A. Engage the Learner - L.7.4 (5 minutes)

• Repeated routine: students respond to questions on Entrance Ticket: Unit 1, Lesson 9.

• Once students have completed their entrance tickets, use a total participation technique to review their responses. Then add over the course of to the academic word wall with translations in home languages where appropriate, and invite students to add the word to their vocabulary logs.

• Repeated routine: Follow the same routine as with the previous lessons to review learning targets, reminding students of any learning targets that are similar or the same as in previous lessons.

• With students, use the affixes and root to deconstruct the words effective (producing the desired result). Then ask them to recall the definition for theme (the message or main idea relevant to the real world that the author wants the reader to take away from reading the literary text). Record words on the academic word wall with translations in home languages, where appropriate, and invite students to record words in their vocabulary logs.

A. Read A Long Walk to Water, Chapter 7 (15 minutes)

• Repeated routine: follow the same process as with previous lessons for students to read chapter 7 of A Long Walk to Water, using the Text Guide: A Long Walk to Water as necessary. If students do not finish reading the chapter within the allotted time, use the Synopsis: A Long Walk to Water, Chapter 7 document to review the key details from chapter 7. Then have students identify the meaning of unfamiliar vocabulary, reflect on their reading as they choose, and record the gist on sticky notes using the following resources as appropriate: vocabulary logs, Work to Become Ethical People anchor chart, and Questions about A Long Walk to Water anchor chart.

• Gists:

  • Nya: Akeer—bad stomachache, can kill children/elderly; walk her long way to clinic?

  • Salva: scared of lions, uncle will protect; reach Nile and make boats

• Once students have finished reading and reflecting on the chapter, ask students to Think-Pair-Share:

“Which habit of character does Nya’s family demonstrate when they decide how best to help her sick sister? How does this habit of character help them? Which habit of character does the group that Salva and his uncle are traveling with show when they build boats to cross the Nile? How does this habit of character help them?” (Possible response: Both Nya’s family and Salva’s group show collaboration and its effectiveness for solving their problems.)

• Repeated routine: invite students to help complete the Setting/Characters/Plot anchor chart. Refer to Setting/Characters/Plot anchor chart (example for teacher reference) for answers.

B. Introduce Theme – RL.7.2 (15 minutes)

• Review the appropriate learning target relevant to the work to be completed in this section of the lesson:

“I can identify themes in A Long Walk to Water and how they have developed over the course of the text.”

• Ensure students are clear that a theme is the message or main idea relevant to the real world that the author wants the reader to take away from reading a literary text. It can also be thought of as the message of the story—a lesson or truth that can apply to the story itself and to the world outside of the book.

• Explain that a theme is conveyed in a book but is bigger than the book alone. As the class arrives at the definition, record it on the board for students to see. Explain that, often, similar themes show up in many different stories, poems, dramas, or novels. Tell students that in a moment, they will get to think more about some possible themes for A Long Walk to Water.

• Next, tell students that together they will discover how to find the possible themes of a story. Explain that the first step is finding the central ideas the author keeps returning to in a story. Have students lay out their gist sticky notes on their desks, organizing them by ideas that keep coming up in A Long Walk to Water. Call on volunteers to share their responses, and note them on the board. (Responses will vary but may include the general ideas of “harsh nature, people working together, war,” as well as more specific ideas such as “the desert makes it challenging to get water, Salva is having difficulty because he is young,” etc. Both overly specific and general ideas will be useful in the next step for determining a theme.) If necessary, model examining several gists and stating the central idea that connects them.

• Once a list is generated of ideas and events that are discussed often in the book, tell students that the next step in determining theme is deciding which of these ideas can apply in many different situations outside the book and would therefore be suitable as a theme.

MEETING STUDENTS' NEEDS

In the second half of Work Time B, do the processes of sorting the gist sticky notes into general themes and specific instances, as a guided whole-class activity with a two-column chart, providing students with a visual for distinguishing between general themes and specific instances.

• Have students organize their gist sticky notes by ideas and discuss with partners the ideas that are specific to the book and those that can apply in many different situations. If necessary, prompt with questions such as the following:

“What do the characters learn?”

“What does the author want us to understand about war/collaboration/nature?”

• Ask for volunteers to share their responses. If necessary, model stating a theme based on one of the central ideas of the text. For example, one theme the text conveys is “war changes everything.” ▲

• Display and distribute Common Themes in Literature and Common Themes in Literature ▲ as necessary for students who need extra support. The differentiated handout supports students’ understanding of common themes with images. ▲ Tell students that this list does not have all possible themes, but includes many common ones.

• Invite students to work with a partner and to draw a star or a symbol next to those themes on their handouts that they see evidence of in A Long Walk to Water and to add the other themes they have already identified.

• After 5 minutes, use total participation techniques to select students to share with the whole group. (Responses will vary, but may include: “Nature can present many challenges to humans.” “Family is our most important support.” “Dangerous situations can make people become leaders.”)

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

MEETING STUDENTS' NEEDS

Make the last task in Work Time B—starring themes relevant to A Long Walk to Water—more manageable for ELLs by making the activity more specific and focused. This can be done by starring the themes on the Common Themes in Literature handout in advance, so that partners can pick one or two of the preselected themes to discuss and share evidence for from the text. This task is as challenging as the original task specified in the lesson but is more accessible to ELLs because they do not need to sort through the unfamiliar language on the Common Themes in Literature handout.

A. Analyze a Model Summary – RL.7.2 (10 minutes)

• Review the appropriate learning target relevant to the work to be completed in this section of the lesson:

“I can identify the characteristics of an effective summary.”

MEETING STUDENTS' NEEDS

Begin recording ideas about the Model Summary on sticky notes as a whole class before releasing students to do this in pairs, providing a more concrete and accessible model of what they will need to do.

• Be transparent about why and how we use summaries. Explain that summaries help us remember what is most important about something we have read or seen. Provide a concrete example of a summary related to something in students’ own lives before introducing how to summarize the text. For example, have someone state what they did on the weekend, and then give a short summary of what they said. Then ask students to volunteer a summary of an event from their weekend, or have partners share summaries. Finish this example by explaining that the summaries students have just given from their own lives can help them begin to understand what it means to summarize text, as they will do in the upcoming lesson. ▲

• Remind students that analyzing a model piece of writing can give them an idea of the key features of that type of writing.

• Display and distribute Model Summary: A Long Walk to Water, Chapter 6, Model Summary, A Long Walk to Water, Chapter 6 ▲ as necessary for students who need additional support, and explain that this is a summary of the pages they are discussing. Read it aloud for the whole group as students read along silently.

• Invite students to work in pairs to record what they notice on sticky notes—one idea per sticky note.

• Circulate to listen to student discussions and to identify common misconceptions to use as whole-group teaching points.

• After 5 minutes, refocus the whole group and invite students to share their ideas with the whole group. As students share, record their responses on the Criteria of an Effective Literary Summary anchor chart. See Criteria of an Effective Literary Summary anchor chart (example for teacher reference), and ensure all of the criteria are represented on the student anchor chart.

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

• Invite students to reflect on the habits of character focus in this lesson, discussing what went well and what could be improved next time.

MEETING STUDENTS' NEEDS

Structure the Closing task, in which students work in pairs to record what they notice about the model summary, differently to make it more accessible to ELLs. Instead of having students identify anything they notice about the model summary, pre-highlight particular sections, phrases, or parts of the summary students should pay attention to. Ask them to make specific observations about one or two of these areas. This support helps ELLs because it reduces the amount of language they need to process in a short period of time, without diminishing the challenge of the task or the quality of language interaction associated with it.