Grade 11 Unit 1 Module 2
How do institutions influence an individual's sense of good?
Key Reading Standards
Use Key Ideas and Details to:
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. (CCSS: RI.11-12.1)
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. (CCSS: RI.11-12.2)
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. (CCSS: RI.11-12.3)
Predict the impact an informational text will have on an audience and justify the prediction.
Use Craft and Structure to:
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. (CCSS: RI.11-12.5)
Use Integration of Knowledge and Ideas to:
Integrate and evaluate multiple sources of information presented in different media or formats (for example: visually, quantitatively) as well as in words in order to address a question or solve a problem. (CCSS: RI.11-12.7)
Key Writing Standards
Present information, findings, and supporting evidence, conveying a clear and distinct perspective, such that listeners can follow the line of reasoning, alternative or opposing perspectives are addressed, and the organization, development, substance, and style are appropriate to purpose, audience, and a range of formal and informal tasks. (CCSS: SL.11-12.4)
Write informative/explanatory texts to examine and convey complex ideas, concepts, and information clearly and accurately through the effective selection, organization, and analysis of content. (CCSS W.11-12.2)
Introduce a topic; organize complex ideas, concepts, and information so that each new element builds on that which precedes it to create a unified whole; include formatting (for example: headings), graphics (for example: figures, tables), and multimedia when useful to aiding comprehension. (CCSS W.11-12.2a)
Develop the topic thoroughly by selecting the most significant and relevant facts, extended definitions, concrete details, quotations, or other information and examples appropriate to the audience's knowledge of the topic. (CCSS W.11-12.2b)
Use appropriate and varied transitions and syntax to link the major sections of the text, create cohesion, and clarify the relationships among complex ideas and concepts. (CCSS W.11-12.2c)
Establish and maintain a formal style and objective tone while attending to the norms and conventions of the discipline in which they are writing. (CCSS W.11-12.2e)
Unit Texts & Tasks
Routine Writing
Extended Texts
at least 1
Funny in Farsi by Firoozeh Dumas (Overdrive)
The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot (DMS & Overdrive)
Issac’s Storm by Erik Larson
Kindred by Octavia Butler
Othello by William Shakespeare (DMS & OverDrive)
Walden by Henry David Thoreau
Any text by Louise Erdrich
Short Literary Texts
at least 2-3
“Excerpt from The Prince” by Niccoló Machiavelli (CommonLit)
“Letter from Birmingham Jail” by Martin Luther King, Jr. (CommonLit) (Pair w/ “Allegory of the Cave”) *Must login to CommonLit to view text.
“The Rose that Grew from Concrete” by Tupac Sakur (CommonLit) (Pair w/ “Frida Kahlo”)
“Shooting an Elephant” by George Orwell (CommonLit)
“The Yellow Wallpaper” by Charlotte Perkins Gilman (CommonLit)
Short Informational Texts
at least 1-2
“Allegory of the Cave” by Plato (CommonLit) (Pair w/"Letter from Birmingham Jail")
“Frida Kahlo”by Jessica McBirney (CommonLit) (Pair w/"The Rose That Grew from Concrete")
“Making College Matter” by Leo M. Lambert & Peter Felton (CommonLit)
“The Salem (and Other) Witch Hunts” by Mike Kubic (CommonLit) (Pair w/ “Why I Love the Country that Once Betrayed Me”)
“Why I Love the Country that Once Betrayed Me” by George Takei (CommonLit) (Pair w/"The Salem (and Other) Witch Hunts")
Analytical Writing Tasks
at least 4-6
SUMMATIVE ASSESSMENT - Proposal: How do institutions influence an individual’s sense of “good”? You will create a proposal for an imaginary American businessman about which institutions he should invest in. (doc) (Writable)
Analysis/Research: Defining “Institution.” You will research “institution” and prepare a proposal for how you think our class should define it. (doc) (Writable)
Analysis: Create a Timeline. Create a map or timeline of all the institutions that have influenced your understanding of what it means to be good. (doc) (Writable)
Analysis/Research: Bureaucratic Process. Select an institution and research the policies, mission statements, financial documentation and other relevant texts to determine if this institution is good. (doc) (Writable)
Analysis: Role of Institutions in an Extended Text. Identify the role of institutions in your extended text and their effect on a character of your choice. (doc) (Writable)
Narrative Writing Tasks
at least 1-2
Personal Narrative: Personal Experience with Institutions. Choose a moment from your life when an institution with which you’re connected influenced a choice you made. Tell that story. (doc) (Writable)
Narrative: Tell a Story. Tell a story where an institution serves as an antagonist for a character's development (doc) (Writable)
Research Task
at least 1
Analysis/Research: Defining “Institution.” You will research “institution” and prepare a proposal for how you think our class should define it. (doc) (Writable)
Analysis/Research: Bureaucratic Process. Select an institution and research the policies, mission statements, financial documentation and other relevant texts to determine if this institution is good. (doc) (Writable)
Research: Boy Scout Manuals. Research vintage Boy Scout manuals and compare to current manuals. How is an idea of "good" presented? (doc) (Writable)
Research: Institutional History. What is the history of the institution(s) at play in your extended text? Explore their histories and draft an explanation of how those histories inform what happens to the characters in your text. (doc) (Writable)
Planning
Each unit’s tasks will be a general week-by-week outline of the flow of learning tasks for students. Realizing the cultures and schedules at each site will vary and place unique demands on class time, these outlines are to be seen as generally flexible. Also in recognition of school and classroom cultures, expectations, and practices, unit plans will offer templates for tasks, but will not list daily lessons. This is to allow enough certainty of district alignment while allowing for features such as co-teaching, integrated ELA and social studies, and other unique programmatic designs.
Reflection & Feedback
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