Latin Roots, Prefixes, and Suffixes" activity that asks students to write definitions for italicized words based on roots, prefixes, suffixes, and sentence context (e.g., words like "indolence," "latitude," "precipitous," "prudence," and "inducement"). The parent notes and answer key explain connotative senses for several words (e.g., "indolent" as laziness, "plausible" with persuasive connotation), showing attention to nuanced meanings. Discussion questions prompt students to interpret a simile (Pipkin's comparison to "trees in November") and to consider why different groups react differently to the El-ahrairah story, which asks students to analyze analogy/allusion and its effect on understanding characters and tone.
Lesson 5
Quotes and Creatures
The Parent Plan Skills section explicitly lists the target skill of determining the meaning of words and phrases and analyzing the impact of word choices, including allusions. In Activity 1, students are instructed to research the quoted works, record cultural/time period and themes, and "explain how the quote relates to the events and theme of the chapter of Watership Down," which asks them to analyze allusions and their effect on meaning and theme. The Discussion prompts ask students to explain Holly's comment about "men" and to consider the author's commentary, which requires students to interpret the meaning and tone of specific quoted language.
Lesson 6
Dramatic Irony
Students are prompted to use Latin and Greek roots, prefixes, and suffixes along with sentence context to hypothesize word meanings and then look up dictionary definitions (Activity 1 and the "Latin Roots and Affixes" worksheet). The Parent Plan Skills explicitly instruct students to "Use common, grade-appropriate Greek or Latin affixes and roots as clues to the meaning of a word." Students are asked to explain what the reader knows, what the characters believe, and the effect on the reader for passages demonstrating dramatic irony, which requires analyzing how narrative perspective affects reader response.
Lesson 7
Rabbit Societies
Students are asked to read passages and write a definition of italicized words from context, then look up and record two dictionary definitions and star the one that matches the passage (Multiple Meaning Vocabulary activity). The Parent Plan lists skills students will use: use context clues, consult general and specialized reference materials, and verify inferred meanings in context or in a dictionary. A discussion question asks students to analyze the narrator's use of comparisons (e.g., comparing Hazel's feeling to a batsman's game) and to explain the effect of those comparisons on meaning and tone.
Lesson 9
Characters
Students read Chapters 32–34 and are instructed to create mental images and an illustration that relate to the text. Students complete a "Denotations and Connotations" activity page in which they read passages and compare paired words (e.g., run/bolt, strange/marvelous, wild/savage), writing the different connotative senses next to each italicized word. Students are given definitions of denotation and connotation and asked to write and discuss the associations of words with similar literal meanings.
Lesson 10
Setting
The parent skills list explicitly tells students to "use common word origins to determine the historical influences on English word meanings," which requires students to determine word meaning from etymology. In the Venn-diagram and artwork options, students must write 2–4 sentence reflections explaining how details of physical spaces give clues about the kinds of places they are, which asks students to interpret descriptive language in context. Students are also assigned to read chapters and develop 3–5 big-idea discussion questions, which could prompt close consideration of language in the text.
Lesson 12
Dramatic Enactment
Students play the Root Charade activity where they act out seven Latin roots and must name an English word that uses that root, practicing using roots to determine word meanings. The Parent Plan and Things to Think About explicitly direct students to use knowledge of word parts (Greek/Latin affixes and roots) as clues to the meanings of unfamiliar words. The reading and discussion questions ask students to give examples from the text (e.g., humor from differing perspectives and the quoted passage about Woundwort) that could prompt consideration of author choices.
Lesson 13
A Fantasy Story
Students are asked to explain the difference between denotation and connotation in the unit test and study guide, and the answer key defines those terms. Students create flash cards for Latin roots, prefixes, and suffixes and answer items linking English words (e.g., undulate, condolence) to their Latin roots, which targets technical/etymological meanings. The rubric and parent guidance ask students to notice and use "strong, specific words" and to read the sample story noting how it uses word choice and dialogue, and the lesson explicitly defines the technical literary term deus ex machina.
Unit 3: The Book Thief
Lesson 1
The Author and Narrator
Students read the Prologue and Part One and answer questions that identify the narrator and the colors Death associates with Liesel, linking word/image choices to meaning. Students practice figurative language by identifying and creating examples of personification (listing three abstract things to personify and describing their effect). Students analyze color imagery and tone by selecting two colors to symbolize a personal event, creating a collage, and writing three sentences that use those colors to explain their feelings. Students are directed to read an author interview about figurative language and to explore similes and metaphors in upcoming work.
