A. Engage the Learner - RL.6.3 (5 minutes)

• Repeated routine: Follow the same routine as previous lessons to distribute and review the Entrance Ticket: Unit 2, Lesson 2. Refer to the Entrance Ticket: Unit 2, Lesson 2 (example for teacher reference) for possible responses.

• Repeated routine: Follow the same routine as the previous lessons to review learning targets and the purpose of the lesson, reminding students of any learning targets that are similar to or the same as previous lessons. Invite students to choose a habit of character focus for themselves for this lesson.

A. Close Read: Two Roads, Chapter 21 Excerpt - RL.6.2, RL.6.3 (15 minutes)

• Focus students on the Close Readers Do These Things anchor chart and remind them that digging into the text deeper can help them understand it better.

• Move students into predetermined pairs.

• Use Close Reading Guide: Two Roads, Chapter 21 Excerpt (for teacher reference) to set the purpose of the close read and to guide students through a close read of this excerpt. Refer to the guide for how to integrate the following:

  • Close Read: Two Roads, Chapter 21 Excerpt note-catcher

  • Print or online dictionary

• Refer to Close Read: Two Roads, Chapter 21 Excerpt note-catcher (example for teacher reference) as necessary. Distribute Synopsis: Two Roads, Chapter 21 after the close read as needed.

• Repeated routine: Invite students to reflect on their progress toward the relevant learning target.

B. Language Dive: Two Roads, Page 221 - RL.6.2, RL.6.6 (15 minutes)

• Tell students they will now participate in a Language Dive to determine possible themes that emerge in chapter 21 of Two Roads, as Cal processes his attitudes toward race and identity at Challagi. This Language Dive also reinforces practice with pronoun use. Remind students that the process of Language Dives in Modules 3 and 4 will be different from the Language Dive process of earlier modules.

MEETING STUDENTS' NEEDS

The Language Dive of Work Time B helps students recognize that the pronoun that may be a clearer and more appropriate alternative to the pronoun it which was used by the author. To clarify and extend this work and to connect it to RL.6.4, invite students who need lighter support to analyze the multiple meanings and uses of the word that in English. Provide example sentences from the text for students to analyze for the way they use the word that. Students can then match the uses of that to a list of definitions of the word. Examples of possible sentences (and their definitions) can be found below:

"Like that one huge railroad bull back in Omaha" (49) (used to identify a specific thing)

"We all laugh, but it's not all that funny" (222) (so; very; to such a degree)

"I hate seeing the others treated that way . . . " (224) (used to refer to a specific thing previously mentioned)

"That expulsion policy ended . . . " (225) (used to refer to a specific thing previously mentioned)

"It makes me wish I could find a magic thread that I could follow . . . " (230) (introduces a relative clause)

As another extension to the Language Dive of Work Time B, challenge students who need lighter support to further examine the grammatical function of the gerund phrases seeing people treated bad and being born who they were. For example, provide students with a simple version of the frame used in the Language Dive: I feel good about _____. Invite students to complete this frame with any words or phrases that are true for them. Then, students can compile their answers and note what they have in common grammatically (i.e., all are functioning as noun phrases). This will help students understand the function of the gerund seeing people treated bad as a noun phrase in the Language Dive sentence. Students will study gerunds in more detail during Grade 8 (L.8.1a); congratulate them on their ability to do advanced grammatical work.

• Display the Questions We Can Ask During a Language Dive anchor chart. Ensure students understand how to use these questions, pointing out that the questions underlined on the anchor chart are questions that students should always ask when they dive into a sentence.

• Refer to the Questions We Can Ask During a Language Dive anchor chart (example for teacher reference) as necessary.

• Tell students they will now begin the Language Dive. Reread aloud the excerpt from Two Roads on page 221, beginning with "It's a big thing here, I knew now" and ending at ". . . just for being born who they were."

• Focus students on the sentence:

  • "But it still didn't mean that I felt good about seeing people treated bad just for being born who they were."

• Use the Language Dive Guide: Two Roads, Page 221 and the Language Dive: Two Roads, Page 221 Sentence Chunk Chart to guide students through a Language Dive conversation about the sentence. Distribute and display the Language Dive: Two Roads, Page 221 note-catcher, and the Language Dive: Two Roads, Page 221 sentence chunk strips. Refer to the Language Dive: Two Roads, Page 221 note-catcher (example for teacher reference) as necessary.

• Invite students to Think-Pair-Share:

"Now that we have completed our second new Language Dive, what additional questions should we add to our Questions We Can Ask During a Language Dive anchor chart?" (Responses will vary.)

• Repeated routine: Invite students to reflect on their progress toward the relevant learning targets.

MEETING STUDENTS' NEEDS

As an extension to the Language Dive of Work Time B and to reinforce work with L.6.1, invite students who need heavier support to generate a list of all the pronouns they can think of. This list will likely include more familiar pronouns, like she, we, it, or myself. Push students' thinking by providing them a complete list of pronouns in English, like that provided on http://eled.org/0221. Students may be surprised to know that there are over 100 pronouns used for different purposes! Although students will likely have seen all the listed words before, they may not have known that they were pronouns. Invite open-ended discussion in small groups about strategies for learning and using pronouns.

As another extension to the Language Dive of Work Time B, invite students to revisit the meaning of the conjunction but, which begins the sentence and indicates a contrast. Invite students to reread the paragraph preceding this sentence in the text, beginning at "Being labeled as a white student here at Challagi . . . " (221). Then, using a Think-Pair-Share protocol, prompt students to examine what this conjunction tells us about the sentence. The following questions can be used to guide students' understanding:

What does the word but tell us about this sentence?

How is this sentence different from the sentence that came before it in the book?

What other words can we use to show the difference between this sentence and the previous one?

A. Exit Ticket: Unit 2, Lesson 2 - RL.6.1, RL.6.2 (10 minutes)

• Distribute Exit Ticket: Unit 2, Lesson 2. Read the directions aloud.

• Invite students to complete the exit ticket.

• After 5 minutes have passed, direct students to Turn and Talk with a partner to share their response.

• Direct student focus to the Determine Themes: Two Roads anchor chart.

• Explain that race and identity were the topics that emerged from the text in the lesson today. Add "race and identity" to the anchor chart under Topic.

• Ask:

"Looking at your exit ticket, what are some details from the text that address the topic?" (Cal explains his surprise at what he expected to encounter in regards to Indians at Challagi versus what he did encounter. Cal reports that "some of those white-looking Indian kids grew up thinking of themselves as Indians. . .". Cal reflects that "being labeled as a white student here at Challagi was almost as bad as being seen as an Indian in the white world." Cal recognizes that he didn't like the way other students were treated because of their skin color.)

• Add students' responses to the anchor chart under Text Evidence.

• Ask:

"Reflecting on your close read and Language Dive work, as well as looking at your exit ticket, what theme emerges from the textual evidence?" (Our peers, our school, our families, and our experiences can affirm or threaten our identities. Finding one's identity often involves recognizing one's values.)

• Add students' responses to the anchor chart under Theme. Refer to the Determine Themes: Two Roads anchor chart (example for teacher reference) as needed.

• Collect the exit ticket. Scan student responses and make a note of students who might need support. Check in with them moving forward.

• Clarify the instructions for the homework and ask students to retrieve any materials that will help them complete the assignment.

• Repeated routine: Invite students to reflect on their habit of character focus for this lesson.