A. Engage the Learner (5 minutes)

• Return students' Mid-Unit 3 Assessments with feedback.

• Repeated routine: As students arrive, invite them to complete Entrance Ticket: Unit 3, Lessons 11-12. This entrance ticket prompts students to review their feedback from the Mid-Unit 3 Assessment. Invite students to spend a few minutes reading the feedback and then filling out the reflection questions on the entrance ticket. If they require support to understand the feedback, encourage them to write their names on the board for a one-on-one review. Remind students that everyone is working toward individual goals and that learning is about continued growth and development.

• Repeated routine: Follow the same routine as the previous lessons to review learning targets and the purpose of the lesson, setting students up for success for the end of unit assessment. Activate prior knowledge by recalling the learning targets from Lessons 3-10

A. End of Unit 3 Assessment: Plan and Write an Argument Essay (75 minutes)

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

"I can plan and write an argument to support a claim with clear reasons and relevant evidence."

• Distribute End of Unit 3 Assessment: Write an Argument Essay: Defending a Healthy Food Choice.

• Read the prompt and directions aloud as students follow along, reading silently. Answer clarifying questions.

• Display the Characteristics of Argument Writing anchor chart. Remind students to refer to the anchor chart as they are planning and drafting their argument essays to ensure they are meeting the criteria.

• Distribute paper or notebooks to draft essays.

• Remind students that because this is an assessment, they should complete it independently in silence.

• Focus students on the Work to Become Effective Learners anchor chart, and review perseverance and what it looks and sounds like. Remind students that as they will be reading and answering questions independently for the assessment, they may need to practice perseverance.

• Invite students to begin the assessment.

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

• After 20 minutes, suggest that students move from planning their essays to drafting their essays.

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

MEETING STUDENTS' NEEDS 

Before the assessment of Work Time A, underline key vocabulary in the assessment directions and prompt, and read aloud together as a class to ensure that students understand each task included in the assessment. Invite students who need lighter support to restate or clarify information for those who need heavier support.

Review the criteria on the Track Progress: Argument Writing handout with students prior to the assessment to help clarify the objectives. This will help students to understand what is being asked of them on the assessment and serve as a way of reviewing the learning that has taken place throughout the unit to prepare them for this.

After Work Time A, if students participated in individual writing check-ins during Unit 2, Lessons 10-11, host follow-up sessions as time allows. During these meetings, work with students to reflect on the strengths and areas of possible growth that they identified earlier in the module. Help students refine action plans for continuing to work toward their goals. This process supports a growth mindset for developing writers and facilitates opportunities for students to take charge of their own learning.

A. Track Progress - W.8.1 (10 minutes)

• Give students specific, positive feedback on their completion of the End of Unit 3 Assessment.

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

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

  • W.8.1

• Guide students through completing the recording form.

• 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 

As with assessments in earlier units, if students seem unsure of how to respond to the open-ended questions, provide examples of statements that answer the questions about previous improvements and goals for future improvement that are directly connected to the criteria within the Track Progress: Argument Writing handout, to help students create clear self-reflection and concrete, attainable personal targets (e.g., "I have improved at organizing reasons and evidence logically, in a way that is easy to follow." or "In the future, I will work using additional linking words and phrases to show how my claim, counterclaims, reasons, and evidence are related.").

Provide students with a sheet of paper on which they can use a selected color, number, or symbol to self-assess against each learning target in private. This provides useful data for future instruction and helps students monitor their own learning. If time allows, pair students with trusted, supportive peers to share how they have self-assessed.