Unit 1 Overview Subject: ELA Daniel Coffin, Jack Kelly

UNIT 1: GROWING IN OUR COMMUNITIES TIMEFRAME

BIG IDEA(S):

Reading/Vocabulary• Questioning strategies• Answering questions with inferences• Paraphrase with bubble-wrap strategy• Summarize fiction with SWBST strategy• Annotate purposefully• Linking Greek/Latin root words with meaning• Understanding stages of plot development• Developing character, POV, and conflict• Establishing setting and mood

Writing/Grammar

• Audience/purpose for writing• Writing narrative • Establishing a narrator and characters• Establishing a sequence of events• Enhancing stories with vivid dialogue

Test Prep

• RACER response method for open-ended questions

• Responding to narrative writing prompts• PEP strategy for multiple-choice questions• Test question code words

ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS:

Skills-based Essential Questions

• Why do we read?• What does it mean to actively read a text?• Why do good readers paraphrase, summarize,

and annotate?• What is the difference between paraphrasing

and summarizing?• What is conflict?• How do authors establish and differentiate

characters?• How can we tell what characters think, feel, and

believe?• Why do we write?• What is the purpose of going through the “writing

process?”• Why does being able to write well matter?• What are grammar and vocabulary important?• What does a good sentence look like?• How are words classified as different parts of

speech?• What is the purpose of discussing literature? • What is the purpose of discussing a question

through a Socratic Seminar rather than a teacher-guided discussion?

• Why do authors use sensory details in their writing?

Content-based Essential Questions

• Do we choose the groups that we belong to? Which associations can we choose, and why?

• How do our paths shape our identities and how do our identities determine the paths available to us?

• What different kinds of groups are there in our neighborhoods? How do they interact with each other?

• Why do people want to belong to groups instead of being alone?

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Unit 1 Overview Subject: ELA Daniel Coffin, Jack Kelly

ENDURING UNDERSTANDINGS

Skill-based Understandings• Students will understand that readers read for entertainment, for information, for inspiration, and to be

persuaded.• Students will understand that active reading involves previewing, close reading, analysis, and

interpretation of the text.• Students will understand that paraphrasing, summarization, and annotation aid readers in identifying

details key to understanding an author’s main idea and purpose for writing.• Students will understand how to cite text evidence to support analysis of text and arguments and

inferences from text.• Students will understand that paraphrasing involves retelling or relating text with their own words,

while summarizing requires identification and exclusion of all but the most important ideas from a text.• Students will understand that annotating a text helps readers to process and take ownership of the

text.• Students will understand that authors include details about characters’ thoughts, beliefs, actions,

appearance, etc., to help readers visualize characters and understand their motivation.• Students will understand that plot describes the unfolding and ongoing action in a story and can be

broken up and analyzed in five distinct stages (introduction/exposition, rising action, climax, falling action, and denouement/resolution).

• Students will understand that there are four basic types of literary conflict (person vs. person, person vs. self, person vs. society and person vs. nature).

• Students will understand that narrative, argumentative, and expository writing serve different purposes.

• Students will understand that the writing process consists of five fundamental steps: prewriting, drafting, revising, editing, and publishing.

• Students will understand that going through the writing process greatly improves the quality of their work.

• Students will understand that a complete sentence must contain at least a subject and a verb.• Students will understand that words are grouped into parts of speech depending on their function in a

sentence. • Students will understand that authors use vivid sensory details to make writing more interesting and

easier to comprehend.

Content-based Understanding• Students will understand that our identities are influenced by both the groups to which we belong as

well as the paths we take. • Students will understand what while we choose to belong to some groups, there are others to which

we inherently belong.• Students will understand that the choices we make can conflict with our group identity. • Students will understand that our society has different social categories that we use to determine

identity: race, class, gender, religion, level of education, etc. • Students will understand that relying on external classifications to determine identity is dangerous and

reductive.

