1. Writing 8th Grade Top 5 Big Ideas Your Child
Welcome to this presentation of ___ Grade Writing. The purpose of this video is to walk you through 5 Big Ideas your child will learn in the first quarter, and how you can help them at home. Feel free to pause this video at any time throughout this presentation.
Top 5 Big Ideas Your Child
Will Learn in the 1st Quarter

2. Reading and writing are no longer separate skills.
Big Idea:
Reading and writing are no longer separate skills.
LAFS.8.RI Cite the textual evidence that most strongly supports an analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text.
LAFS.8.W Write informative/explanatory texts to examine a topic and convey ideas, concepts, and information through the selection, organization, and analysis of relevant content.
The first quarter focuses on informational text and writing. It’s important to keep in mind that reading and writing are no longer taught as separate subjects. Students are expected to read a variety of informational text and to respond to what they have read. One way to support your child’s mastery of these standards is to help them establish a purpose for reading. 1

3. How you can help your child:
Writing Task Example:
You have studied two speeches delivered by American presidents on topics related to national security threats. Review the different occasions for these two speeches, and consider how and why a president might use a different tone for an audience of foreign allies than he might for the citizens of his own country. Compare and contrast how each president uses tone and other persuasive techniques to reach their particular audience. Use evidence from both speeches to support your analysis.
Circle the action words.
Underline knowledge that your child should gain from reading the text.
Establish purpose for reading: How each president uses tone and other
persuasive techniques to reach particular audiences
Establishing a purpose for reading requires understanding the task. Before reading, have your child circle the verbs in the writing task that indicate what he/she will be expected to do. Then have your child underline what he/she is expected to know. While reading, your child should look for evidence that is tied to the writing task. 1

4. Summarize ideas in the text.
Big Idea:
Summarize ideas in the text.
LAFS.8.RI Determine a central idea of a text and analyze its development over the course of the text, including its relationship to supporting ideas; provide an objective summary of the text.
Students can begin to work toward the purpose of the reading and the intended task by understanding the text they have read. Summarizing the critical ideas in the text will help your child show he/she has comprehended the key ideas represented in the text as they relate to the task. 2

5. How you can help your child:
Verbal summaries
Mark the text with highlighting and/or symbols
Create a T-chart labeled with main points in the text that connect to the writing task
Example of a T-Chart:
There are several strategies that can be used to help your child understand what they have read. You can divide the text into sections and have them orally summarize the sections. Your child can also mark ideas in the text that relate back to the purpose of reading. They may also choose to create a t-chart. On one side your child indicates main points of the text that relate to the task and on the other side they may describe how that text supports the writing task. 2

6. Big Idea:
Create a thesis statement based on the main point of the writing task with ideas that were gathered when reading.
It is important to help your child connect what they have read through the writing process. A thesis statement helps students focus on developing a complete response to the task. Your child may need support in writing a thesis statement. 3

7. How you can help your child:
Help by referring to marked text for information supporting the writing task
Ensure your child uses information from the question in his/her thesis statement.
Students need to gather evidence to support their response to the task. Keep in mind that your child needs to include the information from the text that shows the response is valid. 3

8. Gather evidence from the text to support the writing task.
Big Idea:
Gather evidence from the text to support the writing task.
One way to help your child write a thesis statement is to refer back to the marked information that supports the task. Your child may want to use information from the task in the thesis statement. 4

9. How you can help your child:
THESIS STATEMENT
TOPIC SENTENCE 1
EVIDENCE THAT SUPPORTS TOPIC SENTENCE 1
TOPIC SENTENCE 2
EVIDENCE THAT SUPPORTS TOPIC SENTENCE 2
The following outline may help your child organize thoughts and include the big ideas mentioned earlier in the presentation. Note how after every point, specific evidence must be chosen from the text to support and focus writing ideas. 4
TOPIC SENTENCE 3
EVIDENCE THAT SUPPORTS TOPIC SENTENCE 3

10. 5 Big Idea: Transitional Strategies
Transitional strategies help your child connect ideas in an organized manner. 5

11. How you can help your child:
Text-based Sentence Stems:
In the text/paragraph/passage, it states QUOTE/PARAPHRASE.
According to the text, QUOTE/PARAPHRASE.
In paragraph NUMBER, it states that QUOTE/PARAPHRASE.
The author wrote, QUOTE/PARAPHRASE.
The graphic showed, QUOTE/PARAPHRASE.
One example from the text is, QUOTE/PARAPHRASE.
The author/text also states/says, QUOTE/PARAPHRASE.
Another example from the text is, QUOTE/PARAPHRASE.
Commentary Stems (to be used to elaborate on textual evidence):
Basically, this is saying/suggesting/displaying/showing that...
In other words, the author believes/suggests/confirms/illustrates/denies that...
In making this comment, the author displays/shows/questions...
This displays/shows/signifies/demonstrates/proves/exhibits/ establishes...
It may be helpful to review some transitional words and phrases with your child so they become familiar with the terms. Some transitional words and phrases have been provided on this slide. Please note that the commentary stems are to be used when elaborating on textual evidence. 5

12. For more information on how to support your child’s learning, please visit www.ocps.net/parents.
Thank you for your time and efforts toward helping your child at home.