Curriculum / ELA / 8th Grade / Unit 5: Facing Calamity: Climate Change Facts and Fictions / Lesson 13
ELA
Unit 5
8th Grade
Lesson 13 of 23
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Short Story: “World After Water” by Abby Geni
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Tasks that represents the peak thinking of the lesson - mastery will indicate whether or not objective was achieved.
Indicate the changes you have made to your writing based on the feedback you received from a classmate, either in comments within the document or in a short paragraph.
You have read a number of nonfiction texts about the current and potential impacts of climate change on our planet. You have also read several examples of poetry and short stories that discuss the climate crisis and imagine what the future might hold. Remember that the ultimate purpose of climate fiction is to raise awareness and motivate readers to take meaningful action so that fictional events don't become a reality.
Your task is to write your own cli-fi short scene that provides an answer to the following question: What might life in your area (your town, state, or region of the country) look like in 100 years if we do not address the climate crisis? In this scene, you will describe the morning routine of a fictional main character who is living in your area of the country 100 years in the future.
Your scene must:
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Reading and/or task to be completed at home in preparation for the next lesson.
To ensure that students are prepared for the next lesson, have students complete the following reading for homework. Use guidance from the next lesson to identify any additional language or background support students may need while independently engaging with the text.
While reading, answer the following questions.
What question are both of these articles addressing?
What is the IPCC?
What are some ways that individuals can help stop climate change?
What questions do you have after reading these articles?
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L.8.2 — Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English capitalization, punctuation, and spelling when writing.
L.8.2.a — Use punctuation (comma, ellipsis, dash) to indicate a pause or break.
W.8.3 — Write narratives to develop real or imagined experiences or events using effective technique, relevant descriptive details, and well-structured event sequences.
W.8.5 — With some guidance and support from peers and adults, develop and strengthen writing as needed by planning, revising, editing, rewriting, or trying a new approach, focusing on how well purpose and audience have been addressed.
Standards that are practiced daily but are not priority standards of the unit
L.8.1 — Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English grammar and usage when writing or speaking.
L.8.3 — Use knowledge of language and its conventions when writing, speaking, reading, or listening.
L.8.6 — 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.
SL.8.1 — Engage effectively in a range of collaborative discussions (one-on-one, in groups, and teacher-led) with diverse partners on grade 8 topics, texts, and issues, building on others' ideas and expressing their own clearly.
SL.8.6 — Adapt speech to a variety of contexts and tasks, demonstrating command of formal English when indicated or appropriate.
W.8.3.a — Engage and orient the reader by establishing a context and point of view and introducing a narrator and/or characters; organize an event sequence that unfolds naturally and logically.
W.8.3.b — Use narrative techniques, such as dialogue, pacing, description, and reflection, to develop experiences, events, and/or characters.
W.8.3.c — Use a variety of transition words, phrases, and clauses to convey sequence, signal shifts from one time frame or setting to another, and show the relationships among experiences and events.
W.8.3.d — Use precise words and phrases, relevant descriptive details, and sensory language to capture the action and convey experiences and events.
W.8.4 — Produce clear and coherent writing in which the development, organization, and style are appropriate to task, purpose, and audience.
W.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.
W.8.10 — Write routinely over extended time frames (time for research, reflection, and revision) and shorter time frames (a single sitting or a day or two) for a range of discipline-specific tasks, purposes, and audiences.
Next
Compare and contrast the central arguments of two articles about climate change, and explain how one author acknowledges and responds to viewpoints that differ from their own.
Explain how specific words, phrases, and structural choices develop tone in Greta Thunberg’s speeches, and how tone impacts meaning.
Standards
RI.8.4
Identify the key ideas Gore uses to support his claims about climate change and assess whether the evidence he provides is relevant and sufficient.
RI.8.8
Identify a writer’s claims in a text and explain how they support those claims, as well as how they respond to conflicting viewpoints.
RI.8.6RI.8.8
Infer the meaning of unknown words using context clues, use reference materials to verify the meaning of words, and explain how word choice develops meaning in an informational article.
L.8.4L.8.4.aL.8.4.cL.8.4.dRI.8.4
Explain how Kathy Jetñil-Kijiner specific words and phrases develop tone in a poem and how tone impacts meaning.
RL.8.4
Write objective summaries and determine central ideas in informational articles.
RI.8.2
Identify claims made in an informational article and assess the relevance and sufficiency of evidence provided to support those claims.
Explain how writer Abby Geni uses imagery and figurative language to establish mood and meaning in a short story.
RL.8.2RL.8.4
Determine a theme in the short story, "Notes from a Bottle" and explain how the author develops it; identify literary allusions and explain how they help to build meaning in a text.
RL.8.2RL.8.9
Research the possible impacts of climate change and begin to brainstorm aspects of setting for climate fiction narratives.
W.8.3W.8.8W.8.9
Draft two paragraphs vividly describing the setting of your climate fiction narrative.
W.8.3W.8.3.aW.8.3.bW.8.3.d
Draft a short climate fiction scene.
W.8.3W.8.3.a
L.8.2L.8.2.aW.8.3W.8.5
RI.8.6RI.8.9
Determine the central idea of sections of An Inconvenient Sequel and synthesize information in a short presentation that educates classmates.
RI.8.2SL.8.4
Synthesize information about a young climate activist and create a short presentation that educates classmates.
Delineate arguments made about climate change and assess whether the evidence provided is relevant and sufficient.
Engage in a Socratic Seminar with peers, responding directly to others by rephrasing and delineating arguments, determining the strength of evidence, and posing clarifying questions.
SL.8.1SL.8.1.dSL.8.3SL.8.4
Research the potential local impacts of climate change in preparation for writing a letter to a congressperson.
W.8.1W.8.7W.8.8W.8.9
Outline a letter urging a congressperson to take action to stop climate change.
W.8.1W.8.1.aW.8.1.bW.8.5
Draft a letter urging a congressperson to take action to stop climate change.
W.8.1W.8.1.aW.8.1.bW.8.1.cW.8.1.e
L.8.3L.8.3.aW.8.1W.8.1.d
2 days
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