The Unit Overview Unit name: 8th Grade Historical Fiction Key Resources: Common Core Standards Focus

for Unit: Historical Fiction Genre Core Text(s): The Boy in the Striped Pajamas by John Boyne (lexile 1080) Elijah of Buxton by Christopher Paul Curtis (lexile 1070) Code Talker by Joseph Bruchac (lexile 910) *Conflict + Setting + Characters + Plot + [characteristics of Genre] = Theme Brief description: Boy in the Striped Pajamas: WWII Bruno, the son of a German military commandant moves with his family to Auschwitz, ignorant of why there are hundreds of people in striped pajamas living beyond the fence on the edge of his familys property. Through his explorations, he becomes friends with Shmuel, a boy in striped pajamas who lives on the other side of the fence. As their friendship deepens, Bruno begins to develop empathy toward his friend, and becomes aware of the situation happening right before his eyes: the sadness, hopelessness, and despair being experienced so close to home. Code Talker: WWII Ned Begay is a Navajo teenager living on a reservation at the outbreak of World War II. While he has experienced both racism and cultural discrimination growing up on a reservation in the United States, and carries with him the history of his people and wrongs done to them by the U.S. government, he still feels the pull to fight for the U.S. in the war after the Japanese attack Pearl Harbor in 1941. Through fighting in the war alongside white American marines, he learns to look past differences to find similarities and purpose, while still holding onto his own identity and cultural heritage. Ned also develops strong empathy for native people of Japan and the islands in the Pacific that he helps to invade with the U.S. marines as he fights. He realizes that, even in war, humanity remains. Elijah of Buxton: 1850s (Buxton established in 1849, story likely occurs before the civil war in 1861) Elijah is the first freeborn child of the Buxton Settlement in Ontario, Canada. Through a variety of events in Elijahs young life involving plenty of eavesdropping, a carnival, and the daily happenings of school and work, Elijah learns the meaning of freedom, and the gravity of the slavery from which he was spared. His empathy for those trapped in slavery develops and becomes powerful in the end of the story.

Learning Targets, Rationales, and Common Core Standards: Reading Strategy Making connections (to the historical time periods and settings in which the novels each take place also, to students lives, modern day) Common Core Standard: (Reading Standards for Literature, 8th grade) 2. Determine a theme or central idea of a text and analyze its development over the course of the text, including its relationship to the characters, setting, and plot; provide an objective summary of the text. Objectives: o SWBAT know how setting connects to the theme of each novel. o SWBAT understand how the author uses setting and historical context to illustrate conflict in each novel. o SWBAT identify the purpose for placing the characters in each specific setting. Rationale: The settings in these stories directly play into the shaping of the characters, the plot, the conflict, and the theme of each novel. If students are able to connect the setting to the conflict, as well as to the characters, the theme should come more easily. They will be able to make connections among the mechanics of the novel and use them to understand the deeper meaning being conveyed. Literary Concept Narrative mode (narrative point-of-view and narrative voice) Common Core Standard: (Reading Standards for Literature, 8th grade) 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. Objectives: o SWBAT identify the type of narrative point-of-view and unique narrative voice utilized in their novel. o SWBAT understand how the narrative point-of-view and voice contribute to the theme of their novel. o SWBAT analyze the impact of specific narrative point-of-view and voice on the meaning and tone of characters dialogue in each novel. Rationale: The narrative perspectives and voices are some of the most prominent aspects of the three novels in this unit. Teaching the students about narrative mode will allow them to appreciate the craft of each novel, as well as to pull out and understand both the

concept of empathy and the themes more deeply. Writing The final assessment of the unit will include two parts: the first, a Googledocs test, taken during class, demonstrating understanding of narrative mode, setting, theme, conflict, and empathy: all essential aspects of historical fiction. The second part of the final assessment will be in the form of a letter test, taken one day after the Googledocs test. In this letter test, students will choose three concepts from a list of six that we have covered in the unit, and they will write about each specifically as found in their guided reading novel (Code Talker, Elijah of Buxton, or The Boy in the Striped Pajamas). Common Core Standard: (Writing Standards, 8th grade) 2. Write informative/explanatory texts to examine a topic and convey ideas, concepts, and information through the selection, organization, and analysis of relevant content. b. Develop the topic with relevant, well-chosen facts, definitions, concrete details, quotations, or other information and examples. d. Use precise language and domain-specific vocabulary to inform about or explain the topic. Objectives: o SWBAT demonstrate knowledge of setting and how it contributes to theme. o SWBAT demonstrate knowledge of narrative mode and how it contributes to theme. o SWBAT write a letter describing the presence of elements of historical fiction in their historical fiction novels. Rationale: Through taking this Googledocs test and writing this letter, students will be able to demonstrate an understanding of setting, narrative mode, conflict, character, empathy, and making connections as well as how these elements help contribute to theme. The Googledocs portion will help students to solidify and synthesize vocabulary, and the letter-writing piece will contribute to a worthwhile summative assessment for the unit, while allowing students to practice their informative/explanatory writing, a Common Core Writing Standard for 8th grade. Language Vocabulary, Context Clues. Well go over different strategies for finding the meaning of unfamiliar or complicated words. Well also learn a method for remembering the new meanings discovered for unfamiliar or complicated words, which should help to expand student vocabularies. Common Core Standard: (Language Standards, 8th grade): 4. Determine or clarify the meaning of unknown and multiple-meaning words or phrases based on grade 8 reading and content, choosing flexibly from a range of strategies. a. Use context (e.g., the overall meaning of a sentence or paragraph; a words position or function in a sentence) as a clue to the meaning of a word or phrase. b. Use common, grade-appropriate Greek or Latin affixes and roots as clues to the

meaning of a word (e.g., precede, recede, secede). c. Consult general and specialized reference materials (e.g., dictionaries, glossaries, thesauruses), both print and digital, to find the pronunciation of a word or determine or clarify its precise meaning or its part of speech. d. Verify the preliminary determination of the meaning of a word or phrase (e.g., by checking the inferred meaning in context or in a dictionary). Objectives: o SWBAT determine meaning of unknown words based on context. o SWBAT utilize resources outside of context clues to determine the meaning of unfamiliar words. o SWBAT recognize how the meaning of unknown words enriches each story. Rationale: All three novels within this unit contain words potentially unknown to 8th graders, whether due to the historical period in which the novel takes place or due to the context in which the novel takes place (slavery, WWII, the Holocaust). Through learning how to utilize context clues in order to determine meaning, students will gain more autonomy for determining meaning within their novels.