Teacher: Yang
Course: FNDN I
Date: 2014-15
Unit Plan for
Culture, Perspective, & Identity/The Short Story
Part One: Identify Desired Results
Overarching Essential Questions: What thought-provoking questions will foster inquiry, meaning-making, and transfer of learning
into different contexts?
Students will keep considering…


What makes a good reader? What do good readers and writers do?
How can a short story reveal truths about culture, perspective, and identity?
Enduring Understandings: What big ideas do you want students to understand?
By the end of this unit, students will come to understand that…

Good readers read actively by asking questions, looking for patterns in language and details, making connections to prior
knowledge, and summarizing key points. Active reading strategies allow readers to more effectively understand and engage
in a text’s big ideas.
The elements of a short story—plot, character, setting, point of view, and language—function to reveal themes about human
nature.
Stories from different cultures can reveal norms, values, and attitudes unique to individuals in a particular culture and give us
broader perspective on our own culture.


Students will know: What facts and basic concepts should
students know and be able to recall?

Active reading strategies for before, during, and after
reading

Definitions for culture, perspective, and identity

Literary elements of a short story: plot structure, conflict,
setting, point of view, symbolism, characterization,
language

Cultural context for Santiago novel and Alexie short
stories

Structure of a literary analysis paragraph

Structure of a literary analysis essay

Steps of the writing process: prewriting/ outlining,
drafting, revising, etc.

Group member roles: facilitator, recorder, reporter,
timekeeper

Zinsser’s principles of good writing: clarity, brevity,
simplicity, humanity

Basic quote integration guidelines and MLA format

Grammar: independent/dependent clauses,
compound/complex sentences

Vocabulary from Santiago and Alexie texts
Students will be able to: What discrete skills and processes
should students be able to use?

Read actively to deepen understanding of text by
generating questions, using priory knowledge and textual
evidence to make inferences and connections,
summarizing, and drawing conclusions

Identify and analyze how elements of a short story—plot,
character, setting, point of view, language—build
meaning.

Write journal responses

Write informal analytical responses to quotes

Write and revise literary analysis paragraphs

Write a longer essay on one short story analyzing how its
elements function to reveal truths about culture,
perspective, and identity.

Integrate quotations within analysis

Integrate vocabulary authentically into writing
assignments

Hold productive discussions and complete tasks in small
groups.

Respond to and build on peers’ comments during
discussion
Academic Vocabulary
SGO Transfer: How will the understandings of this unit transfer to building students’ creativity, critical thinking, collaboration,
communication, and resilience? How will students be able to independently use their learning?



Critical thinking (rdg, wrtg) skills
Resilience (feedback, revision, character development—Senator’s Son, etc)
Collaboration (active reading groups, adopt habits of productive collaboration)
Stage Two: Determine Acceptable Evidence (How Will You Know When they Understand?)
What authentic assessment(s)—i.e. performance task(s)-- will show that students understand?
Summative Assessment(s):

Literary Analysis Essay on Alexie Story (prompt- how lit elements reveal truth about culture, identity, and perspective)
Formative Assessments:
Teacher: Yang
Course: FNDN I
Date: 2014-15



Summer reading assessment: close reading & interpretive responses (reading journal format) to key passages from
Santiago’s When I Was Puerto Rican
3 short passage analysis paragraphs on Alexie stories, 1 revised
Creative writing: ODE, visual translation of “War Dances,” Exit Interview
What other evidence needs to be collected in light of your Desired Results in Stage 1?

“Where I’m From” poem

active reading notes

reflections on Zinsser

active reading group task notes/products
Stage Three: Plan Learning Experiences
What sequence of learning experiences will equip students to engage with, develop, and demonstrate the desired
understandings?
 How will you pre-assess to check for students’ prior knowledge, skill levels, and potential misconceptions?
 How does the plan address the goals of transfer (SGOs), meaning-making (EUs & EQs), and acquisition (ES & EK)?
 How will you differentiate process, product, or content to enable students with different learning styles, interest, and levels
of readiness to master the standards/achieve the understandings in this unit?
 How will you monitor students’ progress toward learning goals? (Consider potential rough spots and misunderstandings,
how students will get feedback, etc.)
Preassessment:

