Overview

Lesson Procedure

55-65 minutes of class time across 5 phases.

1. Warm-Up5-10 minutes
2. Direct Instruction15 minutes
3. Guided Practice15 minutes
4. Independent Practice15 minutes
5. Closure5-10 minutes

1. Warm-Up5-10 minutes

   Warm-Up Prompt

   "The last slice of pizza is gone, and you think your little brother ate it. You have three clues: he loves pizza, he was home alone all afternoon, and there is tomato sauce on his sleeve. All three point to him. Which one is the strongest clue, and why is it stronger than the other two?"

   Collect answers. Many students pick the sauce, and the reasons are what matter: loving pizza is true of many people (not decisive), being home shows he had the chance but not that he took it, and the sauce is a specific trace of the pizza itself. Point out that every clue was relevant, but one did far more work. Tell students that grade 8 asks for exactly this: not just evidence, but the evidence that most strongly supports the point, and a reason for the choice.

2. Direct Instruction15 minutes

   Review three words and teach three new ones, and leave them on the board:

   • Textual evidence: exact words from the text that back up a claim about it, cited with the passage and paragraph number, for example (Passage 1, paragraph 2).
   • Explicit: stated directly in the words of the text.
   • Inference: a conclusion the text supports but does not state, reached by joining clues in the text with what you already know.
   • Strongest evidence (new): the quotation that proves the claim better than any other one in the text. Grade 7 asked for several pieces; grade 8 asks students to choose among them and defend the choice.
   • The strength test (new): three questions for each candidate. On target: is it about this exact claim, not just the same topic? Specific: does it give a concrete action, detail or statement rather than a general impression? Decisive: does it settle the question, leaving little room for another reading?
   • Runner-up (new): the second-best quotation. Saying why the winner beats the runner-up is how students show that they chose, not just found, their evidence.

   Introduce the text. John Muir (1838-1914) was born in Scotland, grew up in Wisconsin and became a well-known American naturalist and writer about wild places. In the summer of 1869 a sheep owner, Mr. Delaney (called "the Don" in the journal), hired him to go with his shepherd, Billy, and a flock of about two thousand sheep into the high mountains near Yosemite. Muir's job was mainly to see that the shepherd did his work; in his free hours he studied plants, animals and rocks. A hunter lent him a St. Bernard dog named Carlo. Muir kept a journal and published it in 1911 as My First Summer in the Sierra. Words to know for Passage 1: queer (strange; an older meaning of the word), punky dust (crumbly powder from rotten wood), corral (a fenced pen for animals), ammoniacal snuff (Muir's joke: Billy breathes the sharp ammonia smell of the sheep pen all night, the way some people sniffed powdered tobacco, called snuff), six-shooter (a revolver), stalactites (icicle-shaped deposits that hang in caves), oleaginous (oily), apparel (clothing), adhesive (sticky), resin (sticky tree sap), mica, quartz, hornblende (minerals found in rock), naturalist (a person who studies plants, animals and rocks), specimens (samples collected for study), bituminous (tar-like), microcosm (a small world that contains a sample of everything), concentric (in rings around one center), stratification (arrangement in layers, like layers of rock) and rove and revel (wander and enjoy). Read the passage aloud. It is a joke from start to finish, and students should enjoy it.

   1Our shepherd is a queer character and hard to place in this wilderness. His bed is a hollow made in red dry-rot punky dust beside a log which forms a portion of the south wall of the corral. Here he lies with his wonderful everlasting clothing on, wrapped in a red blanket, breathing not only the dust of the decayed wood but also that of the corral, as if determined to take ammoniacal snuff all night after chewing tobacco all day. Following the sheep he carries a heavy six-shooter swung from his belt on one side and his luncheon on the other. The ancient cloth in which the meat, fresh from the frying-pan, is tied serves as a filter through which the clear fat and gravy juices drip down on his right hip and leg in clustering stalactites. This oleaginous formation is soon broken up, however, and diffused and rubbed evenly into his scanty apparel, by sitting down, rolling over, crossing his legs while resting on logs, etc., making shirt and trousers water-tight and shiny. His trousers, in particular, have become so adhesive with the mixed fat and resin that pine needles, thin flakes and fibres of bark, hair, mica scales and minute grains of quartz, hornblende, etc., feathers, seed wings, moth and butterfly wings, legs and antennæ of innumerable insects, or even whole insects such as the small beetles, moths and mosquitoes, with flower petals, pollen dust and indeed bits of all plants, animals, and minerals of the region adhere to them and are safely imbedded, so that though far from being a naturalist he collects fragmentary specimens of everything and becomes richer than he knows. His specimens are kept passably fresh, too, by the purity of the air and the resiny bituminous beds into which they are pressed. Man is a microcosm, at least our shepherd is, or rather his trousers. These precious overalls are never taken off, and nobody knows how old they are, though one may guess by their thickness and concentric structure. Instead of wearing thin they wear thick, and in their stratification have no small geological significance.

