Section 1 (Lessons 1-3)

Lesson 1: Analyze Character Perspective

Students begin reading “The Treasure of Lemon Brown,” by Walter Dean Myers, and analyze the main character’s perspective on other characters in the text.

Lesson 2: Analyze Greg’s changing perspective

Students will finish reading “The Treasure of Lemon Brown” by Walter Dean Myers in partners and analyze Greg’s changing perspective about his father and Lemon based on his experience/interaction with Lemon Brown.

Lesson 3: Analyze theme and its development

Students will identify a theme of “The Treasure of Lemon Brown” by Walter Dean Myers and explain how the theme is developed through Greg’s experiences and changing perspective in the text.

Section 2 (Lessons 4 – 7)

Lesson 4: Analyze sensory details, figurative language, their connotations and impact on Scro...

Students will begin reading A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens. They will analyze the use of figurative language and sensory details used to describe Scrooge, determine connotations of these words and phrases, and draw conclusions about Scrooge’s character.

Lesson 5: Compare character perspectives

Students will continue reading A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens. They will analyze words in context and their connotations, determine Scrooge’s perspective about Christmas, and compare and contrast Scrooge’s perspective to that of his nephew’s.

Lesson 6: Analyze how setting shapes Scrooge’s characterization

Students will continue reading A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens. They will examine Scrooge’s interactions with other characters to determine what they reveal about Scrooge’s personality and values, and analyze the impact of setting on the tone of the text and Scrooge’s characterization

Lesson 7: Analyze Scrooge’s interaction with Marley, what it reveals about his perspective an...

Students will continue reading A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens. They will examine Scrooge’s interactions with other characters to determine what they reveal about Scrooge’s personality and values, and analyze the impact of setting on the tone of the text and Scrooge’s characterization.

Section 3 (Lessons 8 – 10)

Lesson 8: Analyze the use of repetition and sensory details and their effect on mood and char...

Students will begin reading Stave II of A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens, and analyze the author’s use of repetition and sound devices and their effect on the mood and the way in which they illustrate Scrooge’s frame of mind.

Lesson 9: Summarize Scrooge’s interaction with the Ghost of Christmas Past

Students will continue reading Stave II of A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens. They will summarize Scrooge’s experience with the Ghost of Christmas Past and cite text evidence to demonstrate how their interaction affects Scrooge’s perspective.

Lesson 10: Analyze Scrooge’s changing perspective

Students will finish reading Stave II of A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens. They will summarize Scrooge’s final experience with the Ghost of Christmas Past and analyze how Scrooge’s perspective has changed as a result of his experience with the Ghost...

Section 4 (Lessons 11-16):

Lesson 11: Summarize “The History of Christmas,” analyze how the text’s structure contributes...

Students will read and summarize the BBC article, “The History of Christmas.” They will also examine the author’s organizing structure, and how it contributes to the author’s purpose and the text’s meaning.

Lesson 12: Compare and contrast setting and mood across staves; compare and contrast depictio...

Students will begin reading Stave III of A Christmas Carol and compare and contrast the settings of Stave I and Stave III, the moods that they create, and what they reveal about Scrooge’s perspective.

Lesson 13: Analyze Scrooge’s observation of the Cratchit family, character perceptions

Students will read excerpts of Stave III of A Christmas Carol, discuss and answer text-dependent questions related to Scrooge’s experience with the Ghost of Christmas Present, and analyze what the experience reveals about Scrooge’s perception/ other cha...

Lesson 14: Analyze Scrooge’s observation of his nephew’s family and how it influences his per...

Students will read an excerpt of Stave III of A Christmas Carol, summarize Scrooge’s experience with the Ghost of Christmas Present (e.g., what he observes at his nephew’s house), and analyze how these experiences impact his character and perception.

Lesson 15: Analyze Scrooge’s final interaction with the Ghost of Christmas Present and its im...

Students will read an excerpt of Stave III of A Christmas Carol, summarize Scrooge’s experience with the Ghost of Christmas Present (e.g., what he observes at his nephew’s house), and analyze how these experiences impact his character and perception.

Lesson 16: Analyze the impact of the setting on Scrooge’s development

Students will engage in discussion and write a response to analyze the way in which the setting in Stave III supports Scrooge’s character development.

Section 5 (Lessons 17-19):

Lesson 17: Analyze Scrooge’s interaction with Ghost of Yet to Come and its impact on mood

Students will begin reading Stave IV or A Christmas Carol, discuss and answer text-dependent questions related to Scrooge’s interaction with the Ghost of Christmas Yet To Come, and analyze the impact this has on the mood.

Lesson 18: Analyze Scrooge’s experiences with Ghost of Yet to Come

Students will read excerpts of Stave IV and analyze Scrooge’s interactions with the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come and what Scrooge learns about how others feel toward the man who has died.

