A. Engage the Learner - W.7.1 (5 minutes)

• Repeated routine: Students respond to questions on Entrance Ticket: Unit 2, Lesson 8.

• Once students have completed their entrance tickets, use a total participation technique to review their responses. Record argument, main claim, point, evidence, reasoning, and relevant on the academic word wall with translations in home languages, where appropriate, and invite students to record words in their vocabulary logs.

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

MEETING STUDENTS' NEEDS 

During the Opening activity, encourage students to grapple to recall the definitions, then they can form partnerships to confirm their definitions. 

During the Opening activity, encourage students to grapple to recall the definitions, then they can form partnerships or use their vocabulary logs or dictionaries to confirm their definitions.

A. Analyze a Model – W.7.1 (20 minutes)

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

“I can identify the parts of a model argument essay and explain the purpose of each.”

• Distribute and display the Model Argument Essay: “Strength from the Past.” Read the model aloud as students follow along, reading silently.

• Using a total participation technique, invite responses from the group:

“What is this essay about?” (how works from the Harlem Renaissance show the theme of looking back on the past to provide strength and hope for the future)

“What sentence in the piece best expresses this main idea?” (“Of the works we’ve studied so far, however, the painting African Phantasy: Awakening, the poem ‘The Negro Speaks of Rivers,’ and songs like ‘Lift Every Voice and Sing’ most clearly demonstrate the theme of finding strength and hope by looking back to the past.”)

• Point out that the writer uses evidence to support his claim, which helps the reader trust the writer and understand his claim. The evidence explains how each of the works develop the theme of how looking back to the past can provide strength and hope in the present. Emphasize that the essays they write, like the model, will be grounded in evidence from the text. Refocus students on the Model Argument Essay.

• Reread aloud the first paragraph as students follow along, reading silently.

• Turn and Talk:

“What is the gist of this paragraph?” (It provides a brief overview about the Harlem Renaissance and clearly states a main claim for the rest of the essay, that the work the writer chose best demonstrate the theme that looking back to the past can provide strength and hope in the present.)

• Cold-call students to share out. As students share, capture their response next to the first paragraph on the displayed model. Refer to Model Argument Essay: “Strength from the Past” (example for teacher reference) as necessary.

• Invite students to work in pairs to determine the gist for each of the remaining paragraphs, supporting and clarifying as needed.

• Gists:

  • Paragraph 1: African Phantasy: Awakening, “The Negro Speaks of Rivers,” and “Lift Every Voice and Sing” most clearly demonstrate the theme of finding strength and hope by looking back to the past

  • Paragraph 2: African Phantasy: Awakening: two people in front are surrounded by ancient images and dressed like they are from the past

  • Paragraph 3: “The Negro Speaks of Rivers”: figurative language to describe the “Ancient, dusky rivers” (12) and is structured to describe every river and event from the past as if the speaker were a part of them

  • Paragraph 4: “Lift Every Voice and Sing”: encourages everyone to “sing a song full of faith” that comes from the “dark past” (7) and figurative language: the speakers have arrived at “the place for which our fathers sighed” (16) and remain “true to our native land.” (33)

  • Paragraph 5: theme is presented differently in each piece, but it shines through strongly in all three works

• After several minutes, refocus the whole group and use total participation techniques to select students to share the gist of each paragraph with the whole group.

• Display a Painted Essay® template and direct students to retrieve this resource from Module 2. Have students Turn and Talk to a predesignated partner that they will consult for the remainder of the lesson:

“Describe how this template is organized and explain the name and purpose of each part of the template.” (Students share the purpose of each section, naming the colors and their correspondence to each part of the essay.)

• Display the Model Argument Essay: "Strength from the Past." Distribute colored pencils and guide students in using these and their Painted Essay® template with their partners to color code their Model Essay: "Strength from the Past" using the following directions:

  • Read the first paragraph aloud as students follow along, pausing to color-code each part of the paragraph.

  • Read the context in the first paragraph, stopping at “Many of the works of the Harlem Renaissance showed how important the past is for understanding ourselves.”

  • Ask students to Turn and Talk:

“What is the purpose of the sentences I just read? What color should they be?” (The purpose of the sentence is to provide background information on the themes and works of the Harlem Renaissance. They should be red.)

• • Read the main claim of the first paragraph, “Of the works we’ve studied so far, however, the painting African Phantasy: Awakening and the poems ‘The Negro Speaks of Rivers’ and ‘Lift Every Voice and Sing’ most clearly demonstrate the theme of finding strength and hope by looking back to the past.”

“What is the purpose of this sentence and what colors should it be?” (The purpose of this sentence is to state an opinion about which works most clearly demonstrate the theme. It provides the main idea that you want the reader to take away. It should be colored green, yellow, and blue.) Explain that the focus statement of this piece is a bit tricky and they will color-code it together.

• • Clarify the language that students will use to name the parts of an argument essay. Explain that in an argument essay, the focus statement is referred to as the “main claim.” Help students understand that like a focus statement in an informative essay, the main claim tells what the piece will be about. 

