Reading Informational Text and Writing

CCSS ELA Alignment

6th-8th Grade

CCSS

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.6-8.1*

Cite evidence from the text that supports explicit and inferential text analysis.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.6-8.6*

Use technology, including the Internet, to produce and publish writing and present the relationships between information and ideas efficiently as well as to interact and collaborate with others.

Lesson Plan Suggestions:

  • :
  • Read or  the original or  article.
  • Read the questions in the , then reread/ the article.
  • Note which paragraph contains each answer.
  • Take the  with a partner.
  • Challenge each other to use evidence to support your answers. Cite evidence from the text orally, “The answer is __ because the author states, “...”.
  • Check your answers. If incorrect, go back and reread the paragraphs you noted with your partner.
  • Retake the quiz switching turns, so you each have the opportunity to answer each question.

  • Three Types of Questions with Evidence:
  • Read or  the original or  article.
  • What do you wonder about the article? Write 2-3 questions about what you read.
  • Reread the text and check for answers.
  • “Right there” questions: Some of your questions may be able to be answered by rereading, you may have just missed it the first time. This means the answer is written in the article. Try reading the  version if you are having trouble. Include a quote as evidence of your answer.
  • “Think and Search” questions: Some of your questions may require you to interpret and think more deeply about what the article is saying, then you can make a logical guess, based on the information that is available. This is called an inference. Use a quote to supply evidence of the facts your inference was based in.
  • “On your own” questions: Some of your questions may require further research or for you to think about your feelings and thoughts. (For an example of this type of question, read the .) Use the text as evidence when you share your answer. Even though your answer may not come from the text, refer to a sentence that led you to your thinking.
  • Post one of your ‘Think and Search’ or ‘On your Own’ questions in the comments of the article.
  • Check back a few days later to see if any fellow DOGO-ers have answered! If so, respond to them with your own ideas and evidence from the text.

  • :
  • Read or  the original or  article.
  • Read the .
  • Think about what the question is asking. Look up any unknown words.
  • Reread/listen to the article.
  • Use the text as evidence when you share your answer. Even though your answer may not come from the text, refer to a sentence that led you to your thinking.
  • According to the text, “...”
  • The author said, “...”
  • Record your answer to the question in complete sentences.
  • Use the question stem to write an introductory sentence.
  • Add 2-3 details and facts, remember to refer to the article.
  • Use evidence, like quotes from the article, the video or other sources.
  • Try to use some of the vocabulary from the article or other words related to the content.
  • Write a concluding statement that summarizes your idea.

CCSS

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.6-8.7*

Consider the implications of reading or viewing, in order to gain information and how each type of media portrays the information.

Lesson Plan Suggestions:

  • Read or  the original or  article.
  • Watch the accompanying video.
  • Read the , think about the question words. What information and language will your answer include? For example, to answer a ‘why’ question, your answer will include a conjunction, like  ‘because’ or ‘so’ to explain the cause and effect.
  • Then, reread/listen to the article.
  • Stop and answer each question. Note which source you used to locate the information, the article or the video, or both! Cite your evidence to its source.
  • In the video, I saw/heard…
  • The article states, “...”
  • If the information was in both sources, note this.
  • Check your answers with a partner. If you disagree, go back and reread,  the article or rewatch the video. Work together to find the right answer, using your sources.

  • Text Search
  • Read or  the original or  article.
  • Think: What do you still wonder about the topic? What do you want to learn more about?
  • Choose a few words from the title that describe what the text is all about.
  • Type these words into the search bar.
  • Find a different article about the same topic, if possible.
  • Read or  the original or simplified version of the new article.
  • Did it answer your question(s)? If not, did you learn anything new?
  • Write a few sentences describing your knowledge about the topic, using evidence from both articles.

  • Reading or Viewing?
  • Read or  the original or  article.
  • Watch the accompanying video.
  • Make a T-chart with the title of the article on one side and the video on the other.
  • Consider different elements of each of the sources. Record your answers to the questions below in the T-chart.
  • Who is the audience?
  • The article was written by DOGO news. Who created or sponsored the video?
  • What visuals are included? Do they improve understanding? How?
  • Think about the tone. Is it formal or informal? Does this affect understanding? How?
  • Record any other information is important to note about the two sources.
  • Write a few sentences summarizing your findings. Which source is best? Why? In what contexts?

