These are two documents I used to introduce students to Fences, the play we were going to be studying next. The document is a series of questions to get students thinking about the themes and events in the play and the second document provides historical context.

The documents connect to standard 6B because I was using the students' background knowledge and personal experiences to connect with Fences in the first document. I understand that the reading process involves not only the text, but important background information and the reader's experience, which is why I had the students do these activities.

I learned how to prepare students for a new unit by activating their background knowledge and piquing their interest through the themes and ideas of the play. I learned more about the students' personal opinions and we had an interesting discussion through the pre-reading questions.

This artifact is a lesson plan I taught on how to write introductions in our argument unit.

The lesson plan connects to standard 6N because I modeled how to annotate the argument, how to write an argument through a model text, and how to write an introduction with model examples. I also explained what we were doing and had students practice in groups and independently to master the skill of writing arguments.

I learned how to create a lesson plan with clear explanations and modeling so students could do the skill on their own.