Unit+1+-+Independent+Reading

**This unit encompasses the first three weeks of school. In this unit, we will practice outside reading and show our understanding of material through comprehension questions, vocabulary, and discussion.**

** Let's get started! **

__**Skills to be covered in this unit:**__ - Making inferences - Understanding plot structure - Establish independent reading habits - Reflective writing

**Week 1:** **Routines for work in class:** Monday - Establish routines and class expectations. Tuesday - Establish routines and class expectations. Wednesday/Thursday - Read "The Teacher Who Changed My Life" by Nicholas Gage independently. Study recall and characterization. Exit ticket - answer this question: Why does Gage think Miss Hurd is such a great teacher? Friday - **Supplies due**; "The Teacher Who Changed My Life" vocabulary work.

**Week 2: ** **Routines for work in class: ** Monday: Turn in any homework assignments. In your groups, read "Shame" by Dick Gregory and help each other answer comprehension questions. <span style="color: #0000ff; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif; font-size: 120%;">Tuesday: Complete the "Structure and Technique" questions in your group. Use a T-chart to present your ideas. <span style="color: #0000ff; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif; font-size: 120%;">Wednesday/Thursday: Dialectical journal minilesson. Complete the dialectical journal for "Shame." <span style="color: #0000ff; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif; font-size: 120%;">Friday: Using Discussion tab on the left, answer the discussion question below that matches your group number. Group 1 answers question 1, and so on. You must answer the question as a group, then go to another groups question and respond to their answer. Work together.

<span style="color: #0000ff; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif; font-size: 120%;">__Comprehension questions__: <span style="color: #0000ff; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif; font-size: 120%;">1. What is meant by the word "pregnant"? <span style="color: #0000ff; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif; font-size: 120%;">2. What would be a great alternative title for this selection? <span style="color: #0000ff; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif; font-size: 120%;">3. Why does Richard have trouble concentrating in school? <span style="color: #0000ff; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif; font-size: 120%;">4. Why did the teacher dislike Richard? <span style="color: #0000ff; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif; font-size: 120%;">5. What does Gregory imply about his youth?

<span style="color: #0000ff; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif; font-size: 120%;">__Structure and Technique__: <span style="color: #0000ff; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif; font-size: 120%;">1. What techniques did Gregory use to impress Helene Tucker? Why does he include this information in this essay? <span style="color: #0000ff; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif; font-size: 120%;">2. What metaphor does Gregory use in paragraph 5? What is its purpose? What metaphor does he use in paragraph 7? Why? <span style="color: #0000ff; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif; font-size: 120%;">3. In narrating the incident that happened in the classroom, Gregory chooses to use dialogue. Why?

<span style="color: #0000ff; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif; font-size: 120%;">__Discussion questions__: <span style="color: #0000ff; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif; font-size: 120%;">1. When Gregory writes, "I never learned hate at home, or shame. I had to go to school for that" (paragraph 1), he is using irony - an inconsistency between what is expected and what actually occurs. What does he mean by these two statements? What is the effect of his irony? <span style="color: #0000ff; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif; font-size: 120%;">2. What are Gregory's feelings about his teacher? What were your feelings about her as you read this essay? What could the teacher have done or said that would not have made Gregory feels ashamed? <span style="color: #0000ff; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif; font-size: 120%;">3. Gregory shows how a childhood incident taught him shame. What other important lessons does Gregory learn in this essay? Explain. <span style="color: #0000ff; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif; font-size: 120%;">4. What are some reasons people do not always help others who are in need (for example, ignoring a homeless person seated on the sidewalk)?

<span style="color: #0000ff; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif; font-size: 120%;">**Routines for work at home:** <span style="color: #0000ff; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif; font-size: 120%;">Finish any assignments that were not completed in class and return them the next day.

<span style="color: #0000ff; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif; font-size: 120%;">**Week 3:** <span style="color: #0000ff; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif; font-size: 120%;">**Routines for work in class:** <span style="color: #0000ff; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif; font-size: 120%;">Monday - Labor Day <span style="color: #0000ff; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif; font-size: 120%;">Tuesday - review the tasks. Read "If We Must Die" by Claude McKay. Begin brainstorming about the importance of facing responsibility. Think about how to relate the reading to your writing. Ba-da-bing minilesson. Begin writing personal narrative rough draft. <span style="color: #0000ff; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif; font-size: 120%;">Wednesday/Thursday - Complete rough draft and revise for errors. Add details and figurative language. Read your essay aloud to your study group. Polish your essay <span style="color: #0000ff; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif; font-size: 120%;">Friday - Write your final draft and reflect about the writing process on Today's Meet. Discuss what you learned about yourself and your writing.

<span style="color: #0000ff; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif; font-size: 120%;">**Routines for work at home:** <span style="color: #0000ff; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif; font-size: 120%;">At the end of each day, if there are any activities that were not completed, be sure to finish them before the next day.

<span style="color: #0000ff; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif; font-size: 120%;">**Rubric for Personal Narrative**: (4 = 100; 3 = 90; 2 = 75; 1 = 65)
 * || Idea development

// (Follow-through of thesis) // || ** Organization ** // (Clarity and movement) // || =Voice= // (Personality // // and Style) // || ** Sentence fluency ** Rhetorical devices (and conventions too) // (Zest/hauntability of mechanicals // ) || ** Huh? ** || *Not much connection to prompt (If the phone rang while you were reading the essay, you'd resent having to start over.) || *Too short to tell
 * Coherence **
 * Word choice **
 * 1
 * Unfocused
 * General || *Confusing
 * Not logical movement || *Little or no voice
 * Lots of misspellings
 * What punctuation? ||
 * 2

** Ok… ** || *Surface level ideas (If the phone rang while you were reading the essay, scanning back over it wouldn't hurt you.) || *Choppy but mostly correct**. ** || ** Ahh. ** || *Focused (If the phone rang while you were reading the essay, you would actually find it pleasant to glance back over it) || *Fluent sentences
 * Somewhat focused || *Abrupt shifts
 * Connections not always clear || *Moments where the voice shows through
 * 3
 * Mixes generalities and specifics || *Logical connections || *Sense of voice, but unsustained
 * Clear, precise vocabulary
 * 4
 * 4

** Wow. ** || *Thought-provoking (If the phone rang while you were reading the essay, you'd have to read aloud to the caller) || *Fluent use of every grammatical and rhetorical tool
 * Completely focused || *Practically invents a new form || *Depth
 * Sparkle