UNIT NAME:
UNIT DESCRIPTION

	Reading Closely for Textual Details:  “We reckoned now that we were at the Pole”
Click here for a link to download unit resources
Rather than simply ask students to read closely, this unit instructs them in a process for doing so.  The activities lay out a process for approaching, questioning and analyzing texts that helps readers focus on key textual characteristics and ideas. Just
as experts in any field access deep understanding by knowing what to look for in their particular fields, expert readers know the questions to ask of texts in order to guide them to deep meaning.  The framework of questioning presented in this unit takes the invisible process expert readers have internalized and makes it explicit – to support teachers and students as they develop proficiency in reading text closely.	
ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS AND BIG IDEAS	Big Ideas:
Close reading means attending to and analyzing textual details.
Questions can guide students to analyze texts more deeply.
Analyzing details and comparing texts leads to deeper understanding of meaning.
Explaining understanding through summarization evidences comprehension and learning.
Leading and participating in text-based discussions fosters connection building and comprehension/analysis of texts.	
MID Performance Task	Task 6, Day 7
Multiple Choice Schoolnet Assessment

Written Assessment:
You have viewed the video, Celebrating 100 years: Roald Amundsen's South Pole Expedition. Write a paragraph explaining why Roald Amundsen changed his mind about traveling to the North Pole and lead his expedition to the South Pole instead. Please sight evidence from the video. You may view the video again if needed. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kW5p7ANwAU4&feature=youtu.be
	
FINAL Performance Task	TASK 11 
Multiple Choice Schoolnet Assessment

Written Assessment:
Students write a multi-paragraph explanation, using textual evidence that explains:
A central idea of the text and how it is developed across it
What the central idea demonstrates about the author’s perspective on the topic
What they have come to understand about the topic from the text.
	
PERFORMANCE TASK	Students write an explanation essay about one of the texts, using textual evidence that explains:
●	A central idea of the text and how it is developed across it
●	What the central idea demonstrates about the author’s perspective on the topic
●	What they have come to understand about the topic from the text.	
CONTENT CONNECTIONS	Social Studies: Exploration and Explorers of the North and South Poles
Social Studies: Primary Sources for Journal
Text 1:  Robert Falcon Scott and Roald Amundsen (Photo Collages)
Text 2:  The Last Expedition, Ch. V by Robert Falcon Scott (Explorers Journal)
Text 3:  Roald Amundsen South Pole (video)
Text 4:  Scott’s Hut & The Explorer’s Heritage of Antarctica (website)
Text 5:  To Build a Fire by Jack London (Short Story)
Text 6:  The North Pole, Ch. XXI by Robert Peary (Historical Narrative)
Text 7:  The South Pole, Ch. XII by Roald Amundsen  (Historical Narrative)
Text 8:  Scott's Last Expedition, Ch. XVIII by Robert Falcon Scott (Explorer’s Journal)
Text 9:  Scott's Last Expedition, Ch. XX by Robert Falcon Scott (Explorer’s Journal)	
Intermediate/RFEP: materials to differentiate instruction for this common core unit.                     
Inside Level C: Unit 2 "Water for Life" (Natural Resources) 
The Secret Water (Chinese legend)
How do we use water? (Soc Studies Article)
Water at Work (Social Studies Article) 

Inside Level C: Unit 5: "Drive to Discover" (Discoveries) 
Main Idea/Details, Theme, Sequence, Compare important ideas, interview, research
Return to Titanic (History Article) 
Talking with Robert Ballard (Naval Explorer)
The Forgotten Treasure (Nigerian folk tale)
There is no Word for Goodbye (Native American Poem)
Mysteries of the Ancient Past (History Article)

Pre-Emergent/Emergent- Follow Inside Scope & Sequence:Level A Units 1-3
Basic- Follow Inside Scope & Sequence: Level C Unit 1

	
EXTENDED TEXTS		
SHORT CONNECTED TEXTS		
SEI CLassroom
Materials		
MULTIMEDIA	Roald Amundsen South Pole (Video)
Scott’s Hut & the Explorer’s Heritage of Antarctica (Website)
http://polarhusky.com/ (Virtual tour of the Artic.)

Rubrics

Vocabulary Word Slide Show Through Text 5 https://docs.google.com/a/students.susd12.org/presentation/d/1ahcCPxky0uCznFuiizQlIk0Top-Vy7gbTNQsiVK9Cts/edit#slide=id.p

LEARNING TASK 1 STANDARDS
ELP STANDARDS	
RI.7.1: Cite several pieces of textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly as
well as inferences drawn from the text. 
ELPs: IV-R-S4-HI-4: answering literal, inferential and personal response questions about text.
IV-S4-R-HI-14: drawing conclusions from information implied or inferred in a literary selection.
IV-S4-R-HI-28: interpreting information in functional documents (e.g. memos, directories, search engines, manuals, recipes, graphic organizers.)
IV-S4-R--HI-30: distinguishing fact from opinion and bias in persuasive text by providing supporting evidence.
IV-S3-R-HI-1: reading aloud passages from unfamiliar content area text, observing phrasing, punctuation and expression.

RI.7.2: Determine two or more central ideas in a text and analyze their development over the course
of the text; provide an objective summary of the text.

RI.7.4: Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, including figurative,
connotative, and technical meanings; analyze the impact of a specific word choice on meaning and
tone.
ELPs: IV-R-S4-HI-9 locating sequential/chronological order signal words (e.g. first, next, meanwhile,, not long ago) in text.
IV- R-S4- HI-10: locating signal words in text that indicate comparison/ contrast (e.g., similarly, on the other hand, however, yet, in spite of).
IV-R-S4-HI-11: locating signal words in text that indicate cause and effect (e.g. as a result of, consequently, since).
IV-R--S4-HI-21: applying understandings of content area vocabulary within math, science and social studies text.

KEY ACADEMIC VOCABULARY - “Close reading”; Excerpt; guiding questions

MATERIALS - Guiding Questions handout, text set table, reading closely checklist, text-centered discussion checklist; Vocabulary Word Slide Show Through Text 5 
Mirenda: Quiz about rules, procedures and expectations; Concept Map Graphic Organizers (1 per table per class)

SUGGESTED MINI LESSONS	
LEARNING TASK 1
INSTRUCTION:  2 DAYS (Day 1-2 of the unit.)	

Monday, August 11, 2014                                 MIRENDA	
Do Now: One option is a pretest:  Students will independently create a list of what close reading means to them. (Similar to the Anticipatory Set)
Holtzman - Mentor Sentence invitation to notice
Mirenda and Walker’s classes- quiz about procedures
Walker’s class:  Cornell notebook set-up procedure and expectations
TJ: Review procedures and CHAMPS with students [individual work and group work]	
Anticipatory Set: Think to yourself, “When you hear the phrase close reading, what do you think of? What do you remember about close reading from your 6th grade year?” On the  Concept Map Graphic Organizer (in the trapezoid section or teachers can make square sections), quietly write what you know about close reading.   Be ready to share your ideas with the group.  (Do not write in the center oval because we will use that for closure.) 

TJ: Complete team-building exercise about Desert Survival. (link) 	
Vocabulary and strategies
 Google Presentation of words and definition:  Students will keep a running list of text specific vocabulary words & their definitions inside their Reader’s Notebook. https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1ahcCPxky0uCznFuiizQlIk0Top-Vy7gbTNQsiVK9Cts/edit?usp=sharing

TJ:  Discuss Arctic hOcean and Antarctica using world map asking the students to activate prior knowledge about other names; North Pole and South Pole (if time). 

Close reading”; Excerpt; guiding questions
Activity 1
Introduce the central purpose of the unit – to develop the skills and habits of a close reader:
1) Initially approaching and surveying a text
2) Using questions to examine the text’s topic, information, and structure
3) Questioning further to investigate the text
4) Analyzing key details and language to deepen understanding
5) Explaining what one has come to understand as a reader
INTRODUCTORY ANALOGY
To introduce the unit and establish a link between questioning, close examination, and deepening
understanding, you might use an analogy from another field that requires careful study and analysis.
For example:
• Compare the process of “close reading” to the analytical processes used by other experts, such as
musicians, scientists, or detectives;
• Present a Crime Scene video that demonstrates how a detective asks herself questions when first
approaching a crime scene.
TJ: show a video of World Health Organization and the ebola virus in Guinea to focus on the scientist analogy. 
Use any of these analogies to illustrate how experts in various fields are able to analyze and understand
artistic works, phenomena, places, events or situations because their training focuses them on details
that the uninitiated do not typically notice. This training often involves a set of guiding questions that
experts ask themselves to direct their attention to key elements of their elds of study.
A musician might ask herself, “How do the sounds of the various instruments work together?” A crime
scene investigator might ask, “What evidence suggests how the perpetrator came and went from the
scene?” These more general questions lead the experts to then ask specific questions directly related to
the object of investigation. For example, the general question concerning the perpetrator’s coming and
going might lead the investigator to notice a set of muddy footprints. She then might ask, “What are
the size and type of the shoes that left these muddy footprints?” Experts ask these questions so that
they clearly understand what they are studying and can clearly communicate their understanding to
others.
LINK THE ANALOGY TO QUESTIONING SKILLS
• Using the introductory analogy as a reference point, explain that effective readers also use guiding
questions to help them look for evidence in texts.
• Introduce the Guiding Questions (GQ) Handout, orienting students to both the structure of the
document and the questions in each row, and explaining that these are a general set of guiding
questions that can direct their attention to key evidence in texts as they read.
PREVIEW THE TEXTS AND CHECKLISTS
• Show students the Text Set Table (page 8) indicating that there are connections among the texts but do not
stipulate what those connections are.
• Let them know they will be reading and studying those texts with increasing independence, and will
be expected to lead a group discussion about one of the final three texts.
• Introduce the Reading Closely Checklist and the Text-Centered Discussions (TCD) Checklist.

Closure: Think to yourself, “What did you learn about close reading?”  Refer back to the Concept Map Graphic Organizer to see what information should be added, revised, or deleted.  As a team, determine one unanimous definition of close reading and write it in the center oval. Be sure that your names and period numbers are on your Concept Map graphic organizer.	
Homework:

Mirenda’s class will decorate their front and back  covers of their Reader’s Notebooks (Composition Book) with pictures that show their  favorite items.  Students can print pictures, cut them out of magazines or newspapers, or draw them by hand.  For example,  my cover would include pictures of: my family, scrapbook albums, Boy Scouts, Australia, my pets, Twix, Mountain Dew and teaching. In addition to the pictures, the FRONT cover must include the student’s first and last name and period number.
Walker’s class will prepare their Cornell Reader’s Notebook 20 pages in advance	

___________________________________________________________________________________________________

Tuesday, August 12, 2014                                   WALKER 	
Do Now:  
Holtzman - Mentor Sentence invitation to notice
TJ: Explain yesterday’s survival activity.  The Sonoran Desert is a harsh place for survival; what other places in the world would also be harsh places to survive the elements?
Review finding details in photographs.	
Anticipatory Set:  Please respond to the following question:  trekking through the wilderness to reach the south pole or the north pole presents many challenges to the explorer for his/her survival do to the harsh environment and scarcity of resources.  Although the weather conditions are extremely different for travellers crossing the Sonoran desert on foot what obstacles do the different travellers share in common?  And, what challenges and/or obstacles would be unique to each environment?  Please write a complete and thoughtful response. 	
Vocabulary and strategies
 Google Presentation of words and definition: Students will keep a running list of text specific vocabulary words & their definitions inside their Reader’s Notebook. https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1ahcCPxky0uCznFuiizQlIk0Top-Vy7gbTNQsiVK9Cts/edit?usp=sharing

Activity 2: Looking closely for details

Students are oriented to the idea of attending to details through examining images:
The first close reading experience presents students with two photo sets, made up of images
from the expeditions of: 1) Roald Amundsen, the Norwegian explorer who reached the South Pole
first on December 14, 1911; and 2) Robert Falcon Scott, the British explorer who reached the Pole
later in January, 1912, and who ultimately perished on his way back. The collages are centered
around portraits of Amundsen and Scott, with photos of their expeditions surrounding their
weathered faces. Students will be reading texts from each of these explorers. However, introduce
the photo collages with minimal contextual information.

