Literature Goals

Students will read at increasing levels of complexity for a variety of purposes.

Students will use various processes and strategies to read independently at increasing levels of complex.

Students will read independently at increasing levels of complexity for a variety of purposes.

Literature Objectives

 The Student will:

	use various reading cues/strategies to comprehend text. (example: context, semantic, syntactic, and graphophonic cues)
	evaluate the patterns of organization, literary elements, and literary devices within various texts.
	interpret and respond to a diversity of works representative of a variety of cultures and time periods.
	describe setting, plot, characterization, and theme or conflict in various literary texts.
	describe how authors use characters, point-of-view, and tone to create meaning.use specific cues/strategies to make connections with, predict meaning of, and comprehend information within text.
	determine when a specific cue or strategy can be used most effectively to read for comprehension.
	use prior knowledge and experience to interpret and construct meaning from various texts.
	examine various literary works to understand how authors present different perspectives.
	compare and contrast a variety of literary works to confirm or refute personal interpretations.
	use personal criteria to defend the choice of independent reading materials.
	select and use suitable information sources for a variety of purposes. (examples: Internet, CD-ROM, Print and video materials, and library)
	analyze the validity and/or appropriateness of various technical and practical materials.
	collect and summarize information to make reasonable and informed decisions.
	compare and contrast various organizational techniques authors use to create reader interest (example: sequence, cause/effect)
	explain literary elements and/or devices used in various texts. (example: plot, setting, and character)
	describe the effects authors create by using a combination of literary elements and devices (example: theme, imagery, point-of-view/anecdote)

7^th Grade Reading Standards

The Student will:

1. make predictions about the information or message that may be found in various texts.

2. use direct and implied meaning to interpret materials read.

3. infer word meanings through the use of context clues.  (Example: Antonyms, homonyms, analogies)

4. describe connections between historical, and cultural influences and literary selections

5. recognize the origins and meanings of foreign words.

6. compare and contrast information about one topic contained in different selections.

7. describe how word choice and language structure convey an author’s viewpoint in newspaper and magazine articles and critical reviews.

8. describe how authors use characters, point-of-view, and tone to create meaning.

9. describe setting, plot, characterization, and theme or conflict in various literary texts.

10. describe how prior knowledge may affect understanding or new knowledge.

11. connect the content and ideas in a specific text to other topics and related content areas.

12. use organizational patterns and structures to comprehend meaning of text.

13. describe the effect of specific word choices in text. (example: jargon, dialect, sensory or figurative language)

14. determine the relationship between expressed purposes and characteristics of different forms of poetry. (example: lyric, epic.elegy.ode, sonnet)

15. analyze a variety of contemporary and classic works. (example: fiction, poetry, prose, drama, non-fiction)

16. describe how the text is the expression of an author’s thoughts interpreted through the reader’s prior knowledge.

17. justify the selection of various reading materials for enjoyment or information.

18. analyze the quality of literary works according to established criteria (example: interest, noteworthy author, theme/relevance)

19. describe bias, stereotyping, and propaganda techniques found in expository text.

20. synthesize information to apply in decision-making or task completion.

21. use available technology to gather, organize, and retrieve information. (example: print resources, CD-Rom, Internet)

8^th Grade Reading Standards

The Student will:

Instructional Strategies

    Accelerated Reader for reading comprehension and vocabulary

  Novel Units-vary from year to year

  Trade books with group discussions and reading response activities

  Vocabulary building activities using all disciplines

  Guided reading

  Oral reading

  Functional reading activities

  Multimedia (audio, video, computer software, Internet)

Instructional Resources 

Accelerated Reader

Various reading resource texts

7th Grade Novel Units: On My Honor by Marion Dane Bauer Holes by Louis Sachar  Dunc’s Halloween by Gary Paulsen The River by Gary Paulsen Brian’s winter by Gary Paulsen Esperanza Rising by Pam Munoz Ryan Kunu: Escape on the Missouri by Kenneth Thomasma