READING AND VOCABULARYRELEVANT

RESOURCES/MATERIALS/STANDARDS

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Unit 1 Overview Subject: ELA Daniel Coffin, Jack Kelly

TIER 1 ACTIVITIES/STRATEGIES (KNOWLEDGE/COMPREHENSION)• Students will define and differentiate argument

and evidence statements.• Students will define and differentiate the terms

protagonist, antagonist, supporting character.• Students will name and define the stages of plot

development. • Students will define and differentiate perspective

and POV.• Students will name and define four types of

literary conflict.• Students will explain why and how authors use

details to describe characters in fiction text.• Students will explain why readers annotate texts.• Students will define and differentiate

paraphrasing and summarization.• Students will explain the bubble-wrap strategy

for paraphrasing.• Students will name and define the steps in the

reading comprehension process.• Students will describe how different part of

English words come from different languages.• Students will name and explain root words of

Greek/Latin origin (inter, chron, graph, creed, lum, mal).

TIER 1 RESOURCES/MATERIALS• Poster outlining reading comprehension

process.• Poster showing plot diagram and stages of

plot development.• Vocabulary review packets• Reading guided notes packets• Baseball in April and Other Stories• A Summer Life• English Lessons Help Many MLB Players

Transition to Life In The U.S. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/07/14/english-lessons-mlb-playe_n_5585716.html?utm_hp_ref=latino-voices

• Why Miss USA Nia Sanchez Dismissed Suggestion to Change Her Last Name http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/06/16/miss-usa-nia-sanchez-last-name_n_5499498.html?utm_hp_ref=mostpopular,hispanic-heritage

TIER 1 STANDARDS• RL.6.1• RL.6.2• RL.6.3• RL.6.4• RL.6.5• RL.6.6

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Unit 1 Overview Subject: ELA Daniel Coffin, Jack Kelly

TIER 2 ACTIVITIES/STRATEGIES (APPLICATION/ANALYSIS)• Students will cite text evidence in support of

arguments about the text.• Students will appropriately annotate text

evidence while reading.• Students will map in the correct sequence events

from a short story on a plot diagram graphic organizer.

• Students will cite on a graphic organizer text evidence from a short story showing a character’s perspective on the action and other characters in the story.

• Students will cite text evidence showing the type of conflict at play in a short story.

• Students will cite on a graphic organizer text evidence from a short story characterizing the protagonist and antagonist.

• Students will summarize fiction text using the SWBST graphic organizer (see also Writing).

• Students will summarize nonfiction text using the GIST graphic organizer (see also Writing).

• Students will paraphrase text using the bubble-wrap strategy.

• Students will ask effective questions while reading.

• Students will make inferences, supported by text evidence, to answer questions about their reading.

• Students will use knowledge of Greek/Latin root words to make predictions about the meaning of unknown and unfamiliar words.

TIER 2 RESOURCES/MATERIALS• Poster outlining reading comprehension

process.• Poster showing plot diagram and stages of

plot development.• Vocabulary review packets• Reading guided notes packets• Baseball in April and Other Stories• A Summer Life• Diversity Mambo - Fighting Stereotype Through

Dance http://www.huffingtonpost.com/eduardo-vilaro/hispanic-heritage-month_1_b_4138742.html?utm_hp_ref=hispanic-heritage-month

• Bilingual Education Holds Cognitive, Social, and

Health Benefits http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/10/05/bilingual-education_n_4049170.html?utm_hp_ref=hispanic-heritage-month

• GIST organizer http://www.readwritethink.org/files/resources/lesson_images/lesson290/Template.pdf

• SWBST organizer http://www.countryschool.org/Customized/uploads/Class%20Pages/Amaral/SWBST%20GO.pdf

• Plot diagram organizer http://www.scholastic.com/teachers/lesson-plan/collateral_resources/pdf/l/lessonplans_graphicorg_pdfs_plotdiagram.pdf

• Character analysis organizer http://www.educationoasis.com/curriculum/GO/character_story.htm

• Inferences organizer http://www.scholastic.com/teachers/sites/default/files/asset/file/graphic_organizers.pdf

TIER 2 STANDARDS• RL.6.1• RL.6.2• RL.6.3• RL.6.4• RL.6.5• RL.6.6

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Unit 1 Overview Subject: ELA Daniel Coffin, Jack Kelly

TIER 3 ACTIVITIES/STRATEGIES (SYNTHESIS/EVALUATION)• Students will compare and contrast the

protagonists of the stories in Baseball in April and Other Stories with each other and wight he author himself as he is represented in the autobiography A Summer Life. How are they similar/different, particularly with regards to socioeconomic status and cultural background?