EXAMINE IMAGES IN SMALL GROUPS
TJ and Mirenda: Gallery walk with the images
• Students examine the image(s) in small groups and answer the question “What stands out to me as I examine this image?” 
• In their groups, students find several details that stand out to them, with one group member serving as a recorder of all their details.
• Groups may consult the GQ Handout for further questions to help them focus on details.
• Groups discuss what the details suggest to them and identify any new questions they have after examining and discussing the details.

Guiding Question(s):
1- What is this text (photo collage) mainly about? 2- What stands out to me as I first examine this text?
Text-specific Question(s): 1- What do I notice about each of the explorers' faces? What sort of men do they appear to be? 2- What do the details of the photos suggest about the place that the men explored? Why are there flags
in the photos? 4- What do I think might have happened to the explorers and their expeditions?
NOTE: Throughout the unit Model text-specific questions associated with Guiding Questions have been provided in the material. These questions are included to illustrate the process and possibilities; teachers are encouraged to develop their own text-specific questions based on their own analysis.

CLASS DISCUSSION & SUMMARIZING ACTIVITY
• Lead a discussion on what the groups noticed about the images and the questions they had • Discuss how these questions are “text-specific”– questions that: - Emerge from looking closely at the image - Prompt them to look for more details -  Lead to a greater understanding of the image. • Students list three details they think are “key”
for them in understanding something that is going on in one of the images. Students write a caption that summarizes what they think the image is about and share and compare their captions/titles, noting the details that have led to what they have written. At this stage, definitive answers do not need to be established for questions students pose. The purpose of the exercise is for students to get a sense of how close examination of texts leads to questions which in turn lead to further examination of textual detail, and an ability to communicate
meaning to others. 

 Supplement:  Explore a virtual tour of the Artic  http://polarhusky.com/

Closure:  Having watched the virtual tour of the Artic, have students reconsider the anticipatory set question: 
As a table (or group) reach a consensus as to the question--be prepared to share--trekking through the wilderness to reach the south pole or the north pole presents many challenges to the explorer for his/her survival do to the harsh environment and scarcity of resources.  Although the weather conditions are extremely different for travellers crossing the Sonoran desert on foot what obstacles do the different travellers share in common?  And, what challenges and/or obstacles would be unique to each environment.  Each group needs to reach a consensus. 	
Homework:  Analogy worksheet
 http://www.englishforeveryone.org/PDFs/Sentence_Analogies_1.pdf 	

LEARNING TASK 2 STANDARDS
ELP STANDARDS	
RI.7.1: Cite several pieces of textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly as
well as inferences drawn from the text. 
ELPs: IV-R-S4-HI-4: answering literal, inferential and personal response questions about text.
IV-S4-R-HI-14: drawing conclusions from information implied or inferred in a literary selection.
IV-S4-R-HI-28: interpreting information in functional documents (e.g. memos, directories, search engines, manuals, recipes, graphic organizers.)
IV-S4-R--HI-30: distinguishing fact from opinion and bias in persuasive text by providing supporting evidence.
IV-S3-R-HI-1: reading aloud passages from unfamiliar content area text, observing phrasing, punctuation and expression.

RI.7.2: Determine two or more central ideas in a text and analyze their development over the course
of the text; provide an objective summary of the text.

RI.7.4: Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, including figurative,
connotative, and technical meanings; analyze the impact of a specific word choice on meaning and
tone.
ELPs: IV-R-S4-HI-9 locating sequential/chronological order signal words (e.g. first, next, meanwhile,, not long ago) in text.
IV- R-S4- HI-10: locating signal words in text that indicate comparison/ contrast (e.g., similarly, on the other hand, however, yet, in spite of).
IV-R-S4-HI-11: locating signal words in text that indicate cause and effect (e.g. as a result of, consequently, since).
IV-R--S4-HI-21: applying understandings of content area vocabulary within math, science and social studies text.

Key Academic Vocabulary: images, paraphrase
Materials: Text 2 - excerpt from “Last Expedition” (pages 4-5), GQ handout, Text 3 - Amundsen video, Reading closely checklist; Vocabulary Slide Show through Text 5
Suggested mini-lessons: paraphrasing

LEARNING TASK 2
INSTRUCTION: 2 DAYS (Day 3-4 of the unit.)	

Wednesday, August 13, 2014             CORTEZ	
Do Now:  Take out your Concept Map graphic organizer.  Look over your map and add any new information that you have discovered from the last two days.  
Holtzman - Mentor Sentence revision of sentence

Mirenda-Students will draw  pictures on their whiteboards that are associate with the definitions related to Close Reading. The class will share the pictures and decide which picture should be drawn on the class Anchor Chart.  	
Anticipatory Set:  Teacher will select a short passage from a text and project it on the whiteboard. Teacher will introduce the concept of a “ paraphrase,” and model paraphrasing a sentence from the passage. Students’ will practice paraphrasing by reading the following passage, and paraphrase it. Teacher will do a quick assessment by circulating the room.

Mirenda-Students will paraphrase what Close Reading is by using the pictures developed during Do Now. Inform students that, as we read through the text today, be ready to paraphrase the text. 	
Vocabulary and strategies
 Google Presentation of words and definition: Students will keep a running list of text specific vocabulary words & their definitions inside their Reader’s Notebook.  https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1ahcCPxky0uCznFuiizQlIk0Top-Vy7gbTNQsiVK9Cts/edit?usp=sharing 
Materials:  Text 2- excerpt from “Last Expedition” (pages 4-5), GQ handout, Text 3- Amundsen video, Reading closely checklist; Vocabulary Slide Show through Text 5
Paraphrasing graphic organizer (Will email to all ELA teachers)

Mirenda-complete an Anchor Chart about Close Reading. 
Activity 3:  Reading closely for details

Students use guiding questions to look closely for details in a text.
TJ: I used this copy of Text 2 so students could practice paraphrasing.
Text #2 is an excerpt from early in R. F. Scott's "Last Expedition," his journal documenting the 1911
exploration of the South Pole. It allows for introduction of the narrative journal form used in many
of the unit's texts, and sets up a comparison with later Scott entries. In this excerpt, Scott's
"Impressions" read almost like images in a prose poem, and allow for close attention to details,
words, and phrases.
READ TEXT #2 ALOUD
• Direct students to the questions listed under “Topic, Information, and Ideas” in the
Questioning Texts row of the GQ Handout.
• As you read the passage aloud, students think about the question:
“What information or ideas does this text present?”
• Ask students to record/share their responses to the question, making sure that students refer
to the text to support their responses.
INDEPENDENT READING
• Before students re-read the passage independently, direct students to the questions listed
under “Language” in the Questioning Texts row of the GQ Handout.
• Students think about the question:
“What words or phrases stand out to me as I read?”
• While reading independently, students mark details they notice (electronically or with a
pencil/highlighter).
Guiding Question(s):
1- What words or phrases are powerful or unique? 2- What do the author's words cause me to
see or feel? Text-specific Question(s): 1- What "impressions" do I get from one of Scott's short phrases? What other phrase offers a contrasting impression?
2- How does Scott depict the "blizzard" and the "crevasse" mentioned in line 25. How does this set of images contrast with the depiction of the "vast silence" and "marching column" in the final lines?
CLASS REVIEW & PARAPHRASING
• As a class, students: Compare the details they have noticed and marked. Discuss what the details suggest to them. Identify any new questions they have after examining and discussing the details. • Introduce the concept of a “paraphrase,” and model paraphrasing a sentence from the passage. • Individually, students draft a paraphrase of one of the details that stood out to them.

Mirenda’s differentiation for Period 2 and 3: Partners are assigned 2 lines from Text 2 and they will illustrate them.  

Mirenda & Walker: Brief PowerPoint about annotating the text. Students will write Cornell Notes. Afterwards, students will create simple drawings to remind them about annotating.  The drawings will be used for a class Anchor Chart.  Then we will annotate Text 2 “The Last Expedition.”
Closure:  Teacher will write on the board any new questions, ideas, or concerns they have after examining the details. 
Teacher will collect all student work.	
Homework:  Paraphrase assignment.

In addition to finishing the paraphrase assignment, Mirenda’s Period 2-3 class will continue their illustrations of Text 2.	

Thursday, August 14, 2014                             TJ	
Do Now: Review paraphrasing.  Have a definition and a few examples ready after the students discuss it with partners or as a group.
Holtzman - Mentor Sentence rewrite	
Anticipatory Set:  Show video news story about the 2013 Walking with the Wounded race teams and their quest to reach the South Pole.  Have the students record what stood out to them and paraphrase what they saw in the clip.   	
Vocabulary and strategies
 Google Presentation of words and definition: https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1ahcCPxky0uCznFuiizQlIk0Top-Vy7gbTNQsiVK9Cts/edit?usp=sharing

Activity 4:  Attending to details in Multi-media
Students use guiding questions to look closely for details in a multi-media text and write a few sentences
explaining something they have learned.
The multi-media text [#3] is a 10 minute video that presents an historical narrative about Amundsen's 1911 exploration of Antarctica, and also provides background information about the races to reach the North and South Poles first. In format, the video uses a combination of photographs, maps, visual images, text, sound effects, and narration to tell its story, and thus challenges students to simultaneously view, read, and listen for important details. 
VIEW THE VIDEO
• Students view the video with no additional context provided, other than what they bring from studying the previous texts. • Students think about a guiding question (i.e. “What information or ideas does this text present?”) as they watch the video.
CLASS DISCUSSION AND RE-VIEW OF VIDEO
• Before re-viewing the video, briefly discuss students’ initial observations. • Use some of students’ observations to craft a specific question about the video to guide the re-view. Alternatively, additional guiding questions can be used. • Students record key details in a two-column notes format. Note details sequentially in the first column of their notes, then highlight details they see as important, and explain (in the second column) why they see those selected details as important.
Guiding Question(s):
1- How is the text (video)organized? 2- What do I learn about the topic as I read (view)? Text-specific Question(s):
1- What details from the video suggest how difficult it was to survive the journey to the Pole? 2- Why does Amundsen say "it was like being a boy again" to reach the Pole first? 3- At the end of the video, what does Amundsen suggest when he says, "Victory awaits him, who has everything in order. Luck we call it."?
SMALL GROUPS WRITE ABOUT THE VIDEO
TJ: Pocket chart Sentence Strips to record sentences
• Student small groups discuss the details they have selected, and their thinking about the importance of those details in helping them understand the video. • Students share their notes and collaboratively write a few sentences explaining something they have learned from the video, referring to key details that have led to their
understanding. • Volunteers from each group read their sentences to the class. • As a class compare what the groups saw, including how clearly and accurately they are able to communicate their understanding • Reflect on the “close reading” experience of watching a video, using the Reading Closely Checklist to guide the reflective discussion. This reflective discussion is an opportunity for students to self-assess their ability to read
closely and identify areas where they can improve as a reader over the course of this unit.

