SCMS 8th Grade ELA Parent Resource 2

Parent Resource #2SCMS 8th Grade ELAWe will be reading the following titles over the next few weeks.Coping MechanismsInvictusHealing ‘Brick City’: A Newark Doctor Returns HomeThe MoustacheThe Parent Resource serves as a guide to assist you and your child. It also includes a rubricfor the short answer questions students will encounter after reading the online texts. This rubricwill help your child improve upon their writing skills and compose stronger responses.Although an essay is not necessary, students should be aware that the skills learned while inclass should be applied, and these skills can be used effectively without a lengthy or excessiveresponse. Students should remember the R A C E S technique below: RESTATE – Students restate the question in the form of a topic sentence.ANSWER – Students answer ALL parts of the question.CITE – Students cite examples from the text that support their answer.EXPLAIN – Students explain how their evidence supports their answer.SUMMARIZE – Students “remind” the reader of their answer and concludetheir response.Capitalization, punctuation, and other grammar and writing conventions are also stronglyencouraged.Additional resources are available at the websites below:Station Camp Middle School:https://scm.sumnerschools.org/Sumner t/home?authuser 0

ELA 8 Parent Resource2In “Coping Mechanisms,” the author explains the difference between adaptive and maladaptivecoping mechanisms.As we read, we will be discussing the theme of Resilience & Success as it relates to the text. We are tryingto answer this big question :"How does a person overcome adversity?"Ways to support your child: Ask your child about this psychology article at home: What was "Coping Mechanisms" About What did you learn about?Watch the following clips with your child at home: 'Patrick Roche – Siri: A Coping Mechanism ' 'Richard St. John: "Success is a continuous journey"'Coping Mechanisms byCommonLit Staff 20161. RI.KID.2PART A: Which of the following statements best expresses a central idea of the text?A. The best way to cope with stress is to remain positive and ignore all negative emotions,rather than dwell on stressful situations.B. Studying one’s dreams is a great adaptive coping mechanism because it prompts one toreflect on their life choices.C. All adaptive coping mechanisms become maladaptive if utilized and relied on too frequently.D. People use different methods to deal with stress, which can produce positive andnegative consequences depending on how one chooses to cope.2. RI.KID.1PART B: Which quote from the text best supports the answer to Part A?A. “People have many different strategies for dealing with stressful situations — somehelpful, and some not so helpful.” (Paragraph 1)B. “when humor is overused as a coping mechanism, it can lead to denial or avoidance”(Paragraph 7)C. “Sigmund Freud, the famous psychoanalyst who was the first person to study thesignificance of dreams, is credited with popularizing the idea of denial.” (Paragraph 9)D. “a person who has dissociative behavior may even invent a new imaginary world where theydo not have to face an uncomfortable feeling or memory.” (Paragraph 11)3. RI.CS.4PART A: What does “primitive” mean as it is used in paragraph sh

ELA 8 Parent Resource34. RI.KID.1PART B: Which phrase from paragraph 9 best supports the answer to Part A?A. “to reject its existence”B. “despite overwhelming evidence”C. “proving the contrary”D. “develop in early childhood”5. RI.CS.6What is the author’s primary purpose in this text?A.B.C.D.to inform the reader about various adaptive and maladaptive coping mechanismsto advise the reader on how to deal with specific stressful situationsto explain how stress can harm someone mentally, emotionally, and physicallyto provide a history of psychology and its everyday benefits"Invictus" by William Ernest Henley.William Ernest Henley (1849-1903) was an English poet, critic, and editor. His best known poem is“Invictus,” published in 1875, which he wrote just following the amputation of his foot due to tuberculosis.As we read, we will be discussing the themes of Fate & Free Will, Identity, and Resilience & Success asthey relate to the text. We are trying to answer these big questions :"How does a person overcome adversity?", "What makes you who you are?", and "Can we control our fate?"Ways to support your child: Ask your child about this poem at home: What was "Invictus" About What did you learn about? About Identity? About Resilience & Success?Invictus byWilliam Ernest Henley 18751. RL.KID.2Which of the following best describes a central theme of the text?A.B.C.D.Identity is important to building self-confidence.Independence means refusing to follow anyone else’s rules or laws.Resilience is the ability to keep going and to refuse to give up.Sacrifice is necessary to make someone a hero.