   2Besides herding the sheep, Billy is the butcher, while I have agreed to wash the few iron and tin utensils and make the bread. Then, these small duties done, by the time the sun is fairly above the mountain-tops I am beyond the flock, free to rove and revel in the wilderness all the big immortal days.

   • Explicit: the direct statement beats the hint

     Claim: Billy never takes off his clothes. Two candidates: "his wonderful everlasting clothing" (paragraph 1) and "These precious overalls are never taken off" (paragraph 1). Which is stronger?

     Result: "These precious overalls are never taken off" is stronger. Both are on target, but "everlasting" only hints that the clothes last a long time; a reader could take it as praise for tough cloth. The second quotation states the claim in almost the same words, so it is specific and decisive. The first becomes the runner-up.

   • Explicit: the one that names the details

     Claim: Muir has his own camp chores. Candidates: "these small duties done" and "I have agreed to wash the few iron and tin utensils and make the bread" (both paragraph 2).

     Result: The second is stronger because it is specific: it names the two chores, washing the pots and pans and making the bread, and it shows they are Muir's ("I have agreed"). "these small duties" is on target but vague; without the sentence before it, a reader could not tell whose duties they are or what they were.

   • Inference: ranking three candidates

     Muir never says "I am joking." Claim: he is poking fun at Billy, not writing a science report. Candidates: "Our shepherd is a queer character"; "he collects fragmentary specimens of everything and becomes richer than he knows"; "in their stratification have no small geological significance" (all paragraph 1).

     Result: Weakest: "queer character" shows that Billy is odd, not that Muir is joking. Stronger: calling the dirt on the trousers "specimens" is playful. Strongest: "stratification" and "geological significance" describe greasy trousers as if they were layers of rock worth a scientist's study. That serious language only makes sense as a joke, so this quotation is decisive (Diagram 1).

   • Inference: a contrast inside one sentence

     Muir never says what he thinks of the sheep job. Claim: he cares far more about exploring than about his camp work. Which evidence settles it?

     Result: "these small duties done, by the time the sun is fairly above the mountain-tops I am beyond the flock, free to rove and revel in the wilderness all the big immortal days" (paragraph 2). The chores are "small"; the days in the wilderness are "big" and "immortal," and he finishes the chores early to reach them. A weaker choice, "Besides herding the sheep, Billy is the butcher," is about Billy's jobs and says nothing about how Muir feels.

   Claim, candidates, choice, reason. Show Diagram 1 and model the four moves with the third example: state the claim; list two or three candidate quotations; run the strength test on each; then write one sentence that names the winner and one that says why it beats the runner-up. Give students two sentence frames: "The strongest evidence that ___ is ___ (paragraph __), because it is the only one that ___." and "The quotation ___ is also on target, but it is weaker because ___."

3. Guided Practice15 minutes

   Read Passage 2 aloud. It is the next day, July 21, and the start of the story students will follow into Passage 3. Words to know: Dome (North Dome, a rounded granite peak above Yosemite Valley where Muir sat to sketch), to advantage (in the best way), moraine boulders (rocks left behind by a glacier), mountaineer (here, a creature that lives in the mountains), buttresses (the wide, spreading base of a tree trunk), Bruin (an old nickname for a bear, from stories) and a stone's throw (as far as a person can throw a stone, a short distance).

