Unit 1: Rites of Passage

ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS

  1. How can listening to feedback clarify the message a student is trying to express?
  2. What strategies can a student use to listen actively?
  3. How does a student prepare to effectively share a nonfiction narrative?
  4. How can brainstorming and discussion create a focus for writing?
  5. How can reading a variety of texts help develop thematic connections?
  6. How does the text relate to other texts you have read on this subject?
  7. How can mentor texts be utilized as models to develop compositions?
  8. How is information organized within a composition?
  9. How can students set and use goals to reflect on personal learning?
  10. How can I make inferences and use evidence from the text to support understanding?

UNIT RATIONALE

Students will develop multiple perspectives by reading, writing, speaking, and listening to different points of view on the challenges of growing up. They will analyze selections of realistic fiction, poetry, and blogs that model what authors can create through their craft. Using the mentor text, students will craft a personal OR a nonfiction narrative.