Analyze Connections RI.8.3 | Do Video Games Cause Violence? Article #8-4

Nonfiction Article of the Week Club, Article #8-4: Do Video Games Cause Violence?

Teach reading informational text standard RI.8.3, Analyze Connections in a Text, with this high-interest article on the controversial topic of whether or not video games cause violence. Students will also complete activities for text evidence, integrating information, literal comprehension, and take a comprehensive assessment.

This is the fourth in a set of 25 informational text articles + activity packs designed to teach ALL of the reading informational text standards for 8th grade in a fun, rigorous, and easy to implement solution! The focus in this resource is on teaching students to analyze connections between ideas in a of nonfiction text.

Each article + activity pack includes these components:

-original article written at the 8th grade level

-modified version of each article (one grade level below)

-professional audio recording of each article and modified article

-editable version of all activities and assessments

-digital Google Slides version of all articles and activities

-self-grading Google Forms assessments (3 per article)

-articles also included digitally via Google Docs

Each article + activity pack includes these activities:

Activity 1 - Literal Comprehension Check (multiple choice)

Activity 2 - Literal Comprehension Check (open-ended) (alternate option for Act 1)

Activity 3 - Text Evidence Practice (annotation version)

Activity 4 - Text Evidence Practice (multiple choice version) (alternate option for Act 3)

Activity 5 - Skills focus (focuses on one CCSS skill)

Activity 6 - Integrating Sources Activity

Activity 7 - Skills Test

Activity 8 - Modified Skills Test (alternate option for Act 7)

Check the preview file for complete lesson plans and samples of this resource. If you'd like to assess the overall quality of these articles, questions, etc., please check out this free unit that's set up the exact same way:

Development of Central Ideas RI.8.2 Nonfiction Article + Activity Pack #8-1

You can also check out this blog post to find out more about the series.

Save and purchase the Article of the Week, Grade 8 bundle here!

More 8th Grade Articles and Activities

8-1: Development of Central Ideas (Walkout!)

8-2: Write an Objective Summary (Colonization & Apartheid in South Africa w/Trevor Noah)

8-3: Analyze Connections in a Text (Modern Folklore: Urban Legends, Old Wives' Tales, & Superstitions - Paired Text for The Monkey's Paw)

8-5: Review (The Disturbing History of Human Experimentation - Paired Text for Flowers for Algernon)

8-6: Figurative & Connotative Meaning (The Incredible Life of Louis Zamperini)

8-7: Analyze Word Choice, Allusion, Analogy (Arachnophobia)

8-8: Analyze Text Structure (The Strange Life of Edgar Allan Poe)

8-9: Analyze Text Structure (Maggots as Medicine)

8-10: Analyze Author's Point of View & Purpose (Instagram Influencers)

8-11: Conflicting Viewpoints (Surviving the Holocaust)

8-12: Review (Should You Eat Like a Caveman?)

8-13: MIDTERM Assessment Skills RI.8.1, 8.2, 8.3, 8.4, 8.5, 8.6 (Man vs. Nature)

8-14: Evaluate Arguments, Claims, Irrelevant Info (Insects for Dinner?)

8-15: Evaluate Arguments, Claims, Irrelevant Info (9-11 Disease)

8-16: Evaluate Mediums (Text-Video) (The Battle of Mogadishu)

8-17: Conflicting Information & Interpretation RI.8.9 (Raw Cookie Dough)

8-18: Conflicting Information & Interpretation RI.8.9 (Paul Revere Truth Vs. Legend)

8-19: REVIEW of RI.8.7, RI.8.8, and RI.8.9 ('Oumuamua: A Messenger From Afar)

8-20: Citing Text Evidence RI.8.1 (When High School Football Turns Deadly)

8-21: Text Structure RI.8.5 and RL.8.5 w/Paired Poem (Teen Vaping Epidemic)

8-22: Test Prep/Standardized Test Practice

8-23: End of the Year Review ESCAPE ROOM / (Delayed School Start)

8-24: Final Exam / Topic: Scandal at SeaWorld

8-25 Pre-Assessment / Topic: Child Labor Then & Now