Books & Beyond Writing Sample

Where I’m From Poem

Summer Reading Book quiz

Assess Summer Reading: 3 interpretive responses (reading journals)
Transfer, Meaning-Making, Acquisition:
(intro to the course concepts and routines)

Rituals of Nacirema activity, leading into CPI vocab

General debrief of summer reading, When I Was Puerto Rican
Go over quiz
Review WIWPR and study key passages through lens of culture, identity, & perspective
Discuss reactions, section titles, and resonant themes
Assign summer reading assessment

Read Zinsser’s Principles of Good Writing- talk about purpose of grammar, apply principles (clarity, brevity, simplicity,
humanity) to a piece of students’ own writing in reflection & goal-making for semester

Active reading strategies intro
Annotation of images, poem from Alexie read “Superman & Me” actively

Introduce vocab/grammar routine
5 words + short writing quiz each week
incorporate words + grammar structures @ end-of-unit assessment

Introduce Active Reading Group discussion norms & roles
Intro roles, explain that we will use this group structure for short story unit
Discuss “Superman & Me” w/ question of student’s role in the classroom, the joy of reading and writing
(short story intro)

Intro to literary analysis & MLA with Heker’s “The Stolen Party”
Review literary elements (HO) in TSP debrief discussion
First practice analysis paragraph: What’s the main idea? (focus on last passage)
Minilesson: quote integration
Handout w/ shaping paragraph structure & MLA setup
Revise TSP paragraph
(Alexie’s War Dances) – for each Alexie short story, focus on one key element (e.g. setting, character, conflict, etc.), do thinking
routine to process, do passage analysis paragraph, revise 1

Writing Workshops:
o
MLA formatting
o
Topic & closing sentences
o
Integrating quotes, introducing/explaining evidence
o
Grammar minilesson: independent vs. dependent clauses, fixing run-ons, fragments, prepositional phrases)
Teacher: Yang
Course: FNDN I
Date: 2014-15
o







Writing minilesson: integrating evidence and developing analysis (deconstruct sample, provide feedback on
paragraphs, peer review, revise)
Checklist for analysis paragraph revision, writing tips HO
o
Poems
o
Read poems at beginning of class (the limited, on airplanes, go ghost go, food chain)
o
Study ode poems (“Ode to Mix Tapes,” “Ode to Small-town Sweethearts”), write own ode
Breaking & Entering- stereotypes, internal conflict
o
Summarize in 2 sentences (4 main things that happen)
o
Share lines that stood out/ you annotated in first 2 pages- do any of them reveal big ideas?
o
How does each concept show up in the story? (imbalance of power, exploitation, identity, justify, rationalize,
editing stories, complicity) Find a line that reflects or speaks to each concept word. What is the line saying about
the concept?
o
Write analysis of story’s ending (individual passage analysis paragraph)
o
Connect to society today with newsclip on Trayvon- use Thinking Routine (circle of viewpoints, tug-of-war, or
connect-extend-challenge)
Salt- character, symbol, plot, language
o
Debrief as class (GIST), AR group discussion with thinking routine
o
Write analysis of key passage (individual passage analysis paragraph)
War Dances- structure, significance of subtitles and title
o
Debrief as class- GIST, close read section 15, write analysis of section 15 (individual passage analysis paragraph)
o
Analyze Exit Interview, write own exit interview
o
Themes & Structure

brainstorm big topics themes

discuss significance of titles/subtitles how do they build theme?
o
Visual translation assignment, gallery walk
Paragraph revision assignment
o
Minilesson: revising content vs. quote integration/grammar (checklist & writing tips)
The Senator’s Son- POV, character, father-son dynamic
o
AR group discussion w/ thinking routine (debrief plot, identify conflicts)
o
Jigsaw lit elements, make informal poster presentations on how elements function in story in prep for essay
Literary Essay Scaffolding
o
Deconstruct sample literary essay
o
Brainstorm themes, choose theme, choose lit elements that shape theme, collect and evaluate evidence
o
thesis workshop, outline, draft, mini-lesson on intros & conclusions, peer review
Progress Monitoring/Feedback:

Exit tickets & Learning logs

Written feedback on paragraphs

Writing mini-lessons w/ feedback on sample analysis paragraphs (content and style)

Writing conferences
Other instructional routines:

Vocabulary & grammar routine (see above)
Teacher: Yang
Course: FNDN I
Date: 2014-15