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Home > INSTRUCTION > State Standards and Frameworks > English Language Arts > Unit_Overview

 Gr. 11 Unit: Exploring Independence

Essential Question:

Is independence better described as a goal or a journey?


Lesson Calendar

DAY 1 - SEED 1

DAY 2–3 - PLAN 1

DAY 4–6 - SEED 2

DAY 7–8 - SEED 3

DAY 9–11 - SEED 4

DAY 12–20 - PLAN 2

DAY 21–23 - SEED 5

DAY 24–25 - SEED 6

DAY 26–27 - SEED 7

DAY 28–30 - SEED 8

DAY 31–35 - PLAN 3

CCSS Standards for this Unit

Monitoring Templates

Download Seeds, Plans, and Resources (zip)

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UNIT OVERVIEW

7 Weeks - "Unit at a Glance" Organizer

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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.


TEXT MODELS FOR LESSONS AND LESSON SEEDS*

  1. "Who Understands Me but Me?" by Jimmy Santiago Baca
  2. "I Hear America Singing" by Walt Whitman
  3. "I, Too" by Langston Hughes
  4. "America" by Claude McKay*
  5. "Caged Bird," sung by Alicia Keyes*
  6. "Sympathy" by Paul Laurence Dunbar
  7. "Mother to Son" by Langston Hughes
  8. "Song of Myself" by Walt Whitman
  9. "To a Daughter Leaving Home" by Linda Pastan*
  10. "Bad Day" by Kay Ryan*
  11. "Marcus Millsap: School Day Afternoon" by Dave Etter*
  12. "Independence" by A.A. Milne*
  13. "Roselily" by Alice Walker
  14. Speech to the Virginia Convention by Patrick Henry
  15. The Declaration of Independence
  16. Excerpts from the following two texts: Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass; "Declaration of Sentiments and Resolutions, Seneca Falls Convention, 1848"; the following two letters: Abigail Adams' "Letter to John Adams" and Phyllis Wheatley's "Letter to the Reverend Samson Occom"
  17. Selected film clips exploring different facets of or perspectives on the topic and essential question of the unit, e.g., clips from Brother Bear, The Lion King, Ghandi, The Patriot, The Milagro Beanfield War, Breaking Away, Little Women, Whale Rider, Rabbit Proof Fence, The Devil Wears Prada, etc.
  18. "Freedom XIV" by Khalil Gibran

Notes

*IMPORTANT NOTE: Consider the need for Accessible Instructional Materials (AIM) and/or for captioned/described video when selecting texts, novels, video and/or other media for this unit. See "Sources for Accessible Media" for suggestions. See Maryland Learning Links: http://marylandlearninglinks.org..


STUDENT OUTCOMES

Students will

  1. study the word independence by examining its denotation, connotation, etymology, structure, and relationship to other, related words (e.g., freedom, liberty, etc.)
  2. write a working definition of the word independence and use that definition to compose an initial response to the unit's essential question; revise that definition and response to the essential question throughout the unit
  3. participate productively and effectively in small- and large-group discussions
  4. establish and populate a writing portfolio throughout the unit
  5. analyze the central ideas, theme(s), rhetorical devices, and argument in "Who Understands Me but Me?"
  6. select, read, and analyze the style, structure, and theme of several poems from a list of suggested poems related to independence
  7. select and apply a specific strategy (e.g., TP-CASTT, SOAPStone, etc.) to analyze poetry and record evidence from their analysis
  8. compare and contrast the styles and themes of two or more poems
  9. write routinely by responding to text-dependent questions, paraphrasing, revising their definitions and responses to the essential question
  10. write more extended pieces, e.g., an informative analysis essay of a poem, a summary of short story, an argument
  11. select and apply a specific strategy for analyzing the structure, style, and themes of "Roselily," a short story by Alice Walker
  12. conduct a close analytic reading of "Patrick Henry's "Speech to the Virginia Convention"
  13. select and apply a specific strategy for analyzing the structure, style, theme, and rhetorical appeals and devices of the speech
  14. conduct a close analytic reading to analyze the content, structure, language, and style of The Declaration of Independence
  15. write an informative/explanatory piece explaining the appeal of "The Declaration of Independence"

Interdisciplinary Connections

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  Last Updated 3/17/2020 11:58 AM