• Students will evaluate Gary Soto’s use of characterization and setting details in Baseball in April and Other Stories to represent the California of his childhood as seen in A Summer Life.

• Students will generate their own questions about their reading and answer them with inferences and text evidence and explanation on the QIEE organizer.

TIER 3 RESOURCES/MATERIALS• Baseball in April and Other Stories• A Summer Life• QIEE organizer

http://www.literacycookbook.com/download.php?did=76

TIER 3 STANDARDS• RL.6.1• RL.6.2• RL.6.3• RL.6.4• RL.6.5• RL.6.6

SUMMATIVE ASSESSMENTS• Students will develop effective questions

while reading.• Students will develop inferences

supported by text evidence.• Students will paraphrase orally and in

writing (see also Writing).• Students will summarize fiction and non-

fiction text orally and in writing (see also Writing).

• Students will evaluate pieces of narrative writing produced by peers, identifying and articulating the strengths and weaknesses of each one.

• Students will participate in Socratic Seminars on the short stories in Baseball in April and Other Stories and the essays in A Summer Life.

• Students will use vocabulary words in appropriate context orally (see also Writing).

• Vocabulary quizzes.• Students will write a letter to Michael in the

short story “Seventh Grade” offering him advice on how he can more effectively meet and impress his female peers. Required length: 2 pages, double-spaced.

• Students will rewrite one of the stories from Baseball in April and Other Stories from the perspective of another protagonist. Required length: 2 pages, double-spaced.

INTERDISCIPLINARY CONNECTIONS/USE OF TECHNOLOGY

Interdisciplinary Connections• Connect A Summer Life and Baseball in April

and Other Stories to modern-day issues of race, class, poverty, in Camden.

• The entire social studies curriculum is comprised of studies of cultures from around the world, and how geography and weather patterns influence the development of cultures.

Technology• Smartboard for class presentations• Doc cam • Google Docs for all student writing

WRITING AND GRAMMARRELEVANT

RESOURCES/MATERIALS/STANDARDS

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Unit 1 Overview Subject: ELA Daniel Coffin, Jack Kelly

TIER 1 ACTIVITIES/STRATEGIES (KNOWLEDGE/COMPREHENSION)• Students will name and define the eight parts of

speech.• Students name and define punctuation and

proofreading marks. • Students will name and define the stages of the

writing process. • Students will use the bubble-wrap strategy to

paraphrase sections of text• Students will define and describe purpose of

dialogue.

TIER 1 RESOURCES/MATERIALS• Mechanically Inclined, Anderson• Poster outlining steps of writing process• Poster showing and describing use of

proofreading and punctuation marks• Prentice-Hall grammar text

TIER 1 STANDARDS• W.6.4• W.6.5• W.6.6• W.6.9• L.6.1• L.6.2

TIER 2 ACTIVITIES/STRATEGIES (APPLICATION/ANALYSIS)• Students will differentiate argument statements

from evidence statements (see also Reading). • Students will use vocabulary correctly in their

own writing.• Students will punctuate textual quotations

correctly. • Students will use all five steps of the writing

process for their writing projects. • Students will use vivid details to grab the

readers’ interest. • Students will write complete sentences and

indicate the subject and verb.• Students will summarize fiction text using

SWBST organizer.• Students will summarize non-fiction text using

GIST organizer.

TIER 2 RESOURCES/MATERIALS/STANDARDS• Poster outlining steps of writing process• Poster-sized exemplar of a properly

punctuated quotation.• Prentice-Hall grammar text• Vocabulary review packets• GIST organizer

http://www.readwritethink.org/files/resources/lesson_images/lesson290/Template.pdf

• SWBST organizer http://www.countryschool.org/Customized/uploads/Class%20Pages/Amaral/SWBST%20GO.pdf

TIER 2 STANDARDS• W.6.4• W.6.5• W.6.6• W.6.9• L.6.1• L.6.2

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Unit 1 Overview Subject: ELA Daniel Coffin, Jack Kelly

TIER 3 ACTIVITIES/STRATEGIES (SYNTHESIS/EVALUATION)• Students will write strong flash fiction on the

topic of choice that demonstrate an understanding of plot, setting, character, conflict, and theme.

