Embedded Files
What kind of life do I want to live?
Key Reading Standards
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)
Designate a purpose for reading expository texts and use new learning to complete a specific task (such as convince an audience, shape a personal opinion or decision, or perform an activity).
Predict the impact an informational text will have on an audience and justify the prediction.
Use Craft and Structure to:
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 (for example: how Madison defines "faction" in Federalist No. 10). (CCSS: RI.11-12.4)
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)
Determine an author's point of view or purpose in a text in which the rhetoric is particularly effective, analyzing how style and content contribute to the power, persuasiveness or beauty of the text. (CCSS: RI.11-12.6)
Key Writing Standards
Key Writing Standards
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)
Use precise language, domain-specific vocabulary, and techniques such as metaphor, simile, and analogy to manage the complexity of the topic. (CCSS W.11-12.2d)
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)
Provide a concluding statement or section that follows from and supports the information or explanation presented (for example: articulating implications or the significance of the topic). (CCSS W.11-12.2f)
Unit Texts & Tasks
Unit Texts & Tasks
Routine Writing
Routine Writing
Extended Texts
Extended Texts
at least 1
The Alchemist by Paul Coelho (DMS & Overdrive)
Brave New World by Aldous Huxley (DMS & Overdrive)
Hamlet by William Shakespeare (Overdrive)
Hunger of Memory: The Education of Richard Rodriguez by Richard Rodriguez (Overdrive)
Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass by Frederick Douglass (DMS & Overdrive)
Siddhartha: An Indian Tale by Herman Hesse (Overdrive)
The Warrior's Heart: Becoming a Man of Compassion and Courage by Eric Greitens (DMS & Overdrive)
Short Literary Texts
Short Literary Texts
at least 2-3
“Excerpts from The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin” by Benjamin Franklin (CommonLit) (Pair w/"On the Cultivation of Virtue...")
“Excerpt from ‘Self-Reliance’” by Ralph Waldo Emerson (CommonLit)
“The Guilty Party” by O. Henry (CommonLit)
“The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock” by T.S. Eliot (CommonLit) (Pair w/"Why Do We Hate Love?")
“On the Cultivation of Virtue, Woman’s Work, and Politeness” by Zhao Ban (CommonLit) (Pair w/ "...Benjamin Franklin")
“The Thief and His Mother” by Aesop (CommonLit)
“‘Three Types of Friendship’ - Excerpt from The Nichomachean Ethics "by Aristotle (CommonLit)
Short Informational Texts
Short Informational Texts
at least 1-2
“How Resilience Works” by Diane Coutu (CommonLit)
“The Kohlberg Dilemmas” by Lawrence Kohlberg (CommonLit)
“More Facebook Friends, Fewer Real Ones, Says Cornell Study” by ABC News (CommonLit)
“Why Do We Hate Love?” by Robert Firestone (CommonLit) (Pair w/ “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock”)
Analytical Writing Tasks
Analytical Writing Tasks
at least 4-6
SUMMATIVE ASSESSMENT - Analysis: What kind of life do I want to live? Working from our readings, discussions, and analysis, you will choose one author and explore and explain, using their words, how they have decided to be and live in the world. (doc) (Writable)
Analysis: Is college worth it? In a well-written essay, discuss the advantages and disadvantages of a college degree, citing both texts “Is College Worth It? Is this Even the Right Question?” and “The Myth of the College Dropout.” Consider your personal experience and opinions with this topic and include this stance in your writing. (doc) (Writable)
Analysis: "What can fear teach us?" vs "The Terror." You've examined Karen Thompson Walker’s claims in “What can fear teach us?” and thought through Junot Diaz’s narrative in “The Terror.” For this piece, you’ll analyze what the two texts have to say about fear. (doc) (Writable)
Narrative Writing Tasks
Narrative Writing Tasks
at least 1-2
Narrative: Making a Life from a Picture (Part 1). You will use the public domain images available through unsplash.com to find an image of a single person. You will pull that image in your document, build a list of “facts” about that person and then write a personal narrative as the character you’ve created describing what kind of life they want or wanted to live. (doc) (Writable)
Narrative: Making a Life from a Picture (Part 2). You will receive the personal narrative of a character written by one of your classmates. Writing as the character you created and from your perceived age of that character, you will compose a letter to your classmate’s character offering advice either about how they might live the life they want to live or come to terms with how they have or have not lived the life they wanted to live. (doc) (Writable)
Planning
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
Reflection & Feedback
Please leave your feedback, reflections and assignment requests below.
Page updated
Report abuse