ELA UNIT PLANNING
UNIT: Investigation Unit TIME FRAME: November 19 – December TEACHER/GR:_8th grade Team
Unit Summary and Rationale:(Outlines the components of the unit and the reasoning for their inclusion):1. We have noticed a weakness in student comprehension of stories. We want students to really focus on going back into the text for answers. Not only are mystery stories fun to read, but they also require very active reading.
2. Our central text will be from Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes stories because it will allow students to analyze how modern media has drawn from traditional Sherlock Holmes stories.
UnitConnectionCollege and Career Ready Descriptions: Teachers will select at least one of the following lenses to act as the overlay for the unit. These descriptors must be included to ensure the unit is fully aligned to the CCSS and relevant to the college and career ready student.
£Students will demonstrate independence.
£Students will value evidence.
£Students will build strong content knowledge.
£ Students will respond to the varying demands of audience, task, and discipline.
£ Students will critique as well as comprehend.
£ Students will use technology and digital media strategically and capably.
£ Students will develop an understanding of other perspectives and cultures.
Unit Standards: Teachers should list the standards to be addressed within the unit.
Reading
Literature X Informational Text X
8.RL.1 / Cite the textual evidence that most strongly supports an analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text.
8.RL.3 / Analyze how particular lines of dialogue or incidents in a story or drama propel the action, reveal aspects of a character, or provoke a decision.
8.RL.4 / Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, including figurative and connotative meanings; analyze the impact of specific word choices on meaning and tone, including analogies or allusions to other texts.
8.RL.5 / Compare and contrast the structure of two or more texts and analyze how the differing structure of each text contributes to its meaning and style.
8.RL.6 / Analyze how differences in the points of view of the characters and the audience or reader (e.g., created through the use of dramatic irony) create such effects as suspense or humor
8.RL.9 / Analyze how a modern work of fiction draws on themes, patterns of events, or character types from myths, traditional stories, or religious works such as the Bible, including describing how the material is rendered new
/ Writing
8.W.1 / Write arguments to support claims with clear reasons and relevant evidence.
8.W.1a / Introduce claim(s), acknowledge and distinguish the claim(s) from alternate or opposing claims, and organize the reasons and evidence logically.
8.W.1b / Support claim(s) with logical reasoning and relevant evidence, using accurate, credible sources and demonstrating an understanding of the topic or text.
8.W.1c / Use words, phrases, and clauses to create cohesion and clarify the relationships among claim(s), counterclaims, reasons, and evidence.
8.W.1d / Establish and maintain a formal style.
8.W.1e / Provide a concluding statement or section that follows from and supports the argument presented.
8.W.9a / Apply grade 8 Reading standards to literature (e.g., "Analyze how a modern work of fiction draws on themes, patterns of events, or character types from myths, traditional stories, or religious works such as the Bible, including describing how the material is rendered new").
/ Speaking and Listening
8.SL.1 / Engage effectively in a range of collaborative discussions (one-on-one, in groups, and teacher led) with diverse partners on grade 8 topics, texts, and issues, building on others' ideas and expressing their own clearly.
8.SL.1a / Come to discussions prepared, having read or researched material under study; explicitly draw on that preparation by referring to evidence on the topic, text, or issue to probe and reflect on ideas under discussion.
8.SL.1b / Follow rules for collegial discussions and decision-making, track progress toward specific goals and deadlines, and define individual roles as needed.
8.SL.1c / Pose questions that connect the ideas of several speakers and respond to others' questions and comments with relevant evidence, observations, and ideas.
8.SL.4 / Present claims and findings, emphasizing salient points in a focused, coherent manner with relevant evidence, sound valid reasoning, and well-chosen details; use appropriate eye contact, adequate volume, and clear pronunciation.
/ Language
8.L.1b / Form and use verbs in the active and passive voice.
8.L.1c / Form and use verbs in the indicative, imperative, interrogative, conditional, and subjunctive mood.
8.L.3 / Use knowledge of language and its conventions when writing, speaking, reading, or listening.
