Course:
7th Grade ELAR
Harlingen CISD
Unit Two
1st Grading Period (38 Days)
Unit 2: Personal Experiences and Connections
2014-2015
Quarter 1
Unit Pacing: 3 Weeks
Big Idea: Personal Experiences: Reading and writing about personal experiences provide the reader/writer with a deeper understanding of personal motivations,
conflicts, and resolutions. Sequences and Procedures: A lifelong reading and writing requirement pertains to texts that explain how something works, or how to
do something.
Essential Questions:.
1. What is “voice” in writing, and how does a writer create a personal “voice”?
2. How does text organization help convey the author’s message?
3. How do written instructions help solve a problem or perform a procedure?
4. How do graphics help explain information?
Vocabulary: literary nonfiction, voice, memoir, autobiography, drama,
Performance
Indicators
1) Choose one reading selection. Create a 3-column chart with the
following headings (Person – His/ Her Actions— My Conclusions) to
track the actions that reveal each person’s character traits. What do
their actions tell you about the character (conclusions)?
Other Evidence (i.e. unit tests, open ended exams, quiz, essay, student
work samples, observations, etc.)
Teacher-made tests and quizzes
Reader’s/writer’s notebook responses
Personal narrative
2) Examine the differences between two works on the same topic (The
Noble Experiment and “Jackie Robinson…an American Hero”, for
example). Note similarities and contrasts in how each work portrays the
characters, their actions, the setting and the events.
Reader’s/writer’s notebook responses – Response: If Jackie Robinson/Rosa
Parks were alive today, which national or world issue might concern him/her?
Discuss with partner or small group, then share whole group. In one paragraph,
describe one or two current problems Robinson/Parks might work to change.
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Course:
7th Grade ELAR
Lesson
and Pacing
TEKS
Student Expectations:
Fig 19.B ask literal, interpretive,
evaluative, and universal questions of
text
Fig. 19C monitor and adjust
comprehension (e.g., using background
knowledge; creating sensory images;
rereading a portion aloud; generating
questions).
Weeks Six,
Seven and Eight
Literary Elements
Across
Different Forms
Student will know:
2014-2015
Quarter 1
Student will be able to:
…answer literal, interpretive, evaluative, or
universal questions about a text and support
those answers with evidence from the text.
ELPS 4J
Readers know when meaning breaks down and can use …monitor and fix roadblocks in their own
specific strategies to monitor and adjust comprehension. reading by using background knowledge,
creating sensory images, re-reading text aloud,
and generating questions.
ELPS 4I
Readers ask questions as they read to monitor
comprehension, analyze and evaluate the author’s
message, and to make predictions.
Fig. 19D make complex inferences about Readers draw conclusions about chunks of texts and the … use their background knowledge to interpret
text and use textual evidence to support entire text. Readers go beyond making literal meaning deeper meaning of text. …critically analyze text
understanding
and connect their reading with their lives.
and authors, considering the author's intent.
…reflect on what they are reading and draw
conclusions about the text they are reading.
ELPS 4K
Sept 29 – Oct 17 Fig. 19E summarize, paraphrase, and
Lesson 1:
Harlingen CISD
Unit Two
1st Grading Period (38 Days)
synthesize texts in ways that maintain
meaning and logical order within a text
and across texts
Resources
Glencoe:
from “Rosa Parks: My Story”
pp. 107
“The Noble Experiment”
“Jackie Robinson…an
American Hero” a poem by
Stanley Cooper
“From Where I Sat” a tribute
to Rosa Parks by Gary Lloyd
…summarize and paraphrase a text and use
the structure of text to organize, remember, and James
Readers chunk texts at appropriate junctures and can
summarize or paraphrase what has been read. They
recognize the structure and organization of ideas within locate information.
a text.
7.2B use context (within a sentence and
in larger sections of text) to determine or
clarify the meaning of unfamiliar or
ambiguous words
7.2C complete analogies that describe
part to whole or whole to part
7.7 describe the structural and
substantive differences between an
autobiography or a diary and a fictional
adaptation of it.
Texts sometimes include clues to help readers
understand unfamiliar word such as synonyms,
antonyms, An analogy is a form of logical inference
based on the relationship of two things.
7.16A write a personal narrative that has
a clearly defined focus and
communicates the importance of or
reasons for actions and/or consequences
Personal narratives usually reflect the writer’s
experiences, feelings, and personality. Personal
narratives are often an autobiographical essay written
from the first person point of view.
The Write Source:
..look for clues in the text to help determine the
meaning of unknown words. …complete
Adjectives pp. 546
analogies by recognizing the logical relationship Adverbs pp. 550
of a part to the whole or the whole to a part
Verbs pp. 540
Writing Sentences p. 562
Nonfiction texts can be organized in different structural …read different genres on a similar theme or
patterns such as cause-effect, problem solution, and
topic and be able to identify and explain the
chronologically. Text features include headings,
organizational structure. …identify and explain
subheadings, bold print, caption, charts, and graphs.
how text features help readers obtain
Fictional adaptations are stories and plays about real
information in literary nonfiction. ..distinguish
people and events and may be based on biographies, between autobiographies and diaries and
autobiographies, and diaries. Writers of fictional
fictional adaptations by asking some questions
adaptations combine factual details with imaginary ones, (Written by actual person or writer/playwright?
usually to create a compelling story
Writer’s purpose to inform or entertain?)
