Scope

• Who and/or what determines our identity?

Guiding Questions

• What events have impacted your life?

• How have you responded to obstacles, challenges and failure? 

• How have you responded to success and achievement? 

• What choices in your life have made you the person you are today?

Skills Taught

Students will:

• read closely for textual details.

• annotate texts to support comprehension and analysis.

• engage in productive evidence-based discussions about texts.

• collect and organize evidence from texts to support analysis in writing.

• make claims about texts using specific textual evidence.

• use vocabulary strategies to define unknown words.

• paraphrase and quote relevant evidence from texts.

• independently preview texts in preparation for supported analysis.

• independently develop questions for further textual analysis.

• write narratives to develop real or imagined experiences or events.

• produce writing that is appropriate to task, purpose, and audience.

• independently practice the writing process outside of class.

• use rubrics and checklists for self-assessment and peer review of writing.

Text/Materials

Choice of Texts:

• The Other Wes Moore  by Wes Moore

• Malcolm X by Alex Haley

• Sample college essays

• Invisible Man prologue by Ralph Ellison

Standards

• How do the decisions and actions of an individual determine his/her identity?

Guiding Questions

• How can sacrifice be considered a gain and not a loss? 

• How is narrative influenced by perspective? 

• How do we determine mental illness? What level of subjectvity contributes to this determination?

• What is sanity?

• How does the novel address questions about sex and power and the powerless?

Skills Taught

Students will:

• read closely for textual details.

• annotate texts to support comprehension and analysis.

• engage in productive, evidence-based discussions about texts.

• collect and organize evidence from texts to support analysis in writing and discussions.

• use vocabulary strategies to define unknown words.

• independently read a text in preparation for supported analysis.

• paraphrase and quote relevant evidence from a text.

• make claims about texts using specific textual evidence.

• independently read and annotate text in preparation for evidence-based discussion.

• analyze multiple interpretations of a source text.

• generate and respond to questions in scholarly discourse.

• practice narrative, argument, and informative writing techniques and skills.

Text/Materials

Core Texts:

• One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest  by  Ken Kesey

Additional texts may include:

• The Five People You Meet in Heaven by Mitch Albom

• Ordinary People  by  Judith Guest

• The Virgin Suicides  by Jeffrey Eugenides

Standards

• What is the role of the individual actions/decisions in shaping one’s life?

Guiding Questions

• How do we endure in the face of adversity, tragedy, and conflict?

• To what extent are individuals free to shape their own futures?

• How much influence does fate have over free will? 

• What is more important: friendship or personal principles? Why?

• How does revenge drive the action of the play? 

• How does Shakespeare use rhetorical devices to develop central ideas in the play?

Skills Taught

Students will:

• read closely for textual details.

• annotate texts to support comprehension and analysis.

• engage in productive, evidence-based discussions about texts.

• collect and organize evidence from texts to support analysis in writing.

• make claims about texts using specific textual evidence.

• use vocabulary strategies to define unknown words.

• trace the development of ideas over the course of the text.

• examine the use and refinement of a key term over the course of the text.

• paraphrase and quote relevant evidence from texts.

• independently preview texts in preparation for supported analysis.

• independently develop questions for further textual analysis.

• write informative texts to examine and convey complex ideas.

• independently practice the writing process outside of class.

• use rubrics and checklists for self-assessment of writing and discussion.

• practice speaking and listening skills in preparation for a dramatic reading performance.

Text/Materials

Choice of  Texts:

• The Tragedy of Julius Caesar  by William Shakespeare

• Othello by William Shakespeare

• No Exit by Jean Paul Sartre

• Fences by August Wilson

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Standards

• What factors contribute to the health and prosperity of a society and its people?

Topics to Research

• The power of laughter

• The combine

• The cowboy

• Animal imagery

• Gender roles

• Inversion

• The role of the mental institution

• The meaning of being a man

• In/sanity

• Mental illness

Skills Taught

Students will:

• read closely for textual details.

• annotate texts to support comprehension and analysis.

• engage in productive, evidence-based conversations about texts.

• conduct independent searches and assess sources for credibility, relevance, and accessibility.

• develop, refine, and select inquiry questions for independent research.

• collect and organize evidence from research to support analysis in writing.

• identify and evaluate arguments and claims in texts.

• generate an evidence-based perspective from research.

• revise writing.

Text/Materials

Texts: Student driven choice

Standards

• How do our spoken words Influence the world?

Guiding Questions

• How should public speakers present themselves while delivering a speech?

• How can a speaker capture an audience using rhetorical strategies and devices?

• What are the different skills used for extemporaneous and planned speeches? 

• What is the value of word choice in a speech?

• What role does the listener play in public speaking?

Skills Taught

Students will:

• initiate and participate effectively in a range of collaborative discussions (one-on-one, in groups, and teacher-led) with diverse partners on grades 11-12 topics, texts, and issues, building on others’ ideas and expressing their own clearly and persuasively.

• come to discussions prepared, having read and researched material under study; explicitly draw on that preparation by referring to evidence from texts and other research on the topic or issue to stimulate a thoughtful, well-reasoned exchange of ideas.

• propel conversations by posing and responding to questions that probe reasoning and evidence; ensure a hearing for a full range of positions on a topic or issue; clarify, verify, or challenge ideas and conclusions; and promote divergent and creative perspectives.

• respond thoughtfully to diverse perspectives; synthesize comments, claims, and evidence made on all sides of an issue; resolve contradictions when possible; and determine what additional information or research is required to deepen the investigation or complete the task.

• 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. 

• adapt speech to a variety of contexts and tasks, demonstrating a command of formal English when indicated or appropriate. (See grades 11–12 Language standards 1 and 3 for specific expectations).

Text/Materials

Core Texts:

• Listen/View various historic & influential speakers:

  • Brutus & Marc Antony (Julius Caesar)

  • William Faulkner: “Acceptance of the Nobel Peace Prize”

  • Martin Luther King speech options. 

  • Lou Gehrig: “Farewell to Baseball Address”

  • Thoreau and Thomas Paine

Standards