  • Guide students in understanding the main claim by asking the following questions:

“Think back to the gist statements you wrote for each paragraph. What are the three points the author is making? (Point 1: “The painting African Phantasy: Awakening clearly demonstrates the theme of finding strength and hope by looking back to the past.” Point 2: “The poem ‘The Negro Speaks of Rivers’ clearly demonstrates the theme of finding strength and hope by looking back to the past.” Point 3: “‘Lift Every Voice and Sing’ clearly demonstrates the theme of finding strength and hope by looking back to the past.”)

“How does the main claim preview these three points?” (by mentioning the title of each work in the main claim)

• • • Explain that although the essays they have been writing have always had two points, an essay can have any number of points as long as those points support the main claim. Since the points always combine to support the main claim, when we have more than two points, we continue the pattern of coloring them yellow and blue, which together make green. Prompt students to think of the upcoming paragraphs in the essay. Ask students:

“The next three Proof Paragraphs will develop the three points. All support the main claim. What colors should we color code each of the points that support the claim?" (Students will color the first point yellow, the second blue, and the third a darker yellow.) Ensure that students understand that the main claim states the opinion about which works most clearly demonstrate the theme, and that each Proof Paragraph gives evidence for how each work demonstrates the theme. For example, in the model, the first paragraph gives evidence about how African Phantasy: Awakening shows the theme of finding strength and hope in the past. The second paragraph gives evidence about how “The Negro Speaks of Rivers” demonstrates this same theme. And the third paragraph gives evidence of how “Lift Every Voice and Sing” demonstrates this theme.

• • Guide students in coloring the main claim green and the title of each work yellow and blue. Refer to the Model Argument Essay: “Strength from the Past” (example for teacher reference) as necessary. Instruct students to color Point 3 a darker shade of yellow by adding an additional layer of the same color to distinguish it from Point 1.

  • Read Proof Paragraph 1.

  • Ask students to Turn and Talk:

“What is the function of this paragraph in the essay?” (To show how African Phantasy: Awakening demonstrates the theme of finding strength and hope in the past.) “What color should it be?” (yellow) “Why?” (Because it supports the yellow point that African Phantasy: Awakening demonstrates the theme clearly.)

• • Read Proof Paragraph 2.

  • Ask students to Turn and Talk:

“What is the function of this paragraph in the essay?” (To show how “The Negro Speaks of Rivers” demonstrates the theme of finding strength and hope in the past.) “What color should it be?” (blue) “Why?” (Because it supports the blue point that “The Negro Speaks of Rivers” demonstrates the theme clearly.)

• • Read Proof Paragraph 3.

  • Ask students to Turn and Talk:

“What is the function of this paragraph in the essay?” (To show how “Lift Every Voice and Sing” demonstrates the theme of finding strength and hope in the past.) “What color should it be?” (dark yellow) “Why?” (Because it supports the dark yellow point that “Lift Every Voice and Sing” demonstrates the theme clearly.)

• • Read the conclusion of the model essay.

  • Ask:

“What is the role of the conclusion in an argument essay?” (Students should mention that the conclusion should wrap up the piece by restating the main claim and adding some additional thinking about why it is important. For example, in the model, this paragraph restates the claim and reflects on how the theme applies to life in general.)

“What color should you code it? Why” (Green, because it synthesizes the claim, Point 1, Point 2, and Point 3. Students might also mention that the shade of green differs from that used in the main claim in the introduction. This shows that when they run the ideas in the yellow paragraph and the ideas in the blue paragraph through their own mind they come together to make something new—their own thinking on the topic, but still connected to the claim.) If students are ready, deepen this analysis by working together to color-code the sentences that refer to each point in blue and yellow. Refer to the Model Argument Essay: “Strength from the Past” (example for teacher reference) as necessary.

• When students finish analyzing the model, display blank chart paper to co-construct the Criteria of an Effective Argument Essay. Ask students to share out criteria generated during the above exploration of the model. Note that, at this point, students may only identify the general structure and some of the key criteria (main claim, points, evidence, and elaboration.) The class will add to the anchor chart details about the criteria of each paragraph in the following lessons. For guidance, see the Criteria of an Effective Argument Essay (for teacher reference).

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

MEETING STUDENTS' NEEDS 

During Work Time A, students may note the author's use of the words present perfect throughout the model essay. Ask students to Turn and Talk to remind each other of how the present perfect is formed (has/have + past participle) and give an example (have grown). For further practice with the present perfect from the Language Dive in Unit 1, ask students to work with a partner to reread sentences with the verbs has or have in them and determine whether the verb phrases are in the present perfect, identifying the past participle and explaining what the sentence means. Reviewing the language structure from the Language Dive helps ensure student acquisition of it.

During Work Time A, if possible, provide students with a partially painted essay in which the topic sentence of each paragraph is painted, so students may follow the model. Also, if possible, pair students into homogeneous language groups. As needed, allow students to use their home languages as a resource to help them interpret the essay and paint it appropriately.

A. Pair Practice: Plan Argument Essay – W.7.5 (20 minutes)

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

“I can plan an argument essay about how specific works from the Harlem Renaissance demonstrate the theme that collaboration and community can bring out the best in people.”

