Embedded Files
In this unit students will explore the life of Frederick Douglass, the escaped slave and noted abolitionist who wrote Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass. Students will also read a series of informational texts to build background knowledge about slavery, Douglass’ life, and the debate over slavery in the United States before the Civil War.
In this unit students will explore the life of Frederick Douglass, the escaped slave and noted abolitionist who wrote Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass. Students will also read a series of informational texts to build background knowledge about slavery, Douglass’ life, and the debate over slavery in the United States before the Civil War.
These informational texts will allow students to grasp the context of the Narrative in a more complete way. Finally, students will study poetry. They will learn how to read and analyze a poem, and are introduced to the tools that poets and other writers use to make stories powerful: word choice and figurative language.
These informational texts will allow students to grasp the context of the Narrative in a more complete way. Finally, students will study poetry. They will learn how to read and analyze a poem, and are introduced to the tools that poets and other writers use to make stories powerful: word choice and figurative language.
As one might expect from the subject matter, Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass: An American Slave contains scenes of graphic violence, some inappropriate language, and racial slurs. These elements of the text will not be the subject of direct lessons in class or of homework; however, students will have access to passages that contain this content. Please know that great care has been taken (and will be taken) to provide students with the context of harsh language and to emphasize for students that use of racially charged language and slurs is unacceptable. Please read the Parent Letter for more detailed information.
As one might expect from the subject matter, Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass: An American Slave contains scenes of graphic violence, some inappropriate language, and racial slurs. These elements of the text will not be the subject of direct lessons in class or of homework; however, students will have access to passages that contain this content. Please know that great care has been taken (and will be taken) to provide students with the context of harsh language and to emphasize for students that use of racially charged language and slurs is unacceptable. Please read the Parent Letter for more detailed information.
Central Text
Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, Frederick Douglass
Digital version of Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass (helpful for completing homework)
Audiobook recording of Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass
Essential Questions
Essential Questions
What gives stories and poems their enduring power?
What gives stories and poems their enduring power?
How does writer's purpose and audience shape the way in which a story is told?
How does writer's purpose and audience shape the way in which a story is told?
How can writers use language, images, and theme to give stories power?
How can writers use language, images, and theme to give stories power?
Student Assignments
Student Assignments
Link to student workbooks:
Link to student workbooks:
If you have misplaced your student workbook, you must print the required daily assignments from the links above.
If you have misplaced your student workbook, you must print the required daily assignments from the links above.
January 28 - 31
January 28 - 31
- Monday:
- Read independent reading book.
- Tuesday:
- Read independent reading book.
- Wednesday: .
- Read independent reading book.
- Thursday:
- Read independent reading book.
- Friday:
- Share parent letter about upcoming unit on Frederick Douglass with your parents, and guardians,
- Read independent reading book.
- Amazon Book Review Project due Wednesday, March 25, 2020.
February 3 - February 7
February 3 - February 7
- Monday: Mid-Year Assessment in class.
- Read independent reading book.
- Tuesday: Mid-Year Assessment in class.
- Read independent reading book.
- Wednesday: Official start of Module 3 in class.
- "The People Could Fly."
- This is a read aloud of the book - there is not an electronic copy available.
- Read independent reading book.
- "The People Could Fly."
- Thursday: Early Release - inclement weather
- Complete the vocabulary activity on pages 6 - 7 of Workbook 1.
- Read independent reading book.
- Friday: NO SCHOOL - inclement weather
- Amazon Book Review Project due Wednesday, March 25, 2020.
February 10 - 14
February 10 - 14
- Monday:
- Read and annotate "The Slave Trade" on pages 9 - 10 of Workbook 1. Complete guided questions on page 11.
- Read independent reading book.
- Tuesday:
- Wednesday:
- Finish reflection questions on page 21 of Workbook 1.
- Read independent reading book.
- Thursday:
- Finish "Determining Position" Activity on page 26-27 of the Workbook 1.
AIG students: In addition to that listed above, please complete page 24 of Workbook 1.
- Read independent reading book.
- Friday:
- Finish Reader's Notebook for chapter 1 of Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass.
- Read independent reading book.
- Amazon Book Review Project due Wednesday, March 25, 2020.
