Gr. 11 Unit: Exploring Independence

This grade 11 unit titled "Exploring Independence" guides students in an exploration of the topic contained in the title. As emerging adults, many students in high school have taken on such responsibilities as driving and/or a part time job. Often, high school students think of the freedom that comes with holding a driver's license or earning their own money as proof of their independence. Through reading, writing, and research, students explore the many facets and implications of independence to arrive at an appreciation of their complexity.

In this unit, students encounter a range of sufficiently complex literary and literary nonfiction texts that challenge them to apply sophisticated analysis and writing skills. They begin the unit with an in-depth study of the word independence, considering its denotation, connotation, structure and etymology. They discuss nuances of word meaning by comparing independence to related words, such as freedom and liberty. They compose their own working definitions of independence as well as an initial response to the unit's essential question.

Students conduct close analytic readings of poetry, short fiction, and several works or excerpts of American literary nonfiction, including The Declaration of Independence. In addition, they view selected video clips that explore independence from a variety of perspectives. To facilitate and deepen their analysis, students apply selected analytical strategies, e.g., TP-CASTT, etc., to gather evidence about style, structure, tone, and theme. They compare and synthesize ideas across texts. They discuss and share their findings in small- and large-group settings.

Students write routinely throughout the unit by responding to text-dependant questions, paraphrasing and summarizing, and periodically revising their initial response to the unit's essential question. The culmination of the unit is an extended piece of writing, specifically an argument that makes a claim about whether independence is better described as a goal or a journey, the key point in the unit's essential question. In addition, students complete a short research project to marshal additional evidence for the argument they plan to make in their final essay. Students produce writing that is cohesive and establishes and maintains a formal style and objective tone while attending to the conventions of standard English.