In this module, students explore the topic of Voices of the Holocaust. In Lesson 1 of Unit 1, students discover this topic by examining multiple artifacts and encountering the guiding questions of the module and the culminating performance task. As the unit continues, students read an informational text providing an overview of the Holocaust to build their background knowledge on the scope and gravity of the Holocaust. They will be introduced to their anchor text, Maus I, a graphic novel and closely read the first chapter to understand how dialogue and tone reveal aspects of characters. As students continue to read the text, they will track character, plot, and emerging themes. This work prepares students for the Mid-Unit 1 Assessment.

In the second half of Unit 1, students continue to read Maus I and track plot and emerging themes. This work prepares students for the end of unit assessment. At the end of Unit 1, students write a summary of the entire anchor text, Maus I, including a statement of a major theme developed throughout the text.

In Unit 2, students analyze a model literary analysis, an expository essay that compares and contrasts the structures and themes of a poem and a novel to prepare students to write their own literary analysis. Students then closely read a new poem, “Often a Minute” by Magdalena Klein, in order to write their own essay comparing the structure and theme of this poem to their anchor text, Maus I. Students spend two days planning their essay and two days drafting and revising their essay based on peer feedback. For their mid-unit assessment, students answer selected and constructed response questions to compare and contrast a new poem’s structure and theme with that of Maus I.

In the second half of Unit 2, students read excerpts from memoirs written by victims and survivors of the Holocaust to analyze development of theme and write summaries. They will also participate in mini lessons and practice verb conjugation, voice, and mood. This work prepares students for the end of unit assessment. At the end of Unit 2, students answer selected and constructed response questions about verb conjugation, voice, and mood.

In Unit 3, students read informational accounts of upstanders during the Holocaust in order to learn more about how and why many people took action against Hitler and the Nazis during the Holocaust. Students write reflections about how these individuals took action and what makes them upstanders. Students also participate in mini lessons on and practice with how to use punctuation such as commas, ellipses, and dashes. This work prepares students for their mid-unit assessment, in which they will be presented with a reflection paragraph and will answer selected and constructed response questions about the use of punctuation and verb voice and mood.

In the second half of Unit 3, students will create a graphic panel to present one of the summaries they wrote and will observe one another’s work in order to scaffold towards their performance task. Students will discuss common traits of upstanders that they saw across the texts they read and will analyze a model narrative of a fictional interview with an imaginary upstander in order to be able to write their own. Students will plan a narrative of their own by creating a profile of a fictional upstander, creating interview questions and answers, and planning an “explode the moment” with sensory details and figurative language to slow down the pacing of a key moment of the narrative. This will prepare students for their end of unit assessment, in which they will draft their narrative.

To prepare for their performance task, students will peer review one another’s narrative and provide feedback; they will then analyze a model performance task that includes a graphic panel to visually represent elements of the narrative and a reflection on the narrative and panel. Students will then plan their own panel and reflection, draft these elements, and prepare to present. For their performance task, students will present their graphic panel to an audience and will answer questions about their work in order to share their learning and honor the memory of those who lived, died, and took action during the Holocaust.

What was the Holocaust and how did it occur? Why do we remember it? How did victims and survivors respond, and how can we honor their voices? How did upstanders respond, and what can we learn from their voices? In this module, students learn about a terrible time period in history, remember the voices of victims, survivors, and upstanders, and at the same time, they develop their ability to determine and track themes, understand the development of characters, identify and track the development of central ideas, and write narratives to honor the memories of those who served as upstanders during the Holocaust.

In the beginning of Unit 1, students discover the topic by examining multiple artifacts and encountering the guiding questions of the module and the culminating performance task. Students read an informational text providing an overview of the Holocaust to build their background knowledge on the scope and gravity of the Holocaust. They are introduced to their anchor text, Maus I: A Survivor’s Tale: My Father Bleeds History, a graphic novel, and closely read the first chapter to understand how dialogue and tone reveal aspects of characters. As students continue to read the text, they track character, plot, and emerging themes. This work prepares students for the Mid-Unit 1 Assessment. In the second half of Unit 1, students continue to read Maus I and track plot and emerging themes. This work prepares students for the end of unit assessment. At the end of Unit 1, students write a summary of the entire anchor text, Maus I, including a statement of a major theme developed throughout the text.

In Unit 2, students analyze a model literary analysis, an expository essay that compares and contrasts the structures and themes of a poem and a novel. Students then closely read a new poem, “Often a Minute” by Magdalena Klein, in order to write their own essay comparing the structure and theme of this poem to their anchor text, Maus I. Students spend two days planning their essay and two days drafting and revising their essay based on peer feedback. For their mid-unit assessment, students are presented with a new poem and answer selected and constructed response questions to compare and contrast its structure and theme with that of Maus I. In the second half of Unit 2, students read excerpts from memoirs written by victims and survivors of the Holocaust and also participate in mini lessons and practice verb conjugation, voice, and mood. This work prepares students for the end of unit assessment. At the end of Unit 2, students answer selected and constructed response questions about verb conjugation, voice, and mood.