February 17 - 21
February 17 - 21
- Monday: NO SCHOOL - Vacation Day
- Read independent reading book.
- Tuesday: NO SCHOOL - Teacher Work Day
- Read independent reading book.
- Wednesday: .
- Finish Reader's Notebook for chapter 2 of Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass.
- Read independent reading book.
- Thursday: Three-Hour Early Release
- Finish annotating the gist of each stanza on page 66 of Workbook 1. Use the "How to Read a Poem" Anchor Chart on page 29 of your interactive notebook to help you.
- Read independent reading book.
- Friday: NO SCHOOL - Inclement Weather
- Read chapter 3 of Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass. Complete Reader's Notebook for chapter 3.
- Amazon Book Review Project due Wednesday, March 25, 2020.
February 24 - 28
February 24 - 28
- Monday:
- Read and annotate the poem on page 69 of Workbook 1. Use the "How to Read a Poem" Anchor Chart on page 29 of your interactive notebook to help you.
- See example of how to annotate your poem.
- Read independent reading book.
- Read and annotate the poem on page 69 of Workbook 1. Use the "How to Read a Poem" Anchor Chart on page 29 of your interactive notebook to help you.
- Tuesday:
- Finish reading and annotating the poem on page 80 of Workbook 1.
- Study/review for tomorrow's quiz on poetry.
- Practice identifying and interpreting poetic tools and devices, determining the theme of a poem, and identifying speaker.
- Review general informational text skills: determining the central idea of a text, identifying purpose of individual paragraphs, identifying and interpreting text structure.
- Read independent reading book.
- Wednesday: Unit 1 Mid-Unit Assessment in class
- Read independent reading book.
- Thursday:
- Finish Reader's Notebook for chapter 4 of Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass.
- Read chapter 5 and complete Reader's Notebook.
- Read independent reading book.
- Friday:
- Finish Reader's Notebook for chapters 6 and 7 (completed in class).
- Read chapter 8 and complete Reader's Notebook.
- EXTRA CREDIT OPPORTUNITY
- Complete the "Found Poem" exercise on page 54 of Workbook 1. You will need to use pages 41- 51 (Excerpt 2) of the workbook to complete the exercise. Due Tuesday, March 3, at start of class.
- Amazon Book Review Project due Wednesday, March 25, 2020.
March 2- 6
March 2- 6
- Monday:
- Read independent reading book.
- Study for Thursday's assessment:
- poetic tools and devices used in Frederick Douglass' narrative
- analyzing claims made in the narrative and the evidence that supports those claims
- analyzing the theme of the narrative and its development over the course of the text.
- Tuesday:
- Read independent reading book.
- Finish reading chapter 10 of Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass. Complete Reader's Notebook for chapter 10.
- Review strategies for Friday's assessment.
- Wednesday:
- Read independent reading book.
- Finish Reader's Notebook for chapter 11.
- Review strategies for Friday's assessment.
- Thursday:
- Read independent reading book.
- Ensure all pages of your Reader's Notebook are complete. The entire notebook is due tomorrow at the start of class.
- Review strategies for Friday's assessment.
- Friday: Major Assessment in class
- Read independent reading book.
- Amazon Book Review Project due Wednesday, March 25, 2020.
March 9 - 13
March 9 - 13
- Monday: NO SCHOOL - Teacher Work Day
- Read independent reading book.
- Tuesday:
- work on captions for Storyboard project.
- Read independent reading book.
- Wednesday: .
- Finish captions for Storyboard project.
- Begin drafting scene illustrations for Storyboard project.
- Read independent reading book.
- Thursday:
- Work on Storyboard project captions and scene illustrations -- due Monday.
- If you are making your storyboard digitally through "Storyboard That" here are the class codes to use to log in to the site. You will need to use your WCPSS email address to log in.
- Core 1: bit.ly/Core1SB
- Core 2: bit.ly/Core2SB
- Core 3: bit.ly/Core3SB
- Core 4: bit.ly/Core4SB
- Friday:
- Finish Storyboard project captions and scene illustrations -- due Monday.
- Amazon Book Review Project due Wednesday, March 25, 2020!
March 16 - 20
March 16 - 20
- Monday:
- Work on Narrative Writing Project draft.
