Unit 1- Reading and Writing Descriptive and Narrative texts
Texts
Assignments
Mechanics of writing
Texts on writing:
“Writer’s Notebook Entry”- Mary Ruffin (p.
76)
“Mother Tongue”- Amy Tan (p. 13)
“Polaroids”- Amy Lamott (p. 38)
“Selections from Student Writers’
Notebooks” (p. 46)
Descriptive paragraphs
Narrative paragraphs
Annotative reading
Discussions
Blog posts
Collaborative writing
Imitation writing
Vocabulary
Structuring sentences
Structuring paragraphs
Differentiating main and
subordinate ideas
Active/passive voice
Concrete and abstract language
Figurative and literal language
Descriptive texts:
“Death of a Moth”- Virginia Woolf
from Field Notebooks- Rachel Carson
“Abraham Lincoln” Nathaniel Hawthorne
“Killing Chickens”- Meredith Hall
“That Lean and Hungry Look”- Suzanne Britt
"Foul Ball" excerpt from A Prayer For Owen
Meany by John Irving
Literary/ rhetorical
devices and terms
Imagery
Figurative language
Diction
Mood
Anecdote
Metaphor, simile, analogy
Connotation/denotation
Voice
Tone
Style
Narrative texts:
“Indian Education” Sherman Alexie
“Under Water” Anne Fadiman (p. 104)
“Portrait of My Body” Phillip Lopate
Fault Lines passage Meena Alexander
“Living Like Weasels” by Annie Dillard
Key Concepts and skills (reading)
 Reading with purpose (identifying key words, phrases, and
ideas within text)
 Annotation
 Finding purpose and meaning within text
 Made connections between ideas from text and the rest of your
world
 Broadening of functional vocabulary
Key Concepts and skills (writing)
 Begin using words, sentences, and paragraphs
effectively and with purpose (description and narration)
 Structuring ideas
 Seeing and making meaning
 Begin creating meaningful metaphors, similes, and
analogies
 Expand bank of usable vocabulary