UNDERSTANDINGS: the Student Will Understand That

UNDERSTANDINGS: the Student Will Understand That

English II Shakespeare

05/16/07

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Grade Level/Course: English II

Unit Title:Julius Caesar

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Duration: 3-4weeks

CONTENT (TEKS)
Northside Independent School District curriculum incorporates big ideas, enduring understandings and skills of a discipline. The curriculum units provide clarity and are aligned to the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills.
Universal Concept(s):
Content Specific Concept(s):The themes in Shakespeare’s plays are universal, transcending time and cultures to be applicable to our lives today.
UNDERSTANDINGS: The student will understand that. . .
Unit Specific Understandings
  • Proficient readers make text-to-self, text-to-text, and text-to-world connections as they read.
  • Proficient readers visualize and create mental images as they read.
  • Proficient readers ask questions as they read.
  • Proficient readers determine what is important as they read.
  • Proficient readers use background knowledge to make inferences as they read.
  • Proficient readers synthesize ideas to reach conclusions.
  • Proficient readers know when they don’t understand text and use strategies to fix comprehension.
On-going Understandings
  • Literacy expertise fostersparticipation as knowledgeable, reflective, creative, and critical citizens in a democratic society.
  • Reading and writing processes enable learners to build understandings of texts, the self, the human experience, and global cultures.
  • Reading and writing leads to knowledge acquisition and investigation through effective questioning and a variety of technological and information resources.
  • Reading and writing empowers individuals to respond to the needs and demands of society and the workplace.
  • Reading and writing leads to personal fulfillment.
  • Communicating effectively involves adjusting the use of spoken, written, and visual language patterns for a variety of audiences and purposes.

ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS: The student will be able to answer these questions…
  • What are the qualities of a good leader?
  • What is a tragic hero?
  • What is true patriotism?
  • What role does ambition play in tragedy? What role does revenge play in tragedy?
  • In what ways has Shakespeare’s works helped to shape our contemporary values and literature?

PROCESS SKILLS:
Reading and writing process skills are incorporated throughout each unit of study and cannot be taught in isolation.
DO: The student will be able to… / KNOW: The student will know…
PREREADING
Read to be entertained, to appreciate a writer’s craft, to be informed, to take action, and to discover models to use in his/her own writing.
TEKS 8A / PREREADING
Self-directed and teacher-directed purposes consciously chosen and articulated by either the teacher or student.
Draw upon his/her own background to provide connection to texts.
TEKS7B /
  • Predictions of outcomes and actions in fiction selections and narrative poems, based on content clues and on his or her own experiences.
  • Use of his or her own experience to understand texts.

DURING AND POSTREADING
Expand vocabulary through wide reading, listening, and discussing.
TEKS6A / DURING AND POSTREADING
Rely on context to determine meanings of words and phrases such as figurative language, idioms, multiple meaning words, and technical vocabulary.
TEKS 6B /
  • Connotative meaning of words/phrases/sentences is the emotional content, significance or implied meaning of a word, phrase, or sentence.
  • Denotative meaning of words/phrases/sentences is the actual, literal, explicit meaning of a word, phrase, or sentence.
  • Analogies are a claimed one-to-one comparison; the basic test for the validity of an analogy is to determine if there are more significant similarities than there are differences

Apply meanings of prefixes, roots, and suffixes in order to comprehend.
TEKS6C / Note:
Latin prefixes, suffixes, and roots taught at ninth grade level. Greek roots taught at the tenth grade level.
Research word origins as an aid to understanding meanings, derivations, and spellings as well as influences on the English language.
TEKS6D
Use reference materials such as glossary, dictionary, thesaurus, and available technology to determine precise meanings and usage.
TEKS 6E / Accurate use of reference information such as pronunciation, part of speech, multiple meanings, etc.
Discriminate between connotative and denotative meanings and interpret the connotative power of words.
TEKS 6F /
  • Connotative meaning of a word/phrase/sentence is the emotional content, significance or implied meaning of a word, phrase,or sentence.
  • Denotative meaning of a word/phrase/sentence is the actual, literal, explicit meaning of a word, phrase, or sentence.

Read and understand analogies.
TEKS 6G / Basic test of the validity of an analogy:determination of whether or not there are more similarities or differences between the two persons, places, things or events that are analogized
Monitor his/her own reading strategies and make modifications when understanding breaks down such as by rereading, using
resources, and questioning.
TEKS7C / Use of contextual, syntactic, and structural strategies to understand the meaning of unfamiliar words
Construct images such as graphic organizers based on text descriptions and text structures.
TEKS 7D /
  • Venn Diagram: comparison/contrast of traits/characteristics of two characters
  • Chart: classification of events
  • Chart: chronology of events
  • Chart: cause/effect
  • Outline: classifying ideas (Roman numeral, capital letter plus numbers 1-2)
  • Web: chronology of events
  • Web: characteristics of a character
  • Web: causes of a character’s actions

Analyze text structures such as compare and contrast, cause and effect, and chronological order for how they influence understanding.
TEKS7E /
  • Recognition of text structure used by an author for the entire text (e.g., compare/contrast, cause/effect, and chronological ordering).
  • Recognition of how an author organizes a portion of the text, e.g., a single significant event in the plot and then asking, “Why did that happen?”

