Unit 1: Persuasive Recommendation

Unit Context: Learners will analyze various texts (short stories, novels, independent reading books) throughout the unit and analyze them for the author’s purpose and message.  Learners will evaluate a text’s contents, strengths, and limitations in order to persuade their audience that their text is/isn’t worthy of a 9th-grade audience.

Literature Circle Texts: I Am Malala: The Girl Who Stood Up for Education and Was Shot by the Taliban, To Kill a Mockingbird, The Hate U Give, March: Book One, The Poet X, Fahrenheit 451, Animal Farm

Standards: *1A, 1C, *1D, *3A, 4C, 4D, *4E, *4F, *4I, 5A, 5B, *5C, 5D, 5E, 5F, 5G, *6A, 6B, 6C, 6D, 7A, 7B, 7F, *8A, 8E, 8F, 9A, 9Bi, 9Bii, *9C, 9Di, 9Dii, 9Div, 9Dv, 9Dvi, 9E, 10B, 10C, 10D

Unit 2: Literary Analysis Article

Unit Context: Learners will read dystopian literature and determine how authors use the elements of fiction to create social commentary.  After reading multiple texts, learners will choose two that have a similar theme.  They will write a literary analysis essay in which they analyze how literary elements contribute to this common theme.

Independent Reading: Dystopian literature

Standards: *1A, *3A, 4A, 4C, 4D, *4E, *4F, 4H, 5B, *5C, 5D, 5E, 5F, 5G, 5H, 5I, *6A, 6B, 6C, 6D, 7B, *8A, 8C, 8D, 8F, 9A, 9Bi, 9Bii, *9C, 9Diii, 10C, 10D, 11H

Unit 3: Comparing Rhetoric

Unit Context: Learners will read argumentative texts in order to evaluate the quality of the argument based on the use of language. Learners will choose a social issue they want to analyze,  find persuasive articles to evaluate, and compare the use of language in order to assess the quality of the argument.  Finally, learners will inform their audience which article was more effective.  Learners will need to understand rhetorical strategies and how they influence the audience.

Independent Reading: Nonfiction

Standards: 1C, 2A, 2B, 4A, 4D, *4E, *4F, 4G, 4H, *4I, 5B, *5C, 5D, 5E, 5F, 5G, 5J, *7Di, 7Dii, 7Ei, 7Eii, 7Eiii, 7F, *8A, 8B, 8G, 9A, 9Bi, 9Bii, *9C, 9Dv, 10B, 10D, 11A, 11B, 11C, 11D, 11E, *11F, 11Gi, 11Gii, 11H, 11I

Unit 4: Reflective Discussion

Unit Context: Learners will read Romeo and Juliet or The Odyssey.  This text will serve as a basis for students to examine truths that cross time and culture. As learners connect to these truths, they will synthesize their own experience, multimedia, and society at large.  Learners will also gain experience in academic discourse, culminating in a reflective discussion.

Anchor Text: Romeo and Juliet OR The Odyssey

Independent Reading: Fiction/nonfiction

Standards: *1A, 1B, 1C *1D, 2C, 4B, 4C, *4E, *4F, 4G, *4I, 5A, 5B, 5D, 5E, 5F, 5G, 5H, *6A, 6C, 6D, 7A, 7B, 7C, 8D 9A, 9Bi, 9Bii, *9C, 10A