• Explain that students will now prepare to write their own essays about how three works they have studied from the Harlem Renaissance most clearly demonstrate the theme of how collaboration and community can bring out the best in people. Display and distribute Directions for Pair Argument Essay. Read the directions aloud and ask students to follow along.

• Using a total participation technique, invite responses from the group:

“What is the topic of your essay?” (how specific works from the Harlem Renaissance demonstrate the theme of how collaboration and community can bring out the best in people)

• Tell students that as they plan, they should remember to support their ideas with evidence from the texts and artwork they examined throughout Units 1 and 2. Allow time for students to retrieve their copies of the texts and artwork from Units 1 and 2: Shuffle Along, “Lift Every Voice and Sing,” The Harp, “Calling Dreams,” “Hope,” “I Shall Return,” Ethiopia Awakening, African Phantasy: Awakening, “The Negro Speaks of Rivers,” “His Motto,” and “The Boy and the Bayonet.”

• Display and distribute the Argument Essay Writing Plan graphic organizer and the Argument Essay Writing Plan graphic organizer ▲ as necessary. The differentiated organizer supports students’ writing with sentence frames and simplified questions. ▲ Remind students that they used a similar graphic organizer to plan their essays in Modules 1 and 2. As necessary, review each section, asking volunteers to explain what kinds of information they will write in each section.

• Explain to students that they will use this graphic organizer to work together to plan their pair-written argument essay. In this lesson, they will roughly sketch out what will go into each paragraph. In the following lessons, they will have more time to add details to this graphic organizer as they plan and write the essay together.

• If pairs are ready to begin planning their essay independently, release them to do so. Use the following scaffolding for students who need more support planning an argument essay. ▲

• Focus students on the focus question section at the top of the Argument Essay Writing Plan graphic organizer. Ask students to copy the focus question from the Directions for Pair Argument Essay in this space. Refer to Argument Essay Writing Plan graphic organizer (example for teacher reference) for sample responses.

• Turn and Talk, allowing time for students to fill in the appropriate sections of their graphic organizers:

“What is the main idea of your essay?” (how specific works from the Harlem Renaissance demonstrate the theme of how collaboration and community can bring out the best in people)

“What context or background information will you need to give readers so they can understand this main idea? Consider terms your readers might need defined.” (Possible responses: the form and creator of the text or artwork, the fact that they were created in the Harlem Renaissance, etc.)

• Display the Harlem Renaissance Themes anchor chart and ask students to read it and Think-Pair-Share:

“Which works do you think best show the theme of how collaboration and community can bring out the best in people?” (Responses will vary. Possible responses: “Lift Every Voice and Sing,” The Harp, and “The Boy and the Bayonet.”)

• Have students work in pairs to write a main claim in the main claim section of their graphic organizers. Remind students that main claims usually contain key words from the writing assignment and that they should preview the main points (in this case, texts or artworks) students will discuss in their essay. Provide sentence starters as necessary: 

  • “Of the works we’ve studied so far, _____, _____, and _____ most clearly demonstrate the theme of _____.” ▲

• Offer students options for writing utensils. Also, offer partial dictation of student responses. ▲

• Ask:

“How do these works each develop this theme? What techniques, structures, or figurative language do the works use to develop the theme?” (Responses will vary. See the Harlem Renaissance Themes anchor chart [example for teacher reference] for possible responses.)

• Release students to complete the rest of their graphic organizers in pairs. Remind students that they should consider the texts they’ve studied so far in this module for examples to support their claims. Also, explain that students don’t need to write complete sentences in their graphic organizer. They can just take notes. Circulate to support students as they plan. Refer to Argument Essay Writing Plan graphic organizer (example for teacher reference) and the Model Pair Argument Essay (example for teacher reference) as needed.

• Before students leave class, ensure that they understand the homework assignment, especially the grammar review and examples at the top of the homework. Also, as necessary, allow students several minutes to begin the homework so they can access additional support as necessary. Inform students that they will review their responses with a partner at the beginning of the next lesson.

• Repeated routine: Invite students to reflect on their progress toward the relevant learning target and the habits of character focus in this lesson, discussing what went well and what could be improved next time.

MEETING STUDENTS' NEEDS 

Challenge students to model orally rehearsing their plans for classmates who need heavier support. Doing so will also strengthen their own’ plans for their essays.

In the next lesson, students will participate in a Language Dive using a sentence from the Model Informative Essay. Provide ELLs with the Language Dive sentence ahead of time. Invite students to predict some of the questions that the Language Dive may ask. This will improve students’ metacognition and challenge their awareness of the most interesting or meaningful elements of the sentence.

Invite students to use the Argument Writing Plan graphic organizer  ▲. The sentence starters and rephrased questions in this resource support students in planning their essay.

In the next lesson, students will participate in a Language Dive using a sentence from the Model Informative Essay. Provide ELLs with the Language Dive sentence ahead of time. Encourage students to independently reflect on this sentence and its meaning before the next lesson. Students may also wish to use dictionaries to add any unknown vocabulary and meanings to their vocabulary logs.