   1Saw a common house-fly and a grasshopper and a brown bear. The fly and grasshopper paid me a merry visit on the top of the Dome, and I paid a visit to the bear in the middle of a small garden meadow between the Dome and the camp where he was standing alert among the flowers as if willing to be seen to advantage. I had not gone more than half a mile from camp this morning, when Carlo, who was trotting on a few yards ahead of me, came to a sudden, cautious standstill. Down went tail and ears, and forward went his knowing nose, while he seemed to be saying, “Ha, what’s this? A bear, I guess.” Then a cautious advance of a few steps, setting his feet down softly like a hunting cat, and questioning the air as to the scent he had caught until all doubt vanished. Then he came back to me, looked me in the face, and with his speaking eyes reported a bear near by; then led on softly, careful, like an experienced hunter, not to make the slightest noise; and frequently looking back as if whispering, “Yes, it’s a bear; come and I’ll show you.” Presently we came to where the sunbeams were streaming through between the purple shafts of the firs, which showed that we were nearing an open spot, and here Carlo came behind me, evidently sure that the bear was very near. So I crept to a low ridge of moraine boulders on the edge of a narrow garden meadow, and in this meadow I felt pretty sure the bear must be. I was anxious to get a good look at the sturdy mountaineer without alarming him; so drawing myself up noiselessly back of one of the largest of the trees I peered past its bulging buttresses, exposing only a part of my head, and there stood neighbor Bruin within a stone’s throw, his hips covered by tall grass and flowers, and his front feet on the trunk of a fir that had fallen out into the meadow, which raised his head so high that he seemed to be standing erect. He had not yet seen me, but was looking and listening attentively, showing that in some way he was aware of our approach. I watched his gestures and tried to make the most of my opportunity to learn what I could about him, fearing he would catch sight of me and run away.

   Pairs use the strength chart (Diagram 2) for two claims. For each one, they give every candidate a check or a cross for on target, specific and decisive, rank the four, and write one sentence on why the winner beats the runner-up. Take answers, then share the teacher notes:

   1. Claim A (explicit): the bear was close to Muir when Muir first saw him. Candidates: (1) "standing alert among the flowers"; (2) "there stood neighbor Bruin within a stone’s throw"; (3) "in this meadow I felt pretty sure the bear must be"; (4) "the sunbeams were streaming through between the purple shafts of the firs." Teacher note: (2) wins. It is the only candidate that gives a distance, and "a stone's throw" is short. (3) is the runner-up: it places the bear in the meadow, but it is a guess made before Muir saw him and gives no distance. (1) is about the bear's pose, and (4) is off target (the light in the forest).
   2. Claim B (inference): Carlo knew a bear was there before Muir did. Candidates: (1) "came to a sudden, cautious standstill"; (2) "questioning the air as to the scent he had caught until all doubt vanished"; (3) "with his speaking eyes reported a bear near by"; (4) "Carlo, who was trotting on a few yards ahead of me." Teacher note: (3) wins, because Carlo comes back to report the bear while Muir has seen nothing yet. (2) is the runner-up: it shows Carlo picking up a scent, but not yet what the scent was. (1) is on target but not decisive, since a dog can stop for many reasons, and (4) only gives Carlo's position.
   3. Check the reasoning. Ask pairs: every candidate in Claim B comes from Muir, who could not read the dog's mind. Does that weaken the evidence? Teacher note: it means the evidence supports an analysis of what Muir reports. The strongest quotation is still the one that shows Carlo acting on what he knew, and a careful answer says "Muir shows that Carlo knew..." rather than claiming to know the dog's thoughts.
4. Independent Practice15 minutes

   Students read Passage 3 on their own. It continues the same paragraph as Passage 2, and three short cuts are marked [...]. Words to know: cinnamon (a cinnamon bear, a black bear with a reddish-brown coat), his bad brother man (Muir's phrase for human beings, seen from the bear's side), muzzle (nose and mouth), gait (way of moving), dismay (sudden worry and disappointment), fervently (with strong feeling), strenuous (tense and hard), deliberation (slow care), ungovernable (impossible to control), whose lines have fallen in pleasant places (who has a lucky life, a phrase from the Bible), cañons (canyons), reigns supreme (rules over all), the Don's rifle (Mr. Delaney's rifle) and bade him Godspeed (wished him a safe journey).

