GRADES 9-12

• Teacher-driven focus and discussion
• Study of texts in isolation
• Worksheets and questions (one right answer)
• Passive learning
• Grading and isolated skills
• Artificial and isolated writing assignments

• Types of reading (news articles, non-fiction, poetry)
• Choice
• Student focus
• Move to independence
• Modeling
• Inquiry
• Cultures of thinking
• Active learning 
• Conferencing
• Authentic writing as a response to reading

GRADES 7

Unit 1:  September-October

Reading*

• Craft Study Implicit/Explicit Claim

• Use independent choice reading to practice craft analysis skills 

Writing*

• Use mentor texts to practice writing narrative - writing multiple drafts over the unit
• Use revision strategies to draft and revise narratives
• Write reflective and personal responses to connect their lives to the mentor texts
• Annotate texts to identify and analyze narrative craft moves
• Study vocabulary relating to identity  
• Identify and analyze themes in narrative, poetry, and current event articles  
• Choose one drafted narrative to develop into a final, revised narrative 

Speaking/Listening*

• Participate in small/whole group and digital discussion – both literary analysis and thematic/ issue based  
• Participate in writing partnerships– asking for and offering feedback to peers 

Unit 2:  October-November

Reading*

• Look for small details and use them to make inferences
• Consider how contrasting details reveal things are more than one way
• Track how tension develops and shifts throughout the story
• Notice how dramatic irony affects the reader
• Track a symbol or motif and think though how it deepens the meaning
• Examine how setting impacts mood and character
• Use character archetypes  to understand character
• Examine how minor characters impact the development of other characters
• Notice elements of satire and what flaw its being used to expose and protest
• Examine how language choices impact the mood, tone and story’s meaning 

Writing*

• Establish and communicate interpretations of literature through arguments supported by textual evidence.
• Write complex claims
• Create multiple paragraph outlines
• Write literary analysis paragraphs
• Analyze author’s use of literary and stylistic elements and draw conclusions about the meaning of the work as a whole
• Examine language to understand that precise words and language patterns stir thoughts, emotions, and actions of a reader Interpret the relevant details and features of a work explaining their relationship to the meaning of the work as a whole  

Speaking/Listening*

• Participate in small/whole group and digital discussion – both literary analysis and theme based
• Work with writing partners to give and receive feedback 

Unit 3:  December-January

Reading*

• Participate in a book club  to gain independence as readers Develop and maintain a reading schedule Choose and track a reading focus using stickies or  notebook pages

• Use narrators and narrative modes to affect how the readers experience and interpret the text?
• Create dynamic change in characters?
• Use archetypal plot structures (hero’s journey) or diverge from archetypal plot structures?
• Manipulate the structure of a text to impact conflict and character development?
• Use minor/mentor characters to impact the protagonist?
• Are they advancing, stalling, or shifting the plot?
• Create moments of pivotal psychological or moral development within characters leading to an epiphany?
• Create characters to reinforce and challenge stereotypes?
• Use setting to impact the character’s choices, motivation, and identity?
• Use symbol/motif to reveal a story’s theme? 

Writing*

• Write literary analysis paragraphs
• Write a thematic essay centered around an original claim using effective organization, evidence, analysis, and innovative strategies to engage the audience

Speaking/Listening*

• Learn how to be a collaborative and supportive member of small group literary discussion
• Problem solve when issues with group collaboration arise 

Unit 4:  February-March

Reading*

• Read and comprehend narrative and nonfiction pieces
• Practice annotation strategies to identify key elements of argument
• Identify and analyze rhetorical moves (ethos, pathos, logos, contrast, repetition, parallel structure, and claim)
• Identify and articulate author’s claim (both explicit and implicit)
• Explain how multiple texts convey different perspectives on a common topic
• Evaluate the strength of evidence
• Analyze the impacts of the author’s selected structural strategies
• Identify an author’s purpose, intended audience, and select strategies used to accomplish that purpose 

Writing*

• Take a stance on topics discussed in texts and explore their positions in writing and/or discussion
• Craft an original argument/claim
• Use mentor texts to inspire writing  
• Use author’s craft moves and rhetorical strategies to write a personal essay
• Engage in revision, editing, and publishing a personal essay
• Explore a variety of ways to research and include research in their writing  

Speaking/Listening*

• Weekly whole group “AOW” discussion
• Digital reflection on “harkness” style AOW discussion
• Work with writing partners to give and receive feedback

Unit 5:  March-April

Reading*

• Craft study

Writing*

• Synthesis

Unit 6:  March-April

Reading*

Writing*

Implementation

• Continue professional learning with in-district, local, and national partnerships.
• Review qualitative and quantitative data and adjust.
• Support implementation through professional learning, job-embedded coaching, classroom visits and district-wide collaboration.
• Implement new curriculum as recommended by the curriculum review and seek School Board approval. GRADES 9-12 ARE CURRENTLY HERE.