Lesson 2
Similes and Metaphors
Students are asked to look up six vocabulary words in context, write definitions in their own words, and create a mini picture dictionary (Symbolizing Vocabulary activity and Parent Plan skills). The Similes and Metaphors activity has students identify the two things being compared, label items as similes or metaphors, choose quotes and explain why they are effective, and write their own figurative language. The lesson includes an explicit modeled analysis of figurative phrases (e.g., explaining how "ruptured veins" and "like driftwood" convey violence and lifelessness), showing attention to how specific word choices affect meaning and tone.
Lesson 3
Burning Books
Students research and define historical and technical terms from the text (e.g., Kommunist, Aryan, Mein Kampf, anti-Semitism, and the "yellow stars") by completing the Historical References activity page and using the linked sources. Students identify and explain the meaning of those references in context (for example, why Nazis disliked Communists and what the yellow stars signified). In the Propaganda activity, students analyze selected Nazi posters, identify target groups and goals, and describe what makes the posters effective, including how words, fonts, colors, and images are used to stir emotions or patriotism.
Lesson 4
The Value of Books
Students are asked to mark and record examples of effective images and figurative language from the text and to find sensory examples for sight, hearing, touch, taste, and smell. The lesson provides explicit examples of similes and vivid adjectives (e.g., "The sky was murky and deep like quicksand," "the foul taste of his own hungry breath," "The Cologne sky was yellow and rotting") and prompts students to consider what made those phrases effective. In the Five Senses Writing activity, students practice choosing descriptive words, using similes, and revising adjectives (with a thesaurus) to shape tone and imagery.
Lesson 5
The Accordion Player
The Parent Plan explicitly lists the standard about determining word and phrase meanings and analyzing the impact of word choices. The "Be Specific" section explains denotation vs. connotation and gives paired verb examples (stroll, trudge, stomp) and figurative phrases ("the conversation of bullets", "clumsy silence") for discussion. Student activities ask learners to discuss why unusual word combinations are memorable and to revise underlined words/phrases to be more specific and descriptive. The activity pages require students to improve wording, choose more precise words, and explain how word choice affects image and tone.
Lesson 6
The Standover Man
Students are asked why Max draws himself as a bird, which requires them to interpret the simile 'His hair is like feathers.' Students are prompted to discuss how the meaning of 'standover man' changes from the beginning to the end of Max's book, which asks them to analyze a figurative phrase and its shifting meaning in context. Students are asked to record examples of propaganda (including mention of Mein Kampf), directing attention to specific charged words and references in the text.
Lesson 8
The Thief Strikes Again
The Parent Plan explicitly lists the skill: "Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, including figurative and connotative meanings; analyze the impact of specific word choices on meaning and tone." The "Making the Ordinary Extraordinary" activity provides three examples of figurative language from the text and asks students to write descriptions (using similes or metaphors) in the narrator's voice. The "Ideas to Think About" prompt asks students to consider how writers use figurative language and word choice to create tone and emotionally engage the reader.
Lesson 9
Close Calls
Activity 1 directs students to identify and record examples of personification, simile, metaphor, and onomatopoeia from Part Six, and the Student Activity Page requires students to find multiple examples of each type. The "Things to Know" section defines figurative language, and the Painting Sentences activity has students revise and expand sentences to make word choices more descriptive. The Parent Plan explicitly lists the target skill of determining meanings of words and phrases (including figurative and connotative meanings) and analyzing the impact of word choices on meaning and tone.
Lesson 10
The Trilogy of Happiness
Students are asked to interpret Max's phrase that the stars "burned" or "set fire to [his] eyes" (Question 4), prompting them to determine possible figurative meanings. The War Journalism activity asks students how correspondents brought vivid descriptions to readers and asks for examples of Ernie Pyle's "living pictures," which requires students to analyze word choice and descriptive language. The Parent Plan directs students to record examples of propaganda language (e.g., soldiers calling a march a "parade," references to "the Führer in their eyes," Liesel saying "heil Hitler"), highlighting how word choices affect meaning and perception.