   1For I had been told that this sort of bear, the cinnamon, always ran from his bad brother man, never showing fight unless wounded or in defense of young. [...] After examining at leisure, noting the sharp muzzle thrust inquiringly forward, the long shaggy hair on his broad chest, the stiff, erect ears nearly buried in hair, and the slow, heavy way he moved his head, I thought I should like to see his gait in running, so I made a sudden rush at him, shouting and swinging my hat to frighten him, expecting to see him make haste to get away. But to my dismay he did not run or show any sign of running. On the contrary, he stood his ground ready to fight and defend himself, lowered his head, thrust it forward, and looked sharply and fiercely at me. Then I suddenly began to fear that upon me would fall the work of running; but I was afraid to run, and therefore, like the bear, held my ground. We stood staring at each other in solemn silence within a dozen yards or thereabouts, while I fervently hoped that the power of the human eye over wild beasts would prove as great as it is said to be. How long our awfully strenuous interview lasted, I don’t know; but at length in the slow fullness of time he pulled his huge paws down off the log, and with magnificent deliberation turned and walked leisurely up the meadow, stopping frequently to look back over his shoulder to see whether I was pursuing him, then moving on again, evidently neither fearing me very much nor trusting me. He was probably about five hundred pounds in weight, a broad, rusty bundle of ungovernable wildness, a happy fellow whose lines have fallen in pleasant places. [...]

   2In the great cañons Bruin reigns supreme. [...] I should like to know my hairy brothers better—though after this particular Yosemite bear, my very neighbor, had sauntered out of sight this morning, I reluctantly went back to camp for the Don’s rifle to shoot him, if necessary, in defense of the flock. Fortunately I couldn’t find him, and after tracking him a mile or two towards Mount Hoffman I bade him Godspeed and gladly returned to my work on the Yosemite Dome.

   On the handout, students (1) describe what the bear looked like up close, citing the most specific evidence in paragraph 1; (2) explain how Muir's feelings toward the bear changed between the rush and the end of the morning, citing the strongest quotation for each feeling and saying why each beats a runner-up; (3) decide which quotation more strongly supports the claim the bear was not afraid of Muir: "he stood his ground ready to fight and defend himself" or "He was probably about five hundred pounds in weight," and explain using the strength test. The quiz uses Passages 1-3.

5. Closure5-10 minutes

   Exit ticket: (1) In one sentence, explain the difference between evidence that is on target and evidence that is decisive. (2) Claim: Muir admired the bear. Choose the single strongest quotation from Passage 3 and write one sentence on why it beats another quotation you considered.

   Teacher note on history, language and safety: Muir wrote in 1869 and published in 1911, and some words have changed meaning since then: "queer" here means strange, and Muir uses it for the grasshopper in Passage 4 as well. He describes animals as if they had human thoughts and speech; ask students to treat those lines as Muir's interpretation. Safety: Muir's rush at the bear is exactly what park rangers today tell visitors never to do. Current National Park Service advice is to keep your distance (Yosemite asks visitors to stay at least 50 yards away), never approach or chase a bear, and never run from one; instead, stand your ground, make yourself look as large as possible, talk calmly and back away slowly. Say this plainly before students discuss Passage 3. Grazing large flocks of sheep in the high Sierra, the job Muir took that summer, was later limited when Yosemite became a national park, partly because of Muir's own writing.

   For homework: students read Passage 4, printed below. It comes from the afternoon of the same day, July 21, when Muir was back at his sketching on the Dome. Two short cuts are marked [...]. Words to know: excursions (short trips), brimful (full to the top), hilarious (here, cheerful and merry), alighted (landed), described (here, traced a shape in the air), redlegs (Muir's nickname for the grasshopper), gayety (an older spelling of gaiety, cheerfulness), sublime (grand enough to fill you with awe), dejection and melancholy (sadness), no winter of discontent (no time of unhappiness, a phrase from Shakespeare) and I fancy (I imagine).

