In Reading, students select texts that are appropriate and engaging to them. Students practice interacting with texts and applying knowledge of their own experiences to those depicted in the text. Making connections between their own perspectives and those presented in texts, students reflect to deepen understanding. The unit supports students as they develop a sense of self-awareness as readers. Students also identify the differences between paraphrasing and summarizing in order to locate the key ideas of a text.
In Collaboration, students actively listen, discuss, and make connections with their peers and establish foundational practices for discussion.
PURPOSE: Will prepare students for deeper analysis of specific genres of literature as well as their own writing products in those genres.
In Reading, students read, respond to/write about, and discuss multiple fiction and literary/narrative nonfiction texts and analyze the similarities and differences between these texts and the perspectives they represent. Students study the concepts of author’s message (theme), literary elements and devices, genre characteristics, author’s craft, and the relationship between these features. Students read a variety of texts representing different narrative perspectives in order to understand the impact literary elements and devices have on the authors’ messages. They then practice utilizing these elements and devices in their own writing.
In Collaboration, students confer with peers in order to learn other students’ thoughts and processes for writing, share insights and feedback, and help each other as writers as they engage in a writing community.
In Reading, students read, respond to/write about, and discuss multiple poems and scenes from plays while employing strategies to support comprehension such as interacting with the text through notetaking and annotations. Students analyze the concepts of author’s message (theme), author’s purpose, and audience as well as genre characteristics and author’s craft, including literary elements, literary devices, genre characteristics, and the relationship between these features. Students also utilize text evidence to support their inferences. Students read a variety of texts representing different structures in order to understand the impact literary elements and devices have on the authors’ messages. Students then utilize these elements and devices of author’s craft in their own writing.
In Word Study, students discover the usage of Greek and Latin roots, their origin, and how they are commonly used today. Students continue to learn and build comprehension of unfamiliar grade-level academic vocabulary through authentic reading and writing practices and utilize newly acquired vocabulary in their own responses, both oral and written.
In Collaboration, students engage in discussion to develop a deeper understanding of poetic and dramatic texts by sharing their own analysis of a text using textual evidence and responding to the perspectives and analyses of others. Students confer with peers to help each other as writers as they engage in a writing community.
In Reading, students analyze a variety of informational texts for key ideas and examine the way in which organizational patterns and text features convey these ideas. Students identify the author’s purpose, intended audience, controlling idea/thesis as well as how the author uses evidence, facts, and details to support their controlling idea/thesis through close reading strategies such as notetaking and annotating. To develop a deeper understanding of what they are reading, students summarize and paraphrase texts as part of the comprehension process and utilize text evidence to support their understanding. Students also practice fundamentals of research by reading a variety of sources to gather and synthesize reliable, credible information in order to learn about a topic. Through a transfer of reading comprehension skills, students apply author’s craft to their own writing products.
In Reading, students analyze a variety of argumentative texts in order to identify and explain each author’s claim and key ideas as well as how their quality of evidence, treatment of counterarguments, and use of rhetorical devices and logical fallacies create effective and ineffective arguments. Students identify the author’s background, purpose, and intended audience as well as the context of each argument. To develop a deeper understanding of their reading, students summarize and paraphrase texts as part of the comprehension process and utilize text evidence to support their understanding. Students continue to interact with the text through close reading strategies such as notetaking and annotating. Through a transfer of reading comprehension skills, students apply author’s craft to their own writing products.
In Reading, students analyze several texts that represent a variety of genres connected by topic in order to identify similarities and differences in the authors’ messages, application of genre characteristics, and use of author’s craft. Students utilize close reading strategies such as notetaking and annotating to make connections between the texts and reflect on how the authors use genre to support their purposes. In a transfer of reading comprehension skills, students apply genre characteristics and author’s craft to their own writing products.
In Collaboration, students engage in the peer review process to discuss and share ideas about the writing of others, including commentary on genre characteristics, author’s craft, the writing process, and personal reflections.
In Reading, students research and locate credible primary and secondary sources and read a variety of informational and argumentative texts, including multimodal, on a chosen topic with the express purpose of collecting and evaluating information on the topic. Students utilize close reading strategies such as notetaking and annotating to support their comprehension of sources, including analyzing the author’s purpose, intended audience, context, message, author’s craft, and genre characteristics. Students also evaluate source material to determine whether a text is primary or secondary as well as reliable and credible. Through a transfer of reading comprehension skills and analysis of mentor texts, students apply author’s craft, including multimodal elements, to their own writing products to communicate ideas effectively.
In Collaboration, students engage in collaboration to refine their research plan, research proposal, and the writing process. Students also engage in a peer review process to discuss and share ideas about the writing of others and their own writing, including specific commentary on the strength of peers’ writing and use of multimodal elements.