1. Living a Lesson—Grade 8
EngageNY.org

2. The Shifts in Action
Let’s “Live a Lesson” Learning Target: 1. I can support my inferences with evidence from the text. Task: Look away from the learning target and turn to a partner. Restate the learning target to your partner in your own words.

3. Mix and Mingle… Read your sentence strips silently.
Turn and Talk: What are your two sentence strips mostly about?
Now mix it up and mingle: Talk with peers who read other strips
Based on the sentence strips, what can you infer has happened?
How did you make that inference?
“It says_______ I say________ and so ____________?”
Keep people at table for Mix and Mingle if space does not allow.

4. Learning Target: Check In
I can support my inferences with evidence from the text.

5. New Learning Targets
I can determine the main idea of one section of the article “The Vietnam Wars.”
I can analyze how specific word choices convey the author’s perspective on Ho Chi Minh and his struggle.

6. An Informational Text Text: “The Vietnam Wars.”
Questions: “Why do you think the title has the word ‘Wars,” plural, rather than just ‘War?’”
“What do you think the word honing means?”
Turn and Talk: “In your own words, what does the subtitle of this article tell us about Vietnam?”

7. The Chinese Dragon
Everyone reads this section. Write down what the “gist” of each paragraph is in the margins on your text.
Gist = what you think this section of the reading is “mostly about.” Moving toward a main idea, but your first pass may not be entirely accurate.

8. Life, Liberty & Ho Chi Minh or Fall of the French
½ at your table will be reading “Life, Liberty & Ho Chi Minh” (A)
½ at your table will be reading “Fall of the French” (B)
Write down what the “gist” of each paragraph is in the margins on your text.
Gist = a simple summary in your own words.

9. 2nd reading of… Life, Liberty & Ho Chi Minh or Fall of the French
One pair = A, One pair = B
You will need Jigsaw A graphic organizer or Jigsaw B graphic organizer.

10. Learning Target
I can analyze how specific word choices convey the author’s perspective on Ho Chi Minh and his struggle.