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.

In this lesson, students are shown what an effective peer review session looks and sounds like. While observing it, students have a silent discussion online about what they notice. They then fill in a peer review goal setting worksheet.

A detailed account of how to improve one's writing through the process of the peer review. Includes basic information and content-specific additions, such as peer review guidelines, questions, and online resources.

Although this site is primarily designed for instructors at the post-secondary level, the information and suggestions given can also be used, with only minor changes, at the high school or middle school levels as well. Learn ways for non-language arts teachers to structure good writing assignments, how to use peer review effectively, and how to handle grading of various types of writing assignments. Grading rubrics are included.

The 11th grade learning experience consists of 7 mostly month-long units aligned to the Common Core State Standards, with available course material for teachers and students easily accessible online. Over the course of the year there is a steady progression in text complexity levels, sophistication of writing tasks, speaking and listening activities, and increased opportunities for independent and collaborative work. Rubrics and student models accompany many writing assignments.Throughout the 11th grade year, in addition to the Common Read texts that the whole class reads together, students each select an Independent Reading book and engage with peers in group Book Talks. Students move from learning the class rituals and routines and genre features of argument writing in Unit 11.1 to learning about narrative and informational genres in Unit 11.2: The American Short Story. Teacher resources provide additional materials to support each unit.

In this unit, students will take a look at the historical vision of the American Dream as put together by our Founding Fathers. They will be asked: How, if at all, has this dream changed? Is this dream your dream? First students will participate in an American Dream Convention, acting as a particular historical figure arguing for his or her vision of the American Dream, and then they will write an argument laying out and defending their personal view of what the American Dream should be.

ACCOMPLISHMENTS

Students read and annotate closely one of the documents that they feel expresses the American Dream.
Students participate in an American Dream Convention, acting as a particular historical figure arguing his or her vision of the American Dream.
Students write a paper, taking into consideration the different points of view in the documents read, answering the question “What is the American Dream now?”
Students write their own argument describing and defending their vision of what the American Dream should be.

GUIDING QUESTIONS

These questions are a guide to stimulate thinking, discussion, and writing on the themes and ideas in the unit. For complete and thoughtful answers and for meaningful discussions, students must use evidence based on careful reading of the texts.

What has been the historical vision of the American Dream?
What should the American Dream be? (What should we as individuals and as a nation aspire to?)
How would women, former slaves, and other disenfranchised groups living during the time these documents were written respond to them?

BENCHMARK ASSESSMENT: Cold Read

During this unit, on a day of your choosing, we recommend you administer a Cold Read to assess students’ reading comprehension. For this assessment, students read a text they have never seen before and then respond to multiple-choice and constructed-response questions. The assessment is not included in this course materials.

In this lesson, students will share their work with their classmates and celebrate their accomplishments.

In this lesson, students will meet with their writing group to edit their papers. They'll learn the protocols and routines for responding to classmates' writing, and they will make a plan for revising their paper.

In this lesson, students will take their group's feedback into account and revise their final paper.

In this unit, students will explore great works of American literature and consider how writers reflect the time period in which they write. They will write two literary analysis papers and also work in groups to research and develop anthologies of excellent American stories.

ACCOMPLISHMENTS

Students read and analyze stories from several 19th-, 20th-, and 21st-century American authors. After researching a time period, they select stories from that period to create an anthology. The readings enhance their understanding of the short story, increase their exposure to well-known American authors, and allow them to examine the influence of social, cultural, and political context.
Students examine elements of short stories and have an opportunity for close reading of several American short stories. During these close readings, they examine the ways that short story writers attempt to explore the greater truths of the American experience through their literature.

GUIDING QUESTIONS

These questions are a guide to stimulate thinking, discussion, and writing on the themes and ideas in the unit. For complete and thoughtful answers and for meaningful discussions, students must use evidence based on careful reading of the texts.

If you were to write a short story about this decade, what issues might you focus on?
What defines a short story? Just length?
To what extent do these stories reflect the era or decade in which they were written?
To what extent are the themes they address universal?

CLASSROOM FILMS

History.com has short videos on the Vietnam War (“Vietnam” and “A Soldier's Story”).

In this lesson, students will have time to continue working on their short essays with support from you and their peers.

Picture books provide the basis for an analysis of fairy tale elements before students write their own original tales.

Excellent lesson that teaches a new and more relevant way of conducting a peer review. Through the PQP (Praise-Question-Polish) process students gain a greater understanding of how to review others' work as well as improve their own writing style. Great site!

Bulleted guidelines for conducting a peer review on a draft. Emphasizes knowing the intent of the writer, controlling the content of the review, and maintaining a polite, helpful tone.