In Unit 3, students read informational accounts of upstanders during the Holocaust. Students write reflections about how these individuals took action. Students also participate in mini lessons and practice how to use punctuation such as commas, ellipses, and dashes. This work prepares students for their mid-unit assessment, in which they are presented with a reflection paragraph from an informational text and answer selected and constructed response questions about the use of punctuation and verb voice and mood. In the second half of Unit 3, students create a graphic panel as a representation of one of the summaries they wrote and observe one another’s work in order to scaffold towards their performance task. Students discuss common traits of upstanders that they saw across the texts they read and analyze a model narrative of a fictional interview with an imaginary upstander. Students plan a narrative of their own by creating a profile of a fictional upstander, creating interview questions and answers, and planning an “explode the moment” with sensory details and figurative language to slow down the pacing of a key moment of the narrative. This prepares students for their end of unit assessment, in which they draft their narrative.

To prepare for their performance task, students peer review one another’s narrative and provide feedback and then analyze a model performance task that includes a graphic panel to visually represent elements of the narrative and a reflection on the narrative and panel. Students then plan their own panel and reflection, draft these elements, and prepare to present. For their performance task, students present their graphic panel to an audience and answer questions about their work.

In this module, students explore the topic of Japanese American internment. As in previous modules, in Lesson 1 of Unit 1, students discover the topic by examining multiple artifacts. They are then introduced to the culminating performance task and the guiding questions of the module (What were the causes and impacts of Japanese American internment camps? What are the main lessons that can be learned from Japanese American internment? How can people effectively apply the lessons of internment to their own communities?). In the second lesson, students begin reading their anchor text, Farewell to Manzanar, a literary memoir that chronicles the experiences of Jeanne Wakatsuki Houston and her family before, during, and after the incarceration of Japanese Americans in internment camps by the US government during World War II. Throughout the unit, they track connections and distinctions among individuals, ideas, and events in the text and answer selected and constructed response questions about vocabulary and language to consider meaning in the text. This work prepares students for the Mid-Unit 1 Assessment. Additionally, students are introduced to the film adaptation of Farewell to Manzanar in Lesson 4, in which they watch the first of four segments of the film and begin to track the extent to which the film Farewell to Manzanar stays faithful to or departs from the text.

In the second half of the unit, students continue to read Farewell to Manzanar while tracking connections and distinctions in the text. Students also continue to watch the film adaptation of Farewell to Manzanar and analyze how the film stays faithful to and departs from the text. Students focus their analysis on how the film portrays significant ideas from the text, including the ways in which Jeanne and her family members are impacted by internment. This work helps to prepare students for the literary argument essay they will write in Unit 2. Students also review past experiences with collaborative discussions in earlier modules and engage in practice that targets relevant speaking and listening skills in advance of a collaborative discussion during the End of Unit 1 Assessment. During the assessment, students synthesize their learning in the unit by engaging in a QuickWrite before participating in a discussion centered on the following question: what were the causes and impacts of Japanese American internment camps?

In this unit, students continue to explore the topic of Japanese American internment and analyze how significant ideas from Farewell to Manzanar are conveyed in the film adaptation of the text. In the first half of the unit, students read part 2 of Farewell to Manzanar and continue to track connections and distinctions between individuals, ideas, and events in the text and answer selected and constructed response questions about connection and distinctions, point of view, vocabulary, and language to consider meaning in the text. For example, students consider how the authors use figurative language to make a connection between the narrator Jeanne Wakatsuki’s baton and her father to convey Jeanne’s anger toward her father. This work prepares students for the Mid-Unit 2 Assessment. Students also watch the third segment of the film adaptation of Farewell to Manzanar in Lesson 3 and continue to track the extent to which the film Farewell to Manzanar stays faithful to or departs from the text.

In the second half of Unit 2, students read the final chapters of Farewell to Manzanar while tracking connections and distinctions in the text and finish watching the film adaptation of Farewell to Manzanar. For the End of Unit 2 Assessment, students choose a significant idea from Farewell to Manzanar and write a literary argument essay to evaluate how effectively the film conveys this significant idea. In preparation for this assessment, students analyze a model essay that centers on how the film conveys the significant idea that Jeanne Wakatsuki’s youth impacts her understanding of events in the text. They will then plan and draft a practice essay with partners to evaluate how the film conveys the significant idea that Jeanne’s father feels deeply conflicted loyalties, both to Japan and to America. Finally, they will plan and draft their assessment over a series of scaffolded lessons.

