Generated on 6/23/2026 at 2:08 AM
The webpage this document was printed/exported from can be found at the following URL:
https://www.cpalms.org/PreviewStandard/Preview/6068

Standard #: LAFS.8.W.3.9Archived Standard

Draw evidence from literary or informational texts to support analysis, reflection, and research.

  1. Apply grade 8 Reading standards to literature (e.g., “Analyze how a modern work of fiction draws on themes, patterns of events, or character types from myths, traditional stories, or religious works such as the Bible, including describing how the material is rendered new”).
  2. Apply grade 8 Reading standards to literary nonfiction (e.g., “Delineate and evaluate the argument and specific claims in a text, assessing whether the reasoning is sound and the evidence is relevant and sufficient; recognize when irrelevant evidence is introduced”).

Standard Information

General Information

Subject Area: English Language Arts
Grade: 8
Strand: Writing Standards
Idea: Level 3: Strategic Thinking & Complex Reasoning
Cluster: Research to Build and Present Knowledge
Date Adopted or Revised: 12/10
Content Complexity Rating: Level 3: Strategic Thinking & Complex Reasoning - More Information
Date of Last Rating: 02/14
Status: State Board Approved - Archived

Lesson Plans

  • Bringing Characters to Life: Characterization in The Illustrated Man In this lesson, students will study the prologue of The Illustrated Man by Ray Bradbury. They'll examine how the author reveals aspects of a character through the use of direct and indirect characterization. They'll also make inferences about a character based on the characterization and text evidence provided. Further, they'll analyze how characterization connects to the specific setting and events within the prologue. At the end of the lesson, students will create a detailed character sketch based on direct and indirect characterization as well as inferences made when reading the text.
  • It's a Lovely Home, But...Using Multiple Texts to Aid in Decision Making In this lesson, students will learn about a subject as they read and analyze multiple text types before writing a business letter explaining a decision they will be asked to make. This lesson incorporates poetry, authentic non-fiction, photography, and writing.
  • Exploring the Future of NASA

    In this lesson, students will read and analyze two nonfiction articles about future work at NASA. Students will track the development of central ideas throughout each text. At the end of the lesson, students will synthesize a written response comparing and contrasting how the two authors establish their purpose.

