ANCHOR TEXTS AND UNIT
Read – Respond – Write - Reflect
Created by Laura Gandy – 7th Grade Language Arts
Highland East Junior High – Moore Public Schools
The Devil’s Arithmetic
Jane Yolen
NOVEL: TANGERINE
Themes:
 The Holocaust/History
 The Importance of Remembering
 Sacrifice and Heroism
 Family
 Jewish Tradition
Anchor Text
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The Devil’s Arithmetic (Jane Yolen)
Historical Fiction
Novel
Short Stories/Fiction
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“Suzy and Leah” (Jane Yolen) – Page 103 –
Prentice Hall – Historical Fiction
“Letters from Rifka” (Karen Hesse) – Page
224 – Prentice Hall – Historical Fiction
PLOT – Plot Diagram
CHARACTERIZATION - Wheel
CONFLICT – Plot Diagram
NARRATION/POINT OF VIEW – Change one
paragraph to another point of view.
MOOD – Music and Mood
THEME – “What Is the Message?”
Paragraph – Oral Reading
SUMMARY – Using These Elements
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Non-Fiction Texts
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“I Have a Dream” – Martin Luther King
o Text
o Video
MAIN IDEA
AUTHOR’S PURPOSE
Venn Diagram with The Devil’s Arithmetic
Excerpts from:
 Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl
 Autobiography The Hiding Place by
Corrie Ten Boom
 Assignment: Comparing Two or More
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Texts (learning.blogs.nytimes.com)
Informational Articles
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Facebook and Auchwitz Article
SOAPSTONE Article
TONE
AUTHOR’S PURPOSE
PERSPECTIVE/POINT OF VIEW
Poetry
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“Holocaust” by Sudeep Pagedar
(Companion Texts)
“First They Came” by Neimoller
“The Lost Generation”
“Train Tune” (Louise Bogan) – Page 591 –
Prentice Hall
“MLK – Martin Luther King” (Raymond
Patterson) – Page 600 – Martin Luther King
TPCASTT
LITERARY TERMS
PERSPEC TIVE
THEME/MESSAGE
Memory Presentation
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“First They Came” by Neimoller
Vocabulary
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The Devil’s Arithmetic Vocabulary and
Spelling Test
Commonly Confused Words
Greek and Latin Roots
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Speaking and Listening – Oral Communication
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Inner/Outer Circle Novel Discussion –
Facebook in Auchwitz Article & The Devil’s
Arithmetic
Poetry Recitation
“What Is the Message?” Paragraph
Reading
Research
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Martin Luther King Quotes
The Holocaust
Voluntary Reading
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Daily at Bell in Reading Class (1st Hour)
1 Novel and Novel Project Each Month
OCCT Practice
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Daily at Bell in English Class (2nd Hour)
o Pre-Test
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Media:
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One Item Annotation Per Day
Keep in Bell Work in Binder for
OCCT Study
National Holocaust Museum Website
Corrie Ten Boom Website
Dr. Suess – political cartoons – “I reject
milk from Holstein cows as Non-Aryan”
“Second Creation” ‘Put your finger here,
pa . . . “ “Snake in the grass” ??
*** Defying Genocide: Choices that Saved
Lives by United States Holocaust Memorial
Museum
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SPECIFIC
LITERACY/READING STANDARDS:
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Identify Central Theme
Detail Supporting Central Theme
Analyze Plot
How Events or Ideas are Developed/Elaborated
Figurative Language
Connotative Language
Technical Meanings of Words
Author’s Point of View
Comparing and Contrasting Text to Other Text/Media
Assertions Backed or Not by Evidence
Analyzing Topics and Themes in Different Texts
ELA PASS STANDARDS:
Vocabulary
• Words in Context (1.1)
• Word Origins (1.2)
• Idioms and Comparisons (1.3)
Comprehension/Critical Literacy
• Literal Understanding (3.1)
• Inferences and Interpreting (3.2)
• Summary and Generalization (3.3)
• Analysis and Evaluation (3.4)
Literature
• Literary Genres (4.1)
• Literary Elements (4.2)
• Figurative Language/Sound Devices (4.3)
Research and Information
• Accessing Information (5.1)
• Interpreting Information (5.2)
READING SKILLS
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infer the meaning of unfamiliar words or phrases from
context clues
Apply knowledge of synonyms, antonyms, and multimeaning words to assist comprehension
Decode words in text using roots, prefixes, and suffixes
Preview the selection to predict content and purpose
Clarity understanding using strategies such as rereading,
questioning, and summarizing
Determine the central idea and supporting ideas
Compare and contrast ideas
Identify cause-and-effect relationships
Make inferences and draw conclusions about characters
and events
Recognize distinguishing features of genres
Identify and analyze characters and settings
Understand the development of plot and the resolution of
conflicts
Describe structural elements of poetry and drama
Identify and interpret figurative language and literary
techniques
Distinguish between fact and opinion
Select and use a variety of appropriate sources to find
information
Determine the author’s purpose or position
analyze how the author’s viewpoint affects the text and
recognize propaganda
Evaluate the ways in which the author organizes and
presents ideas
Determine the lesson, message, or theme of a story
Relate reading to prior knowledge, experience, and new
situations
Connect ideas, themes, and issues in or across texts
GRAMMAR SKILLS
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3.1.a Principal parts of verbs to form tenses
3.1.b Make subjects and verbs agree
3.1.c Use nominative, objective, and possessive pronouns
correctly
3.1.d Make pronouns agree with their antecedents
3.1.h.1 Use infinitive, gerund, participial, and prepositional
phrases to vary sentence structure
3.2.b.14 Use comma to set of parenthetical expressions
3.2.b.19 Use semi-colon to separate two independent
clauses
3.2.b.20 Use semi-colon between independent clauses
joined by conjunctive adverbs and transitional expressions
followed by a comma
3.3.1 Identify and revise run-on sentences and fragments
3.3.d Write simple, compound complex, and compoundcomplex sentences observing comma and semi-colon rules
3.3.d Identify and correct faulty parallel structure in writing
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