Horizontal Curriculum Map by 3-Week Blocks
Block
Common Core
Standard(s)
How do you use
annotation to understand?
1A
What is theme?
How do you determine
theme?
W.3a-3f
W.9b
Assessments
Essential Question(s)
RI.1, 2, 4, 6
W.2a-2f
Academic Vocabulary
Content/Materials
What is annotation?
SL.1a, 1c, 1d
English 10
Topic(s)/
RL.1, 2, 3, 4, 6
L.4b, 1a, 1b, 2a
COURSE:
What makes for good
writing?
How do our stories reflect
who we are?
“The Leap” pg. 45-51 and Article on The
Flying Wallendas or The Hartford Circus
Fire of 1944
Vocabulary Skill – Root Words pg. 54
Conventions – Use various types of phrases
and clauses and subject/verb agreement
Informal commentary and
theme analysis for “The
Leap”
Précis to analyze author’s
perspective in
“Conductorette”
Annotation of
“Conductorette”
“Occupation: Conductorette” from I Know
Why the Caged Bird Sings pg. 73-77
Class discussions
Grammar – Sentence Structure and
semicolons
Independent annotation for
Article
Writing an introduction
Autobiographical narrative
Annotation, theme claim,
rhetoric, précis,
motivation,
foreshadowing,
internal/external conflict
Block
Common Core
Standard(s)
RL.1, 2, 3
RI.1, 2, 3
W.4, 9b
SL.6
L.2c
Topic(s)/
Assessments
Essential Question(s)
“Games at Twilight” pg. 129-137
How do our actions affect
us?
Do you have to let go of
your dreams as you get
older?
How do you determine a
character’s traits?
L.5.1d
How does an author’s
choices create suspense,
mystery, or tension?
1B
Academic Vocabulary
Content/Materials
Précis to analyze conflict
and suspense in “Games at
Recognize and correct inappropriate shifts in
Twilight”
verb tense
Twist Ending Story
“A Visit to Grandmother” pg. 221-229 and
Article on The Great Migration
Annotation of The Great
Migration Essay and
Conventions – Spelling rules and comma
Commentary
rules
Character Analysis essay
Prepare an overview of
speech patterns of characters
in story pg. 231
Irony, direct/indirect
characterization, static or
dynamic characters,
round or flat characters,
dialogue,
Block
Common Core
Standard(s)
Topic(s)/
Academic Vocabulary
Content/Materials
Assessments
Essential Question(s)
RL.1, 2, 3, 4
RI.1, 2, 5
W.7. 8
W.4, 5
SL.4a
“There Will Come Soft Rains” pg.259-265
How do you assess the
usefulness of a website?
pg. 270
How does an author’s
choices create suspense,
mystery, or tension?
L.4a
1C
How does the point of
effect the knowledge of
the audience/ characters?
In order to survive, must
we be able to let go of
what we have lost?
“One Thousand Dollars” pg. 276-281
Work on planning, revising, editing, and
rewriting essays
“Civil Peace” pg. 327-333 and Article on
Nigerian Civil War
Use context clues to determine meanings of
words
Research The Atomic Age,
The Cold War, The Arms
Race, etc and present info to
class
Annotate “There Will Come
Soft Rains for setting,
characters, and theme
Theme Analysis Essay for
“There Will Come Soft
Rains”
Précis to analyze setting in
“There Will Come Soft
Rains”
Essay to analyze point of
view and dramatic irony in
“One Thousand Dollars”
Annotate “Civil Peace” for
episodes that spark a
response in Jonathon and
how they help convey theme
Essay to analyze theme of
“Civil Peace”
First- person point of
view, third-person point
of view,
omniscient/limited thirdperson point of view,
dramatic irony, situation
irony
Block
Common Core
Standard(s)
Topic(s)/
What is truth?
RI.1, 2, 4
Is it possible or desirable
to tell the truth at all
times?
SL.2
Why do authors use
symbols?
L.6
How do symbols create
mood?
