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Literacy 8th Grade Ages 13–14
Rhetoric — how persuasion actually works — Take-Home — 8th Grade Identifies appeals to credibility, emotion and logic, and judges whether the argument survives without the rhetoric. This one-page 8th Grade take-home carries the two-minute check that tells you whether the skill is wobbly, then "Speech Autopsy" — 25 minutes with a famous speech, transcript and…
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Rhetoric — how persuasion actually works LITERACY · 8TH GRADE Name Date TAKE-HOME PRACTICE Reading · 8th Grade 25 minutes WHAT THIS BUILDS Identifies appeals to credibility, emotion and logic, and judges whether the argument survives without the rhetoric. 1 THE TWO-MINUTE CHECK ASK Play a famous speech or an advert. "What made that work? Would the argument survive without it?" A SOLID ANSWER Two techniques named, and a separate judgement about the underlying argument. Not yet Getting there Solid 2 SPEECH AUTOPSY You need: A famous speech, transcript and video, Highlighters Watch it once and note the emotional effect honestly. Read the transcript and mark appeals to credibility, emotion and logic in three colours. Find the repetition, the three-part lists, the contrasts. Strip it to a plain summary of the argument. Is the argument still good? Rewrite one paragraph plainly and compare the effect. SAY THIS WHEN IT STALLS "That moved you — good. Now separately: is what they actually claimed true?" Analyse a 30-second advert instead. Compare two speeches on the same issue and judge which argument is stronger, separately from which is more moving. IF IT'S TOO HARD IF IT'S TOO EASY Did it M T W T F Full year of take-homes: www.littleactivity.com/takehome/grade-8 www.littleactivity.com 8th Grade · Literacy
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Rhetoric — how persuasion actually works LITERACY · 8TH GRADE Name Date TAKE-HOME PRACTICE Reading · 8th Grade 25 minutes WHAT THIS BUILDS Identifies appeals to credibility, emotion and logic, and judges whether the argument survives without the rhetoric. 1 THE TWO-MINUTE CHECK ASK Play a famous speech or an advert. "What made that work? Would the argument survive without it?" A SOLID ANSWER Two techniques named, and a separate judgement about the underlying argument. Not yet Getting there Solid 2 SPEECH AUTOPSY You need: A famous speech, transcript and video, Highlighters Watch it once and note the emotional effect honestly. Read the transcript and mark appeals to credibility, emotion and logic in three colours. Find the repetition, the three-part lists, the contrasts. Strip it to a plain summary of the argument. Is the argument still good? Rewrite one paragraph plainly and compare the effect. SAY THIS WHEN IT STALLS "That moved you — good. Now separately: is what they actually claimed true?" Analyse a 30-second advert instead. Compare two speeches on the same issue and judge which argument is stronger, separately from which is more moving. IF IT'S TOO HARD IF IT'S TOO EASY Did it M T W T F Full year of take-homes: www.littleactivity.com/takehome/grade-8 www.littleactivity.com 8th Grade · Literacy
Hearing the first sound in a word LITERACY · PRE-K Name Date TAKE-HOME PRACTICE Reading · Pre-K 5 minutes WHAT THIS BUILDS Can tell you what sound a spoken word starts with — /m/ in milk — without seeing it written. For the grown-up: say every prompt out loud. Nothing on this sheet asks the child to read or write. 1 THE TWO-MINUTE CHECK ASK Say: "Mmmilk. What sound does milk start with?" Then try sock and ball. A SOLID ANSWER They make the sound — /m/, /s/, /b/ — not the letter name, and get at least two of the three. Not yet Getting there Solid 2 SOUND HUNT You need: Anything in the room Pick one sound for the day, e.g. /s/. Say it, don't name the letter. Say: "I spy something that starts with sssss." Look at a sock while you say it. Let them find it. Celebrate loudly. Swap: they pick the thing, you guess. Getting it wrong on purpose is the best part. Stop after four or five rounds, while they still want more. SAY THIS WHEN IT STALLS "Listen to the very start of the word. Mmmmm-ilk. Can you make that sound with me?" Stretch the sound out and hold your object up: "Ssssssock. Sssss." Give the answer, then ask them to say the sound after you. Ask for the last sound instead of the first — "what does cat end with?" That is a five-year-old skill and a nice stretch. IF IT'S TOO HARD IF IT'S TOO EASY Did it M T W T F Full year of take-homes: www.littleactivity.com/takehome/pre-k www.littleactivity.com Pre-K · Literacy
Rhyming LITERACY · PRE-K Name Date TAKE-HOME PRACTICE Reading · Pre-K 5 minutes WHAT THIS BUILDS Notices when two words end the same, and can offer a third — even a nonsense one. For the grown-up: say every prompt out loud. Nothing on this sheet asks the child to read or write. 1 THE TWO-MINUTE CHECK ASK "Cat, hat — do those sound the same at the end? What about cat and cup?" A SOLID ANSWER Yes to the first, no to the second. Producing a rhyme themselves is a bonus, not the bar. Not yet Getting there Solid 2 SILLY RHYME CHAIN You need: Nothing Say a short word: cat. You go first with the rhyme: bat. Then it's their turn. Accept nonsense words with full enthusiasm — zat and vat count and are proof they hear the pattern. When the chain dies, start a new word. Three chains is plenty. Sing it if they stall. A tune carries a child past a stuck moment better than a hint. SAY THIS WHEN IT STALLS "Cat, hat, mat — they all end with the same sound. Can you make a silly one?" Give two rhyming words and one odd one, and let them point at the odd one. Choosing is easier than producing. Ask for a rhyme with two syllables — funny, bunny, money. IF IT'S TOO HARD IF IT'S TOO EASY Did it M T W T F Full year of take-homes: www.littleactivity.com/takehome/pre-k www.littleactivity.com Pre-K · Literacy