Lesson 19: Analyze Dickens’ use of structure, Scrooge’s character

Students will compare and contrast the different deaths that Scrooge observes with the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come, and analyze how his character and perspective have changed as a result of his experiences.

Section 6 (Lessons 20-23):

Lesson 20: Summarize a nonfiction article and connect ideas across texts

Students will summarize a nonfiction article about happiness, examine the evidence the author provides to support the idea that experiences make us happier than possessions, and connect ideas across texts.

Lesson 21: Summarize a nonfiction article and compare and contrast ideas across texts

Students will read and summarize a second nonfiction article about happiness, and compare and contrast ideas across texts.

Lesson 22: Gather text evidence to prepare for a scholarly discussion

Students will gather text evidence from the four texts they have read thus far - the two nonfiction articles, “The Treasure of Lemon Brown” and A Christmas Carol to prepare for a fishbowl discussion in the following lesson.

Lesson 23: Engage in a scholarly discussion using text evidence

Students will engage in a scholarly, fishbowl discussion by making claims and using evidence from the unit texts to support their claims.

Section 7 (Lessons 24-25):

Lesson 24: Analyze language and interactions that demonstrate the change in Scrooge’s character

Students will analyze Scrooge’s dialogue and interactions in Stave V of A Christmas Carol to determine how he has changed as a result of his experiences with the three Ghosts. They will also analyze language and connotations of words and phrases that de...

Lesson 25: Analyze interactions that demonstrate Scrooge’s character change

Students will finish reading A Christmas Carol and analyze Scrooge’s final interactions with his nephew, Fred, and employee, Bob Cratchit to determine what these reveal about his character change. Students will also revise the unit essential questions i...

Section 8 (Lessons 26-31):

Lesson 26: Analyze theme and its development

Students will identify a theme of A Christmas Carol.

Lesson 27: Write and revise a claim, identify a counterclaim, gather evidence

Students will write a thesis for their culminating writing task, share/receive peer feedback to revise their claims, and gather text evidence to support their claims.

Lesson 28: Culminating writing task: writing a first draft

Students continue engaging writing process to answer the prompt for the CWT: What does Dickens want us to understand about the business of being human? They develop a first draft of their essay.

Lesson 29: Give/receive peer feedback, revise your culminating writing task

Students will give and receive peer feedback on their draft essays and revise their essays.

Lesson 30: Edit and prepare to publish your culminating writing task essay

Students continue engaging writing process to answer the prompt for the CWT: What does Dickens want us to understand about the business of being human?

Lesson 31: Compare Dickens’ novel with a film adaptation

Students will compare and contrast scenes from a film adaptation of A Christmas Carol with Dickens’ novel and analyze the film medium’s portrayal of the ideas in the text.

Section 9 (Lessons 32-33):

Lesson 32: Summarize “Gift of the Magi” and analyze the impact of description and setting on ...

Students will read and summarize the plot of “The Gift of the Magi” and analyze the author’s use setting and how it impacts characterization in the text.

Lesson 33: Determine a theme of “The Gift of the Magi,” identify a shared theme across three ...

Students will reread excerpts of “The Gift of the Magi,” and gather evidence related to character perspectives, actions, and lessons learned to determine a theme of the text. Students will compare and contrast themes across the three fictional texts tha...

Section 10 (Lessons 34-35):

Lesson 34: Cold-read task, part 1

Students demonstrate their ability to read, understand, and express understanding of a new text through responding to multiple choice questions.

Lesson 35: Cold-read task, part 2

Students demonstrate their ability to read, understand, and express understanding of a new text by writing a multi-paragraph essay.

Section 11 (Lessons 36-43):

Lesson 36: Introduce the extension task, summarize an article, develop research questions

Students will engage in a jigsaw activity to read and summarize an article about Dickens’ influence on the modern world and develop research questions in preparation for their extension task report.

Lesson 37: Refine your research question, identify search terms, and assess the credibility o...

Students will refine their research questions, identify search terms, and assess the credibility of sources.

Lesson 38: Gather evidence: paraphrase and quote directly from sources

Students will continue to conduct research for their extension task report by paraphrasing and quoting directly from sources.

Lesson 39: Continue research and engage in peer review

Students will engage in peer review to evaluate the credibility and sufficiency of their evidence, and continue to research to gather additional evidence for their extension task essay.

Lesson 40: Outline your essay

Students will develop an outline for their extension task research report by selecting and organizing their evidence and drafting their explanation of that evidence.

Lesson 41: Draft your research report

Students will draft a research report for their extension task using the outline they created in the previous lesson.

Lesson 42: Give/receive peer feedback, revise your research report

Students will give and receive peer feedback on their draft essays and revise their essays.

Lesson 43: Engage in a scholarly discussion using textual evidence

Students will engage in a scholarly, fishbowl discussion by making claims and using evidence from the unit texts to support their claims.