Teacher Guidance for Writing Assessment: 8Th Grade Informative

Teacher Guidance for Writing Assessment: 8 th Grade Informative

Window Three: 8th Grade Informative Writing (80 minutes) Topic: What is community and how does it build happiness?

Writing Prompt Overview During this writing prompt, students will examine piece of writing from Barbara Kingsolver. Writing Prompt Kingsolver was named one the most important Situation: Community is defined as a group of people living in the same place having writers of the 20th Century by Writers Digest. In this particular characteristics in common. However, community means different things to excerpt, she discusses how community contributes to different people. over all happiness and well-being. Students will find commonalities and differences between Kingsolver’s Task: How does your sense of community compare with that of Kingsolver? Define experience and their own. your sense of community and how it does or does not contribute to your well-being or happiness. Use evidence from the text to support your thinking.

Teacher Directions: Step One: Read Prompt 5 minutes Teacher reads Standards Addressed the prompt and overview to the students and students WRITING individually interpret what the prompt is asking. KCK12R08W2 Write informative/explanatory texts to examine a topic and convey ideas, Step Two: Individual Brainstorm 10 minutes concepts, and information through the selection, organization, and analysis of relevant Students brainstorm over questions provided. This is content. to activate prior knowledge and stimulate thinking KCK12R08W4 Produce clear and coherent writing in which the development, organization, about prompt. . and style are appropriate to task, purpose, and audience. (CC.W.8.4, ACT) Step Three: Read/Annotate 10 minutes Students KCK12R08W9 Draw evidence from literary or informational texts to support analysis, read and annotate individually. Space is provided for reflection, and research notes. KCK12R08W10 Write routinely over extended time frames (time for research, reflection Step Four: Reactions 5 minutes Students use space and revision) and shorter time frames (a single sitting or a day or two) for a range of provided to record the 5 most important questions, discipline –specific tasks, purposes, and audiences. (CC.W.8.10) pieces of text, response to text they could use in their writing. Step Five: 50 minutes Students write to prompt LANGUAGE: individually. KCK12R08L1 Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English grammar and usage when writing or speaking (CC.L.8.1, ACT) KCK12R08L2 Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English capitalization, punctuation, and spelling when writing. (CC.L.8.2, ACT) KCK12R08L3 Use knowledge of language and its conventions when writing, speaking, reading, or listening. (CC.L.8.3, ACT) Name: ______Writing Assessment: Informative Window 3 Q3: What is community and how does it Teacher:______build happiness?

Step 1: Prompt Step 2: Individual Brainstorm Situation: Community is defined as a In this piece, the writer explains what she thinks community does for over all happiness and well being. group of people living in the same What does it mean to have a community and in how does your community bring or not bring you place having particular characteristics happiness and well-being? in common. However, community means different things to different people.

Task: How does your sense of community compare with that of Kingsolver? Define your sense of community and how it does or does not contribute to your well-being or happiness. Use evidence from the text to support your thinking.

Notes for Annotation: Step 3: Passage Read/Annotate – Everyone silently reads annotates. Comment on at least five things and write in the margins/spaces. Potentially Difficult Vocabulary From Commencement Address by Barbara Kingsolver Social Construct: forming ideas through social interaction. This is an ancient human social construct that once was common in this land. We called it a Bhubaneswar: city in eastern India community. We lived among our villagers, depending on them for what we needed. If we had a Native State: a mindset that is natural Scholars: a specialist in a field of study problem, we did not discuss it over the phone with someone in Bhubaneswar. We went to a neighbor. We acquired food from farmers. We listened to music in groups, in churches or on front porches. We danced. We participated. Even when there was no money in it. Community is our native state. You play hardest for a hometown crowd. You become your best self. You know joy. This is not a guess; there is evidence. The scholars who study social well-being can put it on charts and graphs. In the last 30 years our material wealth has increased in this country, but our self- described happiness has steadily declined. Elsewhere, the people who consider themselves very happy are not in the very poorest nations, as you might guess, nor in the very richest. The winners are Mexico, Ireland, Puerto Rico, the kinds of places we identify with extended family, noisy villages, a lot of dancing. The happiest people are the ones with the most community.

Step 3: Brainstorm Step 4: Answer the Prompt: After reading the passage, write down quotations from the passage, questions raised by the passage, OR any other interesting points you want to make as a Situation: Community is defined as a group of result of the passage and prompt. people living in the same place having particular characteristics in common. However, community means different things to 1) different people.

Task: How does your sense of community compare with that of Kingsolver? Define your sense of community and how it does or does 2) not contribute to your well-being or happiness. Use evidence from the text and your brainstorm to support your thinking.