ELA 8 Parent Resource42. RL.KID.3How does the poem’s use of darkness in its imagery contribute to the text’s overall meaning?A. The poem describes night covering the earth from “pole to pole” (line 2), suggesting that thespeaker’s outlook on the world is very bleak and hopeless.B. The poem describes “night” (line 1) covering the speaker, symbolic of the adversityand/or suffering he faces.C. The poem describes “the Horror of the shade” (line 10), suggesting that the speaker’s hardtimes are only temporary.D. The poem describes a dark “place of wrath and tears” (line 9), implying that the speaker isovercome by his depression.3. RL.CS.4PART A: Given the context of the poem, what does the title word “Invictus” most likely mean?A. CarelessB. LuckyC. UnfortunateD. Undefeated4. RL.KID.1PART B: Which of the following quotes best supports the answer to Part A?A. “I thank whatever gods may be / For my unconquerable soul.” (Lines 3-4)B. “In the fell clutch of circumstance / .Under the bludgeonings of chance” (Lines 5-7)C. “Beyond this place of wrath and tears / Looms but the Horror of the shade” (Lines 9-10)D. “It matters not how strait the gate, / How charged with punishments the scroll” (Lines 13-14)5. RL.CS.5How does the poem’s rhyme scheme and meter develop the tone?Answers will vary; students should outline the poem’s rhyme scheme and meter, and explainhow it develops the overall tone. The poem’s rhyme scheme follows: ABAB CDCD EFEFGHGH--or GAGA, as long as the student understands that it is an alternating rhyme scheme.The meter is composed on four feet (eight syllables) per line. Overall, the poem’s form isconsistent and not elaborate. While some may argue the poem’s diction is somewhatmelodramatic, the structure in meter and rhyme suggests otherwise; it creates a strong,sturdy, and self-assured tone.

ELA 8 Parent Resource5"Healing ‘Brick City’: A Newark Doctor Returns Home" by NPR Staff.A physician who overcame a difficult upbringing meditates on the nature of his career and the relationshipbetween medicine and public service.As we read, we will be discussing the themes of Community, Honor & Courage, and Resilience &Success as they relate to the text. We are trying to answer these big questions :"How does a person overcome adversity?", "What makes a hero?", and "What is the importance ofcommunity?"Ways to support your child: Ask your child about this non-fiction at home: What was "Healing ‘Brick City’: A Newark Doctor Returns Home" About What did you learn about? About Honor & Courage? About Resilience & Success?Watch the following clips with your child at home: 'An Emergency Room View of Inner-City Health' 'Three Doctors on CNN Pt 1'Healing ‘Brick City’—A Newark Doctor Returns Homeby NPR Staff 20131. RI.KID.2PART A: Which of the following best identifies the central idea of this article?A. Physicians have a responsibility to actively campaign for comprehensive healthcare and healthinsurance reform in the communities in which they work.B. Davis overcame the influence of a tremendously negative environment to achieve greatsuccess and intends to use his training to better the community in which he grew up.C. Dr. Sampson Davis and his two colleagues were able to become doctors due to a combinationof hard work and luck; many Newark residents are not so fortunate.D. Access to healthcare for people living in high-crime, high-density urban areas is the primaryconcern of physicians who live and work in these underserved communities.2. RI.KID.1PART B: Which phrase from the text best supports the answer to Part A?A. “’Growing up, I was surrounded by so much negative peer pressure and negativity, it wasn’tlong before I became a part of that fabric.’” (Paragraph 4)B. “'[I] committed an armed robbery when I was 17 1/2. And I often say 17 1/2 because had I been18, my story would have been written differently.’” (Paragraph 5)C. “’There has to be more programs that exist. to help the students matriculate through highschool, through college, through medical school.’” (Paragraph 8)D. “’And I think that’s a crime in itself. You have to have some social consciousness togive back, to be a part of making it better tomorrow.’” (Paragraph 9)

ELA 8 Parent Resource63. RI.CS.5How does the following phrase contribute to the development of the main ideas of the text: "'It was theDon Moses that I knew from childhood'" (Paragraph 6)?A. It illustrates how many people from underserved communities go down a negative pathand it makes Davis’s ascent all the more remarkable by comparison.B. It demonstrates the impact the death of a childhood friend had on Davis, who would go on tobecome an emergency room physician.C. It shows that a life of crime will inevitably result in an untimely death or permanentincarceration.D. It advances the notion that Newark, New Jersey is an underserved city.4. RI.CS.6What is the author’s main purpose in writing the article?A. To emphasize the extent to which growing up in a negative environment can stunt a youngperson’s growth and development.B. To show people how doctors from all different backgrounds can work together to make adifference in the quality of healthcare nationwide.C. To inform and inspire people by sharing the narrative of a hard-working, compassionateperson who prevailed over alarming circumstances to realize great success.D. To encourage more young people who have endured difficult childhoods to pursue careers inemergency medicine.5. RI.KID.3How does Davis describe the relationship between growing up in Newark and returning to the city as aphysician? Cite evidence from the text in your response.Answers will vary; students should acknowledge that while Davis describes growing up inNewark as a stunting and damaging experience, it remains part of what motivated him toimprove himself and return to the community as a figure of support and care. Davis notes thatit was “important for me to come back and become a beacon of hope” (Paragraph 3) for otheryoung people struggling to overcome their circumstances. In this way, we may see hisupbringing as a motivational force that encouraged him to return to Newark and serve as asource of inspiration for young people dealing with many of the same issues that he had dealtwith as an adolescent. He further identifies a need in the urban community to which hereturned, which contributes to his desire to serve as a physician and supplier of healthcareguidance: “When you look at mental illness, in the inner city community particularly, it’staboo” (Paragraph 7). Finally, Davis explicitly frames his desire to return to Newark as amanifestation of compassion and a deep-rooted urge to improve the community in which heexperienced violence and terror as a child: “’You have to have some social consciousness togive back, to be a part of making it better tomorrow’” (Paragraph 9).