Lesson 11
The Word Shaker
The Skills and Parent Plan sections explicitly state that students will determine meanings of words and phrases including figurative and connotative meanings and analyze the impact of specific word choices on meaning and tone. Activity 2 directs students to find 2–3 examples of effective adverbs, adjectives, and verbs and to explain why one example in each category is effective, requiring analysis of word choice and connotation. The allegory questions (e.g., interpreting what Hitler is 'planting,' the conveyor-belt scene, and the role of 'word shakers') ask students to determine figurative meaning and analyze how those choices affect meaning and tone.
Lesson 12
The Teddy Bear
Students are prompted to notice and record instances of figurative language (personification, simile, metaphor, onomatopoeia, allegory, and symbolism) as they read, and the lesson asks: "How do good writers use figurative language and word choice to create tone and to emotionally engage the reader?" Students are also asked to explain what Death means when he says, "No person was able to serve the Führer as loyally as me," which requires interpreting a specific phrase in context. The note that collected figurative language "will come in handy for your final project" signals that students will gather textual examples for later analysis.
Final Project
Think-Tac-Toe
Students are asked to locate and jot down instances of figurative language (personification, simile, metaphor, onomatopoeia, allegory, symbolism) from the text and to identify and illustrate chosen figurative examples. Students define figurative devices and provide book examples (Teaching Figuratively), transform literal sentences into figurative ones and explain the changes, and revise descriptive paragraphs emphasizing strong verbs, adjectives, and figurative language. Students also analyze propaganda posters for emotions and message, which requires evaluating how words and images create tone and affect meaning.
Unit 4: To Kill a Mockingbird
Lesson 1
Historical Context
Students are prompted to interpret figurative phrases in discussion questions, for example explaining what Atticus means by "other ways of making people into ghosts" and interpreting "Until I feared I would lose it, I never loved to read." Students read and answer comprehension questions about the first two chapters, engaging with quoted lines from the text. Students also practice identifying phrases and clauses in sentences from the novel, marking dependent and independent clauses and different phrase types.
Lesson 2
Home and School
Students are given a Student Activity Page that asks them to determine the meaning of highlighted words from passages and then verify those meanings with a dictionary. A vocabulary list and review directions provide definitions for key words (assuaged, predilection, sojourn, disapprobation, asinine, etc.). The Parent Plan notes that students should cite textual evidence, which supports locating words in context and connecting meanings to text passages.
Lesson 3
The Mystery of Boo
Students are asked to interpret Miss Maudie's figurative remark about the Bible and a whiskey bottle (discussion question in the Parent Plan), which requires explaining its meaning and example. The Student Activity Page and 'Things to Review' direct students to identify and review the meaning of the term "hearsay," and to classify items as hearsay versus personal experience using text details from chapters 1 and 5. Students answer comprehension questions that require citing text details about Boo Radley and the children's actions.
Lesson 4
Snow and Fire
Students are asked to include at least one quotation from Chapters 8–9 and explain the meaning and importance of that quotation in a literature response. Students complete a Character Line-Up chart that requires recording "Quotes of or about the character" and "Memorable descriptions" from the text. Discussion prompts ask students to explain why Atticus does not want Scout to use the "n" word and to recognize its derogatory historical associations and disrespectful connotations.
Lesson 7
A Moral Dilemma
Students are given a targeted vocabulary list with definitions (e.g., elucidate, amiably, mollified, volition, indicted) and example sentences drawn from To Kill a Mockingbird. Students are asked to complete a Student Activity Page that includes space to write their own sentences using each vocabulary word. The Parent Plan reiterates the skill goal that students should determine word meanings and use the words correctly, and asks parents to review the student sentences.
Lesson 9
Order in the Court
The Parent Plan explicitly lists the skill to "Determine the meaning of words and phrases...including...technical meanings" and directs the student to learn definitions of legal terms using the handout "Order in the Court." Students watch a courtroom video, read the "Order in the Court" page, and then complete the "The Trial" fill-in and sequencing activities that require them to apply courtroom vocabulary to Tom Robinson's trial. The "Things to Know" and activity instructions emphasize learning and using legal terminology (defendant, prosecution, jury, cross-examine, verdict, sentencing).
Lesson 10
Equal Rights?
Students read explicit definitions and historical examples that address word meaning: the lesson defines "Jim Crow" as a negative slang term and presents primary-source Jim Crow law excerpts for students to read. Students are asked to consider the phrase "separate, but equal" in the discussion prompts. Students create a found poem using words and phrases taken directly from the Jim Crow law texts, which requires selecting words for effect.