- Choose the scene from your storyboard that you plan to write out. Your are to write a scene from one of the following plot options:
- Exposition
- Rising Action
- Climax
- Falling Action
- Resolution
- Begin brainstorming ideas for your full scene. Remember, you are just writing one scene from your imagined story (storyboard). You are not writing out the story in its entirety. This is a major assessment project.
- Review resources for narrative writing for help.
- Choose the scene from your storyboard that you plan to write out. Your are to write a scene from one of the following plot options:
- Read independent reading book.
- Work on Narrative Writing Project draft.
- Tuesday:
- Work on Narrative Writing Project draft - rough draft due Thursday.
- Write out the first draft of your scene. Remember, your scene must be 3 pages if you are hand-writing, and 2 pages (double-spaced, 12 point Times New Roman font) if you are typing. Use the Narrative Writing Rubric on the back of the project requirements sheet to ensure you are meeting all requirements.
- Review resources for narrative writing for help.
- Read independent reading book.
- Work on Narrative Writing Project draft - rough draft due Thursday.
- Wednesday: .
- Work on Narrative Writing Project draft - rough draft due tomorrow!
- Revisit your writing. Make sure that you meet the requirements for use of figurative language, sound devices, and text-evidence.
- Review resources for narrative writing for help.
- Read independent reading book.
- Work on Narrative Writing Project draft - rough draft due tomorrow!
- Thursday:
- Revise and edit Narrative Writing Project - final draft due Monday, March 23.
- Revise and edit your writing for mechanics, such as spelling and grammar, as well as clarity of ideas. Be certain that your information is conveyed clearly, and that you are meeting the requirements of your portion of the plot. Use the grading rubric to help guide your revisions.
- Review resources for narrative writing for help.
- Read independent reading book.
- Revise and edit Narrative Writing Project - final draft due Monday, March 23.
- Friday:
- Finalize revisions for Narrative Writing Project. Write final draft -- due Monday, March 23.
- Write your final draft of your scene. Be sure to use the project requirements sheet to make certain that you are meeting all project requirements. This is the final day to work on your Narrative Writing project.
- Review resources for narrative writing for help.
- Amazon Book Review Project due this Wednesday, March 25, 2020!
- Finalize revisions for Narrative Writing Project. Write final draft -- due Monday, March 23.
March 23 - 27
March 23 - 27
- Monday:
- Read and annotate "The Stolen Party" text. Use the five annotating marks:
- Underline important ideas.
- Circle unknown words.
- Write comments and connections in the margins (connect to unit of study and essential questions).
- Write questions about the text in the margins.
- Mark surprising information with an exclamation mark (!)
- Read independent reading book.
- Amazon Book Review Project due Wednesday, March 25!
- Read and annotate "The Stolen Party" text. Use the five annotating marks:
- Tuesday:
- Finish text-dependent questions for "The Stolen Party" text.
- Amazon Book Review Project due TOMORROW!
- Read independent reading book.
- Wednesday: Amazon Book Review Project due at start of class.
- Read “The Scholarship Jacket” and annotate the text using annotating marks.
- Underline important ideas.
- Circle unknown words.
- Write comments and connections in the margins (connect to unit of study and essential questions).
- Write questions about the text in the margins.
- Mark surprising information with an exclamation mark (!)
- Read independent reading book.
- Read “The Scholarship Jacket” and annotate the text using annotating marks.
- Thursday:
- Complete all guided reading questions for “The Scholarship Jacket.”
- Read independent reading book.
- Friday:
- Written Response: Consider how "The Scholarship Jacket" and "The Stolen Party" texts connect to our unit on Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass. Write a three-paragraph response to the following prompt: We studied examples of historical discrimination and racism from our country’s past. Does racism and discrimination still exist in our country’s present? To what extent? Explain your reasoning in detail using evidence from the texts “The Scholarship Jacket” and “The Stolen Party,” as well as evidence you may have from life. Record your response on notebook paper.
- Read independent reading book.
March 30 - April 3
March 30 - April 3
- Monday:
- Read independent reading book.
- Tuesday:
- Read independent reading book.
- Wednesday: .
- Read independent reading book.
- Thursday: Major Assessment in class
- Read independent reading book.
- Friday: Last day of Quarter 3
- Read independent reading book.
- Enjoy your Spring Break!
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