Integrated Literature Resources

Kathryn Luera, Kyle Jackson, Joshua Kent

Fiction Book:

Title: “Crank”

Author: Ellen Hopkins

Date of Publication: October 1st 2004

Publisher: Simon and Schuster

Crank: Quotes and Cover

 

Description and Reason for Choosing:

•  This book follows Kristina Snow, a straight-A student whose life slowly started falling apart after being introduced to “crank” (Methamphetamine). It first takes over her personality, then leads her to risky situations and shows the darks side of what could happen once a drug takes over your life. This is one of the best books we believe for young adults to learn about the risks of drug abuse. This book can be an assigned reading for a whole grade level, where there could be journal entries for if you were in her shoes, or there could be excerpts from this book  that could be taken out and examined to see how Kristina’s life changed over time. There are so many great aspects of this book to choose from, that many curriculum adaptations could be made to have be a successful read in your classroom.

 

NHES Standards Applicable:

Standard 1 – Students will comprehend concepts related to health promotion and disease prevention to enhance health.

 

• 1.8.9        Examine the potential seriousness of injury or illness if engaging in unhealthy behaviors.

• 1.8.3        Analyze how the environment affects personal health.

 

Healthy Behavior Outcomes:

 

• AOD-2. Avoid experimentation with alcohol and other drugs.

• AOD-4. Avoid the use of illegal drugs.

• AOD-8. Support others to be alcohol- and other drug-free.

 

Standard 2 – Students will analyze the influence of family, peers, culture, media, technology, and other factors on health behaviors.

 

• 2.8.3        Describe how peers influence healthy and unhealthy behaviors.

• 2.8.4        Analyze how the school and community can affect personal health practices and behaviors.

 

Health Learning Objective:

• Student will understand the importance of a drug-free lifestyle and how drugs can negatively impact the body.

Core Integration for 8th Graders:

• As a follow up to reading this assignment as a class, we could have the student go back through the text and pick out one of the poems presented in the book and do the following: Describe why you chose this poem, Connect it to another poem in the story, Illustrate how you think this poem would be presented in pictures, and Compare the poem you chose with another student. This activity would give the students the freedom to choose anything in the book that stood out to them while following core curriculum of understanding the text. Having the students share the project that they created would give a platform for people to speak about a topic that is hard to have conversations about. By doing this assignment, students would be analysing text and pulling out information directly related to drug abuse.  

Common Core Standards for 8th Graders

• CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.8.4: Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, including figurative and connotative meanings; analyze the impact of specific word choices on meaning and tone, including analogies or allusions to other texts.
• CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.8.3: Analyze how particular lines of dialogue or incidents in a story or drama propel the action, reveal aspects of a character, or provoke a decision.
• CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.8.5: Analyze in detail the structure of a specific paragraph in a text, including the role of particular sentences in developing and refining a key concept.

 

NonFiction Book:

Title: “Living with Substance Abuse”

Author: Melissa Higgins

Date of Publication: 2012

Publisher: ABDO Publishing Company

Living with Substance Abuse

                  

 

• Description and Reason for Choosing

 

This is the best non-fiction book to use with 8th graders because it is not a typical non-fiction book that they might expect. It contains some narratives that are fictional, but they are paired with expert advice, definitions, and many more helpful tips. The topics covered in the book include complications of addiction, how to get help, rehab, triggers, and relapse. There are also questions throughout the book to help fuel discussion. This book would go well with “Crank” and could be a great follow-up. A teacher could use the facts from this book to support what the students are reading about in “Crank.” I think they could be read concurrently, or with one following-up the other. This book could also lead to a great reading lesson related to informational text.

• Excerpt from the book.

NHES Standards Applicable:

Standard 1 – Students will comprehend concepts related to health promotion and disease prevention to enhance health.

 

• 1.8.1        Analyze the relationship between healthy behaviors and personal health.

• 1.8.8        Examine the likelihood of injury or illness if engaging in unhealthy behaviors.

• 1.8.9        Examine the potential seriousness of injury or illness if engaging in unhealthy behaviors.

 

Healthy Behavior Outcomes:

 

• AOD-2. Avoid experimentation with alcohol and other drugs.

• AOD-4. Avoid the use of illegal drugs.

• AOD-8. Support others to be alcohol- and other drug-free.

 

Standard 3 – Students will demonstrate the ability to access valid information, products, and services to enhance health.

 

• 3.8.1     Analyze the validity of health information, products, and services.

• 3.8.2     Access valid health information from home, school, and community.

• 3.8.4    Describe situations that may require professional health services.

 

 

• Comparison to other books

I was able to find many other non-fiction books about substance abuse, but none seemed as appropriate as this one. Any focused on either alcohol, tobacco, OR drugs, while this one touches on all of them. In addition, it was written in a way that we thought would be age-appropriate and interesting for the students. Other non-fiction seemed dry in comparison, while others were too scientific for what we were looking for. With 8th graders it is important to find literature that they will actually want to read.

• Core Integration:

I would use this non-fiction book for an introductory reading lesson on informational text. This is an important skill to be building in 8th grade, and this would be a great book for looking at the connections that the author is making between the expert advice and the narratives. After reading a section of the book I would have the students engage in a discussion about these connections. In addition, students could practice citing textual evidence for a write-up at the end of the discussion. For a follow-up lesson I would give the students an additional informational text on substance abuse. Here is one example that would also relate back to the drug used in our fiction book: Meth. I would have them search for connections between the texts, and continue to practice citing the textual evidence that supports their claims.

• Common Core Standard for 8th grade

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.8.1 Cite the textual evidence that most strongly supports an analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.8.3 Analyze how a text makes connections among and distinctions between individuals, ideas, or events (e.g., through comparisons, analogies, or categories).