CCSS

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.6-8.2*

Determine the central idea(s) of a text and explain their development through supporting details in a summary.

Lesson Plan Suggestions:

  • Finding the Central Idea
  • Read or  the original or  article.
  • If you chose the original version, next read the  version of the article. This version will also include the central ideas and supporting details of the text. Pay attention to what is included, this will help you find the central ideas.
  • Read the article paragraph by paragraph.
  • After each paragraph, pause and consider what you learned.
  • Who or what is the paragraph about? What is the subject? (Your answer should be a noun: a person, place or thing.)
  • Did it tell you when or where an event happened?
  • Think, how or why is it happening? Understanding these answers is important.
  • Put all your answers together to find the main idea of the paragraph.
  • Who did what? Why or how did they do it?
  • Repeat with the next paragraph. Does the information you learned add to your current idea, or did it introduce something new?
  • Continue reading and recording for each paragraph. You may add to a previous main idea, or start a new one.
  • After finishing the article, reread what you wrote.
  • Combine your main ideas into a central idea or ideas. Your central  idea may put the sentences together or combine main ideas. You may choose to leave out some of the details from the main ideas in your central idea summary.
  • Next, think about the author’s development of this central idea.
  • Underline any clues or information that refers to the central idea  throughout.
  • Think, how does this aid understanding for the reader?

Language and Vocabulary

CCSS

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.L.6-8.4

Determine or clarify the meaning of unknown and multiple-meaning words and phrases based on grade level reading and content, choosing flexibly from a range of strategies.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.L.6-8.4.A

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.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.L.6-8.4.B

Use common, grade-appropriate Greek and Latin affixes and roots as clues to the meaning of a word.

Lesson Plan Suggestions:

  • :
  • Read or  the original or  article.
  • Read the  question.
  • Reread the paragraph where the word is found.
  • Look for clues in the words and phrases around the vocabulary word.
  • Are there any signal words to indicate the relationships between the words?
  • What part of speech is it?
  • Look for clues inside the word. Do you recognize any root words that may help you determine the meaning?
  • Try out the sample definitions in the sentence. Which one makes the most sense?
  • Choose an answer and explain why you picked it.

  • :
  • Read or  the original or  article.
  • Take the .
  • First, look at the word’s position in the sentence, is it describing someone or something? Is it telling about an action?
  • Next, check by rereading the sentence to see if that makes sense.
  • You may even choose to remove extraneous information from the sentence and focus on the word in context.
  • Choose your best guess and check.
  • If you were correct, great work!
  • If you were incorrect, think about the correct answer. Reread the sentence and see if you can figure out why you got the answer wrong.
  • Is there a root word you know? Does it include a suffix? Could it give you a clue of the type of word?

CCSS

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.L.6-8.5.C

Distinguish among the connotations (associations) of words with similar denotations (definitions).

Lesson Plan Suggestions:

  •  
  • Read or  the original or  article.
  • When you read a keyword in blue, click on it.
  • Scroll down and read the synonyms and antonyms.
  • Synonyms are words whose meaning is similar to the keyword.
  • Antonyms are words whose meaning is different from the keyword.
  • Think about using one of the synonyms in the sentence, instead of the keyword. Does it make sense?
  • Write a sentence telling about why the synonym works in the sentence or not.
  • Does it have a different shade of meaning? (Shade of meaning refers to the continuum of word meanings. For example jog, run and sprint are synonyms, but each have different shades of meaning.)
  • Does it have the wrong context?
  • Is it too formal or informal?
  • Does it have a different connotation or association from the word in the article?
  • Play the .
  • Can you find all the words in the word search?

The wording of the 6th-8th grade standards are often the same, if not similar. Therefore, where the wording is not exact (marked with an *),  their overall gist has been combined to create activities that align to the grade band as a whole. For exact wording of the 6th-8th grade CCSS, visit: www.corestandards.org.