Produce summaries of texts by identifying main ideas and their supporting details.
TEKS7F /
  • Main idea of entire expository passage,i.e., “What is the passage mainly about?”
  • Main idea of a single narrative or expository paragraph or set of paragraphs
  • Text support for a given main idea question, with an emphasis on cause/effect questions/reasoning
  • Identification of best summary that includes the following:
the main idea of the passage,
multiple, accurate details that support that main idea; and
details come from the beginning, middle, and end of the passage.
Draw inferences such as conclusions, generalizations, and predictions and support them with text evidence and experience.
TEKS 7G /
  • Inference: taking specific information (from text and/or prior experience/learning) in order to draw a conclusion or form a generalization; an inductive process; “reading between the lines.” (The writer implies; the reader infers.)
  • Drawing and supportingconclusions with and without text evidence: statement about an individual person, place, thing, or event that is supported by accurate information TAKSNote:
On TAKS, that information must come from
the text.) Conclusions should be qualified
(“some” or “sometimes” statements). There
are many different kinds of conclusions:
  • a statement about an individual person, place, thing, or event;
  • a statement/conclusion about the future = prediction; and
  • a statement/conclusion about why something happened = cause/effect
  • Generalizations: statement about a group/class of persons, places, things, or events supported by accurate information. (Note: On TAKS, that information must come from the text.) There are many different kinds of generalizations:
  • a straightforward statement about a group/class of persons, places, things, or events; and
  • a statement/generalizations about the future = prediction happened = cause/effect
  • Inductive process: drawing conclusions and then validate/support it with text evidence. Deductive process: accumulate text evidence (primarily direct quotations) that will lead to valid conclusions

Read silently with comprehension for a sustained period of time.
TEKS 7I
Read world literature, including classic and contemporary works.
TEKS 8C
Interpret the possible influences of the historical context on a literary work.
TEKS 8D /
  • Historical contexts
  • Current events
  • Cultural diversity

Recognize distinctive and shared characteristics of cultures through reading.
TEKS9A /
  • Stated and inferred characteristics of various cultures from a wide variety of cultures and authors.
  • Analyzes narrative and expository text to identify distinctive and shared characteristics and experiences of characters from other cultures.

Compare text events with his/her own and other readers' experiences.
TEKS 9B /
  • Text events related to customs, language, and culture
  • Text events with his/her and other readers’ customs and culture

Respond to informational and aesthetic elements in texts such as discussions, journal entries, oral interpretations, and enactments.
TEKS10A /
  • Recognition and use of titles, subheadings, and other features or informational text
  • Aesthetic elements of text that refer to elements that evoke a sensory response (e.g., sight, smell, hearing, and touch).

Use elements of text to defend his/her own responses and interpretations.
TEKS10B /
  • Analysis of character
  • motivationA
  • traits
  • conflict
  • changes they undergo
  • point of view (omniscient, first person, third person limited, objective, stream of consciousness)
  • Setting
  • Literary language
  • Cause/effect relationships
  • Symbols
Note:
  • Multiple choice answers begin with a conclusion provided by the teacher/question and then validate/support that conclusion with text evidence. (e.g., "Which of the following sentences/statements from the passage supports the conclusion?” (that was given in the question)
  • Open-ended/constructed responses draw a conclusion and support that conclusion with text evidence, primarily direct quotations from the text.

Compare reviews of literature, film, and performance with his/her own responses.
TEKS10C / Including answering questions to:
  • Connect ideas
  • Compare and contrast characters
  • Compare ideas
  • Compare themes
  • Compare aesthetic responses
  • Compare critiques

Compare and contrast varying aspects of texts such as themes, conflicts, and allusions.
TEKS11A /
  • Theme: the central or dominating idea—the message implicit in a work. The theme is seldom stated directly. It is an abstract concept indirectly expressed through recurrent images, actions, characters, and symbols and must be inferred by the reader or spectator. Theme differs from subject in that theme is a comment, observation, or insight about the subject.
  • Conflict: Types
  • Man vs. Man (external)
  • Man vs. Society
  • Man vs. Environment
  • Man vs. Fate (such as mythology or drama)
  • Man vs. Self (internal)
  • Resolution of conflicts
  • Everybody wins
  • Flight/run away/avoid
  • Fight /resist
  • Death
  • Compromise
  • Someone wins; someone loses
  • Acceptance
  • Unresolved
  • Traits of characters
  • Physical Traits
  • Personal Traits (e.g., moral, ethical, evil, compassionate, loving, wealthy/poor)
  • Emotional Traits
  • Feelings/emotions of characters
  • Motivation of characters (for decisions, actions, and changes)
  • Intellectual Motivation
  • Emotional Motivation
  • Physical Motivation
  • Status-seeking
  • Relationships
  • Between/among other characters
  • With self
  • With society
  • With nature/ environment
  • With fate/destiny
  • With a higher power
  • Character change
  • Intellectual
  • Emotional
  • Physical
  • Change from beginning to end
  • Change before an event and after an event in the plot
  • Spiritual
  • Types of characters
  • Round
  • Flat
  • Dynamic
  • Static
  • Protagonist
  • Antagonist
  • Foil
  • Confidant
  • Archetypes

