Unit 1 For Grade 7: Characters With Character

Unit 1 for Grade 7: Characters with Character

Unit Focus / Students travel back in time to examine characters from the past (e.g., Middle Ages). Students compare and contrast historical fiction with historical fact, using strategically selected text sets. Evidence-based writing focuses on the author’s use of both historical accuracies and creative license to create convincing characters that bring the past to life.
SEL Pillar #1 / ·  Accurately assessing one’s emotions, values, strengths, and capacities. / ·  Accurately assessing one’s emotions, values, strengths, and capacities.
Essential Questions / What makes characters in historical fiction convincing?
How do authors use historical fact to create historical fiction?
How does understanding the historical and cultural events of a time period enhance your reading of historical fiction set in that time period?
Possible Pre-Assessment / Have students complete an Anticipation Guide that asks them to identify whether various scenarios are examples of historical fact or historical fiction.
Possible Unit Summative Assessment
(integrates multiple standards and skills) / Prior to completing the two-part essay exam below, have students participate in a Turn-and-Talk with a partner to discuss topics learned during this unit. The teacher should provide guided questions to direct student discussions.
Two part Essay Exam: Part 1: Read – Students independently re-read a familiar set of historical and fictional text excerpts from the unit depicting the same era. Students use before-during-after reading strategies practiced in this unit to collect and organize evidence and plan their written response to the essential questions.
Part 2: Write – Students write well-developed evidence-based essays responding to the essential questions; they demonstrate both comprehension of the texts and writing skills acquired and/or practiced in this unit. Grading criteria are known in advance. This process takes two days.
Alternative Assessment: BOOK REVIEWS/COMPARISON-CONTRAST ESSAY—Have students read book review of the novel Crispin: The Cross of Lead on pgs. 693-694 in the McDougal Littel Literature text. Using the discussion questions and guidelines on pg. 695, students will write an essay comparing their reactions to the novel to the reactions of the reviewers. Students will demonstrate comprehension of text, understanding of fact vs. opinion, and writing skills.
Focus Standards for This Unit
*Note that the following standards need to be addressed in every unit:
-RL.7.1
-RL.7.10
-RI.7.1
-RI.7.10
-W.7.9
-W.7.10
Standards that in the DC Standards and Core Standards that need to be covered in a lesson. / Reading Standards for Literature
RL.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.
RL.7.2: Determine a theme or central idea of a text and analyze its development over the course of the text; provide an objective summary of the text.
RL.7.3: Analyze how particular elements of story or drama interact (e.g., how setting shapes the characters or plot).
RL.7.4: Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, including figurative and connotative meanings; analyze the impact of rhymes and other repetitions of sounds (e.g., alliteration) on a specific verse or stanza of a poem or section of a story or drama.
RL.7.5: Analyze how a drama or poem’s form and structure (e.g., soliloquy, sonnet) contributes to its meaning.
RL.7.6: Analyze how an author develops and contrasts the points of view of different characters or narrators in a text.
RL.7.9: Compare and contrast a fictional portrayal of a time, place, or character and a historical account of the same period as a means of understanding how authors of fiction use or alter history.
RL.7.10: Read and comprehend complex literary and informational texts independently and proficiently.
Reading Standards for Informational Text
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.
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.
RI.7.5: Analyze the structure an author uses to organize a text, including how the major sections contribute to the whole and to the development of the ideas.
RI.7.7: Compare and contrast a text to an audio, video, or multimedia version of the text, analyzing each medium's portrayal of the subject.
RI.7.10: Read and comprehend complex literary and informational texts independently and proficiently.
Writing Standards
W.7.3: Write narratives to develop real or imagined experiences or events using effective technique, relevant descriptive details, and well-structured event sequences.
W.7.4: Produce clear and coherent writing in which the development, organization, and style are appropriate to task, purpose, and audience.
W.7.9: Draw evidence from literary or informational texts to support analysis, reflection, and research.
W.7.10: Write routinely over extended time frames and shorter time frames for a range of tasks, purposes, and audiences.
Speaking and Listening Standards
SL.7.1: Engage effectively in a range of collaborative discussions with diverse partners on grade 7 topics, texts, and issues, building on other’s ideas and expressing their own clearly.
a: Come to discussions prepared, having read or studies required material; explicitly draw on that preparation by referring to evidence on the topic, text or issue to probe and reflect on ideas under discussion.
b: Follow rules for collegial discussion, set specific goals and deadlines, and define individual roles as needed.
c: Pose questions that elicit elaboration and respond to others’ questions and comments with relevant observations and ideas that bring the discussion back on topic as needed.
d: Acknowledge new information expressed by others and, when warranted, modify their own views.
Language Standards
L.7.4: Determine or clarify the meaning of unknown and multiple-meaning words and phrases based on grades 7 reading and content, choosing flexibly from a range of strategies.
a: Use context as a clue to the meaning of a word or phrase.
b: Use common, grade-appropriate Greek or Latin affixes and roots as clues to the meaning of a word (e.g., belligerent, bellicose, rebel)
c: Consult reference materials, both print and digital, to find the pronunciation of a word or determine or clarify its precise meaning or its part of speech.
d: Verify the preliminary determination of the meaning of a word or phrase (e.g., by checking the inferred meaning in context or in a dictionary).
L.7.5: Demonstrate understanding of figurative language, word relationships, and nuances in word meanings.
a. Interpret figures of speech (e.g., literary, biblical, and mythological allusions) in context.
b. Use the relationship between particular words (e.g., synonym/antonym, analogy) to better understand each of the words.
c. Distinguish among the connotations of words with similar denotations.
Suggested Works
Each unit includes:
□  Close analysis of 3-5 short complex texts
□  In-depth study of one complex extended text (anchor text for unit)
□  Practice of oral reading fluency through partner reading, small group reading, or teacher small group reading
□  Ongoing in-depth comparisons of complex texts
□  Write to complex texts studied, including 3-5 informative, narrative and/or opinion pieces /