Closure:  Display these three quotes:
1.  “Don’t run from your weakness, you will only give it strength.” ― Stephen Richards
2.  “Persistence can change failure into extraordinary achievement.”– Matt Biondi
3.  "Although the world is full of suffering, it is full also of the overcoming of it." — Helen Keller
Ask the students which quotes goes best with Amundsen's 1911 exploration of Antarctica video.  If there is time, ask which quote goes best with the Walking the the Wounded race news story and have them compare the two in a class Venn diagram or other comparison graphic organizer. 	
Homework:  Finish in class assignments	

	

LEARNING TASK 3 STANDARDS
ELP STANDARDS	
RI.7.1: Cite several pieces of textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly as
well as inferences drawn from the text. 
ELPs: IV-R-S4-HI-4: answering literal, inferential and personal response questions about text.
IV-S4-R-HI-14: drawing conclusions from information implied or inferred in a literary selection.
IV-S4-R-HI-28: interpreting information in functional documents (e.g. memos, directories, search engines, manuals, recipes, graphic organizers.)
IV-S4-R--HI-30: distinguishing fact from opinion and bias in persuasive text by providing supporting evidence.
IV-S3-R-HI-1: reading aloud passages from unfamiliar content area text, observing phrasing, punctuation and expression.

RI.7.2: Determine two or more central ideas in a text and analyze their development over the course
of the text; provide an objective summary of the text.

RI.7.4: Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, including figurative,
connotative, and technical meanings; analyze the impact of a specific word choice on meaning and
tone.
ELPs: IV-R-S4-HI-9 locating sequential/chronological order signal words (e.g. first, next, meanwhile,, not long ago) in text.
IV- R-S4- HI-10: locating signal words in text that indicate comparison/ contrast (e.g., similarly, on the other hand, however, yet, in spite of).
IV-R-S4-HI-11: locating signal words in text that indicate cause and effect (e.g. as a result of, consequently, since).
IV-R--S4-HI-21: applying understandings of content area vocabulary within math, science and social studies text.

KEY ACADEMIC VOCABULARY  -  Topic; Text structure; Analogy; Text Evidence; Summarizes; Caption; Prose poem; Paraphrase; Unique; Impression; Depiction
 
MATERIALS - UNESCO’s World Wonders Project, Vocabulary Slideshow through Text 5,
http://www.coolantarctica.com/Antarctica%20fact%20file/History/The_heroic_age_of_Antarctic_exploration.htm
Holtzman-Mentor Sentence Quiz
Chromebooks (CB), Notebook 
Guiding Questions Document
Reading Closely Checklist

SUGGESTED MINI LESSONS
Prepositions (location words) and descriptive words
Cornell Notes
Research
	
LEARNING TASK 3
INSTRUCTION:  1 DAY (Day 5 of the unit.)	

Friday, August 15, 2014                     HOLTZMAN	
Do Now:
Holtzman - Mentor Sentence Quiz	
Anticipatory Set:  What do we do if we want to know more information about the topic discussed in a text? Answer: We do research.  One of the advantages students have at Apollo is using their new Chromebooks for real-time research.  For example, taking a virtual tour of the environment Amundsen and Scott explored more than 100 years ago through the UNESCO World Wonders Project.  	
Vocabulary and strategies
 Google Presentation of words and definition https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1ahcCPxky0uCznFuiizQlIk0Top-Vy7gbTNQsiVK9Cts/edit?usp=sharing

Activity 5:  Independent Reading/Research

Students use guiding questions to independently explore a multi-media website.
This activity is an optional extension of Part 1 where students can enrich their skills of looking for details
with web-based text. It is recommended for students who have access to a computer either as an
individual or in groups. Accessing an informational site can not only help students apply close reading
skills in the context of Internet research, but also enrich their understanding of the topic and other texts
they will encounter in the unit. Students might be expected to develop deeper understanding of a part
of the website through close reading and viewing, and to bring details and information they have
found back to a small group discussion.
Textual Notes
The recommended website [Text #4] is the UNESCO World Wonders Project's "Scott's Hut and the Explorers' Heritage of Antarctica," which includes both historical and contemporary information. Students can do a virtual 360 degree exploration of the areas around and inside the hut (noting key details). They can also search for related information, photographs, videos (including the Amundsen video), and 3D models using links found on the website. There are also many other good websites devoted to the Arctic environment and exploration(see text list).
Secondary website (extension text)
http://www.coolantarctica.com/Antarctica%20fact%20file/History/The_heroic_age_of_Antarctic_exploration.htm
Teacher’s choice- Cornell notes vs. Venn diagram to answer guiding questions.  
Guiding Question(s):
1- How is the website organized? 2- What do I learn about the topic as I read (explore the website)?
Text-specific Question(s): 1- What details do I notice in the landscape surrounding Scott's hut? How might the area be different in the midst of the endless Arctic night or an intense blizzard? 2- What was Scott's name for the hut - and what does that suggest? Where was/is it located? 3- What equipment and supplies were left in the hut by the explorers, and how might they have been used?
Assessment Opportunities
Students’ captions and paraphrases for Texts #1 & 2 can be reviewed to see if they are able to generalize from details, and might provide a pre-assessment of skills before students read and analyze more challenging passages in Parts 2-5. These short, informal writing samples should also be reviewed for evidence that students are able to clearly explain their thinking about the texts they are reading. The reflective conversation using the Reading Closely Checklist is an opportunity for students to self-assess. Student conversations in small groups, particularly in relation to Text #3 (the video), also can provide rich initial evidence of their emerging thinking, and of the skills related to Text-Centered Discussions that they bring into the unit, since they will be demonstrating those discussion skills in Part 5.

Closure:   After comparing the images of the Scott encampment on Antarctica, think of 2 facts you can share with the class, 1 question you still have related to this environment.  Place this information on the Padlet board (use 2 different colored fonts).   http://padlet.com   Instructions on use of Padlet to be provided prior to end of week if needed.  	
Homework:  Completion of any in-class assignments.  	

LEARNING TASK 4  STANDARDS
ELP STANDARDS	
RI.7.1: Cite several pieces of textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly as
well as inferences drawn from the text. 
ELPs: IV-R-S4-HI-4: answering literal, inferential and personal response questions about text.
IV-S4-R-HI-14: drawing conclusions from information implied or inferred in a literary selection.
IV-S4-R-HI-28: interpreting information in functional documents (e.g. memos, directories, search engines, manuals, recipes, graphic organizers.)
IV-S4-R--HI-30: distinguishing fact from opinion and bias in persuasive text by providing supporting evidence.
IV-S3-R-HI-1: reading aloud passages from unfamiliar content area text, observing phrasing, punctuation and expression.

RI.7.2: Determine two or more central ideas in a text and analyze their development over the course
of the text; provide an objective summary of the text.

RI.7.4: Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, including figurative,
connotative, and technical meanings; analyze the impact of a specific word choice on meaning and
tone.
ELPs: IV-R-S4-HI-9 locating sequential/chronological order signal words (e.g. first, next, meanwhile,, not long ago) in text.
IV- R-S4- HI-10: locating signal words in text that indicate comparison/ contrast (e.g., similarly, on the other hand, however, yet, in spite of).
IV-R-S4-HI-11: locating signal words in text that indicate cause and effect (e.g. as a result of, consequently, since).
IV-R--S4-HI-21: applying understandings of content area vocabulary within math, science and social studies text.

KEY ACADEMIC VOCABULARY Historical; Contemporary; Text-based explanation

MATERIALS - Questioning texts worksheet,  Teacher Model of Questioning Texts, text 2, text 5, Vocabulary Slideshow through Text 5; Checklist for Evaluating Text-Specific Questions, sentence strips

SUGGESTED MINI LESSONS	
LEARNING TASK 4
2 DAYS (Day 6-7 of the unit.)	

Monday, August 18, 2014                     MIRENDA	
Do Now: Feel free to use this week long,  PARCC style comprehension question assignment about The Last Expedition.  https://docs.google.com/a/students.susd12.org/document/d/1-85jFw8PtFnAM9gUSpsALo_ABvc_cOQCIzQgLcObyh4/edit

Holtzman- Mentor Sentences invitation to notice
	
Anticipatory Set: Today we will return to Text 2 The Last Expedition and we will use a new graphic organizer titled, “Questioning Text.”  Please look over this graphic organizer and be ready to share what you notice about it. Also, be ready to share why this graphic organizer will benefit the re-read.	
Vocabulary and strategies
 Google Presentation of words and definition https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1ahcCPxky0uCznFuiizQlIk0Top-Vy7gbTNQsiVK9Cts/edit?usp=sharing

Part 2
Mirenda will use (and shared with you) a document titled, “I Have Who Has Last Expedition Re-Read.” We will review Text 2 via this game. https://docs.google.com/document/d/1luA9h5KKCy-DTZq2UCr45Xm3IQ2K-4NMMGeojDj4kwA/edit?usp=sharing
  
Activity 1:  How skillful readers approach texts		 	 	 		
The teacher models how to use the Questioning Texts Worksheet to guide a process for close reading, and then pairs practice on a text they have read. 		 	 	 		
The QUESTIONING TEXTS WORKSHEET supports students in a process for close reading. The worksheet prompts students to record and organize basic information about a text and to focus on their reading purposes. It provides a place for recording guiding questions to help them read closely for details and text-specific questions they have come to in their reading. 
Mirenda will use (and shared with you) a document titled, “Checklist for Evaluating Text-Specific Questions.” https://docs.google.com/a/students.susd12.org/document/d/166gsqNOXugt95dbCedYWt2rNZ3vbdWYV3EcN6fKS9Hg/edit
	 	 	 				
MODEL THE WORKSHEET			
Begin by modeling the Questioning Texts Worksheet, using Text #2:						
Think-aloud and talk through what you record in each Approaching the Text box.			
●	Select one or two questions to focus on from the Guiding Questions Handout.	
Possible questions are: What words or phrases are powerful and unique? What do the author’s words and phrases cause me to feel?		
●	Re-read through the text, searching for details related to your guiding question. Model marking and annotating the text to help you locate answers to the guiding questions. 			 		
●	Frame a new, text-specific question that the guiding question draws out of the passage. 	
Possible questions are: How does Scott contrast the general experience of the “marching column” with the “blizzard” and “crevasse”?		
WORKSHEET PRACTICE IN PAIRS			
●	Student pairs continue examining Text #2 with the Questioning Text worksheet.			
●	Have student pairs use a different guiding question as a lens for examination and come up with related text-specific questions.	 Refer to, “Checklist for Evaluating Text-Specific Questions.” Groups will record their example of a text-specific question on a sentence strip.  Next, display the sentence strips on the wall.  Assign groups to evaluate one of the newly written questions to see if  it is or is not an excellent example and why. If there is a text-specific question that is not successful, as homework, the class will revise it.
●	The key skill to work on is having students frame a good, text-specific question that emerges after students have used the guiding question to identify important information in the text. 

Closure:  Think back to the  anticipatory question, “How will this graphic organizer benefit the re-read?”   Partners will think of an additional answer about how the graphic organizer helped them.  Groups will share their responses.  Independently, students will remind themselves about the requirements for an excellent text -specific question.  Students will select one of the requirements they will remember to use while creating questions.  As students exit class, they will share their response with the teacher. 	
Homework 

Options: Mirenda’s students will complete the assignment titled, “Arctic Explorers Poem,” (which Mirenda shared with you on your Gmail account.) https://docs.google.com/a/students.susd12.org/document/d/1QCjx9pcGk-bG1YzWXBoMaGESromL97tNZPvGfYUgdYM/edit
OR students can independently create a new text-specific question for Text 2.  OR students can revise an attempted text-specific question that did not meet the checklist requirements.  OR students can complete any missing assignments and turn them in tomorrow.	