• Given a narrative writing prompt, students will complete a short story under simulated test conditions.

• Students will peer edit and revise their writing.

TIER 3 RESOURCES/MATERIALS/STANDARDS• Exemplar copies of flash fiction and proficient

narrative prompt response.• Zombie March:

http://www.flashfictiononline.com/f20121001-zombie-march-brynn-macnabb.html

• A Pretty Quarrel http://www.flashfictiononline.com/fpublic0058-pretty-quarrel-lord-dunsany.html

• Charon http://www.sacred-texts.com/neu/dun/fotd/fotd03.htm

TIER 3 STANDARDS• W.6.3• W.6.4• W.6.5• W.6.6

SUMMATIVE ASSESSMENTS• Students will paraphrase orally and in

writing (see also Reading).• Students will summarize fiction and non-

fiction text orally and in writing (see also Reading).

• Students will use vocabulary words in appropriate context in their original writing (see also Reading).

• Students will write complete sentences in all written assignments to show their mastery of English-language conventions of grammar, punctuation, and spelling.

• Grammar quizzes.• Grammar diagnostic test.• Daily journal writing prompts.• Students will produce a short story

addressing the question “How do communities shape us and how do we shape our communities?” Required length: 2-3 pages, double-spaced.

INTERDISCIPLINARY CONNECTIONS/USE OF TECHNOLOGY

Interdisciplinary Connections• Good writing and understanding of English-

language conventions of grammar, punctuation, and spelling are invaluable in school, in career, and in life.

Technology• Smartboard for class presentations• Doc cam • Google Docs for all student writing

SPEAKING AND LISTENINGRELEVANT

RESOURCES/MATERIALS/STANDARDS

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Unit 1 Overview Subject: ELA Daniel Coffin, Jack Kelly

TIER 1 ACTIVITIES/STRATEGIES (KNOWLEDGE/COMPREHENSION)• Students will define and describe the process of

active listening. • Students will define and describe examples of

nonverbal communication in the classroom.• Students will use sentence starters to jumpstart

academic discussion of a text.• Students will define and use appropriate

academic vocabulary to discuss text. • Students will brainstorm and prepare notes for a

discussion in the center of the circle. • Students will take notes on a guided discussion

and/or complete and Observation Checklist.

TIER 1 RESOURCES/MATERIALS• Poster outlining procedures for active listening

and productive discussions in class. • Poster-sized exemplars of sentence starters for

literary criticism. • Word wall for academic vocabulary and

associated definitions.• Socratic Seminar handouts from TLC “Socratic

Seminars” page

TIER 1 STANDARDS• SL.6.1• SL.6.6

TIER 2 ACTIVITIES/STRATEGIES (APPLICATION/ANALYSIS)• Students will track speakers, indicate

understanding through body language, and paraphrase each others’ thoughts.

• Students will use standard formal English and complete sentences in contributions to class.

• Students will appropriately use academic vocabulary to discuss text in class.

• Students (in the center) will share their arguments and the text evidence supporting them with the class orally.

• Students (in the outer circle) will record evidence to support their peers.

• Students will prepare notes on and analyze their peers’ contributions to class discussions.

TIER 2 RESOURCES/MATERIALS• Poster outlining procedures for active listening and productive discussions in class. • Poster-sized exemplars of sentence starters for literary criticism. • Word wall for academic vocabulary and associated definitions.• Annotated copies of Baseball in April and Other Stories and A Summer Life.• Socratic Seminar handouts from TLC “Socratic Seminars” page

TIER 2 STANDARDS• SL.6.1• SL.6.4• SL.6.6

TIER 3 ACTIVITIES/STRATEGIES (SYNTHESIS/EVALUATION)• Students will respond thoughtfully to and

build upon each others’ comments in class discussions.

• Students will critique each others contributions to class discussions and evaluate whether claims are supported by text evidence.

• Evaluate evidence from peers to generate new ideas.

• Synthesize evidence from multiple texts to support an argument.