8th Grade Novel Units T he Cay by Theodore Taylor Two Old Women by Velma Wallis The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton The Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens Across Five Aprils by Irene Hunt

Additional Novel Units Canyons by Gary Paulsen Shadow of a Bull by Maia Wojciechowska Hello Mrs. Piggle-wiggle by Betty MacDonald Homecoming by Cynthia Voight Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson Dragonwings by Laurence Yep The Face on the Milk Carton by Caroline B. Cooney The Other Side of Dark by Joan Lowery Nixon Julie of the Wolves by Jean Craighead George The Upstairs Room by  Johanna Reiss The Foxman by Gary Paulsen The Story Catcher by Mari Sandoz

Assessment Tools

    Star Reading Test

  Accelerated Reader Quizzes

  Reading assessments from resource texts

  Rubrics for Novel Units

  State Standardized Tests

Glossary of Reading/Literature Terms

Author: The Person who writes a short story, play, poem, article, or book.

Autobiography: An Autobiography is a written account of a person’s life written by that person.

Biography: A biography is a written account of a person’s life.

Cause and Effect: A cause is something that makes another thing happen.  What happens is called the effect.

Characters: In fiction, characters are the people the author creates.  In nonfiction, they are real people.

Characterization: The way the author presents characters.

Compare and Contrast: Comparison involves identifying how things are alike. Contrast involves noting how they are different.

Conflict: Conflict in literature is a struggle between opposing forces.  In some cases the conflict is between a   character and an outside force. (Person against person), Or the conflict may between a character and another character or group (person against person).  Internal conflicts are within the mind of one character (person against self).  There is also conflict between the character and society (person against society).

Context clues: all the language cues that exist on the printed page; effective use of context clues depends on an understanding of how language works and on the reader’s background, prior knowledge, and experience as related to text; the environment of a word, or words, sentences and paragraphs which surround a particular word and help deepen or create meaning

Dialogue: Dialogue is the conversation, or exact words the characters say in a story or play.

Drama: Drama is literature written in play form.  Drama is meant to be performed in front of an audience rather than simply read.

Fiction: Fiction is a made up story.

Figurative Language: uses words in a special way to give added meaning. 

Forms of Literature: Poetry, short stories, novel, play, creative essays, screenplays, etc.

Inferences: is a conclusion or guess based on the information presented.

Irony: is a contrast, or difference, between what is said and what is really meant. 

Literary elements: Character, plot, setting, theme, style, and point-of-view.

Literary devices:  Ways authors use words, phrases and expressions to create special emotional or connotative meaning. (example: allusion, metaphor, symbolism)

Literary form:  The formal structure or organization of the parts of literacy or other artistic work that unifies them and determines their total effect; the configuration of a language form

Main idea and supporting details-: A main idea is an important point in a paragraph, story or selection.  A main idea is supported by details or facts, which explain or tell about it. 

Plot: is the sequence of events in a story or play.

Poetry: a type of literature that uses language chosen for its sound and its ability to express and evoke emotion. Poetry may be rhymed or unrhymed.

Prior Knowledge:  The background information the learner already has about a topic or subject which influences and supports comprehension; the knowledge structures the learner brings to the new learning experiences.

Reading Process:  The reading process usually refers to the proficient silent reading model which includes the components of predicting, confirming, rereading, rethinking, and integration (the construction of meaning); the process of constructing meaning through the dynamic interaction among the reader’s knowledge, the author’s intent and the context of the reading situation.

Semantic Cues:  Cues provided by the meaning of other words in the same or nearby sentences; meaning cues used as learners bring prior knowledge to communication.

Sequence: is the order in which events occur.

Setting:  is the time, place, and general environment of a story.

Symbol: A symbol in literature is something, which has meaning in itself and yet stands for something else.

Text: Not solely textbooks, but all written materials.

Theme:  Theme is an important idea of truth about life expressed or implied in a work of literature.  The theme of a work is the author’s comment on life or message to the reader.