Tuesday, August 19, 2014                           WALKER	
Do Now:
Holtzman - Mentor Sentences invitation to notice
Mirenda-PARCC style questions
Walker- will use Mirenda PARCC Style Questions https://docs.google.com/a/students.susd12.org/document/d/1-85jFw8PtFnAM9gUSpsALo_ABvc_cOQCIzQgLcObyh4/edit

Anticipatory Set:  Divide the students up into groups of 4 and ask the students in each group to reach a consensus  regarding the answer to the following question:  “What is the difference between knowledge and Instinct” 	

Mirenda will use (and shared with you) an Anticipation Guide before and after reading To Build a Fire. Feel free to use this form:
https://docs.google.com/a/students.susd12.org/document/d/1wrQpmWXyPgGp7_z0_PEuJrhlYKh-WjPjJWzO6SC1nRs/edit

Activity 2:  Approaching a new text		 	 	
Students listen to a new text and use the Questioning Texts Worksheet to guide their reading.    
INTRODUCE AND READ TEXT #5 ALOUD		 	 	 		
Text #5 is a related but more challenging text. Provide minimal context about the passage before students encounter it. First have them listen to a reading of the text, asking them to concentrate on the author’s message, tone, and use of language. 
 Text #5 - an excerpt from Jack London's "To Build a Fire" - varies from other texts in the unit in that it is a fictional account. However, its detailed depiction of a man's and a dog's attempts to survive in a bitterly cold environment relate closely to the accounts students read from actual polar explorers. While any passage of the excerpt provides a rich context for close reading, the first paragraph, which contrasts the dog's and man's points of view, 
and the final two paragraphs, which detail the fateful moments when the fire is extinguished, are recommended as text worthy of very close analysis and discussion.
TJ:  I used this for the Intro   	 	 	 				
STUDENTS USE THE QUESTIONING TEXTS WORKSHEET						 		
●	Students independently complete a Questioning Texts Worksheet – but do not yet record a text-specific question in the last row.						 				
●	Provide the guiding questions students will use, or have them select questions from the handout
●	Emphasize questions related to language use and meaning, having students pay attention to and highlight words and phrases that are critical for understanding the passage and may also be less familiar to them.	
●	Focus on academic vocabulary – and its relationship to textual meaning. 	
Guiding Question(s):
1- What information/ideas are presented at the beginning of the text?
Text-specific Question(s):
1- In the first paragraph, what does the dog know that the man doesn't? How does this foreshadow what happens later to the man?
READ TEXT #5 IN PAIRS
As the students read in pairs have them number the paragraphs of the text and pick out the most important sentence in each paragraph.    (RW, MM)
• Students look for details related to their guiding question.

Closure: Have the students answer the following question on an exit ticket:  Why does Jack London never tell us the name of the man nor the name of the dog.	
Homework:  their reading journals have the students compare the man and the dog:
●	How is the relationship between the man and the dog depicted?
  TJ:  Completed ACE question with this question.  Link to Activity.  Link to what ACEing is all about =)
●	What did the dog instinctively understand that the man did not?
●	How does the man and dog’s relaIn tionship symbolize the man’s relationship to his environment?
·      
·      	

• Students work in pairs to come up with text-specific questions to put in the final row of the Questioning Texts Worksheet.
• Students share their text-specific questions with the class, discussing and refining them as a class.

	

	

LEARNING TASK 5 STANDARDS
ELP STANDARDS	
RI.7.1: Cite several pieces of textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly as
well as inferences drawn from the text. 
ELPs: IV-R-S4-HI-4: answering literal, inferential and personal response questions about text.
IV-S4-R-HI-14: drawing conclusions from information implied or inferred in a literary selection.
IV-S4-R-HI-28: interpreting information in functional documents (e.g. memos, directories, search engines, manuals, recipes, graphic organizers.)
IV-S4-R--HI-30: distinguishing fact from opinion and bias in persuasive text by providing supporting evidence.
IV-S3-R-HI-1: reading aloud passages from unfamiliar content area text, observing phrasing, punctuation and expression.

RI.7.2: Determine two or more central ideas in a text and analyze their development over the course
of the text; provide an objective summary of the text.

RI.7.4: Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, including figurative,
connotative, and technical meanings; analyze the impact of a specific word choice on meaning and
tone.
ELPs: IV-R-S4-HI-9 locating sequential/chronological order signal words (e.g. first, next, meanwhile,, not long ago) in text.
IV- R-S4- HI-10: locating signal words in text that indicate comparison/ contrast (e.g., similarly, on the other hand, however, yet, in spite of).
IV-R-S4-HI-11: locating signal words in text that indicate cause and effect (e.g. as a result of, consequently, since).
IV-R--S4-HI-21: applying understandings of content area vocabulary within math, science and social studies text.

KEY ACADEMIC VOCABULARY Author’s message; tone; Fictional account; Point of view/perspective

MATERIALS - Analyzing Details Worksheet, Teacher Model of Analyzing Details,  Text 5,Vocabulary Slideshow through Text 5

SUGGESTED MINI LESSONS	
LEARNING TASK 5
2 DAYS (Day 8-9 of the unit.)	

Wednesday, August 20, 2014          CORTEZ	
Do Now:  What comes to mind when you hear the word “desperation”? In your composition book, create a list of words to share out with the whole class. 
Holtzman - Mentor Sentences revision of sentences
Mirenda-PARCC style questions https://docs.google.com/a/students.susd12.org/document/d/1-85jFw8PtFnAM9gUSpsALo_ABvc_cOQCIzQgLcObyh4/edit
	
Anticipatory Set:  Teacher will display The Great Pandemic,  to use as a quick review of annotation and show connections to Jack London’s “To Build a Fire.”
www.flu.gov/pandemic/history/1918/your_state/midwest/nebraska/    	
Vocabulary and strategies
 Google Presentation of words and definition https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1ahcCPxky0uCznFuiizQlIk0Top-Vy7gbTNQsiVK9Cts/edit?usp=sharing

Part 2
Activity 3: Analyzing text with text-specific questions
Purpose:  To analyze London’s message, tone and use of language.
The teacher guides the class through an analysis of the text using the Analyzing Details Worksheet
The ANALYZING DETAILS WORKSHEET is a second tool for supporting students in a process for close reading. The works begins with a place to record their self-generated (or teacher-provided) text- specific question that they have come through a guiding question. The worksheet prompts students to re-read the text marking and annotating details related to their question. Students then review their details and select those most relevant to their question. Students then analyze and make connections among those details to answer their question and deepen their understanding.
Textual Notes
Based on discussion of the first paragraph of “To Build a Fire” (pages 7-11) , students can read the account looking for more evidence that "this man did not know cold." This sets up their close reading of the last two paragraphs.
Guiding Question(s):
1- What information/ideas are described in detail?
Text-specific Question(s):
1- What details in paragraphs 2-7 suggest that the dog may be right when he thinks, "this man did not know cold"?
2- What events detailed in paragraph 8 caused the man first to be "shocked" and then grow "very calm"?
MODEL THE WORKSHEET
Guide the class through the worksheet identifying your reading purpose and using a text-specific question that emerged from class discussion. The worksheet can also be used with guiding questions or with text-specific questions you provide to students.
• Read and annotate the text actively, marking, highlighting, or flagging details that are related to the reading purpose and question.
• Review the details you have marked, looking for “key” details, words, and phrases that relate to your reading pose and question, and that convey or support a central idea.
• Record 3 of these key details/phrases from the text in the “Selecting Details” section of the worksheet, indicating the source/location in the “reference” section.
• Analyze each detail and record your thinking.
• Connect the details by writing a sentence based on your analysis.
• Have all students fill in their own worksheet with the information developed as a class. This allows students to get a feel for using the worksheet and provides them with analysis and models in their personal notebooks.

Closure:  Group 1 will stand up and present their findings to the class. Group 3 will stand up and add more details to group 1 findings. Groups 2 and 4 will collaborate sitting down.
Teacher will collect finished work to go over as a whole class the following day.	
Homework:  Finish in class assignments.

Mirenda: Paraphrase Balto Artcile
https://docs.google.com/a/students.susd12.org/document/d/1xk3UMEwVCbUhjIREBJTdsh0HDrOfOcVgUAvCgpBVBsQ/edit#

____________________________________________________________________________________________________

Thursday, August 21, 2014      TJ	
Do Now:
Holtzman - Mentor Sentences sentence rewrite
Mirenda-PARCC style questions https://docs.google.com/a/students.susd12.org/document/d/1-85jFw8PtFnAM9gUSpsALo_ABvc_cOQCIzQgLcObyh4/edit
	
Anticipatory Set: Choose between one the videos and have the students evaluate how the video or commercial ended.    
Commercial:  Students may be familiar w/ this so you may need to preface with “pretend you have never seen this commercial.”  Show first 20 seconds then pause.  Have the student predict what may happen.  Play the rest of the commercial.  Paraphrase what happened.
Video:  Show first 1:20 then pause.  Have the students predict what will happen.  Play 30 more seconds then stop. (Notice the word STOP! Don’t play the video into the 2:20 section.)  Ask the students to paraphrase what happened next.
Go into irony video in the Vocab and Strat section below. 	
Vocabulary and strategies
Situational Irony Video: students can take notes or complete a graphic organizer of your choice.
Click here for link 
 Google Presentation of words and definition https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1ahcCPxky0uCznFuiizQlIk0Top-Vy7gbTNQsiVK9Cts/edit?usp=sharing

Activity 4: Posing text-dependent questions
Students develop their own text-specific questions with which to analyze the text.
STUDENTS USE THE ANALYZING DETAILS WORKSHEET
• Students begin by confirming or revising their text-specific question at the bottom of the Questioning Texts Worksheet for Text #5. (This might be done in small groups.)
Some questions may be literal –scaffold students’ efforts to pose a question that causes them to re-examine textual details and discover something new about the text.
• Students transfer their question to the Analyzing Details Worksheet.
• Students annotate their texts by highlighting/marking all the details they feel are relevant to their
question.
• Students select three details to analyze, copying them and referencing them in their worksheet.
• Students analyze the details, recording their thinking.
• Students connect the details, writing a sentence or two explaining their thinking.
• Students share their findings in a group discussion, using their worksheets to guide their conversations, and reflect as a group on their process of reading closely, using the Reading Closely Checklist as a framework for reflection.
Guiding Question(s):
1- How are the details I find related in ways that build ideas and themes? Text-specific Question(s):
1- Based on the details in this excerpt, what is a likely ending for this story?
2- How does the author use details and description to foreshadow what happens to the man? 3- How is what happens to the man an example of "irony," especially given what the dog thinks in the first paragraph and what the man thinks in paragraph 6?

Closure:  Have students evaluate their close reading skills using this google form: Link We can use the data to evaluate if there is any opportunities for reteaching or enriching through small groups or whole class activities.
Here’s a link so that you can access the results:  Link	
Homework:  Finish any charts that haven’t been completed. 	

LEARNING TASK 6 STANDARDS
ELP STANDARDS	
RI.7.1: Cite several pieces of textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly as
well as inferences drawn from the text. 
ELPs: IV-R-S4-HI-4: answering literal, inferential and personal response questions about text.
IV-S4-R-HI-14: drawing conclusions from information implied or inferred in a literary selection.
IV-S4-R-HI-28: interpreting information in functional documents (e.g. memos, directories, search engines, manuals, recipes, graphic organizers.)
IV-S4-R--HI-30: distinguishing fact from opinion and bias in persuasive text by providing supporting evidence.
IV-S3-R-HI-1: reading aloud passages from unfamiliar content area text, observing phrasing, punctuation and expression.

RI.7.2: Determine two or more central ideas in a text and analyze their development over the course
of the text; provide an objective summary of the text.

RI.7.4: Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, including figurative,
connotative, and technical meanings; analyze the impact of a specific word choice on meaning and
tone.
ELPs: IV-R-S4-HI-9 locating sequential/chronological order signal words (e.g. first, next, meanwhile,, not long ago) in text.
IV- R-S4- HI-10: locating signal words in text that indicate comparison/ contrast (e.g., similarly, on the other hand, however, yet, in spite of).
IV-R-S4-HI-11: locating signal words in text that indicate cause and effect (e.g. as a result of, consequently, since).
IV-R--S4-HI-21: applying understandings of content area vocabulary within math, science and social studies text.