   1A queer fellow and a jolly fellow is the grasshopper. Up the mountains he comes on excursions, how high I don’t know, but at least as far and high as Yosemite tourists. I was much interested with the hearty enjoyment of the one that danced and sang for me on the Dome this afternoon. He seemed brimful of glad, hilarious energy, manifested by springing into the air to a height of twenty or thirty feet, then diving and springing up again and making a sharp musical rattle just as the lowest point in the descent was reached. Up and down a dozen times or so he danced and sang, then alighted to rest, then up and at it again. The curves he described in the air in diving and rattling resembled those made by cords hanging loosely and attached at the same height at the ends, the loops nearly covering each other. Braver, heartier, keener, care-free enjoyment of life I have never seen or heard in any creature, great or small. The life of this comic redlegs, the mountain’s merriest child, seems to be made up of pure, condensed gayety. [...] Wonderful that these sublime mountains are so loudly cheered and brightened by a creature so queer. Nature in him seems to be snapping her fingers in the face of all earthly dejection and melancholy with a boyish hip-hip-hurrah. How the sound is made I do not understand. When he was on the ground he made not the slightest noise, nor when he was simply flying from place to place, but only when diving in curves, the motion seeming to be required for the sound; for the more vigorous the diving the more energetic the corresponding outbursts of jolly rattling. I tried to observe him closely while he was resting in the intervals of his performances; but he would not allow a near approach, always getting his jumping legs ready to spring for immediate flight, and keeping his eyes on me. [...] No danger of weakness in the knees of the world while Nature can spring such a rattle as this. Even the bear did not express for me the mountain’s wild health and strength and happiness so tellingly as did this comical little hopper. No cloud of care in his day, no winter of discontent in sight. To him every day is a holiday; and when at length his sun sets, I fancy he will cuddle down on the forest floor and die like the leaves and flowers, and like them leave no unsightly remains calling for burial.

Differentiation Strategies

Assessment Guidance

1. Question 1 of 20 · Multiple Choice

   A news article reports on a school that moved its start time later. Which quotation most strongly supports the claim that students got more sleep?

   A"The new schedule began in September, after a vote by the school board." B"Many parents said they liked the change and hoped it would last." C"Students reported sleeping an average of 40 more minutes a night." D"Doctors agree that sleep matters a great deal for teenagers."

2. Question 2 of 20 · Multiple Choice

   A hiker's journal says: "By noon the trail had vanished under snow. I checked the map twice, then a third time, and finally turned around." Which clue most strongly supports the inference that the hiker was unsure of the way?

   A"I checked the map twice, then a third time" B"the trail had vanished under snow" C"finally turned around" D"By noon"

3. Question 3 of 20 · Multiple Choice

   Which quotation from Passage 1 most strongly supports the claim that Billy carries a weapon while he herds?

   A"Besides herding the sheep, Billy is the butcher" B"as if determined to take ammoniacal snuff all night" C"he collects fragmentary specimens of everything" D"he carries a heavy six-shooter swung from his belt"

4. Question 4 of 20 · Multiple Choice

   Muir never writes "Billy's bed is unhealthy." Which quotation from Passage 1 most strongly supports the inference that Muir thinks it is?

   A"His bed is a hollow made in red dry-rot punky dust beside a log which forms a portion of the south wall of the corral" B"breathing not only the dust of the decayed wood but also that of the corral" C"wrapped in a red blanket" D"Here he lies with his wonderful everlasting clothing on"

5. Question 5 of 20 · Multiple Choice

   According to Passage 2, how far from camp had Muir gone when Carlo came to a sudden stop?

   AA few yards BAbout a stone's throw CNot more than half a mile DA mile or two, toward Mount Hoffman

6. Question 6 of 20 · Multiple Choice

   Which quotation from Passage 2 most strongly supports the claim that Muir tried to keep the bear from seeing him?

   A"I was anxious to get a good look at the sturdy mountaineer" B"I peered past its bulging buttresses, exposing only a part of my head" C"the sunbeams were streaming through between the purple shafts of the firs" D"He had not yet seen me, but was looking and listening attentively"

7. Question 7 of 20 · Multiple Choice

   Muir never writes "I trusted Carlo." Which quotation from Passage 2 most strongly supports the inference that he did?

   A"Carlo, who was trotting on a few yards ahead of me, came to a sudden, cautious standstill" B"setting his feet down softly like a hunting cat" C"there stood neighbor Bruin within a stone’s throw" D"here Carlo came behind me, evidently sure that the bear was very near. So I crept"

8. Question 8 of 20 · Multiple Choice

   Passage 2 says the bear "seemed to be standing erect." According to the passage, why did he seem that way?