In this unit, students focus on understanding key lessons from Japanese American internment. In the first half of the unit, students read a series of informational texts to understand the redress movement and the long-term impact and effects of Japanese American internment. From their reading of these texts, students generate enduring lessons from internment and then find evidence from the anchor text, Farewell to Manzanar, and other supplemental texts read in Unit 2 to deepen their understanding of these lessons. For example, students will use text-based evidence to identify the lesson that in times of terrible struggle, people can draw strength from their identities and communities. They also engage in collaborative discussions. This work prepares students for the Mid-Unit 3 Assessment, a text-based discussion on lessons from Japanese American internment and the redress movement.

In the second half of Unit 3, students explore modern activism and how lessons from Japanese American internment are being applied today. Students research and interview local community organizations to understand how their work connects to lessons from Japanese American internment. For example, students might explore how an organization that helps refugees embodies lessons from Japanese American internment. For the End of Unit 3 Assessment, students deliver presentations in triads on the community organizations they have selected. Students then prepare for the final performance task of the module: the Activist Assembly. During the Activist Assembly, students participate in focus groups with other triads of students and guests (family, friends, and community members) to uplift the work of the organizations they researched and to further consider how lessons from Japanese American internment can be applied today.

In Module 4, students learn about the internment of Japanese Americans during World War II. They study the experiences of survivors of internment, focusing most centrally on the experiences conveyed in the anchor text, Farewell to Manzanar. This memoir, told through the eyes of Jeanne Wakatsuki Houston, chronicles the experiences of her and her family at the Japanese American internment camp Manzanar. Through close examination of this text and of other supplemental texts that provide context about the impact of internment, students deepen their understanding of this dark time in history and of the lessons that can be learned from it.

In Unit 1, students are introduced to the anchor text. They analyze how the text makes connections among and distinctions between important individuals, ideas, or events, tracking these connections and distinctions in a note-catcher. They also begin to develop an anchor chart to highlight significant ideas that emerge from the text, including the ways in which Jeanne and her family members are impacted by internment. To further develop the background knowledge needed to interpret the events described in the text, students examine images and primary source documents that center on other Japanese American internment experiences. Also in Unit 1, students watch two segments of the Farewell to Manzanar film. They focus on key moments, noting the extent to which the film stays faithful to or departs from the text. Students also examine how significant ideas from the text are conveyed in the film. The assessments of the unit evaluate students’ abilities (a) to analyze the connections and distinctions made in a new chapter of the text and (b) to discuss the causes and impacts of Japanese American internment in a collaborative discussion.

In the first half of Unit 2, students finish reading the anchor text and watch the two final segments of the Farewell to Manzanar film. They continue analyzing connections and distinctions, identifying significant ideas, and evaluating the film’s depiction of events in the text. They also analyze the points of view of different individuals in the text. The Mid-Unit 2 Assessment challenges students to demonstrate these analytical skills with a new chapter of the text. In the second half of Unit 2, students revisit the Painted Essay® structure to analyze a model literary argument essay that addresses the following prompt: One significant idea in the text Farewell to Manzanar is that Jeanne’s youth impacts her understanding of events in the text. How effectively does the film Farewell to Manzanar convey this significant idea? Using a similar prompt about the significant idea that Papa feels conflicted loyalties to both the United States and Japan, students write collaborative argument essays that prepare them to produce their own independent argument essays during the end of unit assessment. These essays work with the same question but invite students to choose a different significant idea on which to focus.

In the first half of Unit 3, students engage with supplemental texts that help them better understand the impact and legacy of internment. First, students read about the efforts of some Japanese Americans to seek redress, or reparations, for their incarceration. Then, they read about the negative psychological effects of internment and about the protests of internment survivors against modern-day migrant detention centers. With these supplemental texts as well as the anchor text in mind, students develop a list of “lessons from internment”: enduring understandings that can be taken away from the study of Japanese American internment. For the Mid-Unit 3 Assessment, students collaboratively discuss these lessons from internment and how they are embodied by the redress movement. In the second half of Unit 3, students apply this learning to their own communities. They conduct research about and then interviews with activist organizations whose work embodies, in some way, these lessons of internment. Students present their findings during the End of Unit 3 Assessment.

For their performance task, students participate in small group discussions during the “Activist Assembly.” With classmates and members of the local community, students discuss the best ways to apply lessons from internment to their own communities, using evidence from their research of local organizations to support their ideas.

In this video, Andrew Hossack at the Tapestry Charter School in Buffalo, NY, involves his students in using close reading strategies of a complex text to determine the main idea and important details. In this lesson, his complex text is a newspaper article about the Seneca people. CCSS.ELA-Literacy.CCRA.R.10