ELA UNIT PLANNING
UNIT: __The Canterbury Tales/Chaucer __________________
TIME FRAME: ___3 Weeks__ TEACHER/GR:Jarrell/Honors English IV______
Unit Summary and Rationale:
This unit centers around medieval Britain; the history, the people and the culture that influenced Geoffrey Chaucer’s “The Canterbury Tales.” The
students will obtain base knowledge on the Middle Ages and then will apply that knowledge to why and how Chaucer wrote about the different
people on their Canterbury Pilgrimage.
UnitConnection/College and Career Ready Descriptions: Teachers will select at least one of the following lenses to act as the overlay for the unit. These are
the descriptors that must be included to ensure the unit is fully aligned to the CCSS and relevant to the college and career ready student.
Students will demonstrate independence.
X Students will value evidence.
X Students will build strong content knowledge.
 Students will respond to the varying demands of audience, task, and discipline.
 Students will critique as well as comprehend.
 Students will use technology and digital media strategically and capably.
X Students will develop an understanding of other perspectives and cultures.
Unit Standards: Teachers should list the standards to be addressed within the unit.
Reading
Literature _X_ Informational Text___
RL.11-12.1 Cite strong and thorough
textual evidence to support analysis
of what the text says explicitly as well
as inferences drawn from the text,
including determining where the text
leaves matters uncertain.
RL.11-12.2 Determine two or more
themes or central ideas of a text and
analyze their development over the
course of the text, including how they
interact and build on one another to
produce a complex account; provide
an objective summary of the text.
Writing
Speaking and Listening
W.11-12.2 Write
informative/explanatory texts to
examine and convey complex
ideas, concepts, and information
clearly and accurately through the
effective selection, organization,
and analysis of content.
SL.11-12.1 Initiate and participate
effectively in a range of collaborative
discussions (one-on-one, in groups, and
teacher-led) with diverse partners on
grades 11–12 topics, texts, and issues,
building on others’ ideas and expressing
their own clearly and persuasively.
W.11-12.3 Write narratives to
develop real or imagined
experiences or events using
effective technique, well-chosen
details, and well-structured event
sequences.
SL.11-12.2 Integrate multiple sources of
information presented in diverse formats
and media (e.g., visually, quantitatively,
orally) in order to make informed
decisions and solve problems, evaluating
the credibility and accuracy of each
source and noting any discrepancies
Language
L.11-12.1 Demonstrate command of
the conventions of standard English
grammar and usage when writing or
speaking.
L.11-12.2 Demonstrate command of
the conventions of standard English
capitalization, punctuation, and
spelling when writing.
L.11-12.3 Apply knowledge of
language to understand how
language functions in different
contexts, to make effective choices
for meaning or style, and to
RL.11-12.3 Analyze the impact of the
author’s choices regarding how to
develop and relate elements of a
story or drama (e.g., where a story is
set, how the action is ordered, how
the characters are introduced and
developed).
RL.11-12.4 Determine the meaning of
words and phrases as they are used in
the text, including figurative and
connotative meanings; analyze the
impact of specific word choices on
meaning and tone, including words
with multiple meanings or language
that is particularly fresh, engaging, or
beautiful
RL.11-12.5 Analyze how an author’s
choices concerning how to structure
specific parts of a text contribute to
its overall structure and meaning as
well as its aesthetic impact.
RL.11-12.6 Analyze a case in which
grasping a point of view requires
distinguishing what is directly stated
in a text from what is really meant.
W.11-12.4 Produce clear and
coherent writing in which the
development, organization, and
style are appropriate to task,
purpose, and audience.
W.11-12.5 Develop and strengthen
writing as needed by planning,
revising, editing, rewriting, or
trying a new approach, focusing on
addressing what is most significant
for a specific purpose and
audience.
W.11-12.6 Use technology,
including the Internet, to produce,
publish, and update individual or
shared writing products in
response to ongoing feedback,
including new arguments or
information.
W.11-12.8 Gather relevant
information from multiple
authoritative print and digital
sources, using advanced searches
effectively; assess the strengths
and limitations of each source in
terms of the task, purpose, and
audience; integrate information
into the text selectively to maintain
the flow of ideas, avoiding
plagiarism and overreliance on any
one source and following a
standard format for citation.
among the data.
SL.11-12.3 Evaluate a speaker’s point of
view, reasoning, and use of evidence and
rhetoric, assessing the stance, premises,
links among ideas, word choice, points of
emphasis, and tone used.