2A
Assessments
Essential Question(s)
RL.1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6
W.3a-e
Academic Vocabulary
Content/Materials
“Like the Sun” pg. 372-375 and play
Southern Indian music – raga
Acquire and use accurately domain-specific
words and phrases
Correctly use frequently confused words
(e.g., to/too/two; there/their/they’re)
“The Masque of the Red Death” pg. 340347 and an article on the Black Death
Annotate for who Sekhar
tells the truth to and the
effect it has
Essay to analyze theme of
“Like the Sun”
Read “Masque of the Red
Death” and define boldfaced words using context
clues then annotate for
symbols, theme, and
characters
Write a letter, create a
brochure, write a creative
story, or create a poem
about the story using three
figures of speech and details
from the story. Choose two
to complete.
Irony and paradox,
symbolism, allegory,
personification,
metaphor, simile,
hyperbole, onomatopoeia
Block
Common Core
Standard(s)
Topic(s)/
Academic Vocabulary
Content/Materials
Assessments
Essential Question(s)
“The Guitar” pg. 601
RL.1, 2, 4, 6
Why is poetry important?
L.2c
What makes poetry
different from prose?
L.3a
L.5a
W.3a, 3d
2B
W.5, 6
“The Courage That My Mother Had”
“Wildflowers”
“Early Spring”
What are poetic devices?
Annotate for literary
elements
Analyze poems using
STEPStone strategy
“Sonnet 18” pg. 641
How are poetic devices
used to engage readers?
How can poetry achieve a
great deal in terms of
feeling, emotion, and
description in a concise
way?
“Metaphor” pg. 668
“Tanka” pg. 629
“Did I Miss Anything?”
Write a lyric poem in
response to one of the
poems we’ve read in this
collection
Write an essay describing
the speaker’s view of nature
Recognize and correct inappropriate shifts in in the poem, “Early Spring.”
pronoun number/person and correct vague
pronouns
Write a tanka following the
traditional Japanese form
Figurative language,
figures of speech, similes,
metaphors,
personification, imagery,
images, sensory
language, sound devices,
rhythm, rhyme, rhyme
scheme, alliteration,
assonance, consonance,
onomatopoeia, narrative
poetry, epic, ballad, lyric,
haiku, tanka, free verse,
sonnet, speaker
Block
Common Core
Standard(s)
RL.1, 2, 4, 6
L.2c
L.3a
L.5a
W.3a, 3d
W.5, 6
2C
SL. 1a, 1c, 1d, 4b
Topic(s)/
Academic Vocabulary
Content/Materials
Assessments
Essential Question(s)
“The Weary Blues” pg. 683
Why is imagery and
symbolism as a
“Jazz Fantasia” pg. 685
poetic/literary device
“Strange Fruit” lyrics and recording
important to the
understanding/appreciation
“Glory” pg. 667
of poetry?
What does learning about
ourselves teach us about
others?
How does a reader
identify, respond to,
analyze, and compare the
elements of poetry?
“The Bean Eaters” pg. 649
“Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night”
pg. 633
“All” pg 702
“Also All” pg. 703-704
“Success is Counted Sweetest” pg. 705
How can one utilize life
experiences as a
foundation for creative and
expressive thinking?
Work on correcting inappropriate fragments
and run-ons
Annotate for literary
elements
Analyze poems using
STEPStone strategy
Essay to analyze mood in
“Strange Fruit” and “The
Weary Blues”
Write a poem about your
favorite type of music using
sound devices to create
mood or capture sounds
Essay to analyze theme
Poetry Project: write a
ballad, haiku, narrative
poem, analyze theme of
selected poems
Essay to compare themes in
“All,” “Also All,” and
“Success is Counted
Sweetest”
Recite a poem
Figurative language,
figures of speech, similes,
metaphors,
personification, imagery,
images, sensory
language, sound devices,
rhythm, rhyme, rhyme
scheme, alliteration,
assonance, consonance,
onomatopoeia, narrative
poetry, epic, ballad, lyric,
haiku, tanka, free verse,
sonnet, speaker
Block
Common Core
Standard(s)
RI.1, 2, 3, 4, 6
RL. 2, 3, 5, 6,
W. 1a-e
W2a-f
W.4, 5, 6
Topic(s)/
Academic Vocabulary
Content/Materials
Essential Question(s)
Why were the Jews hated
throughout history and
what stereotypes were
created about them?
Why were the Jews
defined as a race?