   AHis front feet were on a fallen fir, which raised his head BHe had risen onto his back legs to smell Carlo and Muir CHe was standing on a low ridge of moraine boulders at the meadow's edge DTall grass and flowers hid his front legs from Muir

9. Question 9 of 20 · Multiple Choice

   According to Passage 3, what had Muir been told about cinnamon bears?

   AThey ran from people unless wounded or defending their young BThey attacked anyone who shouted or waved at them CThey could always be stopped by a steady, fearless human stare DThey ran from dogs but never from a person

10. Question 10 of 20 · Multiple Choice

    Muir never says "I did not know what to do." Which quotation from Passage 3 most strongly supports the inference that he was unsure how to handle the bear?

    A"After examining at leisure, noting the sharp muzzle thrust inquiringly forward, the long shaggy hair on his broad chest" B"We stood staring at each other in solemn silence" C"evidently neither fearing me very much nor trusting me" D"I fervently hoped that the power of the human eye over wild beasts would prove as great as it is said to be"

11. Question 11 of 20 · Multiple Choice

    According to Passage 3, why did Muir go back to camp for the Don's rifle?

    ATo shoot the bear, if necessary, to protect the flock BTo hunt the bear for meat for the camp CTo protect Carlo from the bear DBecause the bear had attacked him in the meadow earlier that morning

12. Question 12 of 20 · Multiple Choice

    Which quotation from Passage 3 most strongly supports the inference that Muir was relieved when his search for the bear failed?

    A"I reluctantly went back to camp for the Don’s rifle" B"Fortunately I couldn’t find him" C"after tracking him a mile or two towards Mount Hoffman" D"In the great cañons Bruin reigns supreme"

13. Question 13 of 20 · Multiple Choice

    According to Passage 3, how close were Muir and the bear while they stared at each other?

    AAbout half a mile BA mile or two CWithin a dozen yards or so DAbout five hundred feet away

14. Question 14 of 20 · Multiple Choice

    Which quotation from Passage 3 most strongly supports the inference that Muir thought of wild animals as neighbors rather than enemies?

    A"a broad, rusty bundle of ungovernable wildness" B"he stood his ground ready to fight and defend himself" C"to shoot him, if necessary, in defense of the flock" D"I should like to know my hairy brothers better"

15. Question 15 of 20 · Multiple Choice

    Which statement is stated explicitly in Passage 1?

    ANobody knows how old Billy’s overalls are. BBilly has studied plants, insects and minerals for many years. CBilly washes his trousers in the river about once every month. DBilly makes the bread and washes the camp's iron and tin pots.

16. Question 16 of 20 · Short Answer

    What can you infer about how Carlo tried to keep the bear from noticing him and Muir? Give the single strongest quotation from Passage 2 and explain why it is stronger than one other quotation you considered.

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17. Question 17 of 20 · Short Answer

    Why did Muir rush at the bear? Make an inference and support it with the strongest evidence from Passage 3, paragraph 1. Explain what your quotation shows that "I made a sudden rush at him" does not.

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18. Question 18 of 20 · Short Answer

    Muir says Billy is "far from being a naturalist" (Passage 1). What can you infer about how Muir sees himself? Cite the strongest evidence from Passage 2 and explain why it beats "I was anxious to get a good look at the sturdy mountaineer."

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19. Question 19 of 20 · Short Answer

    How did the standoff with the bear end? Give the strongest evidence from Passage 3 for your answer, and explain why "But to my dismay he did not run" would be a weaker choice.

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20. Question 20 of 20 · Short Answer

    Muir writes that the bear "was probably about five hundred pounds in weight" (Passage 3, paragraph 1). Is the bear's weight something the text states as a fact, or is it Muir's estimate? What word tells you, and how should a careful reader use this quotation as evidence?

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These standards connect to RI.8.1: prerequisites to review first, parallel standards at the same level, and next steps that build on it.

Standard text: Common Core State Standards for English Language Arts & Literacy. © Copyright 2010. National Governors Association Center for Best Practices and Council of Chief State School Officers. All rights reserved.