Language Arts

Grade 8 / Week 8Standards Covered this Week

LAFS.8.RL.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.

LAFS.8.RL.2.4: Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, including figurative and connotative meanings; analyze the impact of a specific word choice on meaning and tone, including analogies or allusions to other texts.

LAFS.8. RL.2.6: Analyze how differences in the points of view of the characters and the audience or reader (e.g., created through the use of dramatic irony) create such effects as suspense or humor.

Name

Teacher

A Note to ParentsThis week, we are continuing our unit entitled “Alien Encounters,” and your student will read the lyrics of a rock song entitled “Subterranean Homesick Alien.” This week’s final assignment will require students reflect back to what they have learned from previous texts. They will need to revisit “The Star Beast” and “They’re Made Out of Meat.” Please make sure they have an online or printed copy of the texts for that assignment.

Here are some optional online resources to support or extend your student’s thinking: Access an online version of the text, “Subterranean Homesick Alien,” with audio read-aloud, translation tools,

and annotation tools. The best way to access the link is to go through your CommonLit tile on ClassLink. https://www.commonlit.org/en/texts/fyc-subterranean-homesick-alien

View a live version of Radiohead’s song https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=byN3JDPoJRo

Day 1: Skills Focus

Citing Poetry in Your WritingThis week, you will read and analyze a poem based on the same theme we have been focusing on for the last 3 weeks. When you are analyzing poetry, you will need to cite text evidence to support your claims—which is slightly different than how you would cite any other text evidence. In this mini-lesson, you will learn to cite poetry.

Step 1: Please read the poem below and answer the three questions to the side.

Step 2: Next, analyze the short written response about the poem.

Step 3: Check your work using the five rules below. These are rules to follow whenever citing poetry.

Step 4: Read the poem below. Then quote the bolded words in lines 17-18 correctly. Then, answer the question that follows.

Day 2, Activity 1: Quick WriteWhat might an alien notice if it landed in your neighborhood? What questions would it ask?

Day 2, Activity 2: Active ReadingToday we’re going to read “Subterranean Homesick Alien” by the rock band Radiohead. Thom Yorke, the lead singer of the band, was inspired to write the song after remembering an essay he wrote when he was a kid in school. His teacher asked him to write the essay from the perspective of an alien who just landed in his hometown. (See the connection?!)

Radiohead has released nine studio albums, won three Grammy awards, and sold over 30 million albums since forming in 1985. Thom Yorke and the band are known for their experimental style and songs. This song is featured on their best-known album, OK Computer. If possible, listen to the song to get a sense of the mood and tone; there is a live version on YouTube.

FIRST READ: Read aloud or follow along as you listen. Don’t stop to answer questions.

SECOND READ: Read the poem again, stopping to answer the questions as they come up.

Day 3, Activity 1: THIRD READRead the poem again and answer the questions below.

Day 3, Activity 2: Text-Dependent Questions

Day 5: Thinking About ThemeThis unit has focused on what lessons we can learn about humanity through literature that focuses on imagined encounters with alien life forms. Today, you will be exploring those lessons by reviewing some of the texts we have read so far. Use the double entry journal below to answer the following prompt:

What do these stories about alien encounters reveal about humans?If you feel you are getting repetitive or you would like to dig deeper with your responses to the text, here are few additional questions to consider:

What does the treatment of the “Star Beast” reveal about humans? How does the conversation between aliens in “They’re Made of Meat” remind you of how humans sometimes

act and think? Do you think humans are fairly represented in these stories? Why? How does thinking like an alien change your own view of humanity?

Text Title Evidence & Paragraph # My Explanation“The Star Beast”

“They’re Made of Meat”

“Subterranean Homesick Alien”