Lesson 11
The Mockingbird
Students are asked to identify and explain the mockingbird as a symbol ("A symbol is a concrete object used to represent an abstract idea") and to find examples of innocence being threatened or destroyed in the text. Students read and note Mr. Underwood's editorial that likens Tom Robinson's death to the "senseless slaughter of songbirds," which presents an explicit metaphor. Students are asked to consider Scout's comparison of Hitler's treatment of Jews to the treatment of African-Americans, which asks them to recognize and reflect on an analogy/allusion.
Lesson 12
Wise Words
Students are asked in Activity 1 to choose five quotes from To Kill a Mockingbird and "explain each quote in your own words," with an explicit example paraphrasing Miss Maudie's mockingbird line. The quoted list includes figurative lines (e.g., Atticus's "Until you climb inside of his skin and walk around in it") that students must interpret. The Parent Plan reiterates that students will analyze multiple quotes and produce written rewordings and an artistic display of one memorized quote.
Lesson 13
Text and Film
Students are asked to explain the meaning of the mockingbird symbol and interpret Scout's line, "It would be like killing a mockingbird," which asks them to derive figurative meaning from a phrase. Students read chapters 29–31 and answer plot questions that require comprehension of worded events and motivations (for example, why Sheriff Tate concocted a story). Students are asked to write a summary sentence for a film poster and to write dialogue and stage directions for a deleted scene, which require choosing words and phrases to convey meaning and tone.
Final Project
Oral Book Presentation
Students study a vocabulary list with definitions and complete a vocabulary matching activity, showing direct work with word meanings. Students are asked to paraphrase an underlined sentence from a passage and to choose and explain a powerful quotation, which requires interpreting words and phrases in context. The study guide and test prompts ask students to summarize passages and explain symbols, practices that involve extracting meaning from text.
Unit 5: Great American Poets
Lesson 1
Poetry Basics
Students compare two descriptive passages and explain which specific words and a simile make Frost's version more effective, showing direct practice analyzing word choice and figurative meaning. Students transform plain prose into poetic lines, choosing words to create imagery and evoke feeling, and they use devices like alliteration and onomatopoeia to alter tone. Active-reading tasks require students to annotate poems for figurative language, circle unfamiliar words and record definitions, and underline phrases that create vivid images or feelings. Vocabulary pages ask students to identify assonance, mark stressed syllables, and determine rhyme schemes, reinforcing analysis of sound and word effects.
Lesson 2
Early American Poetry
Students look up synonyms for key words (e.g., examining "acquainted" in Frost's "Acquainted with the Night") and judge which alternatives preserve meaning and tone. The Word Choice activity has students list synonyms for Whitman's "noiseless" and select which fit the poem's title. The lesson asks students to consider how word sound, length, alliteration, and rhythm affect a poem, and students compare Longfellow's word choices to a factual account to note differences in figurative language and tone.
Lesson 3
Figurative Language
Students are asked to identify and compare metaphors and similes (e.g., comparing "Hope is the thing with feathers" vs. "There is no frigate like a book") and to locate examples of personification and other figurative devices in specific poem stanzas. Students are prompted to explain how imagery is effective and to note which senses are appealed to in passages such as the excerpt from "Paul Revere's Ride." Students are also instructed to use a dictionary for unfamiliar words and to write their own lines and poems using simile, metaphor, personification, and imagery.
Lesson 4
Poetic Forms
Students are asked to identify and mark the pattern of unstressed and stressed syllables and determine whether a poem uses iambic pentameter (Question 1), which teaches the technical meaning of meter. Students read definitions of poetic terms (iambic pentameter, blank verse, sonnet, haiku, limerick) in the "Things to Know" and apply those technical meanings when classifying poems. Students analyze Longfellow's "The Sound of the Sea" for qualities of lyric poetry and consider how the poem"s narration and imagery stir emotion, which engages with how language creates tone and feeling.
Lesson 5
Edgar Allan Poe
Students analyze meaning and tone in Question #1 by identifying the irony and interpreting imagery in Poe's "Alone" (e.g., the sun imagery versus the final demon cloud). Students determine mood and emotional effect in Question #2 by rereading stanzas and recording feelings such as shock, horror, or dread. Students analyze poetic sound and structure in Question #3 by marking end rhyme and describing internal rhyme patterns, and in Option 1 students record lines from Poe's poems that demonstrate his focus on beauty and write a brief definition of poetry.