Analyze relevance of setting and time frame to text's meaning.
TEKS11B /
  • Time
  • Historical time
  • Clock time
  • Place
  • Real
  • Imaginary
  • Purpose/significance of setting
  • To establish or develop a unique plot line
  • To establish or develop unique traits/characteristics/belief of characters
  • To establish or develop unique conflicts and/or resolution of conflicts
  • To influence the reader’s perceptions/reactions of events/characters
  • To establish symbols or evoke an emotional response from reader.
  • To establish the mood, tone, or atmosphere of a work

Describe and analyze the development of plot and identify conflicts and how they are addressed and resolved.
TEKS11C /
  • Plot: the “careful arrangement by an author of incidents in a narrative to achieve a desired effect. Plot is more than simply the arrangement of happenings…. It is the result of the writer’s deliberate selection of interrelated actions… and the choice of arrangement in presenting and resolving a conflict. … Most plots involve conflict, a struggle between two opposing forces.”
  • Plot elements (when they are used and for what purpose)
  • Exposition (introduction of characters, setting, background information, etc., includes narrator and point of view)
  • Narrative hook (inciting incident; introduction of the conflict or the story problem)
  • Complication and the Rising Action (events leading up to climax)
  • Climax (highest point of interest or the turning point)
  • Falling Action (leading down to the resolution of the story problem/line)
  • Resolution/Denouement (conclusion or end)
  • Text analysis in order to determine:
  • How does author build suspense
  • The story problem?
  • When the story problem begins
  • How the author develops (the plot) of the passage
  • How the point of view influences the reader’s understanding of a character
  • The cause of the conflict(s)
Note:
Plot elements typically occur in time order. Occasionally, authors may use flashbacka way of presenting scenes or incidents that took place before the opening scene or foreshadowingas a way of giving hints or clues that suggest or prepare for events that occur later in the work.The flashback can be introduced in a number of ways. A character may tell another character about past events, have a dream about them, or simply think back to the events. The advantage of using a flashback is that the story can start in the middle or near the end, get the reader involved, and then fill in what led up to that point. Foreshadowing creates suspense, prepares the reader for what happens next, and makes final outcomes seem inevitable.
  • Conflict: Types
  • Man vs. Man (external)
  • Man vs. Society
  • Man vs. Environment
  • Man vs. Fate (such as mythology or drama)
  • Man vs. Self (internal)
  • Resolution of conflicts
  • Everybody wins
  • Flight/run away/avoid
  • Fight /resist
  • Death
  • Compromise
  • Someone wins; someone loses
  • Acceptance
  • Unresolved

Analyze the melodies of literary language, including its use of evocative words and rhythms.
TEKS11D /
  • the author’s purpose in using a specific simile,
  • the author’s purpose in alluding to a specific parable,
  • the purpose of the author’s use of rhythms/repetition in a narrative passage,
  • the author's purpose in using a specific metaphor
  • the author’s use of “figurative/vividly descriptive language” such as specific images and vivid adjectives/adverbs
And other literary language such as
  • apostrophe

Connect literature to historical contexts, current events, and his/her own experiences.
TEKS 11E

Analyze the characteristics of clearly written texts, includingpatterns of organization, syntax, and word choice.

TEKS 12A / Author’s use of punctuation, such as
  • why the author capitalizes words in the text
  • why does author uses exclamation points
  • why does the author italicizes certain words
Author’s use of tone, such as identifying/ explaining
  • the specific tone
  • why the tone changes from one part of the text to
another
  • similarities/differences in tone between texts
Note:
Tone as “the reflection in a work of the author’s attitude toward his or her subject, characters, or readers…. Tone in writing is comparable to tone of voice is speech and may be described as brusque, friendly, imperious, insinuating, teasing….” Words that TAKS has used as correct answers include tender, regretful, respectful, and urgent.
Intended audience andmessage
Organization/structure, such as
  • explaining how/why the author switches back
and forth between the past and the present and
  • identifying the turning point in a text
Word choice, such as the author’s use of descriptive/figurative language
Other characteristics of text, such as
  • explaining the significance of the author’s change of time frame and
  • explaining the significance of the author’s use of questions
Mood as the “prevailing emotional attitude in a literary work or in part of a work, for example regret, hopefulness, bitterness.” Words that TAKS has used as correct answers include suspenseful, excitement, triumph, anxiety, amazement, anticipation, eerie, and determined.
Style as the “writer’s characteristic way of saying things. Style includes arrangement of ideas, word choice, imagery, sentence structure and variety, rhythm, repetition, coherence, emphasis, unity and tone. On TAKS, questions have been about what an author’s statement (“The victory, however, was only partial”) means, why the author used a series of questions, and the effect of the author’s use of certain words to create mood or tone.
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