What is the significance of
Kristallnacht?
Anti-Semitism Throughout History Notes –
US Holocaust Memorial Museum
Jewish Terminology
Night Chapters 1-3
Nazi Propaganda
Night Chapters 4-6
Band of Brothers: Why We Fight
L.3, 4a, 6
3A
SL.1a, 1c, 1d, 3
Assessments
How was it possible for a
people to almost be
destroyed?
Vary sentence patterns for meaning,
reader/listener interest, and style
Use punctuation for effect
How did the Nazis limit
and then take away the
Jews’ freedom?
What was life like in the
concentration camps?
How did the Nazis use
propaganda against the
Jews?
Maintain consistency in style and tone
Define words using context
clues
Compare/Contrast Elie’s
dad and Moche the Beadle
Analyze how the Nazis were
able to take over Sighet
Analyze Nazi propaganda
and why it was effective in
creating bystanders
Analyze the episode from
Band of Brothers to explain
the impact the Holocaust
had on liberators
Compare/Contrast Birkenau,
Auschwitz, Buna, Gleiwitz,
and Buchenwald
Anti-Semitism, Cabbala,
Hasidic, Kaddish,
Passover, rabbi, Rosh
Hashanah, synagogue,
Talmud, Torah, Yom
Kippur, Zionism, Aryan
Block
Common Core
Standard(s)
Topic(s)/
Academic Vocabulary
Content/Materials
Essential Question(s)
Night Chapters 7-9
RI.1, 2, 3, 4, 6
RL. 2, 3, 5, 6,
W. 1a-e
What does the Holocaust
tell as about human
nature?
Could such a thing happen
again?
W2a-f
W.4, 5, 6
L.3, 4a, 6
3B
SL.1a, 1c, 1d, 3
Assessments
Milgram Experiments: Obedience to
Authority and Zimbardo’s Stanford Prison
Experiment clips
Excerpts from the movie The Devil’s
Arithmetic
What would I have done
under similar
circumstances?
Hitler Youth article
Where does one draw the
line between obeying the
law or obeying one’s
conscience?
Work on planning, revising, editing, and
rewriting essays
What is the role and
responsibility of the
individual in society?
Why is the study of the
Holocaust relevant today?
Who is to blame for the
atrocities perpetrated
during the Holocaust?
Excerpts from the movie Swing Kids
Conventions – spelling and comma rules
Character analysis essay on
how Elie changed
emotionally and spiritually
after his imprisonment.
Show how camps affected
relationships between
fathers and sons. Explain the
theme that can be derived
from this experience.
Using Milgram and
Zimbardo experiments
explain how the Nazis
perpetrated such heinous
crimes against the Jews
Write a compare and
contrast essay for Night and
The Devil’s Arithmetic
Write a letter to Elie Wiesel
(the fifteen-year-old
narrator). How would you
respond to Elie’s
questioning of God’s justice
Create a brochure or
PowerPoint about why
students should study the
Holocaust or inform the
class about other genocides
(pick one: Armenian,
Cambodian, Darfur,
Rwanda)
Research Nuremburg Trials
to decide who’s to blame for
the Holocaust to write
persuasive essay
boche, death’s head,
Fascism, Gestapo, ghetto,
gypsy, dysentery,
holocaust, Job, kapo,
Lazurus, selection, SS,
Charnel house, death’s
head, obedience to
authority, Hitler Youth,
Block
Common Core
Standard(s)
Topic(s)/
Academic Vocabulary
Content/Materials
Assessments
Essential Question(s)
RL.1, 4, 6
Myths, origins, quest,
transgressions, cultural
context, archetypes,
archetypal themes
W.3a-e
W.4, 5, 6, 7
W.2a-f
L.1a-b
What are myths?
L.2a-c
Why are they important?
3C
L.3a
How do myths reflect the
lives and concerns of the
storytellers?
Who are the Greek Gods?
