Unit 4 Anchor Texts
Unit Home | Writing Task | Anchor Texts | Small Group Texts | Independent Texts
The Phantom Tollbooth: Act I
⬅ Click for online resources. 📄 (link to PDF version)
Hook and inspire your students with these ideas. Build your own Playlist of media, short texts, novel connections and extension activities to enrich your teaching. Please be sure to preview all materials before sharing them with your students.
Concept Vocabulary
ignorance
presume
misapprehension
surmise
speculate
consideration
Skill Vocabulary
drama
acts
scene
script
point of view
Focus: Dramatic Structures
Standard(s)
🔍 6.RL.7 Compare two or more characters, settings, or events in a story or drama, drawing on specific details in the text.
🔍 6.RL.10 Analyze how a sentence, paragraph, stanza, chapter, scene, or section fits into the overall structure and how it contributes to the development of theme, main idea, settings, or plot.
🔍 6.RL.11 Explain how an author's perspective develops the point of view of the narrator or speaker in multiple texts.
Supports/Resources
Focus: Denotation and Nuance
Standard(s)
6.R.8 Determine the meaning of words and phrases, including figurative language, connotative meanings, and figures of speech. Analyze the impact of specific word choices on meaning and tone, including words with multiple meanings within a text.
Supports/Resources
Focus: Sentence Parts and Types
Support/Resources
Nearpod Video: Different Types of Sentences
Step Up to Writing Strategy: Kinds of Sentences
CommonLit Minilessons: Compound & Complex Sentences
*key words: simple subject, complete subject, simple predicate, complete predicate, compound subject, declarative, interrogative, imperative, exclamatory
The Phantom Tollbooth: Act II
Concept Vocabulary
suspiciously
pessimistic
insincerity
obstacle
malicious
compromise
Skill Vocabulary
stage directions
perspective
sequence of events
dialogue
description
Focus: Dramatic Structures - Stage Directions
Standard(s)
🔍 6.RL.10 Analyze how a sentence, paragraph, stanza, chapter, scene, or section fits into the overall structure and how it contributes to the development of theme, main idea, settings, or plot.
Supports/Resources
Sharing Perspectives Discussion Prompts
Dialogue & Stage Directions Practice
Nearpod Lesson: What is Drama? (This is different from the one listed in Act I.)
Focus: Latin Suffix: -ity
Standard(s)
6.R.9 Determine or clarify the meaning of unknown and multiplemeaning words and phrases, choosing flexibly from a range of strategies.
b. Consistently use Greek or Latin affixes and roots as clues to the meaning of a word.
Supports/Resources
Focus: Sentence Structure
Support/Resources
Nearpod Assessment: Kinds of Sentences
Step Up to Writing Strategy: Sentence Structures
*key words: independent clause, dependent clause, simple sentence, compound sentence, complex sentence
Focus: Narrative Retelling
Standard(s)
🔍 6.W.3 Write narrative texts to develop real or imagined experiences or events using effective technique, relevant descriptive details, well-structured event sequences, and provide a resolution.
Support/Resources
Focus: Dramatic Reading
Standard(s)
6.SL.3 Use appropriate language, grammar, organization, development, and delivery styles appropriate to purpose and audience for formal or informal contexts.
Support/Resources
from The Phantom Tollbooth (media)
stage directions
dialogue
light and shadow
💡 Teacher Tip: Since informative writing is not the focus for this unit, you can keep this activity brief by only completing the Prewriting activity, allowing students to compare and contrast the texts.
Focus: Compare-Contrast Essay
Standard(s)
🔍 6.R.12 Compare how different mediums, including print and digital media, contribute to the understanding of a text.
W.6.2 Write informative/explanatory texts to examine a topic and convey ideas, concepts, and information through the selection, organization, and analysis of relevant content.
Support/Resources
Nearpod Activity: Compare/Contrast Organizer
myPersepectives Compare/Contract Graphic Organizers
Listenwise Debate: Should You Read the Book Before You Watch the Movie?