KEY ACADEMIC VOCABULARY Annotate;  “key” details; Foreshadow; Irony

MATERIALS - Text 2, Vocabulary Slideshow through Text 5

SUGGESTED MINI LESSONS	
LEARNING TASK 6
  2 DAYS (Day 10-11 of the unit.)	

Friday, August 22, 2014                         HOLTZMAN	
Do Now:
Holtzman - Mentor Sentences quiz
Mirenda-PARCC style questions https://docs.google.com/a/students.susd12.org/document/d/1-85jFw8PtFnAM9gUSpsALo_ABvc_cOQCIzQgLcObyh4/edit
	
Anticipatory Set: Listen to this audio of a diary entry from  Frank Debenham, an Australian on the British Antarctic Expedition 1910 to 1913   http://www.discoveringantarctica.org.uk/downloads/may_1911.mp3 .(about 1.5 minutes).   This gives a day in the life perspective of a crew member.   Ask students about the food, activities this man talks about?  What are some of the jobs the students would take on if they were on an expedition crew?  	
Vocabulary and strategies
 Google Presentation of words and definition https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1ahcCPxky0uCznFuiizQlIk0Top-Vy7gbTNQsiVK9Cts/edit?usp=sharing

Activity 5 - 
Students will view the last journal entry made by Robert Falcon Scott as he attempted his return from the South Pole.  They will then be asked to imagine themselves as a member of the expedition crew and write a journal entry explaining what life was like on Antarctica.  This would include what they see, the weather conditions, how they feel, etc.  This should include text evidence from the various media examined to this point.  Teacher to provide model version of journal entry.  (students to submit to LEARN or paper version per teacher’s preference). 
http://www.rrsdiscovery.com/documents/Captain%20Robert%20Falcon%20Scott%20last%20diary%20entry%20worksheet.pdf        
ASSESSMENT:  Rubric - Narrative writing 

As indicated, the remainder of this calendar day will be used as a catch-up/make-up day rather than build up additional lessons prior to the mid-point assessment.  Feel free to place individual review lessons on this day if you are caught up to the pacing calendar.  	

Instruction Day 1:
Activity 5:  Independent Writing - and the second half of the block for catch up/make up
Students write 1-3 sentences explaining their analysis of the text and list supporting textual details.
Student Engagement Activity: Carousel Brainstorm-Predetermine the guiding questions and write them on poster paper (butcher paper). Divide the students into groups and assign each group a colored maker.  The groups will rotate through the posters to write (using their assigned color marker) brainstormed answers for each questions. After groups have written on each poster, students return to their original poster.  They will draw a star next to the most important points.  Students will use the ideas from the Carousel Brainstorm to incorporate into their assessment.
 
INSTRUCTIONAL NOTES
In this activity, introduce the idea of what a text-based explanation entails, possibly modeling one for Text #2. Ask students to work from their Analyzing Details Worksheet completed in Activity 4 and to write several clear, coherent, and complete sentences that explain something from their analysis of Text #5, making sure to reference key details they have identified. Connect this writing activity to skills students have been working on with their earlier paraphrasing activities.
Assessment Opportunities
At the end, students will have:
• Completed a Questioning Texts Worksheet for Text #2
• Completed a Questioning Texts Worksheet for Text #5
• Annotated their texts to highlight details related to their text questioning
• Completed an Analyzing Texts Worksheet for Text #5 both as a class and independently
• Written an explanation of their analysis of the text, including supporting details
• Engaged in group and class discussions
 Examine student Questioning Texts Worksheet to evaluate the formation of their text-specific questions and their relationship to the guiding questions. Examine their annotated texts and Analyzing Details Worksheet to evaluate the relevance of their selected details and their recorded thinking and connections. Evaluate the worksheets for evidence of The primary focus of evaluation at this stage should be on student ability to use questioning to focus their annotation and selection of details.students’ reading and thinking; examine the short written explanations for their developing writing skills, paying attention to use of evidence and to word choice, punctuation, and grammar.

Closure: On an exit ticket answer the question;  I would make a good explorer because?    	
Homework:    Complete any unfinished classroom assignments.  	

____________________________________________________________________________________________________

Monday, August 25, 2014                            MIRENDA	

Bell work: PARCC Test Style Questions for Text 5 To Build a Fire. https://docs.google.com/a/students.susd12.org/document/d/1YidgNizB1FwECvQl8HnMd3xBnTrYuwQyffhvKvod3zo/edit
Holtzman - Mentor Sentences - Invitation to notice	
If you did not have an opportunity to complete the Carousel Brainstorm on Friday, here are the directions:
Student Engagement Activity: Carousel Brainstorm-Predetermine the guiding questions and write them on poster paper (butcher paper). Divide the students into groups and assign each group a colored marker.  The groups will rotate through the posters to write (using their assigned color marker) brainstormed answers for each questions. After groups have written on each poster, students return to their original poster.  They will draw a star next to the most important points.  Students will use the ideas from the Carousel Brainstorm to incorporate into their assessment.

Instruction Day 2:
MID UNIT ASSESSMENT ON SCHOOLNET

Once the students finish the assessment, they can catch up on any missing assignments. When all students finish the assessment the teachers can catch up on any of the previous tasks.	

LEARNING TASK 7 STANDARDS
ELP STANDARDS	
RI.7.1: Cite several pieces of textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly as
well as inferences drawn from the text. 
ELPs: IV-R-S4-HI-4: answering literal, inferential and personal response questions about text.
IV-S4-R-HI-14: drawing conclusions from information implied or inferred in a literary selection.
IV-S4-R-HI-28: interpreting information in functional documents (e.g. memos, directories, search engines, manuals, recipes, graphic organizers.)
IV-S4-R--HI-30: distinguishing fact from opinion and bias in persuasive text by providing supporting evidence.
IV-S3-R-HI-1: reading aloud passages from unfamiliar content area text, observing phrasing, punctuation and expression.

RI.7.2: Determine two or more central ideas in a text and analyze their development over the course
of the text; provide an objective summary of the text.

RI.7.4: Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, including figurative,
connotative, and technical meanings; analyze the impact of a specific word choice on meaning and
tone.
ELPs: IV-R-S4-HI-9 locating sequential/chronological order signal words (e.g. first, next, meanwhile,, not long ago) in text.
IV- R-S4- HI-10: locating signal words in text that indicate comparison/ contrast (e.g., similarly, on the other hand, however, yet, in spite of).
IV-R-S4-HI-11: locating signal words in text that indicate cause and effect (e.g. as a result of, consequently, since).
IV-R--S4-HI-21: applying understandings of content area vocabulary within math, science and social studies text.

RI.7.6: Determine an author’s point of view or purpose in a text and analyze how the author
distinguishes his or her position from that of others.
ELP: Stage IV R-S4 HI-12: determining the author's stated or implied purpose (e.g., to inform, to persuade, to entertain). 

RI.7.9: Analyze how two or more authors writing about the same topic shape their presentations of
key information by emphasizing different evidence or advancing different interpretations of facts.
ELPs: IV-L-S4-HI-7: connects information and events in text to life experiences and to related text and sources (text-self, text-text)

KEY ACADEMIC VOCABULARY  - Theme, textual-evidence, inference, objective summary, author’s point of view or purpose or perspective, figurative connotative, technical meanings and annotate

MATERIALS - Text 6, The North Pole (pages 12-15), Questioning texts worksheet, Analyzing details worksheet

SUGGESTED MINI LESSONS - Theme	
LEARNING TASK 7
  3 DAYS (Day 12-14 of the unit.)	

Tuesday-Wednesday, August 26-27, 2014       WALKER	
Day 1 (Tuesday August 26th)

Do Now : Have the students rewrite the following paragraph so that it sounds as if the two characters love each other.  To do this, replace some of the ordinary denotative words with powerful connotative words.  Play particular attention to the verbs (walk, shut, look, and so on).  Tell the students to choose their words carefully, so they say exactly what you want them to.

The boy walked into the cafeteria and sat down.  He looked at the girl seated several rows across from him.  She looked at him and spoke.  He rose from his seat and walked toward him.  He spoke to her and then put his hand on her wrist.  She put her hand on his hand and replied.  She then turned around and walked away.  Before she left the cafeteria, she looked at him one more time.  (I will place a hard copy of the text in each of our boxes).

Day 2 (Wednesday August 27th)
Do Now: Have the students rewrite the following paragraph so that it sounds as if the two characters hate each other.  To do this, replace some of the ordinary denotative words with powerful connotative words.  Play particular attention to the verbs (walk, shut, look, and so on).  Tell the students that they will probably be replacing them with words that have a negative connotation.  Again,they should choose their words carefully, so they say exactly what they want them to.

The boy walked into the cafeteria and sat down.  He looked at the girl seated several rows across from him.  She looked at him and spoke.  He rose from his seat and walked toward him.  He spoke to her and then put his hand on her wrist.  She put her hand on his hand and replied.  She then turned around and walked away.  Before she left the cafeteria, she looked at him one more time.  (I will place a hard copy of the text in each of our boxes)

Day 3 Thursday August 28th

1.	Ask students how difficult they think it would be to get to one of the poles. Brainstorm how explorers could travel there, and what supplies they would need to survive in the extreme polar environment. 

Do Now:  
Holtzman-:Mentor Sentences - Invitation to notice Parts of speech (Tuesday)
                                                                Invitation to revise sentence
Mirenda: Bell work: PARCC Test Style Questions for Text 5 To Build a Fire
Walker will use Mirenda’s Bell Work. 
Walker is also using Mirenda Bell work https://docs.google.com/a/students.susd12.org/document/d/1YidgNizB1FwECvQl8HnMd3xBnTrYuwQyffhvKvod3zo/edit
Cortez: Emailed a Foreshadow ppt. to use before reading “To Build a Fire” 	
Anticipatory Set:  Day 1:   What character traits would a successful 1909 era explore have?
                                  Day 2:   Considering Roald Amundsen and the choices he made, what do you think about 
                                 treatment of his dogs?  How might he have handled things differently?
                      Day 3:  Which man, Amundsen or Scott, would you rather follow to the South Pole?  Why?
	
Vocabulary and strategies
 Google Presentation of words and definition https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1ahcCPxky0uCznFuiizQlIk0Top-Vy7gbTNQsiVK9Cts/edit?usp=sharing

Activity 1: HOW SKILLFUL READERS APPROACH TEXTS AND ANALYZING DETAILS ACROSS TEXTS

TJ: Students will download a copy of The North Pole chapter of the text to their google drive E/LA folder for highlighting and commenting (paraphrasing) the text.  Feel free to make a copy and share with your students (I selected my own Vocab from the text)
INTRODUCE AND READ TEXT #6 ALOUD Students now engage a new text that presents a different point of view on the topic. As before, students listen to the text with no initial context provided other than what they have already learned from their study of previous, related texts.
TJ: Show students this video clip about “Pressure Ridges”
INDEPENDENT READING
• Students complete the first parts of the Questioning Texts Worksheet, selecting Guiding Questions that relate to the author’s perspective. 
• Students read the text using their Guiding Questions to focus them on relevant details they can question
further. 
CLASS DISCUSSION
• Lead a discussion of the text focusing on difficult sections and key vocabulary.
• Students should draw on details they found related to their Guiding Questions in discussion.
• Have students develop text-specific questions about key details that emerge in discussion.
RE-READING TO ANALYZE DETAILS
• Students work in groups to hone text-specific questions.
• Students use their question to analyze the text with the Analyzing Details Worksheet.
CLASS DISCUSSION
• Discuss the connections students have made in a panel class discussion of Text #6. 
Additional Activity:  Break students into groups of 4 assign each member of the group a specific website and have them research the answers to the following questions about the explorers:  

○	When did he and his crew set out on their journey?
○	What modes of transportation did they use to reach the pole?
○	What supplies did they take?
○	What obstacles did they face during their journey?
○	How did they overcome these obstacles?
○	Was the explorer considered a hero? Why or why not? 