• Students will craft original arguments using an original discussion topic.

• Observers will provide constructive criticism on their peers’ performance during Socratic Seminars.

TIER 3 RESOURCES/MATERIALS• Poster outlining procedures for active listening and productive discussions in class. • Poster-sized exemplars of sentence starters for literary criticism. • Word wall for academic vocabulary and associated definitions.• Annotated copies of Baseball in April and Other Stories and A Summer Life.• Socratic Seminar handouts from TLC “Socratic Seminars” page

TIER 3 STANDARDS• SL.6.1• SL.6.3• SL.6.4• SL.6.6

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Unit 1 Overview Subject: ELA Daniel Coffin, Jack Kelly

SUMMATIVE ASSESSMENTS

• Students will participate in guided discussions.

• Students will participate in Socratic Seminars (How does Gary Soto reflect his culture in his fiction and non-fiction writing? Is the setting of Fresno as seen in Gary Soto’s nonfiction accurately reflected in Gary Soto’s fiction writing? Have Gary Soto’s characters been drawn from real people in Gary Soto’s life?)

INTERDISCIPLINARY CONNECTIONS/USE OF TECHNOLOGY

Interdisciplinary Connections• The ability to listen attentively and speak

effectively is invaluable in school, in career, and in life.

Technology• Smartboard for presenting discussion questions

for the class and reviewing video to practice active listening.

TEST PREPRELEVANT

RESOURCES/MATERIALS/STANDARDS

TIER 1 ACTIVITIES/STRATEGIES (KNOWLEDGE/COMPREHENSION)• Students will name and explain the steps

of the PEP (Paraphrase/Evidence/Process of Elimination) strategy for multiple-choice questions.

• Students will name and explain the steps of the RACER (Restate/Answer/Cite/Explain/Raise Insight) strategy for open-ended questions.

• Students will use the bubble-wrap strategy to paraphrase sections of text.

• Students will define and differentiate argument and evidence statements.

• Students will use sentence starters to jumpstart a written response to a text.

TIER 1 RESOURCES/MATERIALS• PEP Poster• RACER Poster• Poster exemplar sentence starters.• Sample reading passages, multiple-choice test

items and open-ended test items

TIER 1 STANDARDS• RL.6.1• RL.6.4• W.6.1• W.6.9

TIER 2 ACTIVITIES/STRATEGIES (APPLICATION/ANALYSIS)• Students will use “punchy insights” to end

open-ended responses. • Student will use “grabbers” to start open-

ended responses.• Students will appropriately annotate text

evidence while reading.• Students will use the RACER strategy to

compose their responses to open-ended questions.

• Students will paraphrase test questions to demonstrate comprehension of the question.

• Students will practice taking computerized exams to familiarize themselves with the format of the PARCC assessment.

TIER 2 RESOURCES/MATERIALS• PEP Poster• RACER Poster• Poster exemplar sentence starters.• Sample reading passages, multiple-choice test

items and open-ended test items

TIER 2 STANDARDS• RL.6.1• RL.6.4• W.6.1• W.6.9

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Unit 1 Overview Subject: ELA Daniel Coffin, Jack Kelly

TIER 3 ACTIVITIES/STRATEGIES (SYNTHESIS/EVALUATION)

• Students will critique and response thoughtfully in writing to each others’ open-ended responses.

• Students will use appropriate graphic organizers to synthesize information from multiple texts

• Students will evaluate the relative strength or validity of different pieces of evidence in support of a open-ended response.

TIER 3 RESOURCES/MATERIALS• PEP Poster• RACER Poster• Poster exemplar sentence starters.• Sample reading passages, multiple-choice test

items and open-ended test items

TIER 3 STANDARDS• RL.6.1• RL.6.4• W.6.1• W.6.5• W.6.9

SUMMATIVE ASSESSMENTS

• Open-ended and multiple-choice practice test items.

INTERDISCIPLINARY CONNECTIONS/USE OF TECHNOLOGY

Interdisciplinary Connections• The ability to listen attentively and speak

effectively is invaluable in school, in career, and in life.

Technology• Smartboard for presenting discussion questions

for the class and reviewing video to practice active listening.

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