Literary Texts

In the McDougal Littel text:

FICTION

·  Crispin: The Cross of Lead (Avi)—(novel) pg. 686

·  Young Arthur (Robert San Souci)—(legend) pg. 660

·  Sir Gawain and the Green Knight (Michael Morpurgo)—pg. 670

NONFICTION/INFORMATIONAL TEXT

·  Who was King Arthur? (magazine article) –pg. 669

·  Serf on the Run (book review)—pg. 692

·  Medieval Adventures (book review)--694

OTHER RESOURCES:

Stories (Read Aloud/ Introduction to the Middle Ages)

·  Favorite Medieval Tales (Mary Pope Osborne)
·  Good Masters! Sweet Ladies! Voices from a Medieval Village(Laura Amy Schlitz)
·  The World of King Arthur and His Court: People, Places, Legend, and Lore (Kevin Crossley-Holland)
·  Anna of Byzantium (Tracy Barrett)
·  Castle Diary: The Journal of Tobias Burgess (Richard Platt and Chris Riddell)
·  The Seeing Stone (Arthur Trilogy, Book One) (Kevin Crossley-Holland)
·  Adam of the Road (Elizabeth Janet Gray) (easier to read)
·  The Midwife’s Apprentice (Karen Cushman) (easier to read)
·  A Single Shard (Linda Sue Park) (Medieval Korea)
·  Sundiata: Lion King of Mali (David Wisniewski) (Medieval Africa)
·  Traveling Man: The Journey of Ibn Battuta 1325-1354 (James Rumford) (Medieval Africa)
·  Sundiata: An Epic of Old Mali (Djibril Tamsir Niane) (Medieval Africa)
·  Old English Riddles: From the Exeter Book (Michael Alexander)

nonfiction/Informational Texts

Medieval Europe
·  Cathedral: the Story of Its Construction (David Macaulay) (E)
·  The Medieval World (Philip Steele)
·  Manners and Customs in the Middle Ages (Marsha Groves)
·  Joan of Arc (Diane Stanley)
·  Personal Recollections of Joan of Arc (Mark Twain)
·  Outrageous Women of the Middle Ages (Vicki Leon)
The Horrible, Miserable Middle Ages: The Disgusting Details About Life During Medieval Times (Fact Finders: Disgusting History series) (Kathy Allen)
·  The Middle Ages: An Illustrated History (Oxford Illustrated Histories) (Barbara Hanawalt)
·  How Would You Survive in the Middle Ages (Fiona MacDonald and David Salariya)
·  Science and Technology in Medieval European Life. (Wigelsworth, Jeffrey R.)
Medieval Africa
·  The Royal Kingdoms of Ghana, Mali and Songhay: Life in Medieval Africa (Patricia and Fredrick McKissack)
Websites and/or Additional Resources:
·  http://www.besthistorysites.net/medieval.shtml
·  http://www.historicalnovels.info/Medieval-YA.html
A comprehensive list of young adult novels set during the Middle Ages.
·  http://www.themiddleages.net/
Information about life in the middle ages and important people of the middle ages.
·  http://www.themiddleages.net/teacher.html
Web links that provide useful resources and lesson plans for teachers planning units and activities on the Middle Ages and medieval life.

