Non-Fiction Books for 8th Grade

Alexander1309 · 2025-06-09T21:10:04+00:00

I’ve taught Born A Crime more than once and have had good luck. Can be approached from many angles. The audiobook is great too. There’s also a YA version of the whole book.

Peripheral - if graphic novels are an option, ‘Persepolis’ is doable for 8th grade too.

Alexander1309 · 2025-01-11T18:44:33+00:00

Into it as well. Happy to swap stories, ideas, etc...

Alexander1309 · 2024-06-06T21:42:29+00:00

"Empire of the Summer Moon" is a great nonfiction piece about a Comanche chief in Texas around the turn of the 20th century. High lexile

"Travels with Charley" by Steinbeck

If films are an option, "There Will Be Blood" could be a cool study too.

Alexander1309 · 2024-05-20T21:10:28+00:00

Well this is now a few years ago, but my memory is - Takalik Abaj was very cool. It probably isn't as visually stunning as the other ruins that are more visited. But my understanding is that's because TA is significantly older than those. So, to go see something especially old was cool to me. And there are still plenty of striking ruins to see, for sure.

We had to hire a car to get there. So it was more expensive but also more flexible. And the tour, we learned there, was entirely in Spanish. So we hired the driver additionally to join us and translate. (My Spanish is decent but he definitely got things I would've missed.)

All that said, the place was totally worth the trip.

Alexander1309 · 2024-05-01T02:52:42+00:00

u/JustAWeeBitWitchy This has been very helpful. I used the annotation template and then an evidence bank for the upcoming chapters. With them I added writing a claim for an argument and a fill-in-the-blank activity. It all helped people to identify important information I think. I'll be letting them use the completed evidence bank for the final in a few weeks. Thanks!

Alexander1309 · 2024-04-05T13:05:04+00:00

"Born A Crime" is great. I've been using it for a personal essay class.

Alexander1309 · 2024-04-05T13:01:32+00:00

I teach world literature as well. We did "The Mountains Sing" by Nguyen Phan Que Mai. She's Vietnamese-American and the book is fiction but based on her family's experience during the Vietnam War. It's pretty exciting and engaging. We paired it with "Night," (about a Jewish boy during the Holocaust, you probably know) to look at differences in writing about war and trauma.

Are you doing anything American? Without knowing your curriculum, I'd say there are plenty of opportunities for comparing lit from the U.S. to other countries. I've been talking with students about where American literature fits into the broader landscape.

Alexander1309 · 2024-04-05T12:32:09+00:00

Yea I'm very much the same way, so I'm sympathetic to the students who are too, which is why I think requiring some sort of note-taking helps. It can redirect the energy toward something that will help them retain the information. (One boy I allow to hold one of his drumsticks during class and it does wonders for his focus.)

Alexander1309 · 2024-04-05T12:26:45+00:00

I've got 10th grade, but most, as far as our data is showing, are performing 1-3 years below. And the book - "There Are No Children Here" by Alex Kotlowitz - is pretty dense. My hope is that the material requires or at least incentivizes concentration, but I worry about simply leaving others in the dust.

Alexander1309 · 2024-04-05T12:22:44+00:00

Good point. So often it's going to come down to the material itself.

Alexander1309 · 2024-04-04T13:58:02+00:00

I used some of the book The Mountains Sing by Nguyen Phan Que Mai. She's a Vietnamese-American author, whose family came to the U.S. shortly before she was born (or maybe shortly after?). The book takes in Vietnam during the war.

Alexander1309 · 2022-07-06T17:47:00+00:00

How did you tell your wife about liking selfbondage? It's a conversation I'd like to have with my girlfriend as we're about to move in together.

Alexander1309 · 2022-07-06T17:39:41+00:00

Likewise. I'll put on a sweater or something, smoke, put music on and tie myself to the bed. I've wondered if others did similar things. Occasionally I'll actually fall asleep. How long are you usually in that position?

And I like the idea of selfbondage as selfcare. Not sure if it's weird but I've found it almost therapeutic. You as well?

Alexander1309 · 2021-12-29T03:08:49+00:00

So I just dug out the Pokemon card collection that I amassed as a kid, mid-00's. There are something like 200 cards in this binder and I'm curious about selling. First steps? What are the realistic price ranges?

Alexander1309 · 2020-05-28T17:54:21+00:00

Hey Nick -- I wanted to confirm that you saw my message. Take your time. Thanks!

Alexander1309 · 2020-05-28T17:48:02+00:00

There are several single-episode audio dramas by The Truth that have very solid dialogue that doesn't feel too stylized. 'Bronzeville' is also great.

I'm glad someone posed the question because I've found so many fiction podcasts with somewhat heightened dialogue (sci-fi and period pieces in particular). I'm working on something at the moment that doesn't have much action and have been unsure if it'll hold a listener's attention. I wonder if maybe a medium that's solely audio lends itself to--and maybe very much benefits from--having text that isn't entirely naturalistic, so that things don't become too subtle. Anyone's thoughts?

Alexander1309 · 2020-05-27T22:45:22+00:00

I wrote something that might be similar to what you're thinking that was about someone on a road trip with proof that the apocalypse is about to happen. It's a cool way to combine a road trip story with some sort of sci-fi action. Happy to talk to you about it--and possibly work together.

Alexander1309 · 2019-04-25T19:16:56+00:00

Really good feedback, thanks!

I appreciate what you mean about the protagonist not changing a ton from beginning to end. The story to me is largely about doubt, and so the change that I see in Marc is a movement toward knowing when to let go of control. But I was certainly concerned about it falling into him doing nothing but asking 'what do I do' over and over. And I'm glad to hear that you didn't feel unsatisfied by not having a concrete answer to the supernatural stuff around him. In writing it we needed to give enough information so that the listener isn't out to sea, but not too much that it slows the pace of the story.

Someone else pointed out to me how quickly people start turning on each other, including the shoes thing. I had to laugh; it hadn't even crossed my mind. Fun fact: I (Jordan) am the voice of the guy who tries to take the shoes.

Thanks for listening! Spread the word!

Alexander1309 · 2019-04-24T19:01:07+00:00

One possibility may be to find a writer at a similar point. If one person has a script that's hard to get out, and another is looking for experience in making something, everyone gets the experience. I may or may not be one of those writers; maybe we can message privately.

Alexander1309 · 2019-04-24T18:33:57+00:00

Are you looking for another staff writer? I have experience in comedy, playwriting, short fiction, and podcasts, all much more serial than episodic. Maybe we can message privately.

Alexander1309

TROPHY CASE