SL.11-12.5 Make strategic use of digital
media (e.g., textual, graphical, audio,
visual, and interactive elements) in
presentations to enhance understanding
of findings, reasoning, and evidence and
to add interest.
SL.11-12.6 Adapt speech to a variety of
contexts and tasks, demonstrating a
command of formal English when
indicated or appropriate.
comprehend more fully when reading
or listening.
L.11-12.4 Determine or clarify the
meaning of unknown and multiplemeaning words and phrases based on
grades 11–12 reading and content,
choosing flexibly from a range of
strategies.
L.11-12.5 Demonstrate understanding
of figurative language, word
relationships, and nuances in word
meanings.
L.11-12.6 Acquire and use accurately
general academic and domainspecific words and phrases, sufficient
for reading, writing, speaking, and
listening at the college and career
readiness level; demonstrate
independence in gathering
vocabulary knowledge when
considering a word or phrase
important to comprehension or
expression.
Essential Questions:
Big Ideas:
Why was Religion such an important part of the Middle Ages?
Due to dire situations people found themselves in (hunger, disease, etc),
religion became a driving force of Britain’s medieval era.
Who was Geoffrey Chaucer and what drew him to the pilgrimage?
The Estate system/Class system of these times created very intriguing
types of people; some of whom went on the Canterbury pilgrimage.
What caused the different pilgrims to go on their pilgrimage?
Chaucer introduced a type of satire, comedy, bias and innuendo that was
not often found in 1300 literature/writing.
How did their social status/estate level impact who they were?
Why does Chaucer use poetry and rhyme instead of prose to write
the Canterbury Tales?
Learning Targets:
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Students will become familiarized with Britain’s Medieval times
Students will learn the basic history of Geoffrey Chaucer
Students will study the popularity of pilgrimages and the significance of the Canterbury pilgrimage
Students will deduce meaning and draw inferences from Chaucer’s writing
Learning Tasks: Teachers list the various tasks students will engage in throughout the unit, include use of media/other forms of information.
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Reading Tasks
Summarize
Perform close reading
Infer
Analyze story/literary
elements and text
structures
Identify and interpret
figurative language
and literary devices
Analyze author’s
purpose
Writing Tasks
•
Create and complete study
guides
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Develop a clear visual aid
(power points/prezis, cartoons,
fakebook pages, etc) with use
Standard English
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Use text to support arguments
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Write reflective responses
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Compose compare/contrast
responses
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Write letters as different
characters in the story
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Complete a final project
with the following
options: Soundtrack with
written explanation,
Fakebook page, Menu setup, Scrapbook, Children’s
book
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Discussion Tasks
Work/present in pairs
and small groups to
identify key ideas
Predict, infer, explain
Chaucer’s choices in
words and stories (or the
omission of stories)
Discuss allegory/frame
narrative
Prepare and participate
in a Socratic seminar
Assessments: List types of assessments that will be used throughout the course of the unit.
DIAGNOSTIC
FORMATIVE
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Pre-reading discussion of the
formation of the English Language
from Beowulf (Old English) to
Chaucer (Middle English)
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Medieval/Chaucer WebQuest
Study guide review
Tickets in the door/Tickets out the
door
Socratic Seminar
Pardoner’s Tale allegory cartoon
Wife of Bath Letter to the queen
Language/Vocabulary Tasks
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Employ conventions of
modern English in all
writing/reading/speaking
activities
Create vocabulary lists
directly from their texts
Consistent reading/growing
understanding of Middle
English
SUMMATIVE
Canterbury Tales final project:
Students will choose one of the
following options: Soundtrack for
characters(with written
explanation), Menu for the Pilgrims,
character Fakebook, Scrapbook, or a
Children’s book. Each items has
creative writing/visual and
presentation element.
Text(s) Selections/Resources(generated by both teacher and student)
Teachers will list the genres/titles/resources for study and indicate text complexity:
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The Canterbury Tales: In Senior English Textbook or at
http://www.enotes.com/canterbury-tales-text/when-april-with
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Canterbury Webquest available at http://mjarrellenglish.wikispaces.com/English+IV
then download WebQuest document
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Study guides (available upon request)
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Microsoft word
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Microsoft Power Point
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Soundtrack can be produced on youtube.com by creating a channel
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Fakebook can be produced by visiting http://www.classtools.net/fb/home/page
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Scrapbook can be produced by visiting mixbook.com
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Prezi.com