ELPS 4F
7.10D synthesize and make logical
Analyzing texts across genres means looking at authors …read different genres on a similar theme or
connections between ideas within a text purpose, style and tone and then finding the
topic and be able to identify and explain the
and across two or three texts
commonalities.
organizational structure
representing similar or different genres,
and support those findings with textual
evidence.
…write a personal essay or story that offers a
snapshot into their lives.
ELPS 5G
In addition to the TEKS listed in this lesson, every week teachers should also provide rigorous and explicit instruction in the 7th grade
Recurring TEKS: F19 (A-F) Comprehension Skills, 1(A) Fluency: Read aloud grade-level and instructional text, 2(A-E) Vocabulary,
13(A-D) Comprehension of Media
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Course:
7th Grade ELAR
Harlingen CISD
Unit Two
1st Grading Period (38 Days)
2014-2015
Quarter 1
Weeks Six - Eight
Reading and Writing Activities:
For the next 3 weeks, students will be examining biographies and autobiographies in their various
forms. To begin this unit, have students organize examples of the various sub-genres of biography
and autobiography (personal narrative, memoire, narrative biography, encyclopedic biography,
dramatic interpretation, etc.). In their Reader’s Notebook, students should put examples of the different
sub-genres and the styles of writing that authors use in each.
A writer's style is very important for connecting with and engaging a reader. Have students compare
the style used by the author in The Noble Experiment or Rosa Parks: My Story (Glencoe p. 107)
with the style used in an encyclopedia entry for Jackie Robinson/Rosa Parks, as well as optional
poems. Have them write their reflections about writer's styles and the organizational structure and
literary elements (tone, perspective, etc.) in their notebooks.
Weekly Grammar Focus:
Adjectives pp. 546 , Verbs pp. 540
Writing Sentences p. 562, Adverbs pp. 550
GT/Pre-AP:
Students will work in groups of three to nominate the Hero of the Century. Use Powtoon (or another
program) students will create a one minute video nomination defending their nominee.
Example: Athlete of the Century
Vocabulary/Word Study Activities:
Have students come up with neologisms by smashing words together. (A neologism is a new word
that doesn't already exist in the language; a.k.a. portmanteau.) Teach students that our language is
constantly growing, partly because people take parts of words and put them together to make new
words. For example, INFOTAINMENT, EMOTICON, and BRUNCH. Have students examine the
vocabulary words they have learned in your class to see if they can come up with a new word by
combining parts together (e.g. a TYVONER could be a tyrant governor.)
Strategies for Student Engagement:
HCISD promotes a "release of responsibility" pedagogical model that encourages teachers to
explicitly teach a concept, and then release students to work collaboratively with their peers and
independently to practice applying the concept with authentic literacy tasks. Students engaged in
a rigorous activity are probably learning more than students listening to a lecture from the
teacher, so lectures should be held to a minimum.
* Tips for student engagement.
Best Practices (ELL, ELPS):
Struggling students often feel embarrassed about their abilities, and they don't want their friends to
know they are having problems. But at the same time, they learn more if they have peers to help
them and explain things to them. Working in collaborative groups is a great opportunity for strong
students to become the "teacher" (meaning they learn the material more deeply) and for struggling
students to get additional support from a second source. However, teachers must be strategic in
creating and supporting those groups so students work well together.
Additional Resources:
Anchors of Support:
Glencoe
from “Rosa Parks: My Story” pp. 107
“The Noble Experiment”
“Jackie Robinson…an American Hero” a poem by Stanley Cooper
“From Where I Sat” a tribute to Rosa Parks by Gary Lloyd James
Apps/Programs:
Powtoon
(Resources listed are only recommendations. Teachers may make use of other available resources
to support instruction of TEKS.)
Anchors of support should:
• remind students about the elements of text and literary language found in memoires and
autobiographies as well as the literary language and organizational structure found in
biographies.
• Describe differences between biography and autobiography, and remind students of different
forms of perspective (first person, third person, etc.)
Fluency:
Can you tell a good joke? Part of what makes a joke funny is the way you tell it. A good joke teller
uses exaggerated intonation and good timing to make the joke funny. These are skills associated with
reading fluency. Give the students collections of jokes and riddles, and allow them to pick out a few
that they can tell to the class on Friday. Have them work in pairs to practice telling their jokes so they
can deliver them perfectly when it is their turn. This can be a regular recurring feature in your class—
every Friday, the teacher calls on a few students to tell the jokes they've been practicing that week.
Homework:
In their Reader’s Notebook, students will take what they have learned about biographies and write a
one to two page biography on a family member or friend who inspires them. The biography should
be multi-paragraph and include personal details such as date of birth, hometown, etc. as well as a
narrative account of significant events in the subject’s life.
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