Unit Plan 25 (Grade 8 ELA): Reading Biographies, Memoir & Timelines
8th graders analyze biographies and memoirs to find central ideas and trace connections among people, events, and ideas. Students compare texts to visuals like timelines and photos, evaluating how each format clarifies or limits understanding.
Focus: Connections/distinctions among individuals/events/ideas; visuals
Grade Level: 8
Subject Area: English Language Arts (Reading—Informational & Media)
Total Unit Duration: 5 sessions (one week), 50–60 minutes per session
I. Introduction
Lives don’t unfold in straight lines—they branch, collide, and echo across moments. This week, students read biographies and memoir excerpts alongside timelines/visuals to determine central ideas, map connections and distinctions among individuals, events, and ideas, and evaluate what visuals add (or obscure) compared to prose.
II. Objectives and Standards
Learning Objectives — Students will be able to…
- Determine central ideas of biographical/memoir texts and analyze how they develop over the course of the text; produce an objective summary (RI.8.2).
- Analyze connections and distinctions among individuals, events, and ideas (cause/effect, sequence, compare/contrast) within and across texts (RI.8.3).
- Analyze information presented in diverse media (timelines, photographs, infographics, short video clips) and evaluate the advantages/limits of each format (RI.8.7).
Standards Alignment — CCSS Grade 8
- RI.8.2: Determine a text’s central idea and analyze its development; provide an objective summary.
- RI.8.3: Analyze connections and distinctions among individuals, events, and ideas in a text.
- RI.8.7: Evaluate the advantages and disadvantages of using different media to present a particular topic.
Success Criteria — student language
- I can state the central idea and show how it builds across sections.
- I can map who/what/why connections and point out important distinctions with evidence.
- I can explain how a visual (timeline/photo/graphic) clarifies, complicates, or limits understanding compared to the text.
- My objective summary is concise, accurate, and free of opinion.