Special Collections
District List: NYC Core Curriculum 8th - ELA
Description: The New York City Core Curriculum program aims to provide a high-quality curricula to NYC students through a seamless instructional program across grades and subjects. This list has been curated by #NYCDOE for 8th Grade English Language Arts materials.
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Unbroken
by Laura HillenbrandOn a May afternoon in 1943, an Army Air Forces bomber crashed into the Pacific Ocean and disappeared, leaving only a spray of debris and a slick of oil, gasoline, and blood. Then, on the ocean surface, a face appeared. It was that of a young lieutenant, the plane's bombardier, who was struggling to a life raft and pulling himself aboard. So began one of the most extraordinary odysseys of the Second World War.The lieutenant's name was Louis Zamperini. In boyhood, he'd been a cunning and incorrigible delinquent, breaking into houses, brawling, and fleeing his home to ride the rails. As a teenager, he had channeled his defiance into running, discovering a prodigious talent that had carried him to the Berlin Olympics and within sight of the four-minute mile. But when war had come, the athlete had become an airman, embarking on a journey that led to his doomed flight, a tiny raft, and a drift into the unknown.Ahead of Zamperini lay thousands of miles of open ocean, leaping sharks, a foundering raft, thirst and starvation, enemy aircraft, and, beyond, a trial even greater. Driven to the limits of endurance, Zamperini would answer desperation with ingenuity; suffering with hope, resolve, and humor; brutality with rebellion. His fate, whether triumph or tragedy, would be suspended on the fraying wire of his will.In her long-awaited new book, Laura Hillenbrand writes with the same rich and vivid narrative voice she displayed in Seabiscuit. Telling an unforgettable story of a man's journey into extremity, Unbroken is a testament to the resilience of the human mind, body, and spirit.BONUS: This edition contains an excerpt from Laura Hillenbrand's Seabiscuit.
To Kill a Mockingbird
by Harper LeeHarper Lee's Pulitzer prize-winning masterwork of honor and injustice in the deep south--and the heroism of one man in the face of blind and violent hatred, available now for the first time as an e-book.
One of the best-loved stories of all time, To Kill a Mockingbird has been translated into more than forty languages, sold more than thirty million copies worldwide, served as the basis for an enormously popular motion picture, and was voted one of the best novels of the twentieth century by librarians across the country.
A gripping, heart-wrenching, and wholly remarkable tale of coming-of-age in a South poisoned by virulent prejudice, it views a world of great beauty and savage inequities through the eyes of a young girl, as her father-a crusading local lawyer-risks everything to defend a black man unjustly accused of a terrible crime.
Right On Reader 2
by Pamela J. Mims and Angel Lee and Tracie-Lynn Zakas and Diane M. Browder and Jo Reynolds and Beverly Potts and Linda R. SchreiberA systematic language arts curriculum for middle and high school studentsResearch has shown Teaching to Standards: English Language Arts to be highly effective in teaching skills that align to grade-level standards.
Right On Reader 1
by Pamela J. Mims and Angel Lee and Tracie-Lynn Zakas and Diane M. Browder and Jo Reynolds and Beverly Potts and Linda R. SchreiberRight On Readers - provides 16 popular works of literature commonly used in the general education classroom, adapted with simplified text, repeated storylines, and symbol supports. The adapted literature includes fiction and nonfiction stories, poetry, theatrical scripts, and research endeavors.
The Omnivore's Dilemma
by Michael PollanThe New York Times bestseller that's changing America's diet is now perfect for younger readers"What's for dinner?" seemed like a simple question--until journalist and supermarket detective Michael Pollan delved behind the scenes.
From fast food and big organic to small farms and old-fashioned hunting and gathering, this young readers' adaptation of Pollan's famous food-chain exploration encourages kids to consider the personal and global health implications of their food choices.
In a smart, compelling format with updated facts, plenty of photos, graphs, and visuals, as well as a new afterword and backmatter, The Omnivore's Dilemma serves up a bold message to the generation that needs it most: It's time to take charge of our national eating habits--and it starts with you.
Make Lemonade
by Virginia Euwer WolffLaVaughn needed a part-time job. Something she could do after school to help earn money for college. Jolly needed a babysitter. Someone she could trust with two kids while she worked the evening shift. It didn't matter that LaVaughn was fourteen-years-oldonly three years younger than Jolly. It didn't matter that Jolly didn't have a husbandor a mom and dad. Because LaVaughn gives Jolly and her two babies more love and understanding than should be possible for a fourteen-year-old. Because if she doesn't, no one else will. LeVaughn describes the difficulties and triumphs of a teen mom raising two babies with insufficient money and support, and what it takes to survive and attempt to break the cycle of poverty.
Inside Out and Back Again
by Thanhha LaiNo one would believe me but at times I would choose wartime in Saigon over peacetime in Alabama.
For all the ten years of her life, HÀ has only known Saigon: the thrills of its markets, the joy of its traditions, the warmth of her friends close by...and the beauty of her very own papaya tree.
But now the Vietnam War has reached her home. HÀ and her family are forced to flee as Saigon falls, and they board a ship headed toward hope. In America, HÀ discovers the foreign world of Alabama: the coldness of its strangers, the dullness of its food, the strange shape of its landscape...and the strength of her very own family.
This is the moving story of one girl's year of change, dreams, grief, and healing as she journeys from one country to another, one life to the next.
Newbery Honor Book
Winner of the National Book Award
Explore American History
by Judi KinneyThe Student Book has 9 chronological chapters from Early Years to A New Century. These follow a consistent format: Anticipatory Set, Vocabulary, History Stories, and Quiz. Twenty-five one-page biographies with corresponding comprehension exercises are also aligned to the curriculum's chronology.
Endangered
by Eliot SchreferFrom National Book Award Finalist Eliot Schrefer comes the compelling tale of a girl who must save a group of bonobos -- and herself -- from a violent coup.Congo is a dangerous place, even for people who are trying to do good.When Sophie has to visit her mother at her sanctuary for bonobos, she's not thrilled to be there. Then Otto, an infant bonobo, comes into her life, and for the first time she feels responsible for another creature.But peace does not last long for Sophie and Otto. When an armed revolution breaks out in the country, the sanctuary is attacked, and the two of them must escape unprepared into the jungle. Caught in the crosshairs of a lethal conflict, they must struggle to keep safe, to eat, and to live. In ENDANGERED, Eliot Schrefer plunges us into a heart-stopping exploration of the things we do to survive, the sacrifices we make to help others, and the tangled geography that ties us all, human and animal, together.