Lesson 6
Meaning in Poetry
The lesson defines denotation and connotation and teaches students to identify literal versus symbolic (figurative) meanings, directing them to analyze similes, metaphors, personification, and allusions (e.g., the "To Helen" allusion to Helen of Troy). Guided questions and answers ask students to analyze how specific words create mood and tone (Melville's use of "horror," "crashing," etc., and Holmes's imagery and exclamation points creating urgency). Activity prompts require students to summarize literal meaning and infer symbolic meaning (for "O Captain! My Captain!" and other poems) and to look up unfamiliar words, supporting practice with figurative and connotative meanings.
Lesson 7
Poetry Analysis
The Parent Plan skills explicitly list determining the meaning of words and phrases including figurative and connotative meanings and analyzing the impact of word choices, matching the standard language. The Poem Analysis activity asks students to identify figurative language (Part II), analyze imagery (Part III), state tone and mood (Part IV), and explain literal versus symbolic meanings (Part V). The unit also asks students to analyze idioms, analogies, metaphors, and similes and includes a discussion prompt about the allusion in "The New Colossus." Vocabulary activities require students to define and give examples for terms such as tone, personification, and iambic pentameter, reinforcing word-meaning work.
Lesson 8
Robert Frost
Students identify and analyze figurative language and imagery (they are asked to find effective images in "After Apple-Picking," note similes/metaphors in "Birches," and explain the symbolic meaning of "The Road Not Taken"). Students analyze the effect of punctuation choices on tone by examining hyphens and dashes (they are asked to explain how specific dashes create dramatic pauses and emphasis, including in Emily Dickinson's poem). Students also make analogies between a poem and visual art by comparing Gertrude Stein's "Susie Asado" to Cubist paintings.
Lesson 9
Memorizing Poetry
Students are asked to look up the reference to "Euclid" (Q2) and to reread and interpret that poem, which requires identifying a technical/allusive reference. In Q3 students are prompted to consider the made-up word "Gubbinal" (and the slang "gubbin") and to explain how applying that connotation changes their understanding of the narrator. Activity 1 instructs students to look up any unfamiliar words before memorizing a poem, and the headline-poem activity has students select words deliberately, encouraging attention to word choice.
Lesson 10
Poems about Poetry
Students are asked to look up key words, underline striking phrases and images, and answer interpretive questions about lines and stanzas in "Poetry" and "Ars Poetica," which requires determining word and phrase meanings in context. Activity 3 prompts students to replace dashes with ellipses and explain whether the change affects meaning or tone, which has them analyze how punctuation and specific choices influence tone. Reading questions ask students to infer adjectives for Prufrock and to explain the irony of the poem's title, requiring analysis of connotation and the effect of word/phrase choices.
Lesson 11
Editing Your Work
Students are asked in Question 2 to look up the word "deferred" and then reread "Dream Deferred," requiring them to determine a word's meaning in context and interpret the poem's final line. Question 1 asks students to analyze E.E. Cummings's capitalization choices and discuss the effect, prompting analysis of how specific typographic/word choices affect emphasis and tone. Activity 2 directs students to improve a poem's imagery and use of figurative language, which engages them in revising and interpreting figurative meanings.
Lesson 12
Reciting Poetry
Students read multiple contemporary poems (links to Ginsberg, Ferlinghetti, Hayden, Glück, etc.) and answer questions that ask them to interpret setting and tone (e.g., why Ginsberg's supermarket meeting with Whitman is an odd way to honor him). Students are asked to write a poem using figurative language (personification, idioms, hyperbole) and to brainstorm sensory details to shape meaning. A link description explicitly notes an allusion in "A Fable," and students are prompted to compare poems and describe what poets are communicating about family relationships.
Final Project
Poetry Journal
Students are asked to identify and analyze figurative language (e.g., questions that ask students to identify a figurative device in a line from "The Raven" and multiple items about personification, alliteration, idiom, etc.). The unit test and activities require students to explain denotation versus connotation (Part IV question 14) and to describe the mood created by a poem (questions 10–13), which asks them to interpret how language produces emotional effect. The Parent Plan and skills list explicitly state that students will analyze idioms, analogies, metaphors, and similes to infer literal and figurative meanings.