Recognising letters — starting with their own name LITERACY · PRE-K Name Date TAKE-HOME PRACTICE Reading · Pre-K 5 minutes WHAT THIS BUILDS Spots the letters in their own name and names a handful of others by shape. For the grown-up: say every prompt out loud. Nothing on this sheet asks the child to read or write. 1 THE TWO-MINUTE CHECK ASK Write their name big. Point at the first letter: "What's this one called?" A SOLID ANSWER They name the first letter of their name. Anything beyond that at this age is ahead of schedule. Not yet Getting there Solid 2 NAME DETECTIVE You need: Their name written large on paper, A crayon or a highlighter Write their name in big letters and say each one as you write. Give them the crayon. "Find your special letter" — the first one. Go hunting: on cereal boxes, signs, doors, the TV. Circle or point at every match. Count the finds out loud at the end. Do the same letter for a whole week before adding a second. SAY THIS WHEN IT STALLS "That's your letter! That's the one your name starts with." Hunt for the shape rather than the name — "find another one that looks like this" — and supply the name yourself each time. Add the letters of a sibling's or a pet's name, then ask whose letter each one is. IF IT'S TOO HARD IF IT'S TOO EASY Did it M T W T F Full year of take-homes: www.littleactivity.com/takehome/pre-k www.littleactivity.com Pre-K · Literacy
Listening to a story and telling it back LITERACY · PRE-K Name Date TAKE-HOME PRACTICE Reading · Pre-K 10 minutes WHAT THIS BUILDS Can say what happened first, next and last using the pictures as a prompt. For the grown-up: say every prompt out loud. Nothing on this sheet asks the child to read or write. 1 THE TWO-MINUTE CHECK ASK After a familiar book: "What happened at the beginning? What happened at the end?" A SOLID ANSWER Two events, in the right order. Missing the middle is completely normal at three. Not yet Getting there Solid 2 TELL IT BACK You need: Any picture book they have heard before Read it as normal, no stopping. Close it. Ask: "Who was in it?" Open to the first picture. "What happened here?" Then the middle. Then the last. Whatever they say, say it back as a full sentence: "Yes — the bear lost his hat first." Let them "read" it to a toy afterwards. That is the whole point of the exercise. SAY THIS WHEN IT STALLS "What happened first? And then what? You're telling the story — I'm just listening." Do just two pictures — the first and the last — and be happy with a single word for each. Ask why: "Why was the bear cross?" Cause and effect is the next rung. IF IT'S TOO HARD IF IT'S TOO EASY Did it M T W T F Full year of take-homes: www.littleactivity.com/takehome/pre-k www.littleactivity.com Pre-K · Literacy
Holding a crayon and making marks on purpose LITERACY · PRE-K Name Date TAKE-HOME PRACTICE Writing · Pre-K 10 minutes WHAT THIS BUILDS Grips a chunky crayon with fingers rather than a fist, and draws lines and circles they meant to draw. For the grown-up: say every prompt out loud. Nothing on this sheet asks the child to read or write. 1 THE TWO-MINUTE CHECK ASK Draw a big circle and a straight line. "Can you make one like mine?" A SOLID ANSWER A closed-ish circle and a roughly straight line, with the crayon held in fingers. Not yet Getting there Solid 2 BIG ARM DRAWING You need: Chunky crayons or chalk, Big paper, a pavement, or a steamy window Go big and vertical first — tape paper to a wall or use the fridge. Vertical builds the shoulder and wrist. Draw shapes in the air together: circles, up-down lines, a rainbow arc. Now the same shapes on paper, huge. Don't correct the shape. Break the crayon in half. A short crayon physically cannot be fist-gripped — it fixes the grip without a single instruction. Finish with something squeezy: play dough, a sponge in the bath, tongs picking up cereal. SAY THIS WHEN IT STALLS "Use your pinchy fingers, like a crab claw. Big arm, big circle!" Trace with a finger in a tray of flour or shaving foam. No grip needed, all the movement. Draw a face: circle, two dots, a line. First drawing-with-intent is a huge milestone. IF IT'S TOO HARD IF IT'S TOO EASY Did it M T W T F Full year of take-homes: www.littleactivity.com/takehome/pre-k www.littleactivity.com Pre-K · Literacy
Cutting with scissors LITERACY · PRE-K Name Date TAKE-HOME PRACTICE Writing · Pre-K 10 minutes WHAT THIS BUILDS Opens and closes safety scissors with one hand and snips across a strip of paper. For the grown-up: say every prompt out loud. Nothing on this sheet asks the child to read or write. 1 THE TWO-MINUTE CHECK ASK Hand them safety scissors and a stiff strip of paper. "Can you snip it?" A SOLID ANSWER One or two real snips, thumb up, elbow tucked in. Not yet Getting there Solid 2 SNIP SOUP You need: Safety scissors, Junk mail or card strips, A bowl Cut strips of stiff paper about two fingers wide. Thin paper folds, card cuts. Say "thumbs up" and check their thumb points at the ceiling. This one cue fixes most problems. You hold the strip, they snip. Snips fall in the bowl — that's the soup. Once snipping is easy, draw a thick line and let them cut along it. Glue the bits onto paper. Cut, then stick — the sticking is what makes them want to cut again. SAY THIS WHEN IT STALLS "Thumbs up to the sky. Open… close. You're doing it!" You hold and steady the paper, and they only open and close. Loop scissors help a lot if regular ones defeat them. Cut along a curved line, then around a simple shape. IF IT'S TOO HARD IF IT'S TOO EASY Did it M T W T F Full year of take-homes: www.littleactivity.com/takehome/pre-k www.littleactivity.com Pre-K · Literacy
