Mrs. Coats APCA11
Class Schedule: January 25-February 11
Unit: The Grapes of Wrath and Argument
Essential Questions:
1. Should the Joads or Wilsons have accepted government aide, if it had
existed, and why?
2. Can an individual impact or change a community?
3. How are gender roles portrayed throughout The Grapes of Wrath?
Objective: Students will be able to read a variety of texts, including time-period
fiction, non-fiction, and comics, to help form an opinion and make an argument
that contains a claim, warrant(s), and evidence.
Purpose: This unit has plenty of value outside of the school setting. If you desire
to be a successful adult, you must understand the importance of a valid, strong
argument (a set of reasons and warrants). This unit of argument coincides with
the content you are learning in your American History course, which you will see
through reading The Grapes of Wrath (GoW) and The Worst Hard Times
(TWHT).
***For your benefit: It is crucial for you to be in class every single day.
Missing just one day can put you behind. This is an AP class—you must
push yourself to think harder, work harder, write more. I have made Part I
of the schedule for this unit. This is so you will know what to expect from
day-to-day. I will be providing the second portion of this calendar when we
get closer to the end of this one.
January 23/24
 Would you ever consider using government support? What government
programs can you think of?
 Here is a list a questions you will be reading for as we make our way
through The Grapes of Wrath:
1. What are some times that the Joads or the Wilsons could have
used government aide (even if it was not available back then)?
2. How do you see gender roles being displayed (give specifics)?
3. How does/can an individual or group impact or change a
community?
 As you go through reading these texts, you should use sticky-notes to
annotate.
 I-Search Activity
January 25/28
 Hand out books, read Chapter 1 of GoW as a class.
 Annotating—what to look for (EQs)—hand out sticky-notes
 As we read,


o Put stickies in Chapter 1 as a class
o Vocab—words we don’t know, words we see being repeated
o QAR—levels of questions to ask ourselves as we read. All good
readers do this. This may mean rereading passages for
clarification, questioning the author’s purpose, and discussing
portions of the text as we read.
o Model Summary Analysis
Black Blizzard clip
**Write your first reactions to the clip on your blog.
Homework: Read and annotate Chapter 2 of GoW and Chapter 5 of
The Worst Hard Times (minus pages 80-86) for next time. Make a list
of words that you see being repeated and a list of words you don’t
know.
January 29/30
 Entrance Ticket: Discussion board post
o Vocabulary, Summary, RADCAP EPP—argument: If a dust storm
hits your city, eminent death is likely.
o Novel discussion
o Start integrating sources chart—Modeling during discussion
 Homework: Read Chapter 5 of GoW and 91-96 of TWHT and complete
a Summary Analysis of GoW and 91-96 of TWHT.
January 31/February 1
 Entrance Ticket: Discussion board post
 Answer Garden: Words being repeated between GoW and TWHT.
o Discuss words
 Books Discussion: pair a passage from GoW 5 and TWHT 91-96 to
compare/contrast
 Homework: Read Chapter 6 of GoW and complete a Summary
Analysis.
February 4/5
 Entrance Ticket: Discussion board
o Novel discussion
 Argument PowerPoint Pt. I
 Examine an EPP article for argument that is taught in the PowerPoint
 Homework: Blog post with vocabulary, summary, and RADCAB
February 6/7
 Independent Reading
 Present blog posts from last time
 Argument PowerPoint Pt. II
o Examine article for the next piece of argument
 Watch GoW Chapter 8 movie clip—fill out guided notes

Homework: Read Chapters 9 & 10 of GoW and revisit 95-96 of TWHT.
Complete a Summary Analysis of GoW 9 & 10.
February 8/11
 Entrance Ticket: Discussion board
o GoW and TWHT discussion
o Integrating Sources chart
 Complete in groups
 Compare the information that you have found so far with
others in your group
 Argument PowerPoint Pt. III
o Examine article for the next piece of argument
 Homework: Read Chapters 13 & 14 of GoW and pages 121-122 of
TWHT. Complete a Summary Analysis of Chapters 13 & 14 of GoW.