Unit 2: Freedom, Obstacles, and Challenges

Unit 2: Freedom, Obstacles, and Challenges

In this unit students read works of historical fiction and discuss how authors' perspectives might produce accounts of historical events that differ from what we know happened. Students work collaboratively to reconcile different authors points of view and discuss why these differences occur. Students read Paul Revere's Ride by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow and study the actual events of that night to consider the effect that poetry can have on historical memory. An in-depth research project accompanied by a multimedia presentation is a highlight of this unit, because these creative processes integrate essential skills and meaningful content. This unit ends with an informative/explanatory essay in response to the essential question: How does learning history through literature differ from learning through informational text? Additionally, students should record their reading for the 25 Book Standards.

STANDARDS

READING LITERACY

Reading: Literature.

· ELACC8RL9: Analyze how a modern work of fiction draws on themes, patterns of events, or character types from myths, traditional stories, or religious works such as the Bible, including describing how the material is rendered new

READING INFORMATIONAL

Reading: Informational

· ELACC8RI3: Analyze how a text makes connections among and distinctions between individuals, ideas, or events (e.g., through comparisons, analogies, or categories).

· ELACC8RI9: Analyze a case in which two or more texts provide conflicting information on the same topic and identify where the texts disagree on matters of fact or interpretation.

WRITING: Argumentative

· ELACC8W7: ELACCW8.7: Conduct short research projects to answer a question (including a self-generated question), drawing on several sources and generating additional related, focused questions that allow for multiple avenues of exploration.

SPEAKING AND LISTENING: Comprehension and Collaboration

· ELACC8SL5: Integrate multimedia and visual displays into presentations to clarify information, strengthen claims and evidence, and add interest.

LANGUAGE: Vocabulary Acquisition and Use

· ELACC8L3: Use knowledge of language and its conventions when writing, speaking, reading, or listening.

a. Use verbs in the active and passive voice and in the conditional and subjunctive mood to achieve particular effects (e.g., emphasizing the actor or the action; Expressing uncertainty or describing a state contrary to fact).

CONTENT: What students should know at the end of this unit?

READING:

· Cite the textual evidence explicitly as well as inferences drawn from text; text structures such as in-text citations

· Archetypes: Hero and The Hero’s Journey

· Inquiries to conduct short research projects

· Themes of literary works

· Examples of allusion/allegory to foundational texts

· Graphic organizers to illustrate connections and distinctions (such as Venn diagrams)

WRITING:

· Construction and Citation of research projects to answer a question

· The Tone and Mood created by Passive Voice, its strengths and weaknesses as a stylistic tool

Multimedia and Visual Displays into presentations

SKILLS: What students should be able to do at the end of this unit?

READING:

· Cite appropriately and avoid plagiarism

· Use a variety of sources to conduct research projects and work to construct background knowledge of major foundational works

· Analyze and make connections between and among individuals including heroes and the hero’s journey

· Use a variety of print and digital resources to conduct research

· Acquire or review basic knowledge of literary periods and major works to determine theme

· Analyze texts of the same topic for conflicting information

· Determine how these texts disagree on fact and interpretation

· Apply the concepts of allusion and allegory

· Clarify understanding with use of graphic organization tools

WRITING (INFORMATIVE/EXPLANATORY):

· Conduct a research project; Use verbs in the active and passive voice

Use print and digital resources

KEY WORDS/ESSENTIAL UNIT VOCABULARY: Antagonist, Author’s Purpose, Climax, Characterization, Character Conflicts: Character vs. Nature, Character vs. Society, Complications, Cause and Effect, Compare and Contrast, Dialogue, Figurative Language, Flashback, Graphic Aids, Historical Fiction, Inference, Internal / External Conflict, Main Idea, Mood, Narrative, Memoir, Organizational, Structure, Patterns of Events, Plot, Point of View, First Person, Narration, Third Person, Narration, Preconceived Notions, Problem, Solution, Protagonist, Resolution, Sensory Details, Sequential, Setting, Split Dialogue, Subplot, Summarize, Supporting Details, Text Features, Theme, Note-taking, Allusion and Allegory Text