  • Rain in Summer: What a Bummer, Or Is It? In this lesson, students will analyze the symbols and imagery present in Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's poem "Rain in Summer" to determine its meaning. Formative assessment checks are included as student handouts with text-based questions and charts. Students will also write a short essay as a summative assessment in which they will develop a claim about the poem's meaning, providing text-based examples as support.
  • One for All? Or Not. Letter XII: Distresses of a Frontier Man This lesson is based on Letter XII: Distresses of a Frontier Man by J. Hector St. John de Crevecoeur. This "letter" is one of a collection of essays in an epistolary format from the collection, Letters from an American Farmer (1782). In this lesson, students will read and analyze the two central ideas in the text. Students will fill out a graphic organizer on the central ideas and participate in a class debate.
  • Forever Alive In this close reading lesson, students will be asked to use multiple strategies to respond to informational text in way that is aligned to the state standards, requiring that they respond with explicit details drawn from the passage. With this short, free-standing article, teachers can incorporate this mini-lesson into their already set curriculum to reinforce the standards and skills being taught. This lesson would also make an excellent small group resource. Attachments needed for this lesson are all provided and include text-dependent questions, graphic organizers, and an objective summary writing prompt with rubric.
  • Remembering D-Day This is a lesson based on President Obama’s remarks on the 70th anniversary of the D-Day invasion in Normandy. His speech focuses on the anniversary of D-Day and the effect it had on soldiers and civilians who experienced the attack. This lesson provides an opportunity for vocabulary acquisition and an analysis of the meaning of President Obama’s speech.
  • Close Reading of Echo and Narcissus In this lesson, students will conduct three close readings of the highly entertaining myth "Echo and Narcissus" as retold by Thomas Bulfinch. Through these readings, students will answer text-dependent questions about the myth, work to determine the meanings of selected vocabulary and sort them into different categories, analyze character motivation, and determine the settings used in the story. For the end of lesson assessment, students will determine a theme for the myth and write about that theme in an extended response paragraph.
  • Reading of a Greek Myth: Apollo and Daphne Students will read the myth "Apollo and Daphne" as told by Thomas Bulfinch and analyze lines in the story that propel the action, reveal details about a character, or provoke a decision. Students will work in groups to paraphrase text to create a short dramatization of an assigned section of the myth.
  • What is Normal? Exploring Connotations and Denotations The goal of this lesson is to give students the opportunity to explore the connotations and denotations of the word "normal" and its various meanings. Through the use of "Us and Them," a personal essay by David Sedaris, students will explore the various beliefs and points of view of "normal" based on the picture painted by Sedaris. Students will need to consider the emotional context of words and how diction reveals an author's tone and message, as well as how the use of irony can impact the tone of a piece. Students will also read and analyze a Time article, "An In-Depth View of America by the Numbers," by Nancy Gibbs. For the summative assessment, students will write an explanatory essay (several prompts are provided) about normality using evidence from the texts studied in the lesson for support.
  • Exactly What are You Alluding to? Allusions can be difficult for students and hard to teach because not all students have identical or equally extensive exposure to literature, history, and/or popular culture. To overcome this barrier, this lesson builds a "collective consciousness" in each classroom. Students research an allusion and prepare a visual and oral presentation to each explain their allusions. Students are then assessed on their understanding of the allusions taught in one another's presentations.
  • The Paths We Take: A Poetic Comparison Students will study two poems in this lesson: Robert Frost's "The Road Not Taken" and Dale Wimbrow's "The Guy in the Glass." Students will identify and explain the use of metaphor in each poem, and they will also examine the imagery and personification used in each one. Students will also determine a theme of each poem and explain the similarities and differences in their related themes.
  • A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier - An Intro to Analysis & Argumentation Part II of III This is part two in a three part series that covers Ismael Beah's memoir, A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier. In this lesson students will have independently read, outside of class, chapters 8-14. In class, students will create position statements as they read several informational articles and speeches about a variety of topics. Students will participate in a whole class discussion to assist them with their creation of position statements.
  • A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier- An Intro to Analysis & Argumentation Part III of III This is lesson three in a three part series that covers Ismael Beah's memoir, A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier. Students will have read chapters 15-21 before this lesson. In this lesson, students will use all evidence gleaned from their reading of the memoir, the graphic organizer and student handout information from the first two lessons, and conduct additional research to create a multimedia presentation.
  • Poetry and Meaning: "Abraham Lincoln Walks at Midnight" In this lesson, students will study the poem "Abraham Lincoln Walks at Midnight" by Vachel Lindsay. Students will identify the examples of imagery within the poem and determine how the use of imagery contributes to the poem's meaning. Students will also practice making connections between the poem and its background information (President Abraham Lincoln and the Civil War) as well as its historical context (World War I). During the lesson, students will also practice determining the meaning of unfamiliar words in the poem.

Original Student Tutorial

  • It's All About Mood: Creating a Found Poem Learn how to create a Found Poem with changing moods in this interactive tutorial. This tutorial is Part Two of a two-part series. In Part One, students read “Zero Hour,” a science fiction short story by author Ray Bradbury and examined how he used various literary devices to create changing moods. In Part Two, students will use words and phrases from “Zero Hour” to create a Found Poem with two of the same moods from Bradbury's story. Click HERE to launch Part One.

Collections

Original Student Tutorials for Language Arts - Grades 6-12

  • It's All About Mood: Creating a Found Poem Learn how to create a Found Poem with changing moods in this interactive tutorial. This tutorial is Part Two of a two-part series. In Part One, students read “Zero Hour,” a science fiction short story by author Ray Bradbury and examined how he used various literary devices to create changing moods. In Part Two, students will use words and phrases from “Zero Hour” to create a Found Poem with two of the same moods from Bradbury's story. Click HERE to launch Part One.
Printed On: 6/23/2026 6:08:28 AM
Print Page | Close this window