8.L.3a / Use verbs in the active and passive voice and in the conditional and subjunctive mood to achieve particular effects (e.g., emphasizing the actor or the action; expressing uncertainty or describing a state contrary to fact).
Essential Questions: Essential questions center around major issues, problems, concerns, interests, or themes relevant to the classroom. Essential questions should lead students to discover the big ideas. They need to go beyond who, what and where. They need to lead to the how and why. / Big Ideas: These are what students will discover as a result of instruction and learning activities. They are the main ideas of the learning, the conclusions, or the generalizations. Big Ideas should be open-ended and apply to more than one area of study.
What ingredients make up a good mystery story? / • A good mystery gives us all the information we need to solve the case but somehow still tricks us.
· Why is it important to go back and reread a text or go back into a text to find evidence? / • Students need to find evidence in a text to support their answers and inferences.
How can point of view build suspense? / • 1st person point of view can keep us in suspense because we are not able to see everything. 3rd person limited can also leave out parts to build suspense.
Learning Targets: What should students be able to do by the end of the lesson?
By the end of the unit, students will be able to describe characteristics of the original Sherlock stories and analyze how that character has evolved over time.
By the end of the unit, students will be able to explain important elements in creating a mystery story.
By the end of the unit, students will be able to explain how point of view builds suspense in a story.
By the end of the unit, students will be able to find evidence to support their inferences and predictions for a story and then write their arguments with clear claims and evidence.
By the end of the unit, students will be able to cite evidence from a story in discussions to back up their arguments.
Learning Tasks: Teachers list the various tasks students will engage in throughout the unit, include use of media/other forms of information.
Reading Tasks
· Sherlock Holmes
· “The Most Dangerous Game”
· North Carolina Legends
· Excerpts of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
· Mystery Novel of Choice / Writing Tasks
· Write inferences for what will happen/has happened using evidence to support
· Reading logs for mystery novels
· Research a North Carolina legend.
o Background
o Argument: Is it possible?
· Reflection on techniques they used to tell the story.
o What did you do to build suspense? / Discussion Tasks
· Discuss inferences for the book and cite evidence to support
· Create a fake campfire and retell the story in their own words to a small group. / Language/Vocabulary Tasks
· Discuss how words have changed over time. For example: cab, Sherlock
· Is Sherlock a good role model?
Vocabulary: mystery, cab, legend
Assessments: List types of assessments that will be used throughout the course of the unit.*If you do not have assessments for this unit, they should be created before moving on to the lesson design*
DIAGNOSTIC / FORMATIVE / SUMMATIVE
Discussion/Interactive Notebook Entry: What do you already know about Sherlock Holmes?
Turn and Talk: How do you tell a good mystery story? / · Interactive Notebook Entry
· Compare/Contrast between traditional Sherlock Holmes story and Sherlock Holmes in some form of media today
· Independent Mystery Book Reading Logs / · Campfire North Carolina Legend
· Reflection on North Carolina Legend Story-Telling Techniques
· “Most Dangerous Game Quiz”
Text(s) Selections/Resources(generated by both teacher and student)
Teachers will list the genres/titles/resources for study and indicate text complexity:
The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (Lexile: 1080)
The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde” by Robert Louis Stevenson (Lexile 1040)
Edgar Allen Poe: http://www.poemuseum.org/works.php
1. “The Tell-Tale Heart” (Lexile: 1350)
2. “Masque of the Red Death” (Lexile: 1150)
3. “The Raven” (Lexile: 790)
“The Most Dangerous Game” by Richard Connell (Lexile: 700)
Independent Mystery Novel (Differentiated by lexile and content)
Notes ( include accommodations/grouping/modifications):
Mysteries online in the common domain: http://www.feedbooks.com/books/top?category=FBFIC022000
Reading Log: https://docs.google.com/a/asheborocityschools.org/presentation/d/1IjJsUqhpFdASNJvEpWjMsvPnBYXc1qGvyn3iISJDpWg/edit#slide=id.p
Information about Sherlock: http://sherlockian.net/
Differentiate the Sherlock Holmes stories and Poe stories by lexile, length, and interest.
March 14, 2012