Day 1:  Admiral Robert Peary
1.	http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/ice/sfeature/peary.html
2.	http://www.bbc.co.uk/northpole2001/explorers.shtml
3.	http://robertepeary.com/index2.htm
4.	http://matthewhenson.com
Day 2:  Robert Scott
1.	http://www.south-pole.com/p0000089.htm
2.	http://home.earthlink.net/~kcrawfish/scott.html
3.	http://www.geocities.com/RainForest/Canopy/8947/scott.htm
4.	http://www.coolantarctica.com/Antarctica%20fact%20file/History/Robert%20Falcon%20Scott.htm

Day 3:  Roald Amundsen
1.	http://iaia.essortment.com/roaldamundesn_reiv.htm
2.	http://www.enchantedlearning.com/explorers/page/a/amundsen.shtml
3.	http://www.south-pole.com/p0000101.htm
4.	http://www.iol.ie/%7Ejomerps/HomePage/Projects/World_Explorers/Roald_Amundsen.html

TEXTUAL NOTES
The comparison text [#6] is a nonfiction excerpt from Arctic explorer Robert Peary's "The North Pole," in which he explains what it is like to cross an Arctic "lead," the constant fear of falling into the frigid water, and the "difficulties and hardships of a journey to the North Pole." His observational and instructive tone, in a piece written after his successful finding of the Pole, may be contrasted both with London's dramatic, fictionalized account of building a fire to survive in a frigid land and the narrative journal entries of Scott, recorded while in the midst of his journey and ordeal. Students may make connections between what happens to "the man" in "To Build a Fire" and what Peary suggests might happen if a lead had "opened right through our camp, or through one of the snow igloos, when we were sleeping on the surface of the polar sea" in paragraphs 5-7. Paragraphs 8-9 also provide opportunities for close reading focused on descriptive details. (Paraphrase paragraph: What connections can be made between “the man” in To Build a Fire, what Peary suggests might happen if a lead opened, and Scott’s impressions?)

MODEL TEXT QUESTIONING SEQUENCE
Guiding Question(s):
1- What information/ideas are described in detail?
2- How are the details I find related in ways that build ideas and themes?
Text-specific Question(s):
1- What key words and phrases does Peary use to describe the dangers of the "leads" that arctic travellers are likely to encounter?
2- In paragraph 8, what does Peary suggest are the "worst" of the "difficulties and hardships of a journey to the North Pole"?
3 - In the final paragraph, what does Peary suggest are the differences between his readers' experiences with blizzards and the challenges of surviving an intense storm in an arctic environment?

Closure:  Day 1:  Summarize what new information you learned about Peary.
                  Day 2:  Summarize what you learned about Scott.
                  Day 3:  Summarize what you learned about Amundsen.  	
Homework:	

____________________________________________________________________________________________________

Thursday, August 28, 2014      CORTEZ	
Do Now: 
Holtzman:  Mentor Sentence - Invitation to imitate
Cortez: Using Mirenda’s Bell work
Mirenda: Bell work: PARCC Test Style Questions for Text 5 To Build a Fire. https://docs.google.com/a/students.susd12.org/document/d/1YidgNizB1FwECvQl8HnMd3xBnTrYuwQyffhvKvod3zo/edit
	
Anticipatory Set: Ask students, What elements make up a Theme? Write their answers on the board. Next, view the first six minutes of the Theme video below:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=p4qME64SkxM(See below for Cornell Questions and accommodation cloze reading notes.)
Also, I forwarded a Foreshadow ppt. to use before the read.
 	
 Vocabulary and strategies:  Theme, textual-evidence, inference, objective summary, author’s point of view or purpose or perspective,figurative connotative, technical meanings and annotate, foreshadow. 	

ACTIVITY 2 ANALYZING DETAILS ACROSS TEXTS
INSTRUCTIONAL NOTES
CLASS DISCUSSION
• Students use their notes and worksheets from texts #5 and #6 to discuss how each author’s use of language reflects his or her perspective on a subject.
• Ask students to present evidence from the text to support their assertions, and to connect their comments to the ideas that others have shared.
• Have students take notes and annotate their text during the conversation, capturing what peers say, how their
ideas are changing, or connections/ differences between texts.

TEXTUAL NOTES
The "To Build a Fire" and "North Pole" excerpts offer a variety of opportunities for comparison: between fictional and nonfictional writing, around the common thread of trying to survive a plunge into arctic waters, and/or between the two authors' perspectives on their subjects and use of language to convey those perspectives. In particular, the texts illustrate how two very different writers use details to evoke an experience - one intent on dramatizing its irony in chilling detail, the other committed to a more observational, scientific account.

MODEL TEXT QUESTIONING SEQUENCE
Guiding Question(s):
1- What is the author’s personal relationship to the topic or themes?
2- In what ways do the authors' different purposes and perspectives influence their presentation of details and ideas? 
Mirenda will use these theme video resources which were shared with you:
Questions for Cornell Notes about Theme 
How to Find Theme Video Notes for Accommodations 

Text-specific Question(s):
1- How does Peary's account of "march[ing] all day long facing a blinding snowstorm" [paragraphs 8- 9] compare and contrast with London's description of the man's fateful journey and accident [paragraphs 2-4]? In what ways does each writer cause a reader to imagine the experience of trying to survive in an arctic environment?
2- Peary suggests about his readers that they "Probably... also remember how welcome was the warm fireside of home at the end of their journey." In describing the man's experience, what details does London provide that contrast sharply (and ironically) with this familiar and comforting image?

Closure:  What was the author’s purpose of writing this short story? Support your answer with details from the text. 	
Homework: Any unfinished classwork.  	

LEARNING TASK 8 STANDARDS
ELP STANDARDS	
RI.7.1: Cite several pieces of textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly as
well as inferences drawn from the text. 
ELPs: IV-R-S4-HI-4: answering literal, inferential and personal response questions about text.
IV-S4-R-HI-14: drawing conclusions from information implied or inferred in a literary selection.
IV-S4-R-HI-28: interpreting information in functional documents (e.g. memos, directories, search engines, manuals, recipes, graphic organizers.)
IV-S4-R--HI-30: distinguishing fact from opinion and bias in persuasive text by providing supporting evidence.
IV-S3-R-HI-1: reading aloud passages from unfamiliar content area text, observing phrasing, punctuation and expression.

RI.7.2: Determine two or more central ideas in a text and analyze their development over the course
of the text; provide an objective summary of the text.

RI.7.4: Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, including figurative,
connotative, and technical meanings; analyze the impact of a specific word choice on meaning and
tone.
ELPs: IV-R-S4-HI-9 locating sequential/chronological order signal words (e.g. first,meanwhile,, not long ago) in text.
IV- R-S4- HI-10: locating signal words in text that indicate comparison/ contrast (e.g., similarly, on the other hand, however, yet, in spite of).
IV-R-S4-HI-11: locating signal words in text that indicate cause and effect (e.g. as a result of, consequently, since).
IV-R--S4-HI-21: applying understandings of content area vocabulary within math, science and social studies text.

RI.7.6: Determine an author’s point of view or purpose in a text and analyze how the author
distinguishes his or her position from that of others.
ELP: Stage IV R-S4 HI-12: determining the author's stated or implied purpose (e.g., to inform, to persuade, to entertain). 

RI.7.9: Analyze how two or more authors writing about the same topic shape their presentations of
key information by emphasizing different evidence or advancing different interpretations of facts.
ELPs: IV-L-S4-HI-7: connects information and events in text to life experiences and to related text and sources (text-self, text-text)

KEY ACADEMIC VOCABULARY  Author’s perspective; relevant details, comparative analyses

MATERIALS - Texts 5 and 6

SUGGESTED MINI LESSONS - Developing comparative questions, transitional words/phrases	
LEARNING TASK 8
  1 DAY (Day 15 of the unit.)	

Friday, August 29, 2014               TJ	
Do Now:
Holtzman:  Mentor Sentence Quiz
Mirenda: Bell work: PARCC Test Style Questions for Text 5 To Build a Fire. https://docs.google.com/a/students.susd12.org/document/d/1YidgNizB1FwECvQl8HnMd3xBnTrYuwQyffhvKvod3zo/edit
	
Anticipatory Set:  have students review the rubric and annotate by highlighting (students save a copy) what is expected.  This would be a good time to answer any questions they may have about the rubric.	
Vocabulary and strategies	

INSTRUCTIONAL NOTES
SMALL GROUP DISCUSSION
• Students work in groups using their analyses of Texts #5 and #6 to come up with a comparative question.
• Support student groups as they develop their questions.

INSTRUCTIONAL NOTES
WRITING COMPARATIVE ANALYSES
• Students draw from their notes, worksheets, annotated texts, and sentences from earlier activities to construct a paragraph answering their comparative question. Paragraphs should include:
The comparative question
1-2 sentences explaining their analysis of Text #5 and key supporting details
1-2 sentences explaining their analysis of Text #6 and key supporting details
1-2 sentences explaining a connection they have made between the two texts that answers their comparative question
• Students construct the paragraph by:
Introducing the topic, in this case the comparison made between the texts
Organizing their information to clearly and logically express their ideas
Developing the topic with appropriate supporting details
Linking sentences with appropriate transitional words and phrases to clarify relationships and establish coherence
Using precise language and an academic (formal) style of writing.
• In small groups, students read and peer-review their comparative paragraphs
Prior to submission, an optional revision may be asked of the students based on peer feedback.
• Students submit paragraphs and their supporting materials.

Rubric

Closure: students evaluate their paragraphs using the rubric as a guide	
Homework: jigsaw assign text 7, 8, & 9 to prepare for their discussion.	

LEARNING TASK 9 STANDARDS
ELP STANDARDS	
RI.7.1: Cite several pieces of textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly as
well as inferences drawn from the text. 
ELPs: IV-R-S4-HI-4: answering literal, inferential and personal response questions about text.
IV-S4-R-HI-14: drawing conclusions from information implied or inferred in a literary selection.
IV-S4-R-HI-28: interpreting information in functional documents (e.g. memos, directories, search engines, manuals, recipes, graphic organizers.)
IV-S4-R--HI-30: distinguishing fact from opinion and bias in persuasive text by providing supporting evidence.
IV-S3-R-HI-1: reading aloud passages from unfamiliar content area text, observing phrasing, punctuation and expression.

RI.7.2: Determine two or more central ideas in a text and analyze their development over the course
of the text; provide an objective summary of the text.

RI.7.4: Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, including figurative,
connotative, and technical meanings; analyze the impact of a specific word choice on meaning and
tone.
ELPs: IV-R-S4-HI-9 locating sequential/chronological order signal words (e.g. first, meanwhile,, not long ago) in text.
IV- R-S4- HI-10: locating signal words in text that indicate comparison/ contrast (e.g., similarly, on the other hand, however, yet, in spite of).
IV-R-S4-HI-11: locating signal words in text that indicate cause and effect (e.g. as a result of, consequently, since).
IV-R--S4-HI-21: applying understandings of content area vocabulary within math, science and social studies text.

RI.7.6: Determine an author’s point of view or purpose in a text and analyze how the author
distinguishes his or her position from that of others.
ELP: Stage IV R-S4 HI-12: determining the author's stated or implied purpose (e.g., to inform, to persuade, to entertain). 

RI.7.9: Analyze how two or more authors writing about the same topic shape their presentations of
key information by emphasizing different evidence or advancing different interpretations of facts.
ELPs: IV-L-S4-HI-7: connects information and events in text to life experiences and to related text and sources (text-self, text-text)

KEY ACADEMIC VOCABULARY   Topic; Supporting details; Comparative questions; Transition words; Coherence

MATERIALS - Texts 7, 8, and 9, Questioning Texts Worksheet

SUGGESTED MINI LESSONS	
LEARNING TASK 9
  1 DAY (Day 16 of unit.)	