“Prometheus and the First People” pg. 982987
Essay to analyze the culture
of the Ancient Greeks:
where they lived, what they
valued, how they survived,
and special customs
“The Orphan Boy and the Elk Dog” pg. 991999
Essay to analyze culture of
the Blackfeet Tribe
Choose language that expresses ideas
precisely and concisely, recognizing
Write a myth that explains a
redundancy and wordiness
natural phenomenon that
includes a quest and a
Recognize and correct misplaced modifiers
transgression
Choose punctuation for effect
Block
Common Core
Standard(s)
Topic(s)/
W.2a-f
L.1a-b
L.2a-c
Assessments
Essential Question(s)
RL.1, 4, 6
W.4, 5, 6, 7
Academic Vocabulary
Content/Materials
What is an epic?
What qualities does a
typical epic hero possess?
How does an epic reflect
the culture in which it was
composed?
“Sundiata: An Epic of Old Mali” pg.1007 1015
Read article about Sundiata and how he
ushered in peace for West Africa
“Cupid and Psyche” pg.1036-1043
“Ashputtle” pg.1045-1050
Annotate article about
Sundiata
Précis to analyze why
Sundiata is an epic hero
Write a newspaper article
about Sundiata’s triumph
4A
L.3a
Essay to compare archetypal
narrative patterns in “Cupid
and Psyche” and
“Ashputtle”
Epic, epic hero, griot,
fathom, taciturn,
calabashes, the jinn,
soothsayer, archetypal
narrative patterns
Block
Common Core
Standard(s)
Topic(s)/
Academic Vocabulary
Content/Materials
Assessments
Essential Question(s)
RL.1, 2, 3, 4, 5
W.2a-f
W.3a-e
W.4, 5, 6, 7, 8
L.1a-b
L.2a-c
L.3a
Who are the Spokane
Indians? Where are they
located? What is their
history? What are their
customs and traditions?
Why were reservations set
up in America? What was
their goal? Has it been
successful?
L.4a
SL.1a, c, d
4B
SL.4a, 5
What are some of the
issues and problems facing
Native Americans?
What makes Arnold Spirit
unique?
What are his traits,
personality, goals, dreams,
and talents?
The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time
Indian
Research the Spokane
Indians’ customs and
traditions, why reservations
were created, and what are
Use punctuation for effect
issues facing Native
Americans and present to
Recognize and correct inappropriate shifts in
class
verb tense
Identify themes throughout
the novel to write an
analysis essay
Work on planning, revising, editing, and
rewriting essays
Identify main character’s
traits and personality, how
they change, how important
relationships develop, and
high/low points in the novel
to write character analysis
essay
Class Discussions
Write newspaper article
about the two basketball
games between Wellpenit
and Reardan
Keep track of the trauma
affecting Arnold’s life and
the racism he deals with








susceptible (p. 3)
inseparable (p. 24)
impending (p. 70)
articulate (p. 84)
vulnerable (p. 92)
repressed (p. 130)
judgmental (p. 155)
scintillating (p. 2
Block
Common Core
Standard(s)
Topic(s)/
Academic Vocabulary
Content/Materials
Assessments
Essential Question(s)
Class Discussions
RL.1, 2, 3, 4, 5
W.2a-f
W.3a-e
W.4, 5, 6, 7, 8
L.1a-b
L.2a-c
L.3a
L.4a
4C
SL.1a, c, d
SL.4a, 5, 6
What issues does Arnold
have to deal with on the
reservation and off of it?
How do Arnold, Mary,
Rowdy, and Penelope
change throughout the
novel?
What does Arnold learn?
What does Arnold teach
his family and friend?
The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time
Indian
Work on planning, revising, editing, and
rewriting essays
Use punctuation for effect
Write a series of diary
entries (at least 3, one-page
each) from Rowdy’s point
of view after Junior leaves
Wellpenit High. Try to
capture Rowdy’s voice and
emotions.
Choose three cartoons from
Recognize and correct inappropriate shifts in
the novel and write a
verb tense
sustained analysis of each
one. Consider: what can we
see? What does it reveal
about Junior? How does it
complement the written
text?
Prepare an argumentative
speech, using one of the
following topics: a. The
pursuit of personal goals is
more important than the
expectations of the
community. b. Boys should
be freer to express their
feelings. c. More education
is required to eradicate
racism from our society. d.
The misuse of alcohol has
devastating effects on our
community. e. Self-belief is
the most important quality
to ensure success.