The Reading Center is a small-group enrichment course that offers a welcoming and innovative environment that facilitates reading and writing improvement and appreciation. Students independently read leveled texts of various genre and complexity, complete digital learning activities, and publish critical book reviews on rhsreadingcenter.com.

Standards: Connecticut has adopted the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) as the Connecticut State Standards (CSS).

ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS

• How do people make decisions and choices that define their lives and the lives of others?
• What outside forces influence their decisions and choices?
• How do people’s identity affect how she or he acts within society?
• How do people deal with the consequences of their actions?
• How does society foster individualism and/or conformity?
• How do assimilation and/or the immigrant experience influence individuals and society?

STANDARDS

READING LITERATURE

Key Ideas and Details

RL.11-12.1 - Cite strong and thorough textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text, including determining where the text leaves matters uncertain.

RL.11-12.2 - Determine two or more themes or central ideas of a text and analyze their development over the course of the text, including how they interact and build on one another to produce a complex account; provide an objective summary of the text.

RL.11-12.3 - Analyze the impact of the author's choices regarding how to develop and relate elements of a story or drama (e.g., where a story is set, how the action is ordered, how the characters are introduced and developed).

Craft and Structure

RL.11-12.4 - Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in the text, including figurative and connotative meanings; analyze the impact of specific word choices on meaning and tone, including words with multiple meanings or language that is particularly fresh, engaging, or beautiful. (Include Shakespeare as well as other authors.)

RL.11-12.5 - Analyze how an author's choices concerning how to structure specific parts of a text (e.g., the choice of where to begin or end a story, the choice to provide a comedic or tragic resolution) contribute to its overall structure and meaning as well as its aesthetic impact.

RL.11-12.7 - Analyze multiple interpretations of a story, drama, or poem (e.g., recorded or live production of a play or recorded novel or poetry), evaluating how each version interprets the source text. (Include at least one play by Shakespeare and one play by an American dramatist.)

READING FOR INFORMATION

Key Ideas and Details

RI.11-12.1 - Cite strong and thorough textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text, including determining where the text leaves matters uncertain.

RI.11-12.2 - Determine two or more central ideas of a text and analyze their development over the course of the text, including how they interact and build on one another to provide a complex analysis; provide an objective summary of the text.

RI.11-12.3 - Analyze a complex set of ideas or sequence of events and explain how specific individuals, ideas, or events interact and develop over the course of the text.

Craft and Structure

RI.11-12.4 - Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, including figurative, connotative, and technical meanings; analyze how an author uses and refines the meaning of a key term or terms over the course of a text (e.g., how Madison defines faction in Federalist No. 10).

RI.11-12.5 - Analyze and evaluate the effectiveness of the structure an author uses in his or her exposition or argument, including whether the structure makes points clear, convincing, and engaging.

Range of Reading and Level of Text Complexity

RI.11-12.10 - By the end of grade 11, read and comprehend literary nonfiction in the grades 11-CCR text complexity band proficiently, with scaffolding as needed at the high end of the range.

By the end of grade 12, read and comprehend literary nonfiction at the high end of the grades 11-CCR text complexity band independently and proficiently.

CONTENT OBJECTIVES

CONTENT - Students will learn . . .

• how to choose an appropriate and accessible text.
• identify literary elements and vocabulary within selected texts.
• learn how to identify parts of speech, to recognize word queues/markers, and to develop a strategy for word retention, recall, and retrieval.
• recognize the value of annotating a text (questioning, commenting, connecting, and predicting).
• examine how an individual's experience within society shapes his/her identity.
• reflect on individual choices, freedoms, and responsibilities in a given culture.

ASSURED EXPERIENCES - Students will . . .

• select a text by reviewing covers, reading summaries and reviews, and perusing pages for accessibility.
• identify and digitally highlight challenging vocabulary and examples of literary elements and themes within the text.
• employ the LINCS vocabulary strategy for word understanding, retention, recall, and retrieval.
• annotate a selected text.
• write thematic passage analyses related to the selected text.
• expand their thematic passage analyses into SCQuIRT paragraphs by adding topic sentences and concluding their paragraphs by relating back to the respective topic sentences.
• create and present either a digital body biography project based on a selected character, create an Animoto project based on a theme, write a review evaluating the text's effectiveness and quality, or write a letter to the author that incorporates reflection and questions about the text.