Unit Plan 26 (Grade 8 ELA): Author’s Purpose, POV & Rhetoric (Informational)
8th graders analyze authors’ purposes and points of view in paired informational texts, identifying how writers acknowledge and respond to conflicting evidence. Students evaluate concession, qualification, and rebuttal strategies and craft analytical writing supported by precise textual evidence.
Focus: Purpose and point of view; acknowledging/answering conflicting evidence
Grade Level: 8
Subject Area: English Language Arts (Reading—Informational; Writing—Analytical)
Total Unit Duration: 5 sessions (one week), 50–60 minutes per session
I. Introduction
Informational authors write with purposes (to inform, explain, argue) and points of view (stances, values, assumptions). Skilled writers also acknowledge and answer conflicting evidence—sometimes by conceding, qualifying, or rebutting. This week, students read paired articles and editorials to analyze purpose/POV, track how authors handle counterevidence, and write a concise analysis that cites evidence effectively.
II. Objectives and Standards
Learning Objectives — Students will be able to…
- Determine an author’s purpose and point of view in an informational text and analyze how the author acknowledges and responds to conflicting evidence or viewpoints (RI.8.6).
- Cite the strongest textual evidence that supports analysis and inferences about purpose, stance, and treatment of counterevidence (RI.8.1).
- Draw evidence from informational texts to write an analytical paragraph/mini-essay that explains how purpose/POV shapes content and how the author addresses conflicting evidence (W.8.9b).
Standards Alignment — CCSS Grade 8
- RI.8.6: Determine an author’s purpose and point of view; analyze how the author acknowledges and responds to conflicting evidence or viewpoints.
- RI.8.1: Cite textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly and inferences drawn from it.
- W.8.9b: Draw evidence from informational texts to support analysis, reflection, and research.
Success Criteria — student language
- I can name the author’s purpose and POV and show how I know with exact lines.
- I can identify a conflicting claim/evidence and explain how the author concedes, qualifies, or rebuts it.
- My analysis quotes/paraphrases precisely and uses signal phrases and reasoning to connect evidence to my claim.