Grade:
Grade 8 Subject: English Language Arts Created by: Crystal Dyson Lesson Length:
1 hour 15 minutes Keywords/Tags:
news, vocabulary, reporter, writing, Lesson Description:
After reading the passage "See Our Progress," students will analyze the passage and learn valuable new vocabulary.
Common Core Standards Covered with This Lesson
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.8.1: Cite the textual evidence that most strongly supports an analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.8.4: 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, including analogies or allusions to other texts.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.8.1: Write arguments to support claims with clear reasons and relevant evidence
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.8.1b: Support claim(s) with logical reasoning and relevant evidence, using accurate, credible sources and demonstrating an understanding of the topic or text.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.L.8.4a: 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.
Lesson Content: Reading
Instructions: Please read the following reading passage as many times as needed (aloud and silent) before starting to go through other lesson pages. Understanding the content of this passage is very important since the lesson activities will be all about this content. Feel free to print the passage if needed.
See Our Progress
My school appeared on the news last week because we had made an important change in our community. Our 8th grade class had planted a large garden in what was
once only a vacant lot. It was a lot of work, it took much cooperation and many weeks, but it was all worth it. I got blisters from digging, and we all got insect bites, too.
I learned a lot about gardening and collaboration, and then I learned about the media. This experience taught me a great deal about television news. First, our teacher telephoned the TV station and informed them of what we had accomplished. She spoke with the producer—the person who assigns reporters to cover interesting stories.
I never knew how people get on the news, I didn’t know you could call and tell the TV station about your school. The producer checked with the directors, but they claimed there were plenty of stories similar to ours. They wanted to know what was special about our particular garden, since many schools plant them.
The teacher explained that, after going on the Internet to learn about the prairie, we had made a prairie garden. We had gone to a prairie and gotten seeds from the plants, and then we planted them. We did not water the garden, but we did weed it. We decided to let nature water it with rain, since that was how prairies grew in the past. We sent a picture of the garden to the news station. In the picture, the grass was so high that it stood taller than the fourth grade students.
The director thought our story would be interesting because it was not just a garden, but a history lesson. Actually, it was also a science lesson. As a result, they sent a reporter to our school, and that reporter also brought a cameraman. The security guard helped them carry the equipment into the building.
They interviewed the principal and asked detailed questions about the garden—whose idea was it, what did it cost, how big was it, and how big did we plan it would be—would we be expanding it? After that, they interviewed us, and we explained to them what we had learned through this project. They even interviewed a person on the street and asked what he thought about our garden.
They were at our school for two hours, and it was exciting, so we were really ecstatic. That night, we watched the news, and there we were. The news anchor told our story. It was only two minutes long, but it was us. We were famous. All that work, all those blisters, it was worth it, we knew that when we saw the garden every day, but now we knew that the whole city thought so, too.
Task 1: Vocabulary Activity (20 points)
Instructions: Please complete the following vocabulary activity by choosing the correct meaning of each word selected from the passage and use of each word correctly in a sentence.
Vocabulary Questions
Word/Phrase: Vacant | Tier: 2 | Points: 5
Q1
The author in our story says, "Our 8th grade class had planted a large garden that was in a vacant lot." What does the word "vacant" mean in this sentence?
A. Having or showing no intelligence or interst
B. Empty *
C. Bountiful
D. not paved
Which one of the sentences below correctly uses the word "vacant?"
A. The room was vacant after they finished moving out. *
B. The flowers are vacant.
C. Everyone was running around the baseball field looking for a vacant glove.
D. Since the lightbulb went out, the room was vacant.
Word/Phrase: Collaboration | Tier: 2 | Points: 5
Q2
The author in our story says, "I learned a lot about gardening and collaboration..." What does the word "collaboration" mean in this sentence?
A. scientific classification of plants
B. the act of working in a science lab
C. working with someone to produce something *
D. nature
Which of the sentences below uses the word "collaboration" correctly?
A. Collaboration allows us to accomplish more as a team. *
B. Plants make collaboration from the sunlight.
C. Golf players use collaboration to win an event.
D. I am working by myself because I love collaboration.
Word/Phrase: Producer | Tier: 2 | Points: 5
Q3
The author in our story says, \"The producer checked with the directors, but they claimed there were plenty of stories similar to ours.\" What does the word \"producers\" mean in this sentence?
A. People who work in the fruit and vegetable department of a grocery store.
B. People who make a random product.
C. A person responsible for the managerial aspects of making of a broadcast. *
D. A person who grows fruits to sell to the markets.
Which one of the sentences below uses the word "producer" correctly?
A. The producer waters all of the apple trees in his orchard.
B. I became a producer of paintings as soon as I started selling my art.
C. The producer threw away the rotten vegetables in the grocery store.
D. The producer made sure the news' program was correctly funded and everyone did their jobs. *
Word/Phrase: Reporter | Tier: 3 | Points: 5
Q4
In our story, the author says, \"As a result, they sent a reporter to our school, and that reporter also brought a cameraman.\" What does the word \"reporter\" mean in this sentence?
A. Someone who writes scientific reports
B. A person who investigates and reports news stories *
C. The person who runs random errands for a major business
D. A person who has went to school to write for the newspaper
Which one of the sentences below uses the word "reporter" correctly?
A. The reporter was getting drenched in the rain in order to make sure she got all of the facts about the car crash. *
B. The reporter ran across the road to deliver the mail.
C. The reporter created a brand new book for his readers.
D. When I write lab reports for science, I am classified as a reporter.
Standards Covered with This Lesson Activity: CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.8.4, CCSS.ELA-Literacy.L.8.4a,
Task 2: Discussion Activity (40 points)
Instructions: Read the posted questions, and respond to each. Students are responsible for posting one initial and and two peer responses for each topic.
Topic Title
Replies
Why does the director want to know "what was special..."
The author of our passage says, "They wanted to know what was special about our particular garden, since so many schools plant them." Explain why a director only wants to broadcast a unique story.
Sent on: Jul 17, 2015 by: Crystal Dyson
0
Why was the newsbroadcast "only two minutes long?"
The author of our story says, "They were at our school for 2 hours..." He later says, "The news anchor told our story. It was only two minutes long." Explain why the reports would be at the school for two hours and why the actualy broadcast was only two minutes.
Sent on: Jul 17, 2015 by: Crystal Dyson
0
The authors says, "I learned a lot about gardening and collaboration..."
The author says, "I learned a lot about gardening and collaboration, and then I learned about the media." Explain why a student will enjoy a task that makes them learn about three different things and why a teacher would choose this type of activity.
Sent on: Jul 17, 2015 by: Crystal Dyson
0
Standards Covered with This Lesson Activity: CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.8.1,
Task 3: Writing Activity (40 points)
Instructions: You are to write and post here 500 words essay on an activity our class can do in order to learn about something in science, math, and history. Include how we will make it interesting enough for a director to want to put it on the news' station. Make sure to provide specific examples.
Standards Covered with This Lesson Activity:
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.8.1, CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.8.1b,
