A. Return Mid-Unit 2 Assessments with Feedback (5 minutes)

• Return students' Mid-Unit 2 Assessment: Research to Answer a Question with feedback, and follow the same routine established in Unit 1 for students to review feedback and write their name on the board if they require support.

B. Engage the Learner - W.7.2 (5 minutes)

• Repeated routine: students respond to questions on Entrance Ticket: Unit 2, Lessons 12-13. Ask students to Turn and Talk to share their responses.

• Repeated routine: follow the same routine as with the previous lessons to review the learning target and the purpose of the lesson, reminding students if the learning target is similar or the same as in previous lessons.

A. End of Unit 2 Assessment: Compare and Contrast A Long Walk to Water and “The ‘Lost Girls’ of Sudan” (65 minutes)

• Review the learning target:

“I can write an essay comparing and contrasting the events in A Long Walk to Water with a historical account of the same events.”

• Invite students to retrieve the following materials:

  • Informative Writing Plan graphic organizer

  • Informative Writing checklist or Criteria of an Effective Informative Essay anchor chart

• Tell students that, for this assessment, they will draft their essays based on their notes in their Informative Writing Plan graphic organizer. They will revise the essays in the next lesson. ▲

MEETING STUDENTS' NEEDS

In Work Time A, supply students with an optional word list, which can support them in the drafting of their essays. The word list could have words from the unit that any student would find beneficial for the essay assignment, or it can be more tailored to the needs of individual students, based on a review of students' planning documents and their language needs. Word lists remind ELLs of familiar words they can use to express ideas they may not know the language for.

• Students may also need to draw on the following materials to find further evidence or check their quotes or paraphrases:

  • Similarities and Differences: A Long Walk to Water and “The ‘Lost Girls’ of Sudan” note-catcher

  • A Long Walk to Water

  • “The ‘Lost Girls’ of Sudan” article

• Some students may need the additional support of language structures and vocabulary from the Compare and Contrast Model Essay, academic word wall, domain-specific word wall, their vocabulary logs, and online or print dictionaries (including ELL and home language dictionaries). ▲

MEETING STUDENTS' NEEDS

As in Lessons 10 and 11, let students with no experience writing in English write their essay drafts in their home language, or let them use speech-to-text software, through which they can dictate their drafts in their home language or in English, and then read the digital transcription from which they can compose their draft in English. Both of these strategies allow writers new to English to fully develop their ideas before having to translate them into English in the revision of their essay in the next lesson.

• Distribute End of Unit 2 Assessment: Compare and Contrast A Long Walk to Water and “The ‘Lost Girls’ of Sudan.”

• Read aloud the prompt while students follow along silently. Answer clarifying questions.

• Focus students on the Work to Become Effective Learners and Work to Become Ethical People anchor charts. Remind students that because they will be writing independently for the assessment, they will need to practice perseverance and integrity. Have students Think-Pair-Share:

“What value does this writing task have for you? What does this mean to you beyond the work you are doing in the classroom? What will help you to feel you can succeed at this?” (Responses will vary. Possible response: Writing this essay will help me write other essays on tests and in other classes in middle and high school and in college. If I know the expectations for the essay and I work hard, I will be successful.)

• Remind students that they planned this essay in the previous lessons.

• Invite students to begin the assessment.

• While students are taking the assessment, circulate to monitor and document their test-taking skills.

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

A. Track Progress - W.7.2 (15 minutes)

• Give students specific, positive feedback on their completion of the End of Unit 2 Assessment: Compare and Contrast A Long Walk to Water and "The 'Lost Girls' of Sudan".

• Focus students on the Work to Become Effective Learners anchor chart. Remind students that they will take responsibility for their own learning as they track their progress.

• Distribute sticky notes, Track Progress folders, and Track Progress: Informative Writing.

• Tell students the sticky notes are for them to find evidence of the following criteria:

  • I introduce the topic clearly, giving readers a preview of the piece.

  • I use relevant facts, definitions, details, quotations, and examples to explain my thinking.

  • I have a conclusion that supports the information presented.

• Guide students through completing the recording form.

• Incorporate reflection on and awareness of the following academic mindsets: "I can succeed at this" and "My ability and competence grow with my effort."

• Ask students to Think-Pair-Share:

"What helped you to be successful at that task? How much effort did you put in on this task? How did your effort affect your learning?" (Responses will vary. Possible response: Focusing and working hard helped me be successful and learn how to self-assess.)