1. Ms. Mills 8th Grade Language Arts

2. Essential Questions At the end of our studies can you answer the following questions based on real life experiences and support from our literary selection How do sensory details improve the trait of IDEAS? How does an author’s perspective impact his or her writing?

4. Author’s Purpose

5. Author’s Perspective

6. Author’s Bias

8. About the Author Cynthia Rylant is an award winning children’s and young adult author. She has written over 100 books of various genres, including non-fiction and poetry. When I was Young in the Mountains is her first-ever book, published in 1982. She wrote it from her experiences living in West Virginia with her grandparents after her mother left her at their doorstep at age nine. It is a Caldecott Honor Book.

9. Features to notice… 1. Sensory details 2. Alliteration 3. Setting What is annotation? What is the author’s purpose for writing this piece?

10. Let’s Annotate Skim the literary piece and place a ? above any unfamiliar words Pairs Read Aloud Teacher Read Aloud, this time underline any details you can taste, touch, smell, hear, see Put a squiggly line under examples of Repetition Place a square around examples of Alliteration Circle any examples of the Rule of Three

11. Think-Pair-Share Author’s Perspective: How would text have changed if the person was from the city? Author’s Bias: Find the section of text where the author’s bias is in favor of living in the mountains. Author’s Purpose: Using clues from the text, brainstorm ideas of why Cynthia Rylant wrote this piece.

12. Writing opportunity Use the sensory detail chart to draft a MEMOIR of their experience in the style of Cynthia Rylant’sWhen I was Young in the Mountains.

13. Student Sample When I was young at the races, cars revved up to go down the track, “VROOOOOOOM!” The people placed bets on who was going to win the race. Vendors tried to sell you merchandise as the motorcycles passed you by. When I was young at the races, The greasy burgers from the vendors, the monster energy drinks that gave me the biggest BUZZZZ ever, the chips from home and the BBQ ribs for dinner, made my stomach ache in a wonderful way. When I was young at the races I never wanted to go home I never wanted to stop And I never wanted to leave the track I was young at the races, and that was always enough. When I was young at the races The freshly painted drag cards were among the attractions, as the fans raced to see John Force speed down the track. The twisted metal of the car crashes collided with the wall, fire raging from the jet engines. When I was young at the races the sticky asphalt of the track prevented the tires from spinning out. The smoothness of the paint, aroma of fresh tires, and hot engines after a run was overpowering. When I was young at the races, the alcohol fuel and burnt rubber was an every Saturday thrill The fresh burgers and fries, the exhaust from the cars made me never want to go anywhere else.

14. Simultaneous Round Table Teacher assigns a topic or question and provides think time. 2. All four students respond, simultaneously writing their own response. 3. The teacher signals time. 4. Students pass papers to one person clockwise. 5. Students continue, adding new thoughts and ideas to what the previous student wrote.

15. Simultaneous Round Table What is the author’s purpose for saying, “When I was young in the mountains, I never wanted to go to the ocean, and I never wanted to go to the desert…I was in the mountains.” What would be another good title for this piece? Locate a sentence that incorporates sensory details. What details did Rylant include?

16. Essential Questions Today’s Exit Ticket Exit Ticket Directions: Please go to our classroom blog. All classes must respond to both questions in your blog . Follow blog rules. Periods 1,2,5,7 you must also respond to one other persons blog response stating if you agree or disagree. Give details supporting your thoughts. How do sensory details improve the trait of IDEAS? How does an author’s perspective impact his or her writing?