Grade 08 ELA - EC: E08.A-K.1.1.2

Continuum of Activities

The list below represents a continuum of activities: resources categorized by Standard/Eligible Content that teachers may use to move students toward proficiency. Using LEA curriculum and available materials and resources, teachers can customize the activity statements/questions for classroom use.

This continuum of activities offers:

Instructional activities designed to be integrated into planned lessons
Questions/activities that grow in complexity
Opportunities for differentiation for each student’s level of performance

Grade Levels

8th Grade

Course, Subject

English Language Arts

Related Academic Standards / Eligible Content

E08.A-K.1.1.2 E08.A-K.1.1.2

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.

Activities

State an objective summary of the literary text.
Identify characters, setting, and plot of a literary text.
Identify the theme of a literary text.

Explain, with text-based evidence, the theme of a literary text.
Identify patterns in a literary text that are used by an author to develop a theme.

Analyze the development of a theme over the course of a literary text.
Synthesize evidence from multiple sections of a literary text to explain how an author constructs and develops a particular theme.

Answer Key/Rubric

Student states an objective summary of the literary text. An objective summary of a literary text includes information explicitly stated in the text. It states the key ideas, details, and events of a story without adding personal opinion or commentary. The objective summary recognizes literary elements including, but not limited to, characters, setting, and plot.
Student correctly identifies characters, setting, and plot supported by text-based evidence from a literary text.
Student identifies the theme of a literary text. The theme is a message or lesson an author conveys through a story. Themes are often connected to common human experiences or understandings. For example, “hard work results in success” may be identified as a common theme.
Student explains, with text-based evidence, the theme of a literary text. The student’s explanation of a theme should identify the message or lesson the author intended to convey through a literary text. Text-based evidence from multiple sections or parts of a literary text should be used to support the explanation.
Student identifies patterns in a literary text that are used by an author to develop a theme. The student recognizes patterns in text details and literary elements such as characters, setting, and plot that contribute to and develop the theme of a text.
Student analyzes the development of a theme over the course of a literary text. The student supports an analysis of a text’s theme through a clear understanding and articulation of the key ideas and details of the text. The analysis of the theme and its development is further supported by multiple references to the theme’s reflection in literary elements such as characters, setting, and plot.
Student synthesizes evidence from multiple sections of a literary text to explain how an author constructs and develops a particular theme. The student uses evidence from all sections or parts of a literary text to explain how a specific theme emerges and develops throughout the course of the text.