Tuesday, September 2, 2014         HOLTZMAN	
Do Now:
Holtzman:  Invitation to notice Day 1 and Day 2
Mirenda’s Bell Work: PARCC style questions for Text 6 The North Pole
https://docs.google.com/a/students.susd12.org/document/d/1sTLdWz7WV6hm2JJHlUAcjP_jjmpleWK9K0ER5vs66jI/edit
	
Anticipatory Set:	
Vocabulary and strategies	

Activity 4: Students read

INSTRUCTIONAL NOTES
This reading, can be done as homework or in class, with more or less scaffolding depending on how students have been doing in previous reading experiences. On their own, students read Texts # 7, 8, & 9 - topic-related texts all written in a similar genre/mode, using Guiding Questions to set up a Questioning Texts Worksheet. At this point, students do not need to study any of the three texts, rather simply be familiar with them, so they can prepare themselves for analyzing one of the texts through close reading and for leading a comparative discussion.

ASSESSMENT OPPORTUNITIES
Students will have:
• Completed a Questioning Texts Worksheet for text #6 individually and in groups 
• Completed an Analyzing Texts Worksheet based on of their own text-specific questions
• Taken part in a group discussion about connections between texts #5 and #6
• Written a paragraph explaining their analysis of Texts #5 and #6 and making connections between them.

Use these work samples to both assess how the class is doing overall in the skills of close reading, questioning, analyzing details, comparing, and explaining, and to help determine which of the three texts students might be assigned to read and analyze. Thus, their paragraphs potentially serve both as formative and diagnostic assessment. As before, student discussions provide opportunities to “listen in” and
informally assess their speaking and listening skills.

Closure:	
Homework:	

	

LEARNING TASK 10 STANDARDS
ELP STANDARDS	
RI.7.1: Cite several pieces of textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly as
well as inferences drawn from the text. 
ELPs: IV-R-S4-HI-4: answering literal, inferential and personal response questions about text.
IV-S4-R-HI-14: drawing conclusions from information implied or inferred in a literary selection.
IV-S4-R-HI-28: interpreting information in functional documents (e.g. memos, directories, search engines, manuals, recipes, graphic organizers.)
IV-S4-R--HI-30: distinguishing fact from opinion and bias in persuasive text by providing supporting evidence.
IV-S3-R-HI-1: reading aloud passages from unfamiliar content area text, observing phrasing, punctuation and expression.

RI.7.2: Determine two or more central ideas in a text and analyze their development over the course
of the text; provide an objective summary of the text.

RI.7.4: Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, including figurative,
connotative, and technical meanings; analyze the impact of a specific word choice on meaning and
tone.
ELPs: IV-R-S4-HI-9 locating sequential/chronological order signal words (e.g. first,meanwhile,, not long ago) in text.
IV- R-S4- HI-10: locating signal words in text that indicate comparison/ contrast (e.g., similarly, on the other hand, however, yet, in spite of).
IV-R-S4-HI-11: locating signal words in text that indicate cause and effect (e.g. as a result of, consequently, since).
IV-R--S4-HI-21: applying understandings of content area vocabulary within math, science and social studies text.

RI.7.6: Determine an author’s point of view or purpose in a text and analyze how the author
distinguishes his or her position from that of others.
ELP: Stage IV R-S4 HI-12: determining the author's stated or implied purpose (e.g., to inform, to persuade, to entertain). 

RI.7.10: By the end of the year, read and comprehend literary nonfiction in the grades 6–8 text
complexity band proficiently, with scaffolding as needed at the high end of the range.
ELPs: IV-R-S3-HI-1: read grade level test aloud fluently with 90% comprehension. 

W.7.2: Write informative/explanatory texts to examine a topic and convey ideas, concepts, and
information through the selection, organization, and analysis of relevant content. 
ELPs: V-W-S5-HI-2: locate and evaluate informational sources about a topic .
IV-W-S5-HI-3: organize notes on a topic from a variety of sources.
IV-W-S1-HI-4: writing essays and reports, based on a synthesis of research, using topic sentences, main ideas, relevant facts, details, and concluding statements.
IV-W-S5-HI-5: paraphrase information and cite the source.
IV-W-S5-HI-6: include works cited, bibliography or reference page.

W.7.9: Draw evidence from literary or informational texts to support analysis, reflection, and research.                                       ELPs: IV-W-S5-HI-2: locate and evaluate informational sources about a topic.
IV-W-S1-HI-3: quoting or paraphrasing information sources, and supplying citations.
IV-W-S5-HI-5: paraphrase information and cite the source.
IV-W-S5-HI-6: include works cited, bibliography or reference page.

KEY ACADEMIC VOCABULARY: expert groups, jigsaw, culminating, academic panel

MATERIALS - Texts 7, 8 and 9, Questioning Texts worksheet, Analyzing Details worksheet

SUGGESTED MINI LESSONS	
LEARNING TASK 10
  3 DAYS (Days 17-19 of the unit.) 	

Wednesday-Friday, September 3-5, 2014    MIRENDA	
Do Now:
Holtzman- Mentor Sentences Invitation to revise day 3
                                                             Invitation to imitate day 4
                                                             Quiz
Mirenda’s Bell Work: PARCC style questions for Text 6 The North Pole
https://docs.google.com/a/students.susd12.org/document/d/1sTLdWz7WV6hm2JJHlUAcjP_jjmpleWK9K0ER5vs66jI/edit
	
Anticipatory Set:	
Vocabulary and strategies	

Activity 5: INTRODUCTION TO CULMINATING ACTIVITY

The teacher introduces the final culminating text-centered writing and comparative discussion.

INSTRUCTIONAL NOTES
The final two parts) of the unit are a two-stage culminating activity in which students first analyze and write about one of three related texts, then lead a comparative discussion about the three texts. In the first stage, students are introduced to the texts and choose one to read closely with a small, “expert” group. Building on their collaborative close reading, students independently analyze and write about their text. In the second stage of the culminating activity, students return to their small groups to discuss their writing and draft a question that compares their text to the other texts in the unit. Students then “jigsaw” to a new group and use their analysis, writing, and comparative question to facilitate and participate in a structured text-centered discussion with students who have analyzed the other two texts.

The culminating text-centered discussions could be given in an “academic panel” format. In this format, student groups have their discussions in front of the class (and invited community members) to simulate real-world and college panel discussions. See the description in Task 11 for more details.

Activity 6: READING AND DISCUSSING RELATED TEXTS

Students listen to three related texts and discuss them as a class.
INSTRUCTIONAL NOTES
• Read aloud the texts #7, #8, and #9. Alternatively, strong readers can be asked to read aloud.
• Lead a discussion of the students’ first impressions of the texts, using the Guiding Questions to help facilitate discussion.

TEXTUAL NOTES
The three texts are all accounts from explorers who raced to the South Pole in 1911: Roald Amundsen's after-the-fact recounting of his arrival at the Pole in December [#7] and two entries from Robert Scott's in-the-moment journal: one recounting his own, disappointing arrival in January, 1912 [#8], and the other his last entries before expiring in March, 1912 [#9]. All three texts should be accessible to students, with Amundsen's seeming the most complex and Scott's last entries the most austere - in sharp contrast to his more complex
"Impressions" recounted in Text #2. Taken together, the three texts tell the story of how the race ended for each explorer, and also suggest both the extreme challenges and emotional moments they encountered. Each provides opportunities to read closely (and independently) for textual details, and illustrates how the author's perspective and situation when writing influence how he presents his account.

Activity: QUESTIONING AND ANALYZING TEXTS INDEPENDENTLY

INSTRUCTIONAL NOTES
Students may be assigned a text based on their reading comprehension levels, interests, or developing skills (as demonstrated earlier in the unit), or they may be allowed to choose a text following their initial reading and small group discussion of the three. Either way, each student will be responsible for doing a close reading, questioning, analysis, and summary of one of the three related texts.
SMALL GROUP CLOSE READING USING THE QUESTIONING TEXTS WORKSHEET
• Small “expert” groups read one of the texts collaboratively using the Questioning Texts Worksheet.
• Each group member lls in his/her own Questioning Texts Worksheet for their assigned text, and each develops a separate text-specific question through their discussion.
INDEPENDENT ANALYSIS USING THE ANALYZING DETAILS WORKSHEET
• Students independently complete an Analyzing Texts Worksheet using a text-specific question (his/her own or one from another group member).
• Students might optionally return to their expert groups to discuss their analysis.

MODEL TEXT QUESTIONING SEQUENCE
Guiding Question(s) (for all three texts):
1- What information/ideas are described in detail?
2- What is the author’s personal relationship to the topic or themes?
3- What does the text leave uncertain or unstated? Why?
Text-specific Question(s):
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Roald Amundsen, The South Pole, Chapter XII "At the Pole", December 14, 1911
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1- In paragraph 1, what details does Amundsen provide to suggest how challenging the final approach to the South Pole was? How do the details, and the mood, of paragraph 2 contrast with this opening description?
2- What do the details presented in paragraph 5 suggest about the moment of raising the first flag above the South Pole, and Amundsen's view of this historic event?
3- In paragraph 3, Amundsen says "Can anything more topsy-turvy be imagined?" What unstated ironies about his winning the race to the South Pole is he suggesting?

MODEL TEXT QUESTIONING SEQUENCE

Guiding Question(s) (for all three texts):
1- What information/ideas are described in detail?
2- What is the author’s personal relationship to the topic or themes?
3- What does the text leave uncertain or unstated? Why?
Text-specific Question(s):
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Robert Falcon Scott, Scott's Last Expedition, January 16-18, 1912
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1- Scott begins his January 16 entry by saying, "The worst has happened, or nearly the worst." What details does he present in this and the next entry that let us know what his party has discovered?
2- What perspective about the journey and emotions about its ending does Scott reveal in his January 17 entry when he says, "Great God! this is an awful place and terrible enough for us to have laboured to it without the reward of priority."?
3- When Scott lists the names of the five Norwegians he has found in the tent, what does he leave unsaid about his own party and their place in history?

Text-specific Question(s):
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Robert Falcon Scott, Scott's Last Expedition, March 16-29, 1912
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1- What details recorded in Scott's journal suggest how desperate their situation was during the last weeks?
2- In his final entries, Scott's writing becomes very different from in his earlier entries (compare these to Text #2). How are the writing and its presentation of details different? What does this change in his writing style suggest about how his "personal relationship" to the experience has changed in his final days?
3- The details of Scott's final entries suggest that his party got within eleven miles of the supply depot before they perished. What does Scott not say about how this information might have made them feel? Why does this make his near-final words "the end cannot be far" seem very ironic?

Closure:	
Homework:	

LEARNING TASK 11 STANDARDS
ELP STANDARDS	
RI.7.1: Cite several pieces of textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly as
well as inferences drawn from the text. 
ELPs: IV-R-S4-HI-4: answering literal, inferential and personal response questions about text.
IV-S4-R-HI-14: drawing conclusions from information implied or inferred in a literary selection.
IV-S4-R-HI-28: interpreting information in functional documents (e.g. memos, directories, search engines, manuals, recipes, graphic organizers.)
IV-S4-R--HI-30: distinguishing fact from opinion and bias in persuasive text by providing supporting evidence.
IV-S3-R-HI-1: reading aloud passages from unfamiliar content area text, observing phrasing, punctuation and expression.

RI.7.2: Determine two or more central ideas in a text and analyze their development over the course
of the text; provide an objective summary of the text.