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1 / RELA Unit1 Grade7| MAPCS
Key Terminology and Academic Language
*5-10 terms per reading should be selected for each short complex text
*5-10 words per week should be selected for extended complex text / ·  character development
·  dialogue
·  monologue
·  rising action
·  conflict / ·  plot
·  protagonist
·  setting (historical)
·  climax
·  point of view / ·  compare
·  contrast
·  generalization
·  falling action
·  dialogue / ·  textual evidence
·  creative license
·  exposition
·  resolution
1 / RELA Unit1 Grade7| MAPCS
Additional Interdisciplinary Connections / Social Studies
Students may study the history of the Middle Ages.
Science
As students continue to develop their inquiry skills, they learn to question claims and evidence, even those made by seemingly reliable sources (e.g., partial evidence can be exploited for reasons other than truth seeking). / Art
Students may study art from the Middle Ages.
Music
The music class may be working on songs that focus on fictional and historical characters such as, Anatevka (Fiddler on the Roof), Dr. Martin Luther King, and Evita (Don't Cry for Me Argentina).
Health and Physical Education
Student may play versions of in gameball (which is like football), hurling or shinty (which is similar to hockey) or horseshoes. These games were played in the Middle Ages.

Parts of this document were adapted from CommonCore.org.

PLANNING WORKSHEET: Use the additional space in this tool to further develop the plan for instruction
·  ELA Standard / ·  Critical Sub-skills
(Knowledge that students should understand and skills they should demonstrate) / ·  Possible Learning Tasks
*Tasks may be accomplished over multiple literacy block periods or repeated for emphasis over several periods.
*Some tasks address multiple standards and more than one knowledge or skill item.
*Tasks that may apply to more than one ELA standard are cited in multiple rows.
RL.7.1 / ·  Cite textual evidence to support explicit statements in text.
·  Cite textual evidence to support implicit statements about text.
·  Gather textual evidence to form a generalization or analysis statement about text. / ·  Provide students with an accurate explicit statement about the text; contrast textual evidence that supports the statement with textual evidence that does not. Repeat with an implicit statement.
·  Students classify statements about a text as explicit or implicit.
·  Provide students with a set of textual evidence; partners or groups use the evidence to form true explicit or implicit analysis statements about the text.
Differentiation: Mini-lesson on vocabulary before starting, Provide real-world examples of explicit statements vs. implicit statements, Clarify misunderstood meanings, Use a T-chart for classifying new statements
RL.7.2 / ·  Define theme.
·  Analyze plot to determine a theme.
·  Determine how key events, characters’ actions and interactions, and setting develop over the course of the text to develop theme.
·  Define summary.
·  Compose and objective summary stating key points from the text. / ·  Students will read science fiction novels, either individually or in literature circles. As they read, they should identify questions for research that will help them determine the accuracy and validity of what they are reading.
·  Students learn to debate issues and themes within a novel. This lesson can be ongoing throughout the study of a novel. Students are first introduced to debating by studying the Lincoln-Douglas debate format. Students then assume the roles of the debate stakeholders, and debate selected issues. Peers are able to evaluate the performance of the debaters at the conclusion of the debate.
Differentiation: Use tracking notes that to help students understand what a character is thinking, doing or saying to record textual evidence (and include the page number). With partners or in small groups, students reread these notes to identify the points of view for their debate.
Differentiation: Vary the length of the selection students are responsible for, or provide some students with a highlighted or annotated version of the text.
RL.7.3 / ·  Identify particular lines of dialogue in a story or drama that propel the action, reveal aspects of a character or provoke a decision.
·  Analyze how a particular line of dialogue in a story propels the action.
·  Identify particulary incidents in a story or drama that propel the action, reveal aspects of character or provoke decision. / ·  Students will complete a graphic organizer in which they identify the elements of plot and apply them to a particular story or narrative poem (exposition, rising action, climax, falling action, resolution).