RI.7.4: Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, including figurative,
connotative, and technical meanings; analyze the impact of a specific word choice on meaning and
tone.
ELPs: IV-R-S4-HI-9 locating sequential/chronological order signal words (e.g. first,meanwhile,, not long ago) in text.
IV- R-S4- HI-10: locating signal words in text that indicate comparison/ contrast (e.g., similarly, on the other hand, however, yet, in spite of).
IV-R-S4-HI-11: locating signal words in text that indicate cause and effect (e.g. as a result of, consequently, since).
IV-R--S4-HI-21: applying understandings of content area vocabulary within math, science and social studies text.

RI.7.6: Determine an author’s point of view or purpose in a text and analyze how the author
distinguishes his or her position from that of others.
ELP: Stage IV R-S4 HI-12: determining the author's stated or implied purpose (e.g., to inform, to persuade, to entertain). 

RI.7.10: By the end of the year, read and comprehend literary nonfiction in the grades 6–8 text
complexity band proficiently, with scaffolding as needed at the high end of the range.
ELPs: IV-R-S3-HI-1: read grade level test aloud fluently with 90% comprehension. 

W.7.2: Write informative/explanatory texts to examine a topic and convey ideas, concepts, and
information through the selection, organization, and analysis of relevant content. 
ELPs: V-W-S5-HI-2: locate and evaluate informational sources about a topic .
IV-W-S5-HI-3: organize notes on a topic from a variety of sources.
IV-W-S1-HI-4: writing essays and reports, based on a synthesis of research, using topic sentences, main ideas, relevant facts, details, and concluding statements.
IV-W-S5-HI-5: paraphrase information and cite the source.
IV-W-S5-HI-6: include works cited, bibliography or reference page.

W.7.9: Draw evidence from literary or informational texts to support analysis, reflection, and research.                                       ELPs: IV-W-S5-HI-2: locate and evaluate informational sources about a topic.
IV-W-S1-HI-3: quoting or paraphrasing information sources, and supplying citations.
IV-W-S5-HI-5: paraphrase information and cite the source.
IV-W-S5-HI-6: include works cited, bibliography or reference page.

SUGGESTED MINI LESSONS 
	
LEARNING TASK 11
INSTRUCTION:  1 DAY (Day 20 of the unit)	

Monday, September 8, 2014                  WALKER	

DISTRICT ASSESSMENT 

ASSESSMENT 
Students use their analysis to independently write a detailed-based explanation of one of the texts.

INSTRUCTIONAL NOTES
This activity serves both as a more formal assessment of each student’s demonstration of the skills focused on in the unit, and as a foundation for their planning, where they will lead a discussion  comparing their text to others read in the unit.

Students write a multi-paragraph explanation, using textual evidence that explains:
A central idea of the text and how it is developed across it
What the central idea demonstrates about the author’s perspective on the topic
What they have come to understand about the topic from the text.

RUBRIC http://blogs.egusd.net/ccss/files/2013/10/Info.Exp_.7th-8th-CCSS-w410k0.pdf

ASSESSMENT OPPORTUNITIES
The multi-paragraph explanations students draft should be reviewed closely as evidence of their close reading skills (and, to a lesser extent, as a formative assessment of their explanatory writing skills). At this point, students should be able to:
• Describe accurately central ideas of a text
• Explain observations about the author’s perspective
• Identify something they have learned from their reading that is clearly text-related
• Reference details related to each of these writing purposes.
Students who can do so are ready to lead discussions. Students who have not yet been able to
read and explain their understanding of their text successfully may need additional support before moving
on.

LEARNING TASK 12 STANDARDS
ELP STANDARDS	
SL.7.1: Engage effectively in a range of collaborative discussions (one-on-one, in groups, and
teacher-led) with diverse partners on grade 7 topics, texts, and issues, building on others’ ideas and
expressing their own clearly. 
ELPs:IV-LS-S2- HI-4: participating in formal and informal conversation tasks using complete sentences. 
IV-LS-S1-HI-6: respond to social conversations by rephrasing/repeating information, asking questions, offering advice, sharing one’s experience and expressing one’s thoughts.
IV-LS-S1-HI-7: offer and justify opinions and ideas in response to questions and statements in academic discourse
IV-L-S1-HI-8: offering and justifying opinions and ideas in response to questions and statements in academic discourse. 	
IV-L-S2-HI-7: responding to social conversations by rephrasing/ repeating information, asking questions, offering advice, sharing one’s experiences and expressing one’s thoughts.  H-8: providing and justifying an appropriate response to given formal and informal situations. 

RI.7.10: By the end of the year, read and comprehend literary nonfiction in the grades 6–8 text
complexity band proficiently, with scaffolding as needed at the high end of the range.
ELPs: IV-R-S3-HI-1: read grade level test aloud fluently with 90% comprehension.

W.7.2: Write informative/explanatory texts to examine a topic and convey ideas, concepts, and
information through the selection, organization, and analysis of relevant content.
ELPs:IV-W-S5-HI-2: locate and evaluate informational sources about a topic .
IV-W-S5-HI-3: organize notes on a topic from a variety of sources.
IV-W-S1-HI-4: writing essays and reports, based on a synthesis of research, using topic sentences, main ideas, relevant facts, details, and concluding statements
IV-W-S5-HI-5: paraphrase information and cite the source.
IV-W-S5-HI-6: include works cited, bibliography or reference page.

W.7.4: Produce clear and coherent writing in which the development, organization, and style are
appropriate to task, purpose, and audience.
ELPs: IV-W-S1-HI:3 take notes using self selected formats based upon knowledge or oral or written text structures.
IV-W-S1-HI:6 write a variety or functional text that addresses audience, stated purpose and context (e.g. directions, procedures, graphs/tables, brochures)
IV-W-S1-HI:7 write a formal letter that presents information purposefully and follows conventional format. (e.g. business letter)
IV-W-S4-HI:1 write clearly focused text suited to an audience and purpose that incorporates relevant supporting details
IV-W-S4-HI:2 write paragraphs that use a structure that fits the type of writing, smooth and effective transitions and a conclusion that provides a sense of resolution.
IV-W-S4-HI:3 write paragraphs showing an awareness of audience and appropriate to the topic and type of writing.
IV-W-S5-HI:2 record hypotheses, reflections, questions, speculations, decisions and conclusion structured around an investigation.

W.7.9: Draw evidence from literary or informational texts to support analysis, reflection, and research.                          ELP IV-W-S1-HI-3: quote or paraphrase information sources, and supplying citations. 

KEY ACADEMIC VOCABULARY:  Textual evidence; Central Idea; Author’s perspective; Topic; 

MATERIALS - Text Centered Discussions Checklist

SUGGESTED MINI LESSONS
	
LEARNING TASK 12
INSTRUCTION:  2 DAYS (Day 21-22 of the unit.)	

Tuesday-Wednesday, September 9-10, 2014    CORTEZ	
Do Now:	
Anticipatory Set:	
Vocabulary and strategies	

ACTIVITY : UNDERSTANDING TEXT-CENTERED DISCUSSIONS
The teacher leads students in a reflective conversation about productive, text-centered discussions.

INSTRUCTIONAL NOTES
Throughout the unit, students have informally practiced the skills and behaviors used in text-centered discussions without formal instruction related to Speaking and Listening CCSS SL.1. Now present students with the TCD Checklist, a framework that outlines those skills.
• Read through the Checklist asking students to reflect on their performance for each criterion in the small group discussions throughout the unit.
• Have students refer to specific moments (or evidence) from previous small group discussions as examples of when they demonstrated – or didn't demonstrate – the criteria.
• Students fill out the checklist, indicating which skills they have demonstrated in small-group and class activities, noting specific examples in the “Comments” section.
• Students identify skills/behaviors they want to work on in this last part of the unit, as they prepare for and participate in their culminating text-centered discussions.

ACTIVITY: IDENTIFYING AND ORGANIZING IDEAS

INSTRUCTIONAL NOTES
Students prepare for their culminating demonstration of the unit where they will explain a central idea of their text, identify something they have learned from reading their text (in the context of the other texts of the unit), and pose a comparative text-dependent question to facilitate a text-based discussion. The key to this activity is that each student is encouraged to come up with an individual insight or observation that has sprung from reading and studying texts throughout the unit. For some students, this could be a more literal discovery or comparison, for others an inference supported by the texts, and for others still, an evidence-based claim. Students’ discoveries need to be text-based and connected to a text-dependent question, but do not need to be too carefully structured around a particular theme, idea, or detail.

EXPERT GROUP DISCUSSIONS
• Students review each other’s explanations in text-based expert groups for accuracy and use of details and compare the observations/discoveries they have made about their common text.
• Students discuss their text in relationship to texts #5 & #6, and to the other texts of the unit.
• Use the Text-Centered Discussion Checklist to help guide their discussion.

DEVELOP A COMPARATIVE QUESTION INDEPENDENTLY
• Students independently develop a text-dependent question that is based in their text but connects it to other texts.
• This question will be used to set up discussion when they join a new group in Activity 3.
• Depending on student ability, teachers might choose to model a comparative question and/or work individually with some students to help them develop their own.

ACTIVITY: LEADING A TEXT-CENTERED DISCUSSION

INSTRUCTIONAL NOTES
In this activity, students “jigsaw” to groups of three (or alternately six depending on class size) so that each of the FInal three texts is represented in the group by at least one text “expert”.

In the discussion, each student (or student pair):
• Shares their explanations of a central idea of the text:
Pointing out key details to the other students in their group
Explaining their analysis of the author’s perspective
Pointing out key words that indicate the author’s perspective
• Once each student has shared his/her analysis, they each take turns posing their comparative question and facilitating the discussion. As they facilitate, they should:
Ask the other participants to reference the texts in their comments
Share the understanding that has emerged for them, connecting it to and deepening it with comments from the others
Direct the group to re-read key portions of the texts to support discussion
• Finally, each triad group summarizes its discussion for the class, sharing questions, observations, and key textual details that they have identified and discussed.

OPTIONAL CLASS PRESENTATION OF LEARNING
One way to make the nal small group discussions lead to more of a real-world and college-level task is to use them as preparation for a class presentation of learning. In this exercise, students would develop a presentation to other teachers, community members and parents to share what they have learned about the topic, drawing on their analysis and FIelding questions from the audience. This approach simulates the types of experiences students will have in college by requiring them to experience a public speaking scenario. Inviting real observers into your classroom will lead to an increase in the depth of student preparation in Parts 4 and 5. It also enhances the focus students give to their text-centered discussion skills as well as work on their formal presentation skills.

Closure:	
Homework:	

ASSESSMENT OPPORTUNITIES
The culminating assessment activity of the unit involves participating in and leading a text-centered discussion, through which students can demonstrate both their developing skills of close reading, analysis, and questioning as well as their emerging discussion skills. As such, the activity provides both summative assessment for learning within the unit and pre-/formative assessment to inform instruction in future units. To capture evidence, listen in on group conversations and have students self and peer assess using the TCD Checklist. If more formal evidence is needed, students can compile an optional collection of evidence that includes a reflective narrative (see below), or you can record video of student conversations and review them later.

OPTIONAL-COLLECTION OF EVIDENCE
To extend assessment within this final activity, students could compile a collection of evidence that reflects
what they have learned in the unit. The collection could include a:
• written explanation of their final focus text with the worksheets that have informed and supported that
analysis
• comparative text-dependent question for their discussion group, and some reflection about what happened when the group discussed their question
• self-assessment of skills they have demonstrated as close readers and as group members, using the Reading Closely and TCD Checklists to identify and explain their strengths as well as areas they intend to focus on in further work
• personal narrative in which they “tell the story” of what they have experienced, discovered, and learned
within the unit, including a reflective summary of their reading experience for one or more of the texts

The student collection of evidence can be used for evaluation of learning in the unit, but will probably be most valuable as a